Parent+Handbook

Classroom Rules
1. Be nice. 2. Work hard. 3. Do not stop me from teaching. 4. Do not stop others from learning. My expectation is good behavior in and out of the classroom. If your child and I have a problem, we deal with it as the need arises. I will contact you if we don’t get it settled or if it’s an emergency. Hopefully this is all that needs said on the subject.

Daily Assignments
Work is assigned each day. Usually there is sufficient time to complete the work if your child uses their time wisely. However, students may bring work home to finish or work that has been assigned for extra practice. Assignments are due first thing the next morning.

Sunflower Reader
The Sunflower Reader program is sponsored by the Kansas Library Association and our school library. Your child will be recognized at the awards assembly at the end of the year with a first year ribbon. To receive their award, they are required to read 20 books during the school year on their reading level. Of the 20 books, five of them must be in the following areas: fiction, biography, folktale, poetry and information. The remaining 15 can be in any other area they choose.

Holiday Parties
We celebrate holiday parties in the room for Halloween, Christmas and Valentine’s Day. Please check the volunteer list if you can help us out.

Birthdays
Students may bring treats for their birthdays. If their birthday is in the summer, I encourage you to have them celebrate with us on their half birthday. We will celebrate at 1:30, just before recess, if you need to bring the treats in. Just let me know in advance.

Grading Scale and Grade Cards
It’s the same scale as second grade. The students will receive the following scores: 90-100% 4 80-89% 3  70-79% 2  69 or lower 1

What do the numbers actually mean? Buhler has a standard based grade card, which means, you will find out how your child is doing in many more areas than just the basic subjects. For example, in math we have 18 different standards for scoring. You’ll find out if your child can add numbers with regrouping, subtract numbers with regrouping, or even understand fact families and so on.

The 4,3,2,1 scale is set up as follows: 4 meets or exceeds standard 3 making significant progress toward standard 2 making progress toward standard, often with support 1 shows limited progress toward standard, requires constant support.

Accelerated Reader
The Accelerated Reader program is designed to help improve student comprehension over the books they read. We will give them a STAR placement reading test at the first of the year and we’ll continue giving them this test at the end of each nine weeks to set their reading zones. According the to testing, if they understand what they are reading, they should score 60% or better on the test. We really want to see at least an 85% because it tells me they really understand what they are reading. AR books count on the Sunflower Reader too.

Absent
If your child is sick or absent from school we will either send their work home with a close neighbor or sibling if possible. If this doesn’t work, we will have their assignments in the office by 3:00 so you can pick it up for them. Your child has the same amount of time to complete the assignments that they have missed from school.

Book It Reading
You will receive your first Book It calendar in October and you can see that they will need to read 20 nights for 20 minutes each. We would really hope that your child reads every night during the week if at all possible because every subject is based on reading. It’s very important to be a good reader.

Library Checkout
Your child goes to the library two times a week to check out books so there isn’t any reason they wouldn’t have a book to read. If at any time during the week they run out of books, we send them to check out on their own. As they start reading chapter books it might be best to have them carry the book back and forth to school and home until it’s finished.

Agendas
Each morning your child will be responsible for copying their assignments for the day from the board. At this point the agenda will come home each night just like 2nd grade. Please sign it and return it with your child.

Spelling Lists
Your child‘s spelling program may be different from what you’ve come to expect. Instead of weekly lists of words to memorize, we emphasize the learning of important words for a lifetime of spelling in the real world. See the list of Level Three Core Words.

Basic Facts
Our district really wants our third graders to know their math facts. This year they will need to have 95 % of both addition and subtraction facts to 18. We will practice multiplication facts to 9 but they are required to know them to 5 for the district test. But your child will be ahead of the game if they know them to 9. They will need to know the same problems in division. If you can work just 10 minutes each night, math will be much easier and less frustrating for them.