Beginning of Year Letter to Parents 2023-2024
Dear Parents ,
I am delighted that your child is in Room 212. We all look forward to many exciting and rewarding experiences as the year progresses and I cannot wait to meet your little scholar!!!
Remember, at Disney, we embrace the concept: UBUNTU This word embodies “togetherness”. It refers to behaving well towards others and acting in ways that benefit the entire community. Ubuntu has its roots in African philosophy where the idea of community is one of the building blocks of society: oneness-humanity, you & me both. I am safe, respectful, and responsible because we are safe, respectful, and responsible. I am because you are! This theme will be prevalent throughout Disney as we work to enhance our connectedness and unity among staff and students!
Parents, your support is vital to our success. Ubuntu! I cannot do this without you. Please, never hesitate to reach out at any time with questions and concerns. All questions are welcomed! I am confident that working together, we will be able to have an amazing school year!
Your child deserves the best educational climate possible and together we will make this year successful. The plan below outlines my classroom rules and possible rewards and consequences for appropriate and inappropriate behavior. Please discuss them with your child and then sign and return the last page when your child brings the packet home.
RULES
1. Always Be Safe, Be Respectful, and Be Responsible
2. Follow directions the first time they are given. No exceptions.
3. Keep hands, feet and objects to yourself.
3. Maintain a Level 0 unless otherwise instructed by an adult.
4. Always use appropriate language. Always be respectful. Do not swear, tease, bully, nor exclude.
5. Always remain in your classroom and in your seat unless you have permission to leave. Always raise your hand when asking for permission.
6. Complete all in-class and homework assignments. Hand in assignments on time.
As we begin a new year, students will have many opportunities to discuss appropriate behavior and expectations for all situations in the school day. During the first week of school I will introduce the 3 R’s. We always want to be Respectful, Responsible & Ready. I will also ask the students to help me brainstorm other rules that they feel are necessary to create a safe, successful and fun learning environment.
I will provide students with a behavior monitoring tool in the classroom which will allow students to monitor and be responsible for their own behavior. Each student will have a chart pocket with their number and three different colors. We will all begin the day on the color green which represents the student doing a good job for the day. If they are following directions and completing their expected work for the day, they will stay on green. If they are having difficulty with listening and staying on task, or struggling with behaviors in general, they can move down to yellow or red, which means they left the day with little to no improvement even after several requests…and they must make improvements the next day. Students can also move back up the colors throughout the day. Yellow serves as a warning. Students who move down to red receive a consequence appropriate to their actions. I will send students home with a calendar for the month and their calendars will be colored in corresponding to their behavior. The student colors in the calendar each day. If the child receives a RED color, parents MUST sign or initial the calendar day and discuss how the child’s behavior could improve. If the child receives multiple yellows or reds for the week, I will be following up with an email or phone call home to discuss how we can better support your child moving forward.
To encourage students to follow these rules, appropriate behavior will be recognized regularly with praise, rewards, special privileges and positive notes/emails/calls home. SEVERE and/or REPEATED OFFENSE: immediately MOVE to RED and sent to Floor Director and/or the Conflict-Resolution Specialist.
Google Classroom 📚 Code to join: 3hqmxra
https://classroom.google.com/c/NjE3NjExNjcxNDA4?cjc=3hqmxra
Homework assignments will be submitted and graded via Google Classroom and classwork will be completed and collected in class, graded, and sent home. Comments on homework as well as the actual graded homework are all sent directly to your child’s email through Google Classroom, so please be sure to check your child’s email regularly. Parents/Students will be kept up to date on homework through the weekly assignment sheet sent home each Monday (and posted in Google Classroom.) Reminders will be posted in the Google Classroom Stream and given by the teacher throughout the day during class.
Students must be familiar with using their CPS emails because they will need to be logged into their accounts to access Google Classroom just as they did in 2nd grade. Students will log into their CPS emails at this site only: http://google.cps.edu/ and they enter everything before the @ symbol for their username. I will send home your child’s CPS email. You should already have his/her password. Please notify me if you do not remember your child’s password and I will change it as I do not have access to CPS passwords, I can only change them.
When work is assigned that must be handed into Google Classroom, parents or students will need to upload it to Google Classroom and attach it to the appropriate assignment. Please remind your child at home to always write his/her first & last name as well as date on ALL work. Google Classroom grades and classwork grades, tests, projects, etc. are all entered into Aspen where you can log in through Parent Portal to see your child’s grades in all subjects.
There will be resources in Reading, Math, Science, and Social Studies posted in Google Classroom and some resource handouts sent home as well.
ASPEN: http://parent.cps.k12.il.us/pc/default.aspx
Parents please log into Aspen regularly to stay on top of your child’s grades and consistently check Google Classroom. Occasionally, I may return an assignment in Google Classroom for students to correct or redo. If that happens, students may resubmit that assignment; always read my comments on the work. Returned homework and comments on homework, as previously stated, go straight to the student’s emails. Parents please stay abreast of your child’s emails. Parents please do not email work directly to me…If an assignment must be handed into Google Classroom, please be sure you or your child submits it to Google Classroom. Classwork must be handed in during class.
Grading Categories and Weights:
Weights will remain unchanged.
Projects, Tests, Quizzes- 35%
Class Assignments-35%
Homework-15%
Class Participation-15%
HOMEWORK ✏️ 💻
Homework will be assigned every night in Google Classroom. It is a very important part of your child’s education as it reinforces activities/concepts learned in class and provides extra practice in specific areas. Please take time to supervise your child when he/she is completing homework, however, refrain from giving him/her the “answers” as this might interfere with the learning process. If your child is experiencing difficulty with an assignment, have him/her explain the directions to you. Ask your child to tell you what we discussed in class. Complete two or three problems/questions together and then encourage him/her to work independently. Use the extra practice worksheets on the classroom website parksroom.net to provide your child with additional help. Please inform me if your child is consistently experiencing problems with homework.
Homework is expected to be uploaded the very next day unless otherwise noted on the assignment sheets or in Google Classroom, however, no work will be marked late. You will see “late assignment” in Google Classroom if work is turned in after the due date…however, I will not take off any points. Nevertheless, try not to get into the habit of being inconsistent with assignments. I do not want your scholar to fall behind and start missing work. I will notify you if your child is consistently missing many assignments.
When it is time for progress reports and report cards, students will be given a hard deadline to have all work uploaded to Google Classroom. These deadlines cannot be adjusted because teachers have to make sure all grades are entered and submitted to admin. on time. Don’t wait until the last minute to get work turned in.
Lessons and homework will be posted in Google Classroom. Please check daily so you can stay abreast of your scholar's homework and lessons for the week. You will receive regular communication and reminders from me by email and in the Stream in Google Classroom. You will always know what the lessons are, what your scholar needs to study, dates for assignments, assessments, Weekly IXL Skills, etc. Please be sure your email is up to date in Aspen because I will email parents as a group through Aspen. Remember to also check the Google Classroom Stream regularly.
READING/LANGUAGE ARTS 📚
This year, we are continuing to use My View Literacy published by Savvas Learning Company. Students will have a consumable text where they will complete their lessons for Reading/Writing/Language Arts. They may also access their online resources at http://www.savvasrealize.com where they will choose sign-in and enter their information to set up their accounts. The Reading text is also located in Google Classroom. I will be sending home all login information soon. Students will be completing many activities and assessments online for My View using this site. During our first two weeks of Reading, we will be discussing traditional tales, students will be reviewing the concept of story structure-analyzing plot and setting, using text evidence to support their answers, learning similes, simple sentences, syllable patterns in Spelling, and learning to write a personal narrative.
Spelling tests will be given in class & Reading tests will be assigned online at the My View Literacy website to complete on Fridays in class. Students will have other assignments throughout the week to complete online, in Google Classroom, in the Reading text, and on paper in class.
Reading assignments, Spelling words, Vocabulary words and skills that will be covered for the week will be outlined each week on the student’s assignment sheet which is handed out on Mondays. Remember, assignment sheets are always posted in Google C.
MATH➕➖✖️➗
We are continuing to use Go Math by Houghton Mifflin for our Math lessons. Our first Chapter is “Addition and Subtraction Within 1,000”. Go Math is linked to Think Central http://www-k6.thinkcentral.com. Think Central as many of you know was our platform for Math last year. This year we will be using Think Central to access Math again. Think Central logins will also be sent home with a little more information about how to use the website. Remember when logging in, the district to enter for Think Central is “Private School” and the school is “Walt Disney Magnet School”. More instructions as well as a link are located in the Links section of the class website. Students have a wealth of resources at their fingertips on Think Central. Please take time when your child logs in to explore his library of materials in Math. You will find the Math text online at Think Central and many supplemental materials and Math videos to support your child in each lesson. We may not have time during regular class to use all of the resources for Math but please use them at home to reinforce the lessons and to give your scholar extra practice if needed. There is also a direct link to the Go Math book on our classroom website in the Links section as well as in Google Classroom.
Math tests will be taken online at Think Central or as a traditional paper-pencil test. Students will be assigned several Math activities throughout the week on Think Central as well as daily work in their Math texts. Parents and students will see scores for online assessments and activities on Think Central in the “My Scores” section. Math homework will be listed on your child’s weekly assignment sheet.
SCIENCE (Skyline/Amplify Science) & SOCIAL STUDIES (Houghton Mifflin) 🔬🌏
Our first Social Studies unit will be Mapping Our World. Students will be learning about cardinal and intermediate directions, hemispheres, latitude and longitude, how to read a map, etc. There is an individual soft cover magazine for each unit.
Our first Science unit will be Forces and Motion and students will be learning about what causes objects to move, magnetism, and how various forces are seen in our everyday lives. We will be doing some very cool investigations and experiments this year!! There isn’t an actual Science text..only a soft cover Science journal and handouts. Most of the Science Curriculum consists of slides that we will be using in class.
Science and Social Studies homework will be outlined on the weekly assignment sheets.
APPS/WEBSITES 💻
The log in instructions are in Google Classroom.
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Flocabulary-class code PVY5ZB
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EPIC-class code vcq0127
Usernames & Passwords along with a brief description of each will be sent home soon.
READING LOGS 📚
Students will also receive a Reading Log at the beginning of the month, starting soon, and this must be handed in at the end of each quarter indicating the books (and their genres) read by your child. The Reading Log must be fully completed by the child on time to be accepted. There will be a separate letter and a sample Reading log sent home to explain this in more detail.
Please check out all of the links in Google Classroom. There are excellent resources available for students and parents!
I am so looking forward to meeting you and your scholar very soon!!!!
Thank you so very much for your support! 😊
Ms. N. Parks 🌟
Our classroom website is
There is a Links section on our class website with direct links to apps and websites as well as many valuable resources such as extra practice Reading & Math activities.
Google Classroom link & code:
https://classroom.google.com/c/NjE3NjExNjcxNDA4?cjc=3hqmxra
Code-3hqmxra