Dear Parents,

I hope everyone had a happy and healthy holiday for Thanksgiving.  We will be very busy trying to squeeze everything in before our next break for Winter.  Please avoid missing any time from school if at all possible.

We have a field trip to the Planetarium coming up on Wednesday.  Please make sure your students have warm coats as we do walk between buildings briefly and I believe the forecast is going to get chilly.  We do not need anymore chaperones for field trips this year as we only go in from the bus to the trip and then right back to a bus to come back to school.  Thank you for all the offers, but there is no space to have any.  

In Math we are working on our multiplication fluency.  If you could work with your student at home on their multiplication facts that will help build their confidence.  You should see a form to sign for their multiplication facts coming home soon.  

In ELA we are still working on Frogs and your child should be reading informational texts when possible about frogs.  I have sent home an invite to Epic Books several weeks ago online to help with the reading but it is not required.  I also sent home a stamina chart for reading without breaks for 20 minutes.  I trust that most can do the reading for 20 minutes but the idea is reading with stamina with no breaks from the page.  They should be able to explain what this looks like on their reading log.

The students are finishing Science this week and starting Social Studies at the same time.  This is due to all the days we missed because of weather.  We were unable to complete the Science but is was time to switch with Mrs. Olynick's class for Social Studies.  They should have come home with a project for Social Studies to create a parade float about their heritage.  These are usually so fun for the class and they are quite beautiful to see.  I am asking Mrs. Wall if we can display them in the Media Center before they return home.  More on those dates to come in the near future.

Thanks and have a great week!
Anne Simmons

Parents,

Hopefully you have all been able to secure a spot in my Sign Up Genius for a conference.  Meeting with families and working together for your child's progress in third grade is one of my favorite parts of teaching.  I look forward to meeting with each of you soon.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0b4faaaf2ca31-conferences 

Don't forget that we are having our End of quarter celebration on Tuesday, October 2nd for our EL curriculum.  I hope to see many of you there.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0b4faaaf2ca31-elessay 

Brassfield has been doing a new school wide curriculum called the Positivity Project.  It is a character education curriculum to help all students (and adults) learn to interact with each other in a positive way.  I have been sending home papers explaining the Character Strength of the week in their Wednesday folders.  Please take a moment and read over the character strength and talk with your child about these.  I am also including a link to the program that should allow you to take a survey about your own strengths.  

https://www.viacharacter.org/www/Character-Strengths-Survey 

We have a field trip coming up on October 18th to the Mordecei House.  Please make sure your child has weather appropriate clothing that day as we will be going in and out of buildings that may not have air conditioning.  

Have a great week!

Sincerely,
anne simmons

Dear Parents and Students,

I hope you all were safe during Hurricane Florence.  I wanted to make everyone aware that we will be having our Cogat testing tomorrow (or when we return if we are cancelled again).  We were scheduled to start today, September 17th but we will begin testing when we return in the same order we had originally planned.  

Enjoy the sunshine today,
anne simmons

Parents,

I am sending Ident-a-kid information home in homework folders today (8-27-18).  I didn't get the papers until Friday afternoon and didn't see them in my mailbox until dismissal was over, otherwise, I would have sent them home on Friday.  There is a quick turn around for students to get this information back if you want them to participate.  Only children who turn in the form and payment will be photographed.  

Please let me know by email if you wish to volunteer at the Walk-a-thon by Tuesday.

Sincerely,
anne simmons

Dates to remember:

8-27-18 Picture day
8-30-18 Ident-a-kid
8-31-18 Walk a thon
9-17-18 Cogat testing
9-18-18 Cogat testing
9-19-18 Cogat testing
9-28-18 Early Release

Dear Parents,

Today I sent home some assessments the students took at the end of our last track in.  I wanted to assure you that while some of the grades may appear to be a bit shocking on their EL reading assessment I explained to them that this is a slightly different way of grading in third grade.  We are closely looking at each individual standard in the questions and some of the standards only had one question for the students to show proficiency.  This makes it difficult for us to determine if they have mastered that skill with just one assessment.  Please know that we give many more opportunities throughout the quarter on those standards for the students to pass.  The EL program that Wake County implemented last year is a higher rigor than what most students are used to but with encouragement and perseverance they can achieve success.  

Thank you and have a great weekend.

Sincerely,
anne simmons

Walk-a-thon is coming soon!

August 31st we will be walking on the track in the morning.  If you are a registered volunteer and you would like to come that day to help out, please email me and let me know.

Thanks so much!
asimmons@wcpss.net 

Welcome Back Parents and Students,

I hope everyone had a wonderful track out.  It sounds like many families had some quality time enjoying their summer track out.

We had a gentle start to our track in Monday but we will be picking up speed soon.  We have several events coming in the next few weeks so please be sure to mark your calendars so you won't miss anything.

Dates to remember:

8-27-18 Picture day
8-31-18 Walk a thon
9-17-18 Cogat testing
9-18-18 Cogat testing
9-19-18 Cogat testing
9-28-18 Early Release

Sincerely,
anne simmons