Tag Archives: welcome back

~A GREAT Start~

Parents,
We had a great first four days of third grade! We have been learning classroom and school procedures (SOAR) and we have been getting to know our classmates, too. What a wonderful group of learners! Remember that we do not have school tomorrow (Friday) or on Monday. We will be back on Tuesday, September 3!

************************

We have started learning about Growth Mindset. Our third graders will be learning more about this and will be using it as they learn throughout the year. We learned that our brain is like a muscle that grows stronger when we work hard and face challenges. Our mindset and attitude impacts the way we learn new things. Our mantra this month is EVERYONE CAN LEARN! The has been a great reminder for our class for when something is hard to do.

We discussed the difference between a Fixed Mindset and a Growth Mindset.
For example, with a Fixed Mindset, we say “I can’t do it”, but when we have a Growth Mindset, our thought is changed to “I can do it if I practice and try my best”.

Our class talked about how it is okay to feel upset, angry, or frustrated about learning new things, but when we feel that way, we need to use strategies to help us calm down and change our mindset.
We have been learning strategies such as movement breaks or calming breaths throughout our day that help us focus on our learning and be ready to take on challenges in a positive way.
Please take a look in your child’s daily folder next week. You will see an orange paper that gives you more information about Growth Mindset and ways that you can encourage this at home with your child. I look forward to encouraging our students as learners this year!

************************

Puzzle Piece Homework:  Each student in our class is special and unique and together we make a great team! Each student is part of the puzzle that is our class. On Tuesday, we read a book called The Crayon Box That Talked. This reminded us that each one of us is a special part of our classroom community. Students were sent home with a puzzle piece homework assignment today. Please read this over with your third grader. This should be brought back to school by next Friday, September 6.

Thank you and have a great weekend!!

Ms Van Arkel   🙂

See you on Monday!!

Third Grade Families,

It was great meeting you and your third grader last night! We are going to have a wonderful group this year and I look forward to learning together!

FOR YOUR INFORMATION
I want to share a couple more things for you to know about third grade and our classroom:

Forms to turn in: At open house, you picked up an envelope from the office as well as your child’s folder. There were forms in the envelope from the office and there were a few surveys from me in your child’s daily folder.  All of these forms should be brought back to school sometime next week. Thank you!

Snack: Please help your child to pack a healthy snack to eat during our morning snack time each day. On occasion, some students forget their snack and I try to keep a snack here for those times. Thank you for your snack donations!

Background Check: In order to volunteer at our school (field trip, class events, help in the class, etc.), you will need to fill out a background check form. You can fill out the form HERE.

Birthdays: We like to celebrate birthdays/half birthdays in our class. We celebrate by singing to our classmate (if they choose) and I give them a special gift. Though not required, some students may wish to bring something for the class. As a school and classroom policy, please do not send in food. Your child may bring in a small gift such as pencils, bookmarks, stickers, erasers, bracelets, etc. Something simple or useful usually works best. Another option is to donate a book or game in your child’s honor that the whole class can enjoy. Thank you for your help with this!

Specials: Here is our specials schedule-
Day 1- PE
Day2-Art
Day3-Steam
Day4-Music
We will have PE on the first day of school. Please make sure your child brings gym shoes to school.

We will start library in a few weeks. Our library day will be on Tuesday. 

 

I am excited to see our great group of third graders on Monday!!  🙂

Ms Van Arkel