It’s hard to believe we are heading into October already! You should have received permission slips for Thursday’s trip to the Fire Safety House. Both permission slips need to be signed and returned by Wednesday at the latest. I know the note asks for 2 chaperones, but I can take 4 🙂 If I get more than 4 interested parents, I will have to do a lottery and draw names. It is a very quick trip. We will leave Howard at 12:30 promptly and return by 1:30. If you are interested in joining us, you will ride in the school bus with us and please be aware that no younger siblings will be allowed to attend.

On Wednesday we have our annual Pinwheels For Peace celebration by the Peace Pole outside at 9 a.m.

Your child now has a login for Xtramath.com in his/her planner. This program allows your child to practice multiplication facts daily. They can take one quiz per day and do a “race the teacher”. Please give your child time to practice this at home if they did not get a chance to practice in school. It really is a great way for them to practice the math facts.

Hopefully your child has been telling you about the Michigan legends we are reading in school. 🙂 They will hear one more this week. My hope is to start reading groups this week now that all of the testing has been completed.

I hope everyone had a nice last weekend of summer! We have another busy week of school this week. 🙂

Thank you to all who ordered books for your child from Scholastic this past week. Those books should be arriving at Howard by Friday.

You will be receiving your child’s math Module 1 Mid-Module Assessment back today. A rubric for grading will also be in your child’s folder so that you can better understand how points were given for correct/incorrect answers.

This week we will have a late start on Wednesday. School with start at 9:35 a.m. The 3rd grades will also be visited by Firefighter Jen from the Dearborn Fire Department on Friday of this week. She will talk to the kids and prepare them for their trip to the Dearborn Fire Smokehouse in October. More information will come home regarding this trip later this week.

If your child has headphones or earbuds that can be sent in to school for use with our chromebooks it would be much appreciated. **Some kids have already brought theirs in. I will place them in a ziploc bag with their name on it.

Thank you to all who came to Open House and/or attended our 3rd grade parent meeting. I enjoyed meeting all of you and I know this is going to be a great year with a special group of kids 🙂

We will finish the NWEA Language test tomorrow. I will hopefully also finish all of the Reading DRA testing this week as well. That will allow me to form reading groups and get into a real routine with your children. Thank you for your support and patience.

Just a reminder that this week your children will have a 1/2 day of school on Friday. Dismissal will be at 11:45.

There will also be a PTA meeting this Wednesday at 9 am.

For future planning, picture day has been scheduled for October 18th.

Later this week we will have our first Math Test. The kids have had topic quizzes, but this is the Mid-Module Assessment. My plan is to give the test on Thursday with the review coming home Wednesday, but if the review takes us longer, the test may be pushed back to Friday. I will keep you updated!

Have a wonderful week 🙂

Hello Parents,

I think I have almost all of my parents subscribed to my blog, YAY!!

Here are some quick updates for this week:

We WILL be having our first spelling test this Friday. The words went home with your child on Monday. They were instructed to write them in their planners, however, they will always get a copied list from me that they are to keep in the clear outer pocket of their take home folders. It’s a great way to keep the list safe from getting lost and going home each day for practice.

We will be taking the Language (which is really writing and grammar skills) NWEA test this Thursday and Friday. The kids did not take this test last year as second graders, so this will be new for them. I have stressed to the kids not to “stress” over these tests. The first test is really just a baseline. My job is to make sure your children make growth from this baseline score this year 🙂

Finally, Open House is this Thursday. I sent home a green note earlier in the week inviting you to my Parent Meeting. It will be held in my classroom the night of Open House a half hour before Open House officially starts. I would really appreciate it if you can make it. If you can’t, I would be happy to share my power point with you if you email me (martinh@dearbornschools.org)

Thank you for subscribing to my blog 🙂 I will be doing most of my weekly communication this way so it is important that you check this blog weekly. I will update the blog Friday if possible, but sometimes the updates will come on the weekends. You WILL be updated at least once a week 🙂

We had a GREAT start to the school year. The kids are doing a fabulous job learning their new 3rd grade expectations. As you may have noticed, homework will be written in the planners daily. At the start of the school year we may have some days without homework. On these days, I ask that your child do their nightly reading. (At least 20 minutes per night) Because they are 3rd graders, book bags will NOT be coming home, but each child will have a literacy group book (beginning after testing). I will help your child find appropriate level books from our Howard library, but I ask that you also take your child to the Dearborn Public Library or purchase books through Scholastic that your child can have available to read at home each night. We all know that the more you practice the better you get!!

On the subject of planners; your child knows that his/her responsibility is to get you to sign the planner each night. I am asking that you use a signature instead of initials. Please ONLY sign the planner if you have seen your child (or helped your child to) complete his/her homework. Your child also knows that homework is not complete until their name and number is written on the homework 🙂

I will communicate with you in the planner if necessary or I will send you an email. I do visit each child every morning and stamp planners. They like the individual attention and I like giving it to them!!

Thank you SO MUCH for making sure your child has the necessary supplies for 3rd grade, It makes our job easier and we appreciate you!!!

As far as learning goes, we have jumped right into the math curriculum and you will see a lot of homework this year (it is short practice though!) along with homework helpers that will help you as a parent learn along with your child 🙂 Nothing is as frustrating as learning “new” math.

We will be starting NWEA testing this week. I don’t like it, but I’m told we must start. Your child will start with the reading tomorrow and the math later in the week. The district would like us to get a baseline score for leveling and tailoring our instruction. Therefore, the testing must be done quickly.

Spelling (and hence spelling tests) will NOT start until next week.

If you EVER have any questions, I am available!!! If you want an in person meeting just drop me an email. If you just have a quick question or want me to know something, feel free to jot it in the planner or send me an email matinh@dearbornschools.org

I am THRILLED to be your child’s teacher this year!