Procedures ~ extremely important for both classrooms!

Parents:  Please check your cihld's planner on a daily basis, as homework will be given on average on a daily basis, not weekly.  If you prefer, you may initial your child's planner to let Mrs. Lewis and me know that you have indeed seen it that day.  If requested or if the student has difficulty remembering to use his/her planner, we may also sign your child's planner and ask that you do the same.

Students:  Please bring your binder, planner (to be kept in your binder at all times), homework and homework folder, a book to read, and two good pencils to class each and every day.  Remember:  YOU are responsible for YOU!!

Please also note the following: 

HOMEWORK...
*Homework, homework folders, and planners are to be kept in the binder at ALL times- no exceptions! 

FRIDAY FAMILY LETTERS...
*Student generated weekly "Family Letters" will be written just about every Friday in class.  They are to be kept in the front of the planner inside the binder over the weekend, and should not be taken out to be read.  Please read and sign it in your child's binder and return it in the binder the following Monday.  All letters will be collected and returned to the students at the end of the year to make into a memory book documenting not only events and goings-on, but also to see how their handwriting and letter writing has improved.  An idea the students really love is you actually writing back a sentence or two on their letter.  It's a fabulous motivator and means a lot to them!

WEEKLY WORKSHEETS...
Most worksheets will be kept in the LA section of the binder after we work on them.  They can/should be reviewed each night by you and your child or may be removed after that test has been taken (usually within one to two weeks).  Other times they may remain in the binder until the end of the quarter.  Others will be removed at the teacher's discretion.  Please refrain from cleaning out your child's binder! 

"SOL REVIEW" WORKSHEETS...
These look just like other weekly worksheets but the student will be directed to keep them in his/her SOL Section of the binder.  DO NOT REMOVE ANY PAPERS FROM THIS SECTION... EVER!!  They must remain in the binder for bubble sheet tests and even until May for the SOLs.  We definitely encourage review- especially with a  parent/guardian- often, but it is not necessary to remove the papers to do so.  The more your child reviews these items, the higher chance s/he has of retaining it for the SOLs in May... repitition is the key to learning...repitition is the key to learning... repitition is the key to learning... repitition is the key to learning... :)

"Ten Test Taking Tips"

Below is a power point show that you can watch with your children.  It features the 10 Test Taking Tips that will be discussed and practiced at length in class for using on all types of tests.  It's great information for any student at any age!  Enjoy.  :o)

Blurb on the SOLs (you really need to read this only once)

"The Standards of Learning for Virginia Public Schools describe the commonwealth's expectations for student learning and achievement in grades K-12 in English, mathematics, science, history/social science, technology, the fine arts, foreign language, health and physical education, and driver education.  These standards represent a broad consensus of what parents, classroom teachers, school administrators, academics, and business and community leaders believe schools should teach and students should learn."
-quote from the SOLpass.org website

Mrs. Jimerson's philosophy on SOLs...
Some people are still skeptical of the Standards of Learning, but their concerns can be somewhat eased when they realize a few simple things.  First, we do NOT "teach to the test."  Often, people say this is what teachers do nowadays; that we are so overly-focused on one event during the school year that it completely changes how we teach the rest of the year.  This is not entirely so.  Yes, the SOLs are a major focus, but not necessarily in a negative way.  They do keep teachers accountable to teach certain topics more often than others, but at the same time, we continue to teach things that will not be on the test.  Secondly, we do not "cram" for the SOLs in the spring.  Instead, I take the approach, as does Mrs. Lewis, to teach standard items from the beginning of the school year through May.  Another way to look at is this:  on every test your child will take, unbeknownst to them, there are at least two or three items that we teachers consider to be more important than the rest, so we emphasize them more.  These are items your child should understand inside and out by the end of the unit, and quite possibly, it could be on the SOL.  However, we teach much more than just those two or three skills or items.  We absolutely MUST teach the other 25 items so that those two or three make sense to your child.  Another way to look at these items or the SOLs are "things that every third grader should know."  How well your child has learned and studied them determines their SOL score.  Of course we realize there are other factors that influence your child's performance on the SOL- such as health, his or her interpretation of the test questions, his or her will to do their best and take their time, remembering to check his or her work, his or her comfort with taking "bubble tests," or how much sleep he or she had the night before the test, if they ate breakfast, etc.  Therefore, no, we do not "teach to the test;" rather, we integrate things that every third grader should understand into our every day core curriculum, and teach it the best we can.  I will not state whether or not agree with the SOLs, because that is not the issue. 

                                              So... what will your children learn this year? 
                                                  It's really up to them.  I'm here to help.

SOL Review Section of the Binder

Do you find your child complains of having nothing to do? 

Do you ever wish they had just something to review for a few minutes in the car
or while you cook dinner?  Here you go!! :)

This is a VERY important section of your child's binder!!  Every now and then, Mrs. Lewis and I will ask the children to put papers in this section of their binder.  For Language Arts, they typically will have the shape of VA in the top corner with the letters SOL.  These skills most DEFINITELY will be covered on the SOL.  Other papers may be skills your child had a difficult time learning and we wish them to put extra effort into re-learning the skill before May.

At ANY time, feel free to go over the material with them.  The information should NOT be new to them; we would have covered it extensively in class, but they should be somewhat familiar with it, even months after it was first introduced. 

We ask that you do NOT remove these papers from their binder if you feel you must  clean out your child's binder from time to time.  Also, we will not direct them to do anything with these papers, other than review them on their own, which is why you need to be aware of how the SOL Review section works. 

More will be added as the year goes on.  Email us anytime with questions about SOLs and preparing your student for them, or visit the Links/Games section of my Weebly for further fun reinforcement.