Clark Davidson School
Administration
Ruth Wood, Principal
Mrs. Bond's
Classroom I-Newsletter
August-September 2008
Thank you for visiting our classroom
web page! Please check in throughout the year as I update this site.
I am looking forward to a fun and exciting year with another great group
of Goddard third graders!
***Special
Reminders and Notes***
- Please remember to send a pair of PE shoes with your child so that we can take care of our beautiful CDS gym floor.
Please feel free to call or email me any time this year if you have a question, a concern or an idea for a fun classroom activity!
Get To Know Mrs. Bond…
Hello, and welcome to my classroom! My name is April Bond, and I am so pleased to be your child’s teacher this school year. I am committed to working with your family to make this year a success for everyone!
I am originally from Holcomb, Kansas. I earned my teaching degree from Fort Hays State University in 1998 and a master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction from WSU in 2002. I am the proud mother of 3 boys. Michael is a first grader here at CDS. Bradley is my ornery 3 year old, and Treyson is my 5 month old baby. My husband, Adrian, is a teacher in Wichita.
I come from a family of educators. My mother, pictured here with me, is also a teacher and was my inspiration to choose education as my rewarding life’s work.
I feel very fortunate to teach here in Goddard
with such involved and caring families, and I look forward to doing my
very best to help your child have a happy, healthy, and productive school
year. I truly believe that CDS is a school where all Children really
Do Succeed!
Agenda Books: Your child will record daily assignments in a student planner. You will also find homework reminders and an occasional note from the teacher written in the agenda. Please help your child become responsible by expecting him or her to present the agenda to you each school night for your observation and signature. Please use this as an opportunity to see what your child did each day and talk to him or her about the lessons.
Take-Home Folders: Each child will also bring home a plastic, blue take-home folder nightly. Homework, returned papers, and notes from school should be organized neatly in this folder.
Email: It is very convenient for me to communicate with parents via email. You can contact me any school day at abond@goddardusd.com.
Phone: Please feel free to call during the school day, if necessary (794-4260). You can leave a message with our secretaries or ask to be transferred to my classroom where you can leave a message on my voice mail if I am unable to answer the phone.
Our Classroom Web Page: You are now visiting my classroom web page. My monthly newsletter will also be available here in addition to the hard copy I will send home with your child.
Birthdays: If you would like to send birthday treats for your child to share with his or her classmates, please let me know at least one day in advance so I can clear our schedule. Also, our principal asks that you not send any drinks with birthday treats. We will celebrate birthdays from 3:15 to 3:25.
Reading: Your child will bring home his or her reading textbook in order to read the story to or with a parent every Tuesday night in order to practice reading fluency. This is a vital skill that a child must develop in order to fully comprehend text. Please use this opportunity to model and practice this skill with your child.
Paper copies of leveled readers will also be sent home for your child to read on Wednesdays. Pleases sign and return the book on Thursday. Library books will be sent home on Monday and Thursday. Please initial your child’s reading folder on these days so that I know he or she has read for 20 minutes.
Math: Students should practice appropriate math facts at home at least 3 times a week for approximately 10 minutes. Computer games, online games, handheld games, flashcards, and speed games with mom and dad are just a few ways you can make this activity engaging for your child. We will begin the year with addition facts. Once those are mastered, students can move on to subtraction. Students who haven’t already done so will start multiplication in January, which will require your support at home.
Spelling: Students should also practice spelling words throughout the week. Pretests will be given on Monday and sent home.
Students will all be given 5 high frequency (“fast”) words in addition to the regular 15 spelling unit words. If the child proves that he or she has already mastered the “fast” words, challenge words will be given. Students who have need further enrichment will be given a completely separate list on Monday in place of the regular spelling pretest. Please encourage your child to study the words he or she missed on the pretest throughout the week so he or she
Reading, Writing and Arithmetic...
In third grade, your child will work very hard to build his or her stamina and begin to read longer texts. This is an exciting year, and you will be amazed by the growth your child will experience in reading and in all personal and academic areas! I can’t wait to get started and help your child reach his or her potential as a great CDS reader.
In reading this school year, our class will be working with Mrs. Kress’ class to do some leveling. This will allow us to better meet the needs of all of our kids, as we will be able to do more enrichment with accelerated readers and have more resources and teachers to meet the needs of readers who are still building on basic skills. This will begin the last week of August.
Also in reading, we will be setting individual reading goals to help motivate students to read, read, read! Students will bring home a reading folder with their goals, progress charts updated weekly, and reading logs for them to keep track of reading done at home. Please look for these folders the first week of September.
In math, we will begin the school year reviewing basic 2nd grade concepts, just to give our brains a jump start after our summer vacation. I hope all of you were able to practice math facts and other math skills some during your break. Extra practice at home is such a huge help for students in retaining math skills.
Finally, please help your child review any of
these concepts if you see a paper come home with a low score. Remember
to return any paper below a 70% with corrections so that I may revise the
grade.
Classroom Calendar
*August 13 – First Day!
*August 14 – Bring “Me Bags” with 3 items to share with the class about yourself
*August 15 – “Friendship Mix” treats
*September 1 - No School, Labor Day
*September 15 – No School, Teacher
Inservice
Educational Web Sites
Check out these websites for some extra practice at home!
Math ~
Bond’s Classroom Schedule!
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Debbie Bell 12:00 - 12:30 |
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Please email me with any comments or concerns!
Also, this is a wonderful way to contact me during the day with any messages.
abond@goddardusd.com