Coach Randall's Playbook

This is a very special year in your child's school career. They will be making the transition from primary to intermediate students. I can't wait to guide them along this journey as they become more independent and responsible learners. Here are the basics of my third grade classroom. Please note that many of my classroom procedures can be viewed in more detail by clicking on the colored subtitles.

Contacting Mrs. Randall: Please know that open communication between us is essential to a happy and productive experience for your child. If you have questions, concerns, funny stories or happy thoughts about your child I would love to hear them! Please write me a note or give me a call at school. I try to return phone calls the same day I receive them. If you call me after 2:45p.m., chances are you will not hear from me until the following day, as I check all of my messages at that time. Please understand that my evenings are devoted to my family and I do not take calls at home. If you have a quick question or comment, feel free to email me.

Behavior Management: We have a variety of behavior management systems in place in our classroom. Our whole class has the opportunity to earn Teamwork Points for working together to transition quickly and quietly between subjects, as well as exhibiting excellent teamwork. When our class earns twenty points, we will celebrate! Individually, students will earn Good For Yous. This is Meridian’s school-wide positive behavior support program. Students earn these tickets for following our Mustang Must Do Rules in all areas of our school. I will also be handing out Caught Being Good Coins. When students collect ten, they may pick a prize from my collection. These systems all focus on the positive behaviors that students exhibit throughout the day.

If I have students who continually break rules and disrupt others from learning, I will have them sign my Strike Out Book. If a student strikes out three times, they will not participate in our monthly Friday Fun Club. I will also be contacting parents if this behavior continues.

Classroom Website: This year I am pleased to offer a website to my students. This website serves as a tool to keep parents and community members in touch with the events in our classroom. Every year I feel as though I have a limited time with parents to discuss classroom procedures and curriculum so I created a place for families to get detailed explanations of this information. It also provides a place for students to review their assignments, practice skills, and play learning games.

Homework Blog: I will be posting to my homework blog on our classroom website for students and parents to review all homework assignments and special projects. The blog will be updated weekly to reflect the current homework schedule. This should be a useful tool for students who leave early, are absent from school or did not correctly complete their planners.

Homework: Third graders are expected to do 30-35 minutes of homework every night. Please see the more in depth descriptions of homework in the homework section of the website.

Reading: 15 minutes should be devoted to reading each night. Research shows that children who read with their parents become more successful students and adults. Please support your children in this endeavor with a nightly reading program that averages 75 minutes per week (15 minutes per night) minimum.

Math: Most days your child will receive a Home Link to complete at the end of each math lesson. Occasionally, your child may not have math homework. This may be due to a longer lesson that was not completed that day, or that we completed a lesson and took an end of unit test. Home Links often require parental involvement to be effective and I ask that a parent looks over homework nightly. Your child may also receive study guides before tests and/or be asked to brush up on math facts.

Spelling: Students should spend approximately 5-10 minutes practicing the new spelling pattern for the week Monday -Thursday. While I do have spelling tasks that students will complete in class during the school week, I will not be sending specific spelling homework home. I prefer to let students choose from a variety of activities. I will send home a list of spelling activities that students can complete to help them practice their spelling words at home.

Special Projects: Occasionally we will have a special project to complete. I will send home directions, rubric, materials, etc. as needed. These projects will be posted on the homework blog as well as the special projects section on our website.

Literacy Bags: Literacy Bags are themed book sets in canvas bags that I created over the summer for my students.The literacy bags are not homework, but a simple way to encourage a love for reading. They also provide families with new reading material to enjoy together. Literacy Bags can be checked out throughout the year and kept for a week at a time.

Planners: Third graders will be responsible for keeping track of their own homework this year. Adequate time will be given for students to copy their homework assignments into their planners each day. Students will also take notes on what they did at school during the day. Please allow your child to use these notes as a reminder when asked about their school day. I will be checking planners for parent signatures the first half of the school year. Later in the year, it is expected that students will begin taking responsibility for having their planners filled out; homework turned in and signed without teacher or parent support. In the event that a student leaves early and does not have the opportunity to copy the assignments into the planner, please view our homework blog on our classroom website.

T.E.A.M. Binders: The T.E.A.M. Binder is a three ring binder that students in my class will use everyday to help develop their organizational skills and promote responsibility.Third grade is a big transitional year where the students will become more independent and really need a good organizational foundation to build upon. It contains folders, pockets, a planner and sheet protectors.

The binder is a way of maintaining effective communication between home and school. Hopefully this binder will eliminate lost homework and disorganized backpacks.

Team Randall Tribune: Our monthly newsletter can be found in your child's T.E.A.M. Binder. Please remove it from the T.E.A.M. Binder and post it on your refrigerator so that it can be shared will all family members. You may view all current and past issues on our classroom website as well.

Returned School Work: All of the work your child does in school during the week, as well as their reviewed homework, will be sent home in their T.E.A.M Binder on Friday. I typically do not send any work home during the week. The reason for this is that I want you to see, all at once, the work that your child has done throughout the entire week. I feel that if pieces come home randomly throughout the week, and you're looking at them in isolation, it is hard to get a global picture of how they are doing academically. If the entire week's work is reviewed all together, you are able to get a better feel for the objectives that were covered, the progression in which it was taught and how your child performed overall during the week. Not every piece of work that comes home will be graded. Please refer to the section on grading for an explanation of my procedure.

Grading: Throughout the year you may see work come home that is not graded. This is not because I didn't review it, it is because many of the activities we do in class are designed to be a practice of skills. Wouldn't it be stressful if you were graded for every new skill you were practicing? I will grade student's spelling tests on Friday, but I will only review the spelling center activities and homework completed during the week as these are assigned for practice. There will also be times when our class spends time learning to write in a specific genre. We will have individual and small group conferences to celebrate our writing, discuss suggestions for improvement and revision, and to facilitate the editing process. These pieces will not be graded. I will inform students when I plan to grade a specific piece of writing and a rubric will be attached to it and it will be published in their writing anthology. I will be checking for understanding and completion of all homework assignments. This includes math home links, reading assignments, and special projects.

The Whiz Kids Club: This is a club for my students who are interested in going above and beyond the normal classroom expectations. Information about the Whiz Kids Club can be found on our classroom website. Students may become a 1 star member all the way up to 90 star member! Once a student has earned 15 stars they will earn a spot on our Whiz Kids Scoreboard and their name in lights on our classroom website.

Birthdays: Your child’s special day is important to me. Feel free to send small treats for the class on or around your child’s birthday. A current team roster can be found in your child's T.E.A.M. Binder or on our website. We will celebrate summer birthdays later in the school year.

Mystery Readers: I would like to invite any parents, older siblings, grandparents, relatives, or other special people to surprise your child by being a “Mystery Reader” this year in our classroom. Students LOVE having their family, friends, and relatives visit our classroom to share in our learning by reading a favorite story aloud to our class. Mystery Readers will visit us on Fridays each week. Readers are asked to bring a book to read or read a teacher-chosen book from our classroom library. I will have an information/sign-up sheet available at Back to School Night on Monday, August 17th from 4:00-7:00 p.m. in our classroom.

Book Orders: I will be sending home book orders every few months. Book orders are an excellent way to build up your child’s library fairly inexpensively. The opportunity to buy books is made available to all. Please do not feel obligated to participate each time. I usually send 3-4 order forms home each time to provide you with variety. Please make the check(s) payable to the company/companies from which you’ve ordered. Send all checks and orders back in a labeled baggie or envelope inside your child’s homework folder. Please note that the book clubs do not accept cash. I have also created a link on the website for you to order from our classroom account online. This is a convenient and secure way to order books for your child.

Parent Volunteers: What would I do without parent helpers? There are many opportunities to volunteer in our classroom throughout the year. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer in our classroom please visit the classroom website section on volunteering this year. You can print out extra copies of the volunteer sign-up sheet from the volunteer page on our website, or fill out and return the volunteer sign-up sheet that will be sent home in the T.E.A.M Binder. It will also be available at Back to School night. After a few weeks of school, once routines are well established, I will send home a schedule of classroom volunteers. There will also be a few times throughout the year that you may volunteer to chaperone field trips or help with classroom parties. I will send separate sign-up sheets home with permission slips as needed.

School hours: There are many changes at the beginning of the school year which cause me to rework our schedule quite a bit. Once it is finalized I will post it on our classroom website and place a copy in the T.E.A.M. Binder.