Breakfast in the Classroom
In Granite School District, this is offered at no cost to parents. Every student is offered the opportunity to eat breakfast at the beginning of our school day (in our classroom as soon as the bell rings). You are welcome, of course, to continue serving breakfast at home; but I am required to offer the breakfast food items to each child. Each student is presented with 2 options: (1) take all of the required breakfast items (entree and fruit) or (2) take none of the breakfast items. Note that children will not be forced to eat unwanted foods.
For example, one day, the offered food might consist of: a tortilla/egg wrap (entree), sliced apples (fruit), and a milk choice (optional). A child would be required to decline all of the food, OR to take both of the first 2 items (milk is optional). A child could NOT take just the wrap or just the apples. The child could then place any unwanted foods next to the breakfast crate. Other students may choose to have additional portions from the table if they are still hungry after eating their own breakfast food. These are Granite School District policies, and I am required to enforce them as described.
I see the following entrees most frequently: cereal bars and string cheese, breakfast pizzas, french toast sticks, cinnamon rolls, donuts, tortilla egg wraps, egg/cheese on English muffin sandwich, fruit strudel, pancakes or waffles (maple flavored, but not served with syrup). The fruit choice is generally a banana, apple slices, or a juicebox.
Utah Core Standards
In the state of Utah, all educators are required to teach the standards outlined in the Utah state CORE. You can explore the CORE standards for 3rd grade by visiting UEN.
Reading Curriculum - WONDERS
Our Granite School District-adopted reading curriculum is WONDERS, published by McGraw-Hill.
One strength of the WONDERS program is its online component, which means that you and your student can access many of our curriculum materials at home. Your student's dashboard, games, stories, and other online content will automatically update each week to align with the stories and concepts we are learning in class for the week. You may access this program by logging in your student here (more info on my Websites for Kids page).
Another wonderful thing about this program is many Science and Social Studies CORE standards are built into the program. The literature and essential questions teach these concepts so I can teach Social Studies and Science while still dedicating a lot of our focus to Reading and Math.
Math Curriculum - I Ready
Granite School District uses the I Ready program published by Houghton Mifflin. This closely aligns with the Utah State Math Core.
Testing & Reports
Your child will be assessed throughout the school year, with the following mandated testing:
You will receive 4 report cards this year. Granite School District now uses proficiency based grading, which means students are scored from 1-4 based on their grasp of the CORE standards they should be learning. A score of 3 is considered proficient, meaning the student is achieving as expected. Scores will be given for assessments that correlate directly to the Utah State CORE standards. Homework, work completion, participation, and behavior are not reflected in scores. However, I assign school work that will help students practice and learn the 3rd grade standards, so I expect students to do their best on all work.
I have included some videos from Granite School District about Proficiency Based Grading, and why they have chosen to implement this practice. *Standard Based Grading and Proficiency Based Grading is the same thing.
In Granite School District, this is offered at no cost to parents. Every student is offered the opportunity to eat breakfast at the beginning of our school day (in our classroom as soon as the bell rings). You are welcome, of course, to continue serving breakfast at home; but I am required to offer the breakfast food items to each child. Each student is presented with 2 options: (1) take all of the required breakfast items (entree and fruit) or (2) take none of the breakfast items. Note that children will not be forced to eat unwanted foods.
For example, one day, the offered food might consist of: a tortilla/egg wrap (entree), sliced apples (fruit), and a milk choice (optional). A child would be required to decline all of the food, OR to take both of the first 2 items (milk is optional). A child could NOT take just the wrap or just the apples. The child could then place any unwanted foods next to the breakfast crate. Other students may choose to have additional portions from the table if they are still hungry after eating their own breakfast food. These are Granite School District policies, and I am required to enforce them as described.
I see the following entrees most frequently: cereal bars and string cheese, breakfast pizzas, french toast sticks, cinnamon rolls, donuts, tortilla egg wraps, egg/cheese on English muffin sandwich, fruit strudel, pancakes or waffles (maple flavored, but not served with syrup). The fruit choice is generally a banana, apple slices, or a juicebox.
Utah Core Standards
In the state of Utah, all educators are required to teach the standards outlined in the Utah state CORE. You can explore the CORE standards for 3rd grade by visiting UEN.
Reading Curriculum - WONDERS
Our Granite School District-adopted reading curriculum is WONDERS, published by McGraw-Hill.
One strength of the WONDERS program is its online component, which means that you and your student can access many of our curriculum materials at home. Your student's dashboard, games, stories, and other online content will automatically update each week to align with the stories and concepts we are learning in class for the week. You may access this program by logging in your student here (more info on my Websites for Kids page).
Another wonderful thing about this program is many Science and Social Studies CORE standards are built into the program. The literature and essential questions teach these concepts so I can teach Social Studies and Science while still dedicating a lot of our focus to Reading and Math.
Math Curriculum - I Ready
Granite School District uses the I Ready program published by Houghton Mifflin. This closely aligns with the Utah State Math Core.
- Unit 1: Rounding, 3-digit Addition and Subtraction
- Unit 2: Multiplication and Division - concepts, relationships, and patterns
- Unit 3: Using Multiplication and Division
- Area
- Word Problems
- Scaled Graphs
- Area
- Unit 4: Fractions
- Identifying Fractions of Shapes
- Placing Fractions on the Number Line
- Comparing and Equivalent Fractions
- Measuring to the 1/4 inch and creating line plots
- Unit 5: Measurement
- Time (telling time to the minute and measuring elapsed time)
- Liquid Volume
- Mass
- Time (telling time to the minute and measuring elapsed time)
- Unit 6: Shapes
- Area and Perimeter
- Attributes and Categories
- Partitioning
Testing & Reports
Your child will be assessed throughout the school year, with the following mandated testing:
- DIBELS - This test is required by the state of Utah. It is administered 3 times per year by our reading specialist Mrs. Robertson, and a trained testing team of reading aids. The DIBELS has been developed as a screening assessment. Its purpose is to help teachers identify how intensive a child's reading instruction should be in order for the child to develop into a successful reader. 3rd grade students read text passages and retell them directly after to obtain a score for fluency, accuracy, and reading comprehension. At SEP conferences, you will receive a report of your student's beginning and mid-year DIBELS results. End of Year reports will be sent home with report cards during the last week of school.
- Acadience Math - We began doing these Math screeners in 2021. Like the DIBELS, it is administered 3 times each year and can assist in identifying students who may need extra support with Math skills and concepts. Third graders takes a Fluency test designed to test students' ability to accurately and quickly perform simple Math computation - addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. They are also give a Concepts and Applications test. This one tests the Math concepts we learn in 3rd grade. Most students do not perform very well at the beginning and middle of the year on that assessment, but should be comfortable with the tasks by the end of the year. It should be noted that reading ability will have an effect on the Concepts and Applications test - another reason to work hard to improve those skills!
- As 3rd graders, students begin taking the Reading and Math sections of the state mandated tests. Scores are reported to the State to determine school performance and accountability. The test questions are generated by the Utah State Office of Education. We use the RISE testing platform.
You will receive 4 report cards this year. Granite School District now uses proficiency based grading, which means students are scored from 1-4 based on their grasp of the CORE standards they should be learning. A score of 3 is considered proficient, meaning the student is achieving as expected. Scores will be given for assessments that correlate directly to the Utah State CORE standards. Homework, work completion, participation, and behavior are not reflected in scores. However, I assign school work that will help students practice and learn the 3rd grade standards, so I expect students to do their best on all work.
I have included some videos from Granite School District about Proficiency Based Grading, and why they have chosen to implement this practice. *Standard Based Grading and Proficiency Based Grading is the same thing.
The 2018 video above explains the differences between traditional and proficiency based grading. It was posted after Granite School District officially adopted PBG, so it has more detail.
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The video below was posted in 2017 when Superintendent Dr. Martin Bates was considering this kind of grading system. He explains why he began thinking about changing from traditional grades.
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At Pleasant Green, we like to refer to Proficiency Based Grading as Proficiency Based LEARNING. Everyone starts out as at a Level 1 when they begin learning a new skill, so being a Level 1 is NOT a bad thing (even if you see it on a report card). It does not indicate failure, or lack of effort. A Level 1 is a valuable place on the learning path. A Level 1 score only reflects that we want to continue working on that learning path until it becomes a Level 3.