Back To School Night

Welcome to Back To School Night

Mrs. Pollard’s Class

Classroom Website and Teacher e-mail

http//www.myteacherpages.com/webpagesMPollard

E-mail: mpollard@rbusd.org

     My goal is to instill my students with a desire to become a life-long learner.  I want to promote a sense of responsibility in the children.  I want them to believe in themselves!   I will provide lessons that meet all of the state standards while working hard to keep them excited and interested. 

Who Is Your Child’s Teacher?

     My name is Megan Pollard.  I earned my Bachelor of Arts degree at California State University, Sacramento.  I received my teaching credential at National University, and a Masters of Arts in Bilingual Cross- Cultural Education at California State University, Sacramento.  I have been teaching for 21 years.  This is my 15^th year at Birney Elementary School.  I decided to become a teacher when I was in kindergarten.  I have not changed my mind since!  I love teaching.  I am excited for each new-year and I am constantly finding new and good teaching practices.

Parent Communication

     You as a parent are one of the greatest resources.  It is essential that parents are willing to get involved in their child’s education.  Your support at home will make it a successful year.  I believe that it is very important to keep the lines of communication open.  Please feel free to contact me a t any time. IF you need to get a hold of me, the office can put you through to my classroom before of after school.  You can e-mail me.  I check my e-mail daily.  Feel free to send me a note or stop by.  Each week I will put a Class News Letter in your child’s folder.  This will let you know what we are working on in class and what events are happening.  Please read this letter each week.  You might want to put it on your refrigerator to refer to it each day to see what is happening. 

     If you come to school during the school day you must first check in with the office   I am open to parents stopping by the class to see what we are doing!

Homework Folder / Family Envelope and Keeper Papers

The intent of homework in third grade is to reinforce and practice concepts taught each school day.  Therefore, your child will receive daily homework rather than a weekly packet. 

            Homework will be assigned each day Monday – Thursday, and will be due the next school day.  Long term projects and research reports will be assigned separately and you will be given plenty of notice and detailed instructions.

            Multiplication Facts – By the end of third grade students are expected to memorize the multiplication tables for numbers between 1 and 10.  Please keep a multiplication facts sheet at home and practice these facts often.  I also recommend purchasing or making flash cards with multiplication and division facts.

            Reading – Your child is required to read at least 20 minutes each evening (Monday – Thursday) as a part of their homework.

Homework should be neat and is expected to be complete and accurate.  If your child is struggling with an assignment, and you are unable to help, please attach a note explaining the difficulty.

            The agenda is to be signed by a parent each evening.  This way I will know that you looked over your child’s work.   

I will be giving a Family Folder and keeper papers each Monday.

The homework is due the following school day and the Family Folder will be due back on Tuesday.  The Family Folder will have information in it that will tell you what is happening at school and in the community.  Please put any completed forms, checks or communication in this folder.  This is provided for you to keep thing organized, and to make sure that things get turned in. Often things can get lost in your child’s backpack and not turned in.  I will send home the previous week’s corrected work in this folder. Please make sure that you go over this with your child and praise them for their hard work.  If they have any mistakes, this is the perfect opportunity to review concepts and make sure they understand what is being taught in class. Your child is doing amazing things in class and they deserve this recognition.

Homewok:

      Please work with your child to establish good study habits.  Provide your child with a quiet place to do their homework. This will train them with the study habits needed in the future.  Please make sure that they do their best work and always use a pencil.  Make sure that they have all of the school supplies that they need at home to do their work.  They need a pencil, crayons, scissors, and glue.

Parent Volunteers

     I welcome and encourage parent volunteers both in the classroom and at home.  I will need parents to help with Universal Access time daily. Universal Access time allows the children to break up into small groups.  Breaking up into small groups allows children more individual attention. If you are not able to come in the class, you can cut, staple or prepare things at home.  I also would love a parent to help with the Scholastic book orders. 

Daily Schedule

Mrs. Pollard’s

3^rd Grade- Room 6

8:15 - 8:30                 Opening / Agenda /Correct Homework

8:30 - 9:00                 Spelling / Grammar/Writer's Workshop

9:00 - 9:30                 P.E.

9:30 – 10:15               Language Arts

10:35-10:50             Recess

10::50-11:45               Universal Access Time

11:45-12:05               Universal Access Time

12:05-12:50               Lunch

12:50-1:50                 Math

1:50-2:30                   Social Studies / Science / Art

2:30-2:35                   closing / clean up

2:35                            Dismissal *

*Wednesday Dismissal at 1:35

Other Activities

°              Library & Computer Lab – Monday

°               Music – Wednesday 

°              Moving Children

Behavior Management

     We as members of Redondo Beach Unified School District pride ourselves on students who display good character.  I work to instill all of the six pillars of character in my students.  The six pillars are; trust, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship.  It is all about making smart choices.  I will be using a four color code to help the children remember to make smart choices.  A card with each student’s name on it is on green each morning.  If he/she breaks a rule, they will give me their green card.  If they make another bad choice, I will ask for another card.  My goal is to have the children learn to make smart choices.

Green- Keep up the good work

Blue- Warning/ Be careful

Yellow- Think time during recess

Red- I will call or e-mail you

     I will be giving out gold cards for students who demonstrate exemplary behavior in a pillar.  This is very exciting!  The class sings a “good news” song and the child then goes to the office for a Character Counts sticker and a Birney Buck.  They should save these Birney Bucks to buy treats at the Birney Store.  We will have “Fun Friday to reward those children who were able to stay off red for the entire week.  Fun Friday is a free choice time to choose any center that we have done during the week.

Rewards

        Gold Card

        Sticker on their sticker chart

        Marbles in the marble jar for group good behavior

        Fun Friday

        Treats out of the treat basket

        Monthly student achievement awards

     I will be sending surprise notes home if your child is receiving an award this month.  We will be having the awards ceremony in our classroom.  You are welcome and encouraged to come to the awards ceremony.  I will let you know the time and date in our newsletter.

P.T.A.  Membership

     If you are already a P.T.A. member, THANK YOU!  We have an amazing P.T.A. here.  They help out in so many ways.  The P.T.A. provides each class with busses for fieldtrips, the give each class money to purchase the supplies that are needed to keep each child supplied with all of the latest technology and learning materials.  They also supply our school with the art supplies we need to do our

class projects.  We are hoping for 100 percent participation in this.

Home Work Expectations
For 3rd Grade

At Birney Elementary School, teachers believe that the purpose of homework is to provide students with opportunities to extend classroom lessons and to transfer specific skills and concepts to new situations. In addition, homework is designed to develop personal responsibility, self-discipline and effective study skills and is a reinforcement or extension of class instruction. It is very important that all homework is completed as assigned. Homework is given nightly from Monday through Thursday. With the exception of studying for a quiz or a project, weekend homework is not given. Students will be responsible for writing their assignments, quizzes, and projects in the agenda books.

How much homework? A general rule is homework should be equal to the grade times ten. So, third graders should get an average of 30 minutes of homework nightly. Of course this does not include the constant breaks, or other interruptions. As with all instructional activities, homework assignments should be meaningful, relevant, and grade appropriate. Homework assignments will increase in both length and scope as student progress from grade-to-grade.

What happens if an assignment is not completed?
If an assignment is not turned in when it is due, a Missing Homework stamp will be included in the agenda book. The agenda is to be signed daily.

If your child has a missing homework, they will be given a walk the line slip.  They will walk the line during the first recess.  The missing homework stamp is to be signed, and the missing homework completed and returned the following school day.

Expectations for School Performance

Students, teachers, and parents share responsibility in the learning process. Each entity is valued and respected, and each works for the benefit of all in our community of learners. Birney School offers students and the school community opportunities to exercise responsibility, decision making and leadership as well as opportunities to participate in school and extra-curricular activities. Our mission will be realized when our students can begin to demonstrate awareness of the relationship between rights and responsibilities; acceptance of responsibility for their own actions; and begin to achieve the ultimate goal of becoming self-directed learners, who take responsibility, set high goals, and develop intellectual curiosity.

Birney School provides academic offerings necessary to meet the school's academic and social expectations and that meet the needs of students of different abilities, interests, motivations and educational goals. Students will meet appropriate levels of academic skills necessary to prepare for state assessment tests; demonstrate an ability to use all resources and tools available for learning and research, including information systems and computer technology; develop personal study skills to a level sufficient to discover, organize, interpret and evaluate information in order to make decisions and implement new ideas and solutions; demonstrate and effectively employ receptive and expressive communication skills including listening, reading, writing and speaking, allowing students to become literate individuals; and demonstrate the ability to become life-long learners through the use of critical thinking skills, problem solving skills, physical development skills and an understanding of the importance of personal wellness. Our mission will be realized when our students can begin to demonstrate inquisitiveness and productivity who view the acquisition of knowledge as a lifelong pursuit. A primary goal is to instill in students a life-long habit of inquiry and the confidence and skills to approach any learning situation with success.

Birney School engages in a partnership with students, faculty, families and community members. This partnership promotes academic and creative excellence encouraging the physical, social and emotional well being within a safe learning environment. Together as a community, we respect and celebrate the individuality and diversity of all people. During this unique period of early adolescence, we provide opportunity for the continued pursuit of knowledge and support each individual in the process of becoming a life long learner.
 

Types of Homework Assignments

Generally, Southside School teachers assign any of four types of daily homework assignments. These are preparation, practice, extension, and creative/enrichment assignments. Examples of these types of assignments are:

• Preparation- This type of assignment is intended to help students get ready for the next day's classroom lesson. For instance, a reading assignment may be given prior to a social studies lesson. Students might be asked to write their own discussion questions based on the reading assignment. Or, the student may be asked to complete answers to reading review questions from the text.

• Practice- By successfully completing practice assignments, students have the opportunity to review and reinforce skills, knowledge, and information presented in a previous lesson. An example might be, after a grammar lesson students would be asked to write their own sentence and label the specific grammatical elements presented in the most recent classroom lesson.

• Extension -Extension assignments ask students to expand on skills and/or concepts taught during a previous class. For example, after studying an historical period, a student might be asked to read an article or book pertaining to that period and report their findings to the class.

• Creative/Enrichment -This assignment includes analyzing, synthesizing and evaluating concept or skills already taught. Students have an opportunity to develop and apply their own ideas about a topic and prepare a presentation for the teachers or class. One example would be to assign students the task of creating an invention that would solve a problem.
 

A student's ability to read is strengthened by reading each day at home. Southside School strongly urges each student to spend time reading for pleasure or interest each day, in addition to homework time. In addition to books of interest, newspapers, magazines and journals can be included. A minimum of 20 to 30 minutes of daily reading will significantly enhance students' reading skills.

Students, Parents & Teachers Together on Homework!

Students -

·         Record all assignments in Agenda Book.

·         Include related directions with assignments.

·         Ask questions of your teacher to clarify homework.

·         Ask for help to successfully complete difficult assignments.

·         Establish a schedule/plan for short and long term assignments.

·         Get organized!

·         Turn in work that is neat, accurate, and on time.

·         Do NOT forget daily reading!

Parents -

• Provide your child with a designated place for homework.
• Assist in developing a routine including a scheduled time.
• Assist in plans for long and short term assignments.
• Check and assist on a daily basis.
• Encourage your child to contact teacher with problems or questions.
• Support the daily reading!

Teachers -

·         Present homework assignments orally and in writing.

·         Assist students in recording assignments in their Agenda Books.

·         Communicate the relationship of assignment to class work.

·         Provide examples of how the assignment is to be done.

·         Collect and correct homework and specify the value of homework in students' final grades

·         Assist students in developing plans for long & short term assignments.

·         Coordinate with other teachers to minimize conflicts.

Mrs. Pollard's Third Grade Stars!
Birney Elementary - Redondo Beach USD
1600 Green Ln, Redondo Beach CA 90278

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