Benchmark ELA – This week we will be beginning our 1st Benchmark unit called Animal Adaptations. Here is a copy of the Grammar and Spelling pamphlet that we will do this week. Unit 1 Week 1 The grammar focus this week is Concrete and Abstract Nouns- We will also begin our spelling – This week we will be working on Short Vowels, Here are the Spelling Words. I will also ask students to write them in their planners on the right side. We will have a spelling test on Friday, please help your student practice spelling the words each day.
Reading logs will also begin this week. They will be due on Friday.
Star of the Week: Amira– Each day she will bring on of the following items to share with the class:
Monday she will be making a poster board all about her life, she will get her Star of the Week crown and get to be our line leader.
Tuesday her parents will write a letter to her telling us what makes her so special and we will share that with the class,
Wednesday she will bring sharing from home
Thursday her favorite book to read to the class.
Friday bring your favorite stuffed animal to sit on your desk while you work.
The days can be switched around except for the poster. She should bring 1 item per day. This is what every student will do on their week for the rest of the year. To find your student’s week look on the blog calendar.
I-Ready Testing – Most students are done with i-Ready testing, the students who are not finished will be testing with our instructional coach in her office. We will be giving out and discussing the test results at conferences in November.
ELA – We are on week 3 of the Benchmark Review and Routines. We will continue our reading test this week. This is the last week of review before our regular lessons and spelling tests start.
Reading logs and Book bags will begin this week. Your child will get a reading log with a short activity to do after their 20 minutes of reading. I will send home a book bag with 1 – 2 books at their level. Please return the book bags and reading logs each Friday. Your student will switch out their book and get a new reading log.
Math – This week we will start on Monday with the Topic B quiz. We will try to complete lessons 10-14. Watch the planner for the exact assignments. Please remember to sign the planner each night.
Math Fact Tests – We had 2 more students finish addition on Friday, so we now have 5 students working on subtraction. Please make sure that you student is studying their math facts each night. When all students have passed the addition facts they will earn an ice cream party. I will send a picture next week of our scoop progress, our wall is getting very colorful! Please ask your child which facts they are on and have them practice each afternoon and morning in the car while you are driving, ask them what is 4+8 and see how quick they can answer.
Social Studies – We will continue to learn about Government. We will take our quiz next week. Students can practice by login into www.Online.StudiesWeekly.com/login. If they don’t remember their login information send a Class Dojo Message.
Library Check out will be on Wednesday until January. Please make sure all books are back in school by Tuesday, so they are ready to return on Wednesday.
Gym class will be on Thursday. Please make sure they wear gym shoes on Thursday.
Star of the Week: Evana – Each day she will bring on of the following items to share with the class:
Monday she will be making a poster board all about her life, she will get her Star of the Week crown and get to be our line leader.
Tuesday her parents will write a letter to her telling us what makes her so special and we will share that with the class,
Wednesday she will bring sharing from home
Thursday her favorite book to read to the class.
Friday bring your favorite stuffed animal to sit on your desk while you work.
The days can be switched around except for the poster. She should bring 1 item per day. This is what every student will do on their week for the rest of the year. To find your student’s week look on the blog calendar.
I-Ready Testing – We will begin our i-Ready testing on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. We will be starting right away so please arrive on time. Make sure your child gets a good night sleep (9-11 hours are recommended for 3rd graders). Make sure they eat a healthy breakfast with protein not sugar.
Academics –
ELA – We are one week 2 of the Benchmark Review and Routines. We will begin our reading test this week. We have one more week after this of review before our regular lessons and spelling tests start.
Math – We took our 1st Topic A quiz on Thursday, most students did very well, I let everyone correct mistakes on Friday. The quiz will go home on Monday. We will try to complete Lesson 7, 8, and 9 by Wednesday this would mean we will take the Topic B quiz on Thursday or Friday. Watch the planner for the exact assignments. Please remember to sign the planner each night.
Math Fact Tests – we take a math fact test each morning to try to improve our fact fluency. We have started with the addition facts. Each time your child gets 100% on a test in less than 5 minutes, they earn a scoop for their ice cream sundae. When all students have passed the addition facts they will earn an ice cream party. I will send a picture next week of our scoop progress, our wall is getting very colorful! Here is a picture from a previous year. Please ask your child which facts they are on and have them practice each afternoon and morning in the car while you are driving, ask them what is 4+8 and see how quick they can answer.
Social Studies – We will continue to learn about Government. We will take a little quiz on the week one content this week. Students were given a Studies Weekly login if they want to study at home, we will go
Library Check out will be on Wednesday until January. Please make sure all books are back in school by Tuesday, so they are ready to return on Wednesday.
Gym class will be on Thursday. Please make sure they wear gym shoes on Thursday.
I hope everyone enjoyed their extra long weekend with their children. We are starting a new week tomorrow. I got to babysit Mrs. Polster’s monarch caterpillars and black swallowtail chrysalises. They are almost all chrysalises now, so we will get to observe a new stage on Tuesday.
Homework – Each night your student will come home with a planner, it will tell you the current night’s homework, which is usually a math page and reading a book for 20 minutes. I will be adding a short response to reading, writing assignment for homework in a couple of weeks. Please sign the planner so that I know that you have seen it and please ensure that your child completes their work. It is helpful if homework is done early right after school before fun activities so that students are more motivated to complete it. Students should never spend more than 60 minutes doing homework. If it is taking too long, please let me know and we will brainstorm ideas to make it shorter.
Lost or Forgotten homework – It sometimes happens that someone forgets to bring home their homework or they somehow lose it. If you have a printer it is available to print from the blog. Go to Homework on the right side. Hover over it and the list pops up. Click on Eureka Math Homework to find the directions for how to find and print the homework. Here is the link if you can’t find it. If you don’t have a printer then you follow the same directions and copy the answers on a piece of paper. This is also helpful if your student is absent from school, so that they can still complete their work.
Blog – Almost everything that you need is on the blog. Do a little exploring if you need something. If you can’t find it let me know in an email and I can help. My email is: keeblek@dearbornschools.org.
Parent Homework – Class Dojo and the Blog – I am very excited that 91% of families are signed up for Class Dojo. Only 2 families to go! It is harder to tell who signed up for the blog since there are not kid names attached to your emails. SO I would like to do a roll call to make sure I am talking to all families each week. If you get this blog post please go to Class Dojo and say “I got the blog post”. Then I will know who I need to get added to the blog! That’s your homework! Thanks!
Star of the Week – Starting September 9th we are starting Star of the Week. Evana will be our 1st Star of the Week. About every week we will have a new Star of the Week. This is a very special week for your child. They get to make a poster about themselves, get a Star of the Week crown, be the line leader, do sharing and bring in a special book and letter from their parents. I have started adding the students to our calendar on the blog so you can check your student’s date. I am going in alphabetical order. The date may change so check the calendar when your students date is getting closer. To learn more here is the Star of the Week page from the blog. If we have days off during the week or if your child is sick during their time I will extend their week to include the next week also.
Academics –
Social Studies – We will begin working on Government in Social Studies. Students will get a Studies Weekly magazine each week and will have an online platform to do games and assessments.
ELA – We are working on the Benchmark Review and Routines. Each week students will get a pamphlet that will need to be completed by Friday. About every 3 weeks we will start a new unit magazine.
Math – This week we will be doing the following homework from their Apply books.
Tuesday – Lesson 4
Wednesday – Lesson 5
Thursday – Lesson 6
Friday – Lesson 7
If you ever have any questions, comments or concerns please contact me at keeblek@dearbornschools.org or message me on Class Dojo.
I have posted our first full day of school picture on Class Dojo! I’m excited to see 69% of parents connected to Class Dojo one the 1st full day of school! That is awesome! To hatch the monster the kids need to log in also. There is a QR code when you open up their egg. If you are not signed up yet, I have sent the QR code again to sign up. Students will get a prize when their parents are connected. If you need help let me know.
It was great having our students back in school yesterday! As a reminder, Tuesday, August 27 will be a full day of school for all students from 8:25-3:20. Breakfast will be served from 8:00-8:20 in the cafeteria. All students will be dismissed at 3:20.
Students will be dismissed from the following locations:
Montessori k-2: Door 18 (the small lot off of Ann Arbor Trail)
Montessori 3-5 (and younger siblings): Door 20 (First door in the big lot off of Ann Arbor Trail and Warren Rd.
Don’t forget a reusable water bottle (no disposable water bottles please), a healthy snack, your red folder and lunch unless you are buying lunch:
1st choice: Halal Chicken Patty
2nd choice: Hummus & Pita
Birthdays:We have several birthdays coming up soon. Please follow the birthday guidelines when making your plans. Please let me know as soon as you know which day you are sending in treats:
I see several familiar names on my class list, and I am looking forward to seeing everyone again! I am also very excited to meet my new students! I have a fun and exciting year planned for us.
For those of you who have not met me yet, my name is Katie Keebler. I am married to Fred Keebler, I have two daughters, Elizabeth and Stephanie and I currently have 3 cats! I have been teaching since 1991. I started teaching at Howe Montessori in 2000.
IMPORTANT – Please visit my blog at https://iblog.dearbornschools.org/keebler/. Scroll down to the middle of the home page and enter your email into the “Subscribe by Email” box. This will be my main form of communication, so please keep your email current. If you have any questions please feel free to email me anytime at keeblek@dearbornschools.org. This is the best way to reach me.
I look forward to meeting everyone at the Open House, on Friday August 23rd from 12:00-1:30.
Katie Keebler
Suggested Supply list
Supplies will be shared by the whole class
A large backpack with your child’s name on it
3 Compositions books
2 pencil sharpeners with enclosed area to catch pencil shavings
Thank you to everyone who sent cards and gifts! I truly appreciate your kindness and generosity. I have really enjoyed working with your students this year. I really grow to love all my students each year! I will miss them a lot! I sent home math and handwriting to work on over the summer. It is important to do some kind of academics over the summer so that students keep using their brains and don’t get the summer slide (loss of skills) over break. Students will get a prize for any books they complete over the summer, if they bring them back to me next year. I hope everyone has a wonderful, fun and restful summer. ENJOY! See you next year! Mrs. Keebler
Field day is being moved to tomorrow due to rain and storms on Wednesday.
Your child needs to bring a towel and water bottle. (frozen bottles work great on hot days)
We will spend the morning outside doing station rotations and then in the afternoon the fire truck will be coming. The kids can get wet with the fire truck as it sprays us in the back parking lot.
**Due to bathroom space issues we will not be able to change after the fire truck. You can either take your child home after the event (around 230) OR we will play on the playground after until we dry off. If you take your child home please check out with your teacher!!!!
