Frequently Asked Questions: This page contains answers to common questions of students and parents.

1. How can I contact you?
2. What are math contracts?
3. What is Reading Club and AR?
4. How does spelling work?

How can I contact you?

You can call the school at 269-488-5080 ext 3129 and leave me a time to call 
you 
back.  You can also e-mail me at penglish@gulllakecs.org.  I check this on 
the weekends and after school and you can expect a prompt response.

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What are math contracts?

Math contracts are a way to help your children keep track of how often and 
how well they do on math flash cards.  Our goal is to practice 4 times or 
more a week.  To be at 3rd grade level, your child should be able to do 30 
multiplication facts in 1 minute. This is also true for addition and 
subtraction, so you may want to practice them as well.

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What is Reading Club and AR?

Reading club is a program which is school wide.  It asks the children to 
read 
and record the number of pages they have read.  Your child can record the 
title and number of pages on any piece of paper and return it to school 
signed by you.  They can get prizes for reaching certain goals along the 
way.  The year end goal is 3500 pages after which the students will recieve 
a 
t-shirt.  
Children can also read certain books which we have 10 question quizes for.  
Many popular books are on this list and you can always ask if a book is on 
the list.  Books are worth a certain amount of points depending on grade 
level and length.  Each student is tries to achieve a goal of 2 AR points 
each month.  Any book read for AR points can be used for Reading club as 
well.

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How does spelling work?

Each week we work on a particular phonics skill, for example, a short i 
sound.  Students take a pretest Friday the week before which I correct over 
the weekend.  The words in the pretest check to see if they have already 
mastered that particular phonics skill.  

If they get 4 or more incorrect on the pretest, then that list becomes their 
spelling words for the week.  If they get less than 4 wrong, they move on to 
list B.  If the student consistently gets high scores on list B, then I may 
have them work on list C.  The goal of the different spelling lists is for 
the students to be challenged, but still being successful at spelling.

Spelling lists go home Monday attached to homework and their pretest.  The 
words on the homework may not necessarily match the words they are going to 
Study for their spelling test.  The words on their homework will match the 
words on their pretest, but if they did well on their pretest, they will 
have harder words to study.  Their spelling homework is due Wednesday and 
they will have a test on their spelling words Wednesday.  If they get 100% 
on the spelling test Wednesday, they do not have to take it again.  If they 
get less than 100%, they take a test on the same words again on Thursday and 
I take the best of the 2 scores.

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