Welcome to Third Grade -Mr. Tom Ly and Ms. Beatriz Schnathorst

Mr. Ly's Class

All About Me!
My name is Tom Ly, and this is my second year teaching at Concord Elementary School. I've taught for 4 years and moved to Seattle a year ago.
I am originally from Northern Virgina (Washington D.C.) have lived in Houston, TX and overseas in Bangkok, Thailand. After graduating from high school, I decided to go back to Houston and attended the University of Houston. I graduated with a degree in Business. After being in banking for over five years, I decided to give teaching a try. I recently received my M.Ed in Gifted Education. So far, I am enjoying teaching, and I look forward to many more years at Concord.
When I am not busy working with the kids or grading papers, I enjoy spending time with friends, playing Nintendo Wii, reading, and collecting comics. I also enjoy traveling, a good DVD, drawing and being creative.

Ms. Beatriz Schnathorst

Homework:
Expect students to have daily homework every Monday through Thursday night and in some cases on the weekend. The homework will usually be math. In addition, students will have a homework packet that will be assigned on Monday, and it will be turned in on Friday. It will consist of a reading log and some math facts sheets. Students must read every night, and get their reading log signed.

Students who complete their homework will receive positive encouragement and small incentives. Homework that is not complete will be completed during the student’s recess time. If there is a legitimate reason why a student is not able to finish their homework, please send me a note on the day the homework is due stating the reason it was not completed. A parent or guardian must sign the note.

Helping with Homework:

• Help set up a consistent organized place for homework to be done.
• Help your child establish a consistent schedule for completing homework. Set a regular time for homework and stick to it!
• Encourage, motivate, and prompt your child, but do not sit and do the homework FOR him/her. The purpose of the homework is for your child to practice and use what he/she has learned. If he or she frequently cannot do the homework alone, call me or send a note to school.
• If your child is practicing a skill, ask him/her to tell you which steps are easy for him/her, which are difficult, or how he/she is going to improve.
• Please check and sign the homework. Teach your child to put the homework in a folder, and then in his or her backpack. (Every student must have a homework folder.)

Nightly Reading:

Children are expected to read from a book at their level for at least 15 minutes every night. Please sign your child’s reading log on Thursday night. Reading TO or WITH someone else counts! The reading logs are collected on Friday.

Library Books:
Every week the class will go to the school library for checkout and activities. Every child is expected to check out 2 books at his or her reading level and bring them home for independent reading. They should return or renew the books after 1 week. Please help teach good library habits.

Discipline:

There are 4 simple class rules:

1. Make good decisions.
2. Show respect.
3. Solve problems.
4. Be safe.

I believe in supportive feedback for good behavior, so students may receive positive notes or phone calls to parents. I also promise to contact you in the event of problem behaviors. Parent-Teacher-Student conferences can be arranged to discuss particular issues.

Parent Volunteers:

I love to get parents involved in any way. Please fill out the volunteer form. Ways to volunteer can include helping out in the room, being a reading tutor, chaperoning a field trip, organizing school materials, making copies, or even cooking a favorite family dish.

Math:

Students will gain fluency with adding and subtracting, learn to multiply and divide, practice measuring, identify geometric shapes, and identify the missing numbers in addition and subtraction facts. Other concepts include place value, time, temperature, fractions, and problem-solving. Third graders take assessments during and after each unit. They also take the Math and Reading WASL in the spring.

Reading:

Students will receive 90 minutes a day of reading instruction. Reading strategies include predicting, inferring, summarizing, and asking questions. Reading skills include sequencing story events, understanding main ideas, naming story parts, and comparing stories. Students practice reading fluency every day, and they learn new vocabulary words weekly.

Writing:

Students write in class every day. We will review parts of speech and sentence structure, and practice writing paragraphs, essays, and stories. We will correct sentences for spelling and grammar. We’ll practice our printing, and introduce cursive writing.

Science:

Our Science units are Rocks & Minerals, Sound, and Plants. The students are engaged in hands-on activities throughout the year, and they also record ideas and make tables in their science notebooks.

Field Trips:

We have many exciting field trips scheduled. We will visit Marra Farm and the Washington Park Arboretum. More trips will follow! To go on a field trip, students must bring a parent-signed permission slip. Students also need to have demonstrated that they can safely follow class rules. I will contact you if your child is unable to go on a trip for behavior reasons.

School Start Time:

Unless they are involved in a special program, children should not come to school before 8:30 a.m. because there is no supervision. Be sure your child is at school by 8:55 a.m. and in line on the playground. When children are tardy, they miss instruction in Reading. Any time a child is absent due to illness or a doctor’s appointment, they must bring a note from a parent. If you know about an absence that’s coming up, please let me know before with a note or phone call. If you give me some notice, I can prepare some homework.

Birthdays:

We love celebrating birthdays! If you would like to bring or send treats of some kind with your child on his or her birthday, we’d love to see you! We usually do this at the end of the day. No pop or candy please!

Breakfast:

Breakfast is served every morning at 8:30 a.m. and it is FREE for all students! Students are allowed out to the playground at 8:45 a.m.

Please feel free to contact me about any questions or concerns you may have. Please call me at (206)252-8127 before school starts and after school. I will respond as soon as possible. I’m looking forward to a great year!

Sincerely,
Beatriz A. Schnathorst