Aug 30-Sept 3, 2010

Happy first week of school! We made it despite the soaring temperatures on Monday and Tuesday. I have to say I was glad to see the fog roll in mid week. The students and I are getting to know each other and settling in. We've gone over school and class rules as well as procedures and expectations this week. Students brought home, in their own handwriting, the consequence chart as well as positive incentive chart. I will review this again at Back to School Night on September 16. All students were very excited to be back at school and beginning the 2nd week, we will really begin to dive into the curriculum.

I know last week an abundance of papers went home for you to sign. Most students brought in the yellow emergency card and internet agreement form. Both of these forms need to be turned in ASAP.

On Monday students will bring home a spelling list of the months and days of the week to study. This is due on Friday, but may be turned in sooner. Please be sure to check the homework. All homework must have the student's name and be done neatly in pencil only. A reading log for September will also be sent home on Monday. Children are to read OUT LOUD for 15 minutes each day and return the log to be stamped on Friday. This is an ORAL reading contract and doesn't include the hours of silent reading your child may do each week. Please sign the log each day, but your kid can fill out the rest.

As you probably noticed last week, the math homework can be quite challenging. We began with chapters 22 and 23 and will go back to the beginning with chapter 1 in a week or so. Since we skipped ahead, a lot of the review problems at the bottom have not been taught. Your child may attempt these problems, otherwise don't worry about them. I will try to cross off the problems that we haven't covered. I appreciate the support that you've given your kids. Please remember that homework needs to be turned in on time. We review the math in class every day and if a child has not done the homework, they are missing instructional time. I will accept late homework if there is a note sent to me. I know things come up, but prefer kids to keep up and develop the habits that they'll need throughout their school and work life. A few students also need to bring in their Mystery Bags, which were due on Friday.

On Monday students will be bringing home a permission slip for our first field trip, to the SC County Fair. Please return these slips immediately, especially if you are volunteering to drive. The district is requiring us to hand in the Driver Forms well in advance of the actual field trip, on the 16th of September. The first six volunteers to return their slips will get free admission to the fair; all others will have to pay their own admission. Students get in free.

A big thank you to all who were able to give donations to our classroom. Any contribution is greatly appreciated! Also, there have been many parents who have already helped out with putting together homework packets, pulling out math pages, photocopying, and correcting work. I can not thank you enough for this help. I know many of you are eager to help in the classroom, so a schedule will be passed around during Back to School Night.

I'm looking forward to a great year. Hope to meet all of you very soon!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Maraldo

August 23-27, 2010

Dear Parents and Students,

Welcome to 3rd grade! It was great meeting some of you on Friday and also seeing familiar faces. A big thank you to those who came by to pick up practice books. ALL help this year will be greatly appreciated.

We will begin reading Charlotte's Web tomorrow in class, so if you have a copy please bring it in. An assignment called "Mystery Bags" will be sent home and due on Friday(I will explain this in class). Also, beginning on Tuesday, HM math homework will be sent home. Math homework is assigned Monday through Thursday and due the very next day. There will be a small note attached to the first math assignment which explains what the expectations are.

Remember to check my post every weekend. It will list upcoming events and homework assignments. Have a great last day of summer vacation. See you tomorrow!

Volunteers

Hello again! I won't be setting up an official volunteer schedule until Back to School Night, but I am looking for 2 volunteers who would be willing to tear out pages in both the math and language arts practice books during the first week of school. If you would like to help with this, let me know. You can drop by on Friday to pick them up or I can send practice books home with your child a little bit at a time.

Again, I look forward to meeting all of you very soon!

Welcome Back!

I hope you all had a relaxing, wonderful summer. As sad as we are for it to end, we should also be excited and geared up to begin a new school year. I'm looking forward to all of your smiling faces on Monday, August 23. Here are some important changes for the year:

New start time is 7:55
End time 2:10
Restructured days are on Wednesday with a dismissal time of 12:10
Our class is now in Room 21 directly across from Mrs. Terribilini's class

Please take a look at the supply list on the right. I know many students enjoy pencil boxes, but please do not bring them in. They are too bulky and take up space. A small pouch is fine. Due to lack of funds, additional pencils, white copy paper, and wide ruled binder paper are always greatly appreciated.

My blog is updated weekly (usually every Sunday). It contains upcoming events and basic information about our class regarding homework, field trips, and projects. Please be sure to check on a regular basis. For the first week of school, I am looking for a volunteer who would like to take pictures of each student. If you are interested pleas email me: athena_maraldo@pvusd.net