Mrs. Keebler's Blog

Tuesday – No school – Voting Day for BRICS bond. Please get out and vote.

Field Trip to the Dearborn Smoke House tomorrow. Please wear your school t-shirt or red on all field trips. I tried to send a message early last week saying to contact me on Class Dojo if you were interested in chaperoning. I have been wondering why no one replied. I went back and checked and realize because of the internet issues I was having with my phone it was never sent. So, if you would like to chaperone please send a message on Class Dojo. The bus will be picking us up around 9:00 or before. Please sign in at the office and wait on the couches outside the office. I would like a parent to wait at each of the doors (lower-el and upper-ed dismissal doors) to watch for the bus and please come to let us know when it has arrived. This is a very small locations and there are only room for a few chaperones. If there is not enough space inside you will need to wait outside under the awning. The goal of this field trip is to teach children what to do if they were in a fire. This is a safety issue and very important for students to learn.

New Student – We have a new student starting tomorrow. His name is Hussein. He is joining us from River Oaks. His mother will be joining us on the field trip. Please introduce yourself and your child to them and make them both feel welcome at our school.

Math Homework – You may have noticed that you have not been seeing much math homework for a week or so. We are in the process of moving more toward the Montessori math. This means students will be working at their own pace. The Eureka math homework will now be optional. Students will still be doing Eureka math through the Zearn computer program. This program follows each lesson in Eureka exactly. Students will be working with the Montessori materials that follow the Common Core State Standards. They will work on both Zearn and Montessori math during the day. If you would like them to have math homework they may do their Zearn at home or they may continue to do their math homework in their book but they do not need to return the pages. I can post the answers if you want to check if they are doing it correctly.

Star of the Week – this week will will not have a Star of the Week since we only have 4 days of school. Next week’s Star of the Week is Batoul C.   Each star of the week will do the following things: Monday make a poster board all about their life (NOT foam board). Tuesday bring their favorite book to share with the class. Wednesday bring show and tell. Thursday invite a guest to lunch. Friday her parents should write a letter about what make them so wonderful. The days maybe switched around except the poster board. Only one thing per day.

Parent -Teacher Conferences are November 7th, 12th and 14th. You should have gotten a 1/2 sheet of paper with your time of Friday if you can make your time please let me know as soon as possible so we can arrange another time that works for you.

Student of the Month – Congratulations to Yassen for being chosen as student of the month for October. He is always kind, helpful and tries his best every day.

Star of the Week – Eve –  She will make a poster board (NOT foam board) – Monday, bring his favorite on Tuesday, bring sharing on Wednesday, and invite a guest to lunch on Thursday. Friday have her parent write a letter about why she is so special to them. The days maybe switched around except the poster board. Only one thing per day.

Halloween Party – we will have Halloween games and activities in the gym on October 31st from 10:10-10:55. Parents are encouraged to volunteer to help with the centers. Be sure you have completed your volunteer paper work with the office. In the afternoon, students are able to share Halloween treats with each other at 2:30. Feel free to send in party items like cookies, cupcakes or other snacks and drinks.

Haunted Family Engineering night this Tuesday 6:30-8:00 – Many fun activities! Please fill out the form in the previous post and return it by Monday.

Half – Day Friday, November 1st – Teacher Duty Day – students will be dismissed at 11:45.

Substitutes – I have two meetings and I will be absent two afternoons this week and we will have substitutes (guest teachers). Please remind your students we need to be on your best behavior for our guests teachers. This will make it the most pleasant experience for everyone. I will leave a “Had a great day” or “My day needed work” note for the sub to pass out. Please watch for one of these notes on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons.

All forms and payment due by Wednesday.

Star of the Week – Mahdi C.

Fire fighter talk – today we had a firefighter come to talk about fire safety. We will be going to the Dearborn Smoke house on Nov 4th to learn more. The permission slip is coming home today. If your child has a respiratory problem please check the box and they will not stay inside during the smoke simulation. This is a very important fire trip for students to know what to do in case of a fire.

3rd grade Hearing Screening – Tomorrow 10/22

Picture day on Friday 10/25 – papers are going home today please return the papers as soon as possible. If you order on line please send in the paper with your child’s name and ordered online written.

SPECIAL EVENT TO SUPPORT THE HOWE GIRL SCOUTS ROBOTICS TEAM

**All funds raised will go to support Howe’s Girl Scouts robotics team!**
Join us for Haunted Engineering   Family Fun Night  

 Tuesday, October 29th 6:30 p.m.- 8 p.m. at Howe
Table-top activities include: Bone-y bridge building

Ghostly towers construction challenge

Mini haunted house-making competition

Spooky marble roller coaster design

** Prizes for best designs!!
Cost in advance:$6 per person (paid to your child’s teacher. Look for the flier sent home.)
Also for sale: Baked goods  

Spooky writing kits (UV light/spy pen); $2 each, while supplies last  

Mariam is the Star of the Week

Spirit Week – We will be having a spirit week the week of Halloween. Monday 28th- Inside Out Day
Tuesday 29th – Spooky Hair
Weds 30th – Sports Day
Thursday 31st- Dress in Orange/Black/Fall colors – Halloween party – bring treats to share with the class. Volunteers needed for party in the gym. Friday (Nov 1 ½ day)- Book Character (costumes) Staff dress up as well

Late Start Wednesday 10/16 – please arrive at 9:35

Marquis Theater trip is canceled. We were unable to get a bus that day. There will be more trips planned for the future.

Fire Safety trip – we will still be going to the Fire Safety Smoke House on November 4th at 9:30 AM. This is a very small locations so only a few chaperones are needed. The permission slip will go home this week. There will be a firefighter coming next week for our pre-visit talk. If you are interested in chaperoning please be sure you have completed your paper work with the office, it takes a couple of weeks to process.

Fact fluency – memorization and speed of knowing your math facts is a crucial part of doing well in math. If you need to count on your fingers or spend a lot of time on the basic facts it makes applying these facts to more advanced concept much more difficult. Students in 3rd grade NEED to have all of their math facts memorized up to 10s. This means all the multiplication and division facts 0 to 10. They should have memorized the addition and subtraction facts before 3rd grade and should be able to quickly give answers up to 20 without counting. If they are unable to do this they should be practicing daily until they reach these goals. Flash cards, math programs like MobyMax or just quizzing them as you ride in the car are all beneficial. You can see their fluency score on MobyMax. Your student will know how to find it.

Zearn – Your student should be up to lesson 14 in Zearn as of today. Zearn is a wonderful program that is part of the Eureka math program. It matches exactly with the lessons in our book. It has a video tutorial (Math Chat) for each lesson with step by step directions on how to do the lesson with lots of practice. The students that are keeping up to date are doing wonderful on the tests. Please make sure that your student keeps up to date on their Zearn lessons. If they did not complete them in class they should work on them at home. This will be very beneficial for understanding all the concepts they need to for the tests.

Chaperone/Volunteer paperwork – Please remember to complete your chaperone/volunteer paperwork in the office. We have a two field trips coming up in November (see calendar) and it takes a couple of weeks to complete the paperwork. You must also have the paperwork to volunteer for extra recess.

Don’t Forget – 1/2 day Friday – dismissal at 11:45

Reward Recess – I still have no helper for our reward recess tomorrow. Since it is a 1/2 day it would be from 9:15-9:45, please let me know if you can help.

Emergency Cards – these went home today. Please check the front to make sure all information is up to date. Please sign the back and answer all the questions (circle YES or NO) and initial the areas that need initials. Please return ASAP, no later than Friday.

Hearing Screening paper went home also – Please fill this out if your student has had a hearing problem. They will get a screening either way.

Library checkout tomorrow – remind your student to bring their books back.

1/2 day Friday – Dismissal at 11:45

Student of the Month – Congratulations to Ava. She is the student of the month for September.

New Study Guide for Math – The 2nd study guide went home today for Topic D quiz tomorrow. Please make sure your student completed it. We will correct them tomorrow and take the quiz.

Star of the Week – Mohammed B. –  He will make a poster board (NOT foam board) – Monday, bring his favorite on Tuesday, bring sharing on Wednesday, and invite a guest to lunch on Thursday. The days maybe switched around except the poster board. Only one thing per day.

Math Quiz Monday on M1 Topic C – A study guide should be sent home today. Please return it on Monday we will review the answers and take the quiz. If your student didn’t bring home the study guide you can find it on the Eureka Math tab under study guides. This is a short topic and we are taking the Topic C quiz a little late so there will be a Topic D study guide going home this week also.

Recess Helpers – Attached is a link to volunteer for recess helper on Friday afternoons for 2:45-3:15. Just sign your name next to the dates that work best for you. I will post the rest of the year dates as we get closer. We had to skip it this week because we did not have a volunteer in time. Each Friday if your students complete all their work they will get the extra recess reward. Recess Sign- up list

Parent Survey – There are still a few parents that have not taken the parent survey. Please take this brief survey to help me get to know your child better. This will help me know best how to teach your child. Thanks in advance for your help. Parent Survey

PTA meeting – the PTA had there October meeting yesterday. I encourage you to participate in PTA and/or become a member. They do many things for our school. They have a Halloween party planned for October 25th from 6-8 PM. There will be a sign up Genius made for volunteers. More information to follow.

October Book it Calendar – October calendar will be going home on Monday to start recording reading each month. Students will be rewarded at the end of the month with a coupon for free pizza. Book – it is changing things this year so the coupon maybe electronic. I’m not positive yet. If you would like to print your calendar sooner there is a link on the blog under the Homework tab.

Star of the Week – Natalie – She will make a poster board (not foam board) – Monday, bring her favorite on Tuesday, bring sharing on Wednesday, and invite a guest to lunch on Thursday. The days maybe switched around except the poster board. Only one thing per day.

Howe PTA meeting – Thursday October 3rd 3:45 in the cafeteria. Our first official PTA meeting of the year will be next week Thursday, October 3rd @ 3:45 pm in the cafeteria.  If you’ve been looking for ways to be involved at the school and help out with the PTA, please attend the meeting and find out more about what we do!