Planetarium Field Trip News

Planetarium Field Trip News

The third grade team is excited to tell you about our upcoming field trip on February 20^thto The Morehead Planetarium and Science Center at Chapel Hill.  At the field trip the children will be seeing a show in The Planetarium and also participating in a fun and engaging workshop class.  This experience supports our third quarter science unit “Objects in the Sky”.  The cost of the trip to cover the show, class and also to pay for our busses is $13 per student.  Donations to help the students who financially cannot pay for the trip are greatly appreciated.  You will be getting a permission slip in tomrrow's Monday folder.  Please fill out both sides of the permission slip and send in your payment to your homeroom teacher by Thursday, February 13^th.  Please make out all checks to “Douglas Elementary School”.  You may also pay online through OSP (Online School Payment).  You can access OSP directly online at the Douglas Elementary School website.

If you are interested in chaperoning, we would love to have you!  We are allowed to have two chaperones per class.  Please submit your name to your homeroom teacher by Friday, February 7^th and your classroom teacher will do a drawing on this date to announce the chaperones.   To be a chaperone you must have a background clearance.  The discounted cost for chaperones is $6.00.  Due to parents not being allowed to ride Wake County busses, chaperones are required to drive separately and meet us at the Planetarium.  This is a wonderful volunteer experience! 

Thank you for your support!

The Third Grade Team

READ TO ACHIEVE

READ TO ACHIEVE: A Very Brief Summary!

Some of you were unable to attend the Read to Achieve meeting on January 16th to obtain information about how this legislation affects your third grader.  Here is a very brief run down:

Starting January 27th, every third grader will complete 3 reading passages on the same standard.  The following week, they will take 3 on a different standard, and so on.  These passages are about a page and a half long and have 5 questions on each.  They will be graded and kept in a portfolio for your child.  Four out of five questions correct is passing.  If they do not pass all 3 passages for a certain standard, they will have a chance to take another passage.  This will go on throughout the school year.  By the end, we hope to have built a portfolio that shows your child has mastered each of the 12 standards.  This will be very important because if they do not pass the English-Language Arts EOG test at the end of the year, the portfolio will provide the necessary information to show that they are proficient; what they call a "good cause exemption."  All third graders will have a portfolio, regardless of their level of proficiency in the classroom.  

If they do not have a "good cause exemption" based on their portfolio, they will take the Read to Achieve test at the end of the year, after the EOGs.

If they do not have a proficient portfolio and they do not pass the EOG or the Read to Achieve Test, they will have to go to a Summer Reading program and will continue to work on their portfolio.  If they do not attend the Reading program, they will be retained in third grade.  At the end of the Summer Reading Program, they will get another opportunity to take the Read to Achieve test. 

If they demonstrate proficiency either by portfolio or by the test score, then they move on to 4th grade.  If not, they begin the school year in a 3rd/4th Transition Class and will receive interventions next year to support them in literacy.  Midway through their "third/fourth grade" transitional year, they will have another opportunity to take the Read to Achieve test or pass by good cause exemption through their portfolio, which they will be

continuing to build.  If they pass, they would be a traditional 4th grader at that point.  If not, they will continue to receive intensive literacy instruction in the transitional classroom.  

For more detailed information about this legislation, please read the following document: https://eboard.eboardsolutions.com/Meetings/Attachment.aspx?S=10399&AID=12267&MID=804