Dear Parents, Thursday, August 26, 2011
Another year of school has begun! I am looking forward to an exciting year with your children as they learn new things.
GOALS
Third graders will venture into the world of multiplication, explore nouns and verbs, write book reports, and get their reading into tip-top shape, along with learning many other new things. Fourth graders will conquer division, parts of speech, research reports, and will focus on reading comprehension.
Both grades will increase their knowledge of the Bible and Christian life with Scripture memory, catechism questions, and hymns. They will be learning all about great people in America’s past and will be spending six weeks studying our own beautiful state of Pennsylvania. They will be exploring the world around them through science lessons, activities, and projects.
My goal for our classroom this year is growth. With God’s help I trust that you will see your children grow spiritually, academically, and socially this year. I would truly appreciate your prayers that I will have the wisdom that is needed as I teach your children.
RULES & CONSEQUENCES
Our classroom has three basic rules. They are:
1. No walking without permission.
2. No talking without permission.
3. Keep hands and feet to yourself.
There are also general school rules such as being quiet in the hallway, being respectful and obedient to teachers, wearing proper uniforms, and playground rules.
When a student breaks one of these rules, they will be given a verbal warning. If they continue to disobey the rules, they will serve time at recess. For more serious offenses or repetitive offenses, they will write sentences during break. In extreme cases, they will be sent to the office to meet with Mrs. DeStefano. If they serve time, write sentences, or are sent to the office, I will send home a note to let you know. Please sign the note and return it so that I know that you received it.
HOMEWORK
The only homework that is regularly assigned in 3rd and 4th grade is reading. Your child should bring home their reading book each Friday with an assigned section to be read by Monday, and each Tuesday with an assigned section to be read by Thursday. Students should read this to an adult, ask the adult to initial, and return the assignment to school to be turned in.
Students may have additional work to complete at home if they do not finish all their assigned work at school. You may choose to review spelling words and Bible memory with them as well to prepare them for tests.
TESTS
Students will know about all tests at least a day in advance. For History and Science, they will generally have a study guide or study questions to use. In Language, they may look back through their books and review.
Bible tests are solely memory work, and papers will be sent home at the beginning of each six weeks so that you can review at home. We do review all Bible memory 3-4 times per week in class as well.
Math tests (assessments) will happen after every five lessons. There will be a written assessment where your child practices procedures and concepts, and a fact assessment which evaluates your child’s mental computation and calculation.
Penmanship (Writing) and Spelling tests occur once every week. Penmanship tests are on Wednesdays and Spelling tests are on Fridays, unless you are notified otherwise.
GRADING
Grading will be based on the schools grading scale. Every grade will be categorized as either a test, quiz, or homework grade and will be weighted accordingly.
Every few weeks, I will send home a folder with your child’s graded work. Please review it, sign the folder, and return it to school the following school day.
CONTACT INFO
If you need to reach me about anything, please feel free to call me at (570)541-2805, email me at
morfordmail@yahoo.com, or speak to me quickly before or after school.
This year, I will be trying to maintain a classroom blog. You can find it at
http://mrsmorfordsclass.blogspot.com/ . It is not a necessity for you to check it. It is meant to be a helpful tool for students and their parents, not one more thing to add on to a busy schedule. At the blog you can find spelling lists (and links to study them at Spelling City), a copy of our classroom schedule, copies of letters that are sent home, contact information, and occasional updates on what we are doing in class.
Thanks so much for entrusting me with the education of your children this year. I promise to do my best to provide them with a quality Christian education. I will keep you in my prayers, and would truly appreciate your prayers for me.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Morford
