BAFs Testing

Third Grade will be testing next week.  Monday and Tuesday will be the Reading BAFs and on Wednesday it will be the Math BAFs.  Each test will be 45 minutes long and will test only skills that have been taught so far.  

Please have your child at school on time during the week of testing.  No volunteers until after 11am. Thank you for your cooperation!

October 2014

      

 What  an amazing beginning to the start of the new year. Our third graders have been adjusting to an increased level of independence. October is the month of responsibility. All of our third graders are expected to take the tools that have been given to them over the past two months and incorporate them into their daily routine.

     We had an awesome field trip to the Broward  Center of Performing Arts. The children loved the show and lunch in the park. They learned all different ways to have fun doing Math. The children also loved walking, and riding there bikes to school. What a great way to exercise and spend time with  friends and family. Red ribbon week was also a huge success. The children learned ways to” Just Say No”.  BAFS which replaced  BAT testing was a success. Your children worked extremely hard to achieve their goals.  Please encourage your child to read daily and take AR tests. These tests  are important to your child’s Reading development. Parents can go to www.ARbookfinder. com to check the AR level of any book.

    Please read  and practice multiplication daily. Don’t forget to check out our website. Looking forward to a productive and fun year.

September 2014

To all 3rd Grade Families - the 3rd grade team would like to extend a warm welcome back to all families returning to the Bay for yet another wonderful year of learning and fun.  And to all of our new families joining us for the first time, we are thrilled to have you join such an amazing community of learners.  We look forward to working very diligently with your children to help them grow and develop in a very meaningful way while striving to master all of the standards in the 3rd grade curriculum.  Please ensure that your child is reading every day and help monitor their multiplication homework to assist with the memorization process that is required of your child this year.  Check their agendas regularly, as well as our 3rd grade website, to keep up with all important information and dates for testing and special events.  Please don't hesitate to contact us with any questions and concerns that may arise as the year progresses.


ATTENDANCE ~ ABSENCES & TARDIES

ABSENCES:  Absences must be reported by a parent via telephone or email each day that the child is absent.

By phone:          Attendance Line @ 754-323-6452   or
By email:        manateebayattendance@browardschools.com

The phone call or email must give the child's name, their teacher, the date(s) of the absence, the reason for the absence and the parent's name excusing the absence. Although you have 48 hours to call and excuse the absence, we encourage you to call before 12:00 noon the day of the absence.  If you forget to contact us to have the absence excused, the District will send out an AUTOMATIC phone call for the unexcused absence. 
If your child accumulates 5 or more UNEXCUSED absences throughout the year, the District AUTOMATICALLY generates a BTIP letter.  

Meet and Greet/ Open House 2014-2015 and other important info.

Important Dates:

August 14, 2014- Meet and Greet (BRING YOUR CHILD TO THIS EVENT.) (1:30-2:30 p.m.) At this event you can stop by at anytime between 1:30-2:30.  This is an informal visit for your child to meet their new teacher and see their new classroom.  

August 15, 2014- Open House  (DO NOT BRING YOUR CHILD.)(2:00-3:00 p.m.)

August 18th is the first day of school for students.  Office hours during the summer are Monday-Thursday, 7:30am to 3:00pm.  We are closed on Friday.  The office will be closed the week of June 30-July 4, 2014.  

Summer Registration times are Monday-Thursday, 8am to 12:30pm.  Please adhere to the Registration and office schedules as we are short staffed in the summer.  

Transportation information will be mailed directly from the Transportation Department to your home.  If you live more than two miles from the school and do not receive information, please check with us at Meet and Greet.  Due to summer cleaning and preparation for the upcoming year, we will not be providing tours during the summer.    

Mrs. S. Bermudez

Mrs. A. Bloch

Mrs. D. Childress

Mrs. V. Cooper

Mrs. K. Couch

Miss K. Marshall

Mrs. E. Novales

Ms. K. Saker

Mrs. L. Salzer

Ms. J. Skelton

Mrs. P. Zeeman

Mrs. C. Wolfer

SUPPLY LIST FOR 2014-2015

SUPPLY LIST FOR 2014-2015
For your convenience, pre-packaged class supply kits can be purchased by clicking on the link:
ORDER SCHOOL SUPPLIES/DELIVERED TO YOUR HOME ZIP CODE 33332
Orders will be taken through June 30th.  

Please remember that individual teachers may have different supply requests.  Check with your child's teacher during Meet and Greet and Open House.  

June/July 2014 Summer Information for Parents

 Important Dates:

May 26, 2014- Memorial Day (Off)
June 2, 2014- End of Year Celebration/ Principal Honor Roll Breakfast
June 5, 2014- Honor Roll Assembly for 3rd Grade/ Early Release/ Last Day of School

 

Motivating Kids to Read:

Keeping Kids Off the Summer Slide

Something is waiting for many children each summer and their parents don’t even know it’s out there. It's called the "summer slide," and it describes what happens when young minds sit idle for three months.

As parents approach the summer break, many are thinking about the family vacation, trips to the pool, how to keep children engaged in activities at home, the abrupt changes to everyone's schedule—and how to juggle it all. What they might not be focusing on is how much educational ground their children could lose during the three-month break from school, particularly when it comes to reading.
Experts agree that children who read during the summer gain reading skills, while those who do not often slide backward. According to the authors of a report from the National Summer Learning Association: "A conservative estimate of lost instructional time is approximately two months or roughly 22 percent of the school year.... It's common for teachers to spend at least a month re-teaching material that students have forgotten over the summer. That month of re-teaching eliminates a month that could have been spent on teaching new information and skills."
The report's authors further note that family income plays a significant role in determining the magnitude of this summer slide. Students from low-income families "...experience an average summer learning loss in reading achievement of over two months." Not only do these students suffer greater sliding during the summer, they also experience cumulative effects of greater learning loss each summer.
Sociologists Karl Alexander and Doris Entwisle have shown that the cumulative effect of summer learning differences is a primary cause of widening achievement gaps between students of lower and higher socioeconomic levels. Research demonstrates that while student achievement for both middle- and lower-income students improves at similar rates during the school year, low-income students experience cumulative summer learning losses throughout their elementary school years.

Summer slide affects millions of children each year in this country—but it doesn't have to. Other articles in the "Motivating Kids to Read Section" offer tips for parents, caregivers, and members of community organizations to help keep learning fun throughout the summer break and the rest of the year.
Source: Reading Is Fundamental

Here are some Links to help your child stay away from the Summer Slide in Reading and Math:

Scholastic Summer Challenge/Letter to Parents

Tenmarks Math Program for the Summer (Ask your child's teacher for an access code.)

Tenmarks Programa de Matematica para el VERANO (en espanol para los padres)

Books to read:
Book-lists-and-recommendations/ages-8-10
Scholastic Reading Booklist

April/May 2014

We’re in the home stretch of the 2013-2014 school year! With your support and help, our third graders have had a successful year.    We still have a lot of work to do to make sure all students are academically prepared for the next grade.  Now that we have completed the 3^rd grade math book, students are working on 4^th grade skills.  On that note, your child should have the 0-12 times tables memorized.  Please work with him/her if they continue to struggle. 

Many of the students are working hard on their STEM projects that will be displayed at the STEM Expo on  May 14^th from 6 – 7 PM in the cafeteria.  Another important school event is the Spring Book Fair, which is the week of May 12^th. More information will be forthcoming as to the time and day your child’s class will be attending.  
Important Dates: 

May 1, 2014- Interim Reports Issued/ Intermediate Spring Pictures

May 5-9, 2014- Teacher Appreciation Week
May 12-16, 2014- Scholastic Book Fair Week 

May 15, 2014- Scholastic Book Fair Family Night

May 13, 2014- Papa John's Night
May 23, 2014- Teacher Planning (Off) 
May 26, 2014- Memorial Day (Off)
June 2, 2014- End of Year Celebration/ Principal Honor Roll Breakfast
June 5, 2014- Honor Roll Assembly for 3rd Grade/ Early Release/ Last Day of School

 

January 2014

Important Dates:
January 20, 2014- Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (Off)
January 22, 2014- Report Cards Issued for Second QuarterJanuary 26-31, 2014- Melting Pot Week
January 28, 2014- Honor Roll Assembly for 3rd Grade @9:30am

December has been a busy month for Third Grade. Some of the children have been sharing their Immigration Projects with their class. It has been wonderful learning about all the different heritages that are present at Manatee Bay. The children have discussed the book Molly’s Pilgrim and compared and contrasted it to themselves and the Pilgrims of long ago. 

The children are working hard mastering their multiplication facts and learning about the inverse operation of multiplication which is division. When the children return in January they will be taking the BAT 2 test during the week of January 13-17. This is a test that works as a tool to help us prepare your child for the FCAT in April. Please remember that all students must pass the FCAT reading test as it is used for criteria for promotion to Fourth Grade.