Welcome to 3rd Grade!

Mrs. Poteki's Class

Aloha! Getting to know Mrs. Poteki

Aloha! My name is Michelle Poteki and this will be my 8th year teaching 3rd grade. 3rd grade is the best! I have lived in Utah for 8 years. Prior to that, I lived in Hawaii for 3 1/2 years. I am originally from northern California. I grew up with giant redwood trees in my backyard and the ocean 5 minutes away! I love sports! I played 3 sports year round from when I was 5 until I was a senior in high school (which was soccer, basketball and softball). I also played softball in college. I still try to be active as much as I can! I have ran 9 half marathons, 2 full marathons and 1 triathlon. I've taken a break from running and am eager to race again! I love my family, the ocean, being outdoors and trying hard things! I have been married for 3 years and we have one daughter, Keasi, who is one years old. I am a teacher because students are rock stars! Every day I get to step foot in a classroom where mistakes are encouraged, fun happens daily and learning and growing occur hand in hand! Not to mention, I get to interact with awesome 8 and 9 year olds - no other job can compare!

A Few of my Favorite Things:
Color: Dusty Rose & Teal
Drink: Diet Dr. Pepper,
Purple Gatorade
Treat: Fiiz & Crumbl
Restaurant: Cafe Rio, Village Baker & Panda Express
Season: Spring
Sport: Softball
Place: Laie, Hawaii

The
Poteki
Family

Michelle, Nua
& Keasi

Expectations

My Expectations for Students:

-Smile, laugh, and learn EVERYDAY
-Be prepared
-Complete homework and turn in on time every Monday
-Participate in class by asking and answering questions
-Be kind and accepting to everyone
-Be in the RIGHT PLACE at the RIGHT TIME doing the RIGHT THING!

My Expectations for Parents:

-Be positive with your child
-Be supportive of your child and the 3rd grade teachers
-If you have a concern, please contact me immediately
-Help encourage students to complete their homework
-Help when and where you are able, we are in this together!

Classroom Expectations

My expectation in my classroom is that you are KIND. That means you are kind to yourself, others and all supplies. On the first day of school we will come up with ideas of what all of those things look and sound like.

Positive Consequences

Each students will be earning letters to spell KINDNESS and will move their clips along the K I N D N E S S board. Each time a student goes above and beyond they move their clip one letter on the chart. A student can only move forward never backward. When a student “spells” KINDNESS by getting their clip to the last “S”, they will be celebrated by the class, receive a certificate, and a small reward.

Other positive consequences include: praise, notes, texts, letters home or leader of the week.

Negative Consequences

We will be using a colored “clip chart” to monitor student behavior and classroom choices. Each child has their own clip chart on their desk. There is not a classroom clip chart for everyone to see. Your child will have a paperclip that he/she will physically move up or down the chart, depending on the choices he/she makes.

Students start out on "I am doing my best to learn". Students can move down the clip chart by choosing behaviors that do not follow our classroom rules, such as being disrespectful or making choices that are not safe. The first clip down is "I can make better choices", if a student is able to turn his/her behavior around, he/ she has the opportunity to clip back up the chart.

No one's ever “stuck” in one place. If a student clips down to "I can improve my behavior", a consequence will be given based on the behavior. If a student clips all the way down to "I can talk about my behavior", a Think Time will be given.

Think Time is a place for students to reflect on their choices. A student who has received a Think Time will go to another 3rd grade classroom to fill out a form and take a break to cool down. The filled out form will be sent home for a parent signature and must be returned to class the following day.

Curriculum

Click here to access a brochure about our 3rd grade curriculum!

Language Arts:
-Narrative Writing
-Opinion Writing
-Informational Writing
-Reading informational text
-Reading fiction text
-Comprehension strategies
-Main idea & key details
-Inferring
-Compare & Contrast
-Cause & Effect
-Sequence of Events
-Problem & Solution
-Author's Purpose

Math:
-Addition
-Subtraction
-Rounding
-Place Value
-Basic Multiplication
-Basic Division
-Time
-Fractions
-Geometry

Science & Social Studies:
-Responsibilities
-Geography
-Cultures
-Effects of traits on survival
-Weather and climate patterns
-How force affects motion

Homework

New homework slips will be sent home every Friday and they will be turned in on the last day of the school week (typically Fridays)

Students are expected to read for a minimum of 100 minutes a week. Please write the number of minutes each day on the appropriate book. (For example, if your student read for 25 minutes on Monday you would write 25 in the book above "Monday"). Don't forget to record the total number of minutes read.

For spelling we will be focusing on phonics patterns that we learn each week. There is nor formal way to practice spelling at home - feel free to practice however you see fit. Students will be tested every Friday and a new list will be sent home with the homework note.

We will start the year off working on basic addition and subtraction math facts. Later on in the year we will move to multiplication and division. Your child will record what math fact they are currently working on on their homework slip that they bring home every Friday.