Ms. Todd

Dear Parents,

Each week I will be blogging your child's assignments for the week.  Children write their assignments in their homework planners each afternoon, but I will be sending assignments to you in advance in this format so that you know what to expect for the week.  Please note that I am asking children to share their assignment planners with you each day, and to obtain a parent signature showing that they've done so.  This is a great time for your children to be able to have a few minutes with you each day to talk about school and how their day went.

Before school begins, establish a consistent place and time for your child to complete homework.  Also, help your child to organize a routine of getting the completed homework into the home folder, and then into the backpack.  Homework should take between 15-30 minutes to complete.  If your child is having difficulty completing homework in a timely manner, please email me so that we can put together a plan to help him/her out.

Your children and I will also be having a conversation about getting outside each day to play, and to spend at least 15 minutes each day curled up with a good book.  Many parents find that reading is a good activity to end the day, just before bedtime.   

Tuesday Evening:

1. Bring art shirt
2. Parents complete and return packet of paperwork
3. Return Summer Reading Challenge
4. Bring items for poster
5. Return field trip permission and money
6. Parents sign homework planner

Wednesday Evening

1. Bring gym shoes
2. Complete Home Link 1.1
3. Parents sign homework planner

Thursday Evening: 

1. Complete Home Link 1.2
2. Complete as many addition problems as you can in 5 minutes!
3. Parents sign homework planner
4. Last call for field trip permission slips and money
   

 Enjoy your long weekend! 

Posted by Ms Todd at 12:03 PM | Permalink

Dear Parents,

Thank you for attending Parent Orientation last evening.  It was great to meet you and I look forward to welcoming your children to their third grade experience next Tuesday.  

I am thrilled that many of you are able to volunteer both in and out of the classroom.   If you are still looking for an opportunity to volunteer, we could still use Math Volunteers to play math games with the children on Fridays from 1:00-1:45.  In the next few weeks I will contact all volunteers to confirm a starting date.

I had the chance today to look through all the goodies you donated to our classroom and to our science program.  Your generosity is very much appreciated!  We are already well on our way to a great school year.

Again, thank you for stepping forward to help make this a memorable year for your children.

Sincerely,

Pru Todd 

PS to my students.... I will meet you in the gym on Tuesday morning when you get off the bus.  See you then! 

Posted by Ms Todd at 12:22 PM | Permalink

Dear Parents,

Hello again!  I wanted to give you a heads up about the volunteer opportunities that will be available to you during the upcoming school year.  Look over your schedules and see if any are a good fit for you.  If nothing works right now, don't fret.  More opportunities will be available later and you can volunteer then.  I'll keep you updated via this blog. Sign-up sheets for each of these opportunities will be in the classroom during Parent Orientation on August 26th.

Party Planners

Plan food and entertainment for class parties.  Call parents for food and paper goods donations.

Donate Food/Paper Goods for Class Parties

Make Phone Calls

Make phone calls to all parents of children in Ms. Todd's classroom as the need arises.

Book Order Coordinator

Tally orders for Scholastic book orders.  Call in order or order the books online.  Make sure money totals are accurate, handle all money transactions, mail payment to Scholastic.

Library, Tuesdays 11:00-12:00

List to children read, help children select approopriate books, assist librarian.

Math, Fridays 1:00-1:45

Help children learn their math facts, teach math games to children, play math games with children.

Clipboard Games & Treasure Chest Coordinators, Fridays 12:30-1:00

Check contents of clipboards, change contents of clipboards, and issue clipboards to children.  Help children pick prizes from the Treasure Chest.

Chaperones, Field Trip to Maine Wildlife Park in Gray, Maine, Thursday, September 11, 2008 8:15-2:00

Enjoy a day with 21 inquisitive children and lots of animals! You will need to drive you own vehicle, pay your own admission fee, bring your own lunch.  

If you have any questions about any of these opportunities, drop me an email or bring them up at Parent Orientation.  I will be on vacation from August 15-25 and won't be checking emails, but I'll respond when I return. 

Keep your fingers crossed for sunshine.

Sincerely,

Pru Todd
  

Posted by Ms Todd at 8:29 AM | Permalink

Dear Parents,

Hello!  By now you all should have received a letter from me about the upcoming parent orientation meeting to be held on Tuesday, August 26 at 5:00 pm.  I am looking forward to meeting you, and learning more about you and your children.

As you learned from Mrs. Zito, our class size has grown.  We are a large group this year... (the more the merrier!), and our goal will be to develop a tight-knit, kind and respectful community.  To that end, our initial focus will be on getting to know each other, and to practice patience and good manners so that all needs can be met in a positive learning environment.  Each of your children has special gifts, and my goal is to bring out the personal best in each child.  As we head into the school year, I will be speaking with each child individually about the literacy, math, and personal goals they would like to achieve while in third grade.  They will brainstorm ways that they can meet those goals, and I will add how I promise to provide help.  You will be asked to add how you, as parents, will help your child to learn and grow in each of those areas.

I recently met with the other third grade teachers in the district to work on our new science curriculum.  We are in need of some supplies.  Following is a list of the things we hope to have donated.  If you can help out, we would appreciate it!

resealable plastic bags (all sizes), electrical tape, brad fasteners, bobby pins, brown paper lunch bags, old silverware, post-its, oreo cookies, clean styrofoam meat trays, "D" alkaline batteries, index cards, business size envelopes, sandpaper

Other science materials will be needed during the school year.  If you are able to donate a WalMart gift card (in any amount) in order for us to purchase those items as we need them, we would appreciate that, as well!

Welcome to the wonderful world of your child's third grade school year.  I will see you on August 26th!  In the meantime, please be sure you subscribe to this blog so the entries are emailed to you automatically!

Sincerely,

Pru Todd
 

Posted by Ms Todd at 7:58 AM | Permalink

Dear Parents,

I hope that you and your children are having a delightful summer.  I have had a chance to do some reading for fun.  Please let your children know that Andrew Clements (author of Frindle, School Story and The Landry News) has two relatively new books out... Room One and No Talking.  Both are perfect books to read this summer.  Check them out! 

I am preparing for the arrival of my new class, and will be blogging information shortly to the parents of my new students.  I wanted to remind you to "unsubscribe" to remove your name from my list.  

Enjoy the remaining days of summer.  Please let your children know that I send them a warm hello and will be thinking about them on their first day of school at Sea Road! 

Sincerely,

Pru Todd  

Posted by Ms Todd at 9:39 AM | Permalink