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Mrs. Gaffney's THIRD GRADE:
Welcome to third grade! My name is Mrs Gaffney and I love being a third grade teacher! Teaching is something I’ve wanted to do since I was a little girl attending Washington Elementary during the early 70’s! It's amazing that I have been teaching here for 16 years now! Washington is truly my home. Here’s a little bit of information about me! Education: *B.S. in Elementary Ed. from the University of Southern Colorado in 1987. *Masters Degree in Curriculum from Lesley College in 1997 Family My son, Josh, is 19. My daughter, Ginnie, is 17. Hobbies I love to walk and run for exercise! I enjoy hiking and taking pictures in nature. I also love to read and spend time with my family!
Third grade is a year of great changes; students
transition from being “little kids” to “big kids.” They become responsible for themselves and their learning.
Third graders should already have basic reading skills and
graduate from reading short stories to chapter books.
In Math, they master basic addition and subtraction, and then
move into multiplication, division, fractions, geometry and even simple
algebra! Students also
advance from writing simple sentences into writing complete 5 sentence
paragraphs with a topic sentence, 3 detail sentences, and a closing
sentence. Using correct
conventions such as capital letters, end punctuation marks, and accurate
spelling of 3rd grade words is also expected at this level. Third grade is the first year students are held
accountable for their learning through CSAP (Colorado State Assessment
Program) testing. The tests
are given in February and April and focus on reading and writing skills.
Math skills will also be tested in the near future.
These scores are used as a portion of the Colorado State School
Report Card, which evaluates our school’s learning/teaching success. HOMEWORK
Students are required to read between 20 and 30 minutes every
night and fill out a book log. Other
homework is assigned as needed. We
expect an AR accuracy percent of 82.5%.
Extra reading practice time is provided for students who are
reading below this percentage.
IMPORTANT
DATES
THE
MONTHS OF JANUARY, FEBRUARY, AND MARCH, as well as our testing week in
APRIL are very important dates. It
is essential that students attend school during these months as we are
carefully preparing for our state tests.
We appreciate parents planning vacations and appointments during
regular school vacation days.
There are 19 vacation days during those months. J
(Actual CSAP Testing Dates: Feb.
24 & 25, April 6 & 7.) CLASSROOM
EXPECTATIONS
Third graders are expected to interact with peers and teachers in a respectful, responsible manner. They are expected to do their best in all situations and to be responsible for their homework and their own learning. We appreciate all the parental support we receive in these areas. We want our third graders to be successful and proud of their learning progress.
Parents are always welcome to visit, call or volunteer. Come on in and join us!
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