Wow, your kiddo is already heading into the second calendar month of 3rd grade!

What a fantastic first week they had. I’m not sure what I did to earn it, but I have the best group of kids around! They have learned so many routines, expectations, and new “norms”, and this week we will continue building on those as well as begin some “real” curriculum…I am so excited to see your student grow! 🙂 Your kid rocks, I’m excited for Week 2!

Once again, I have to thank you for the grace you have extended toward me and Georgetown’s staff in general. There was so much anxiety around all the unknowns leading up to this past week, but (of course) you and your students proved to us that while circumstances may change, our kids and their families are consistently wonderful to work with. I love my job because of families like YOU! THANK YOU!

Please read on for a variety of reminders and information, and for upcoming dates. Thanks so much! I also included just a couple of pictures from the first week of school — I will try to include a few more next weekend!

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Short Week

Another short week for the kids this week! Please remember that students will have an Early Release this coming Thursday (9/3), and no school Friday (9/4) or Monday (9/7).

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Sports Events and Performances

There’s nothing I love more than supporting my students in their interests outside of school! While I know this year has limited extracurricular opportunities for students, I would love to support your child in any activities he or she is a part of! While I cannot guarantee that I make it to an event, I can guarantee that if I don’t know about it there’s no way I’ll be there 😉 

Please email me a schedule of your child’s sports, dance, karate, musical performances, or whatever else they have going on (virtual events included!) and I will try my very hardest to make it to at least one! Email me at kdeters@hpseagles.net . Thank you!

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Outdoor Learning

This week we will add another opportunity for mask breaks to sit spots we have spaced 6 ft apart around our room: We will take our towels and yoga mats to head outside for some independent reading time as well as some math work. I do have extra towels and mats on hand, but if you would like your child to have their own please be sure to send one in this week!

We will be working under a shady spot outside the 2nd/3rd wing. I will do my best to encourage dry, grassy sit spots, but if a towel gets overly dirty or muddy I will send it home with the student in a plastic baggie that day to be washed (yoga mats can be wiped down when we head back into the classroom). Thanks so much for your help with this added laundry — I know you never have enough with little kids, so I thought I’d find a way to throw another bit your way 😉

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Lunch

Third graders will be eating lunch in our classroom this fall! Students getting hot lunch will go to the cafeteria to get their meal, then bring it back to the room to eat. What an adventure this will be! 😉

• On Early Release days, students wishing to get school lunch can get a sack lunch to go!
• SeptemberMenu2020 Calendar

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Curriculum

This week begins the first lesson or two in 3rd grade content and curriculum. I can’t wait to partner with you to help your child reach his or her full academic potential this year!

• Reading: We will begin our first Reader’s Workshop unit, “Building a Reading Life”. Students will learn how to combine literacy skills with personal reading preferences to make reading the BEST it can be, and to begin the road to being a lifelong reader.
• Writing: This week we will write a pre-assessment (ungraded) to provide a baseline for measuring growth over unit 1 of our Writer’s Workshop (which we will begin next week).
• Math: We will begin learning about multiplication! This week we will begin with 5’s, working to understand that multiplication by 5 is simply a certain number of equal groups of 5, or repeated addition of 5.
• Social Studies: We will continue building on what it means to be a good member of our class, and how to S.O.A.R.  at school! Next week we will begin focusing on having a growth mindset instead of a fixed mindset.

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Upcoming Dates

• Thursday, September 3: Early Release (12:15 pm dismissal)
• Friday, September 4: No School
• Monday, September 7: Labor Day / No School
• Friday, September 18: Early Release (12:15 pm dismissal)

Making labels for book bins in our classroom library!  (Above)   

Morning Bin fun! This week we had playdough in our morning bins, and the option to choose free draw on white boards (Above)

Your 2020-2021 3rd Grade Team – Mrs. Deters, Mrs. Houtstra, Mrs. Greenlund, Ms. VanArkel (Left to Right)

First day of school, here we come!

Parents, you did it. You survived the world’s longest unexpected time away from traditional schooling, and it’s finally time to send your kiddo back to our wonderful Georgetown for a year of learning and growing. I can’t wait to meet all the kids in person! I will send more general information about the school year to you at the end of this week when you’ve had some time and space to process all the crazy that is this first week of school 🙂

Don’t forget to fill out the parent survey if you haven’t already so I can ensure your child has a smooth transition to 3rd grade.

I know that everything feels different and many things still feel “off”: You are not alone in thinking and feeling this. We have been working so hard to prepare for your kids to return to school smoothly and as “normally” as possible, and I will work my buns off to love and support your child day in and day out. Third grade will be a year your child will never forget, hopefully for lots of GREAT reasons! 🙂

THANK YOU for all the grace and patience you have already shown me…I work in the BEST district around because of the amazing students and parents!

Please read on for a variety of reminders and information, and for upcoming dates. Thanks so much! I also recorded a video explaining our agenda for the first day of school — please show this to your child to ease as much anxiety as possible!

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Half Days

Hopefully you are well aware of this change, but remember that due to the heat/humidity, students will have Early Release days this coming Monday (8/24), Tuesday (8/25), and then the previously scheduled Thursday (8/27).

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Important Paperwork to Return to School

Please be sure to review, complete, and return three forms that will be sent home in your child’s folder on Monday. Typically these would be sent home at Open House, but this year they’ll be coming home the first day of school. Your child will return them to me, and I will get them to the office. Thank you for your help in this!

Required forms that MUST be returned to GES:

• Family Compact (pink paper)

• Student Profile Sheet (white paper)

• Covid-19 Health Screening Commitment (white paper)

• Medical Forms if your child needs medication at school

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Parent Pick Up

Copied from the GES Blog:

“CHILD DROP OFF:  If you are dropping your child off at school, please do this in the front circle drive. 

• DO NOT DROP OFF BEFORE 8:35 a.m.
• Your child will exit your vehicle (passenger side only for safety) and enter the building.
• Students will go right to their classrooms and NOT to the playground.
• Once inside the building, we will walk groups of students to their classrooms.
• If your child arrives after school begins, you must walk him/her into the front office and sign your child in for the day.
• Our school secretaries will have a sign-in log available at the front desk.  Your child will then walk to his/her classroom.

CHILD PICK UP: For those of you who pick your child up after school, please park in the lot and wait outside the building, on the south side of the cafeteria near the outside door of the cafeteria.

• Please do your best to remain respectful of others and abide by social distancing standards.
• A Georgetown employee will be there to greet you, find out which child(ren) you are there to pick up, radio into the cafeteria to have the child(ren) sent out.
• If your child normally rides the bus, SEND A NOTE ADDRESSED TO THE TEACHER AND DATED indicating that you will be providing pick up.
• If it is a last minute change, inform the office no later than 3:00 p.m.  Follow the pick-up procedure listed above after informing us of the change.”

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Lunch

Third graders will be eating lunch in our classroom this fall! Students getting hot lunch will go to the cafeteria to get their meal, then bring it back to the room to eat. What an adventure this will be! 😉

• On Early Release days, students wishing to get school lunch can get a sack lunch to go.
  • 8/24 and 8/25: Sack lunch consists of a Ham & Cheese Croissant Sandwich, veggies, fruit, and milk
• SeptemberMenu2020 Calendar

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Upcoming Dates

• Monday, August 24: First Day of School / Early Release (12:15 pm dismissal)
• Tuesday, August 25: Early Release (12:15 pm dismissal)
• Thursday, August 27: Early Release (12:15 pm dismissal)
• Friday, August 28: No School

It’s *Almost* Back to School Time!

Parents, I’m thrilled to get to know your student this year and to help him or her reach their fullest potential! I will send a more “typical” weekly blog post on Friday with daily schedules, specials schedules, upcoming dates, and other first week information.

For now, please read on for THREE reasons: Pictures, Survey, and Virtual Open House!

1) Let’s See Those Sweet Faces!

I can hardly wait to get your student into my classroom in a few days, but since I don’t get to meet him or her without a mask on for a while, I would LOVE to see a picture of your student without a face mask on! Please email a picture of your child, with his or her first and last name included, to me at kdeters@hpseagles.net.

I will also be taking a picture of each student’s face during a mask break sometime during the first week of school, and will be printing them to hang in our room! This is fun, too, because we have a “first day” or “first week” of school picture to look back on at the end of the school year — which seems lightyears away from this point in August!

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2) Parent Survey

Please take a few moments to fill out this Parent Survey with questions regarding your child’s transition to his or her 3rd grade school year. While some of the information may feel redundant to type to me (bus number, parent email, etc), I will compare your responses from the survey to any communications from the office or PowerSchool and will check for discrepancies. Hopefully any confusion or changes will be cleared up early on this way! 🙂

Thanks so much!

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3) Happy Virtual Open House!

While I cannot wait to meet you in person on Monday, I know that it will be a little different than our usual first day of school because students will not have gotten to see their new classroom or met me yet. Because of this, you will see:

1. A video that shows how to find our classroom from the bus, how to find it from parent drop off, and also what you’ll do when you get to school on the first day! Don’t forget, you will be coming straight to our classroom instead of to the playground.
2. A panorama shot of our classroom!
3. A picture of me without a mask on! Don’t forget to head to the All About Mrs. Deters page on my blog to read about me and my growing family…and for more pictures 🙂

Welcome to Third Grade!

Home, Sweet Classroom!

Mask-Free Mrs. Deters 

Hello, hello!

As promised, after a very long wait (you have been so patient, thank you!), here is your child’s classroom supplies list for their year in 3rd grade! You may notice a couple of items that seem unusual — we are going to be making a few adjustments to our “norm” to best facilitate safe and fun learning this year!

You will also see quite a few more supplies on this list than you are used to; that is because our students will be keeping both their classroom supplies and specials supplies in labeled Ziploc baggies as “Specials To Go Bags”. I will provide these labeled baggies, and we will put all our materials in them together during our morning meeting on the first day of school.

Students will bring these bags with their supplies in them to each special they’re needed to avoid sharing materials. This eliminates the need to clean supplies used after each class, in order to maximize learning time for the amazing specials teachers who see every student in the school at least once a week.

We are going to be very careful about germs this year, and to cut down on sanitation needs each student will be sharing very few materials with others around them. Please label every single item that is on our class supplies list with your child’s name! Thank you!

Mrs. Deters’ Classroom Supply List

For Learning:

• (1) Writing composition book
• (2) Spiral notebooks
• (1) Black Sharpie permanent marker — regular size, not a pen or a jumbo
• (2) Fine point dry erase markers for whiteboard work
• (2-3) Glue sticks
• (1-2) Highlighters
• No.2 pencils (please no mechanical)
• Colored pencils
• Markers
• Crayons
• (5) two-pocket folders (plastic folders hold up best, but are not required). Please do NOT send in a binder!
  • (1) Red folder
  • (1) Purple or orange folder
  • (1) Yellow folder
  • (1) Green folder
  • (1) Blue folder
• Scissors
• An extra mask (because kids are kids, and they will get sneezed in, dropped in the mud, etc ).

For the Desk:

• Water bottle — the larger the more tippy, but any size is fine
• Hand sanitizer, tissues, etc — students are welcome to bring their own, however remember that they need to fit inside their desk. The school does provide each of these for our students!
• Comfortable masks that fit well over mouth and nose

For PE: 

• Tennis shoes to be left at school. These do not need to be brand new, just clean shoes for the gymnasium floor (and our P.E. teachers are sticklers about this! Just like Mrs. Deters — they do not like mess in their space! )

If any of these supplies are not possible for your family to purchase, PLEASE reach out to me ASAP and I will make sure your child has what he or she needs, no questions asked. kdeters@hpseagles.net

I would also really like to take the kids outside for as much time as possible when working independently (think independent reading, math work, etc). This will allow the kids more time without their masks on! For this I would love to have students have either a yoga mat or towel to sit on. If your family is able, please consider sending one in with your student for daily use!

I am so excited to meet each of your students, and to work closely with you this year!

-Mrs. Deters