Boozhoo! Welcome back to school and 3rd grade. I hope everyone had a great summer and is now excited for a spectacular school year. We have a lot of learning to soak up, and I am anxious to embark on our journey. Today we had a busy day getting to know each other and our room. We are already off to a great start.

I am thrilled to inform you that I will be your child’s 3rd grade teacher. I’ll begin with a little history about myself. My name is Mrs. Blanchard. I am married and have three sons: Marcus, Masen, Ethan and my only daughter Sophia. I enjoy sports, music, reading and spending time with my family. This is my seventh year of teaching at the Fond du Lac Ojibwe School. I am very excited about our year and welcome any feedback from you to make it a successful one. I have outlined a few items that will help you understand the way our classroom operates.

To begin, we will be starting our fifth year of using the Success For All reading curriculum. This year we will be changing the program a little to meet the needs of our students. I am very excited to see them grow even more as readers this year. Last spring your child’s reading skills were assessed and from that data they will be placed into a specific reading group according to their ability level.

Even though your child is in my third grade classroom that does not necessarily mean that I will be their reading teacher. Children will be assessed every eight weeks and based on their performance they will continue in their same reading group or move to a group that will best meet their academic needs.

Our Reading block will begin at 8:30 every morning. Please see that your child is on time and prepared to learn. Success For All homework will be assigned every night. It is crucial that your child completes this homework and it is signed off by you on a daily basis in their planner. As a parent, you play a huge role in their success.

We will be implementing our second year of enVision Math. With this curriculum, students learn that they are capable of having mathematical ideas, apply what they know to new situations, and think and reason about unfamiliar problems. I am very excited about implementing enVision Math again and can’t wait to see more positive results!

Classroom Rules

1. I will treat everyone & everything with respect.
2. I will keep my body to myself.
3. I will come to school prepared for learning & try my best.
4. I will act responsibly & accept consequences for my behavior.
5. I will be a kind friend.
6. I will not bully.

Discipline Policy

This year I am implementing a whistle system in my classroom. It is a behavior management technique that is quite effective. All students start the day “in bounds”. Each time a rule is broken they receive a foul. Consequences will be as follows:
Foul 1: Warning
Foul 2: Miss 5 minutes of Recess
Foul 3: Miss 10 minutes of Recess
Foul 4: Miss all of recess
Foul 5: Benched (letter or call home) and possible write-up

Any student that has less than three fouls at the end of the day will receive a ticket for our weekly drawing.

As a class we will have a system of Behavior Bingo. When the entire class earns a compliment, works quietly or does something well together they will earn a letter. When they have 5 squares filled they will earn a reward like popcorn, movie, extra recess gym time or free time.

Homework

Homework will be sent home every night. As part of our reading
curriculum, Success for All, students will be required to do a minimum of 20 minutes of reading per night. As a parent, you must sign off daily, stating your child did indeed engage in that reading. This “at home” reading will be critical for their success. Spelling lists will go home every Friday for the following week. Knowing the correct spelling of these words will greatly increase their reading and writing skills. Please encourage your child to study their spelling words each night. Tests will occur at the end of each week. I will also be sending home math homework periodically throughout the week. This homework will strongly reinforce skills and concepts taught in the classroom.

Each month our class will have an estimation jar. This jar will be filled with something different every month. The student that guesses the correct number of objects will win the contents of the jar.

Daily Planner

Your child will have a daily planner which will be used specifically for tracking homework and daily behavior. It will be sent home every night and must be returned the following school day. Please initial on the P.I. line daily to verify that you read the planner and that your child did his/her homework.

Weekly Newsletter

At the end of each week I will send home a weekly newsletter that will highlight our weekly accomplishments and make you aware of important upcoming events. Spelling words for the upcoming week will be included in the newsletter. This newsletter is also posted on our classroom website. Please take a few minutes to review this each week.

School Supplies

Below is a list of school supplies that I would like your child to have. Please check periodically throughout the year to make sure school supplies haven’t run out.

• endless supply of pencils
• 1 large eraser
• 10 pencil top erasers
• package of crayons
• package of markers
• scissors
• 3 glue sticks
• 1 in. 3 ring binder (folder)
• backpack or book bag (to be brought to school daily)
• folder for daily homework
• tennis shoes for gym

Please do not send pencil boxes or trapper keepers, as we do
not have room to store these items. If for some reason you are unable to purchase these supplies, I will find them for your child. If you haven’t already sent them to school, it helps to label them.

Clothing

It won’t be long before we experience colder temperatures. Please make sure your child has appropriate clothing for the weather. Also, for the first month or so, our school is air-conditioned and it can get quite chilly during the day, so an extra sweatshirt that can stay at school is great.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. Please review this information with your child. I welcome any suggestions you might have to make this a successful year. If at any time you have questions, comments, or concerns please feel free to call me at work (878-7211) or email me at (michelleblanchard@fdlrez.com). My door is always open and I would love to have you visit at any time. It is essential that we work as a team to provide our students with the best possible education.

Miigwech,

Mrs. Blanchard