Mrs. Halimi

Good afternoon Haigh families. The snow was a great surprise this afternoon. I don’t mind the snow so much in January, especially on a lazy, football Sunday 🙂

This week we will begin quarter 3. Please take sometime and reflect with your child about how school is going. I know we are growing very tired of learning via Zoom, but we need to continue to stay focused, participate, and do the best we can to grow as learners. Report cards should be available by Wednesday in parent connect. Parent Connect Directions for Parents-click here

Reminders for the week:

• Monday is a half day–NO PM Learning Labs
• Math quiz tomorrow
• Weekly assignment sheet
• How is your child doing on ZEARN? Please make an effort to have your child complete a lesson a day. Their lesson should match the one we are on and unfortunately, many students are behind. As I have said before, this site compliments Eureka math perfectly and is a great reinforcement of learning skills for your child.

Looking forward to a productive week ahead! I hear more snow may be coming….not sure what that means in terms of a snow day 🙂

Good afternoon Haigh families and Happy Martin Luther King Jr. day. Please take a moment today to reflect, remember, and teach your child about King’s message of hope for a country united. Now more than ever, children and adults alike need to remember this message and spread kindness and not hate. During class on Friday we spent some time discussing King’s achievements. Your child was assigned Google slides to complete. Take a minute to review these slides and listen to the several stories linked on slide 3 to commemorate this man;s legacy. 

Thank you all for helping and supporting your child last week during our NWEA reading test. Almost all of the class is finished. While some scores reflect measures of growth, some scores remain the same or have even dropped. Please take some time today or this week to discuss your child’s score with them. I will be emailing them out shortly. Please click here to see the NWEA norms for 3rd grade. When talking to your child about their NWEA score please be sure to ask the following  questions:

• Are you on time to class each morning ready to learn?
• Are you following along to each lesson, participating, and completing charts when asked?
• Are you on time to reading group each assigned day? Are you participating and coming prepared?
• Are you rereading your reading group book each night for practice with fluency and comprehension?
• Are you reading an ADDITIONAL 30 + minutes each night with a book of your choice?
• Are you utilizing reading through EPIC?
• Have you visited your local library for books or traded with a friend or cousin for high interest, on level books?

These questions can help guide a conversation about working hard to achieve success in 3rd grade. Spring testing is right around the corner and while learning remotely is certainly not ideal, it is all we have for now. 

Reminders for the week:

• Assignment sheet for the week
• Math, topic A quiz tomorrow
• Students should be completing a lesson a day on Zearn to compliment our math program. I still have some students who are FAR behind. I do not want to manually move them up to the current module since the requirement is to complete them each night with homework. PLEASE encourage your child and set up a routine to follow through on this commitment. 
• Friday we have a ½ day as the end of the semester is over. Morning classes will be the same but we will have no PM learning labs. Please have students look for missing assignments to turn in by Wednesday. 
• Have students practice multiplication facts at home. They may listen to the skip counting songs on Schoology, use flashcards, or find a game to play online. We just started our 

unit on area so we will be reviewing facts during class. Our next unit is fractions and that will go much smoother with a good comprehension of multiplication facts. 

Looking forward to a great week ahead. Thank you for your support 🙂

Good afternoon Haigh families. I hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend and enjoyed seeing the sunshine!

This week we will have a busy week with NWEA and DRA testing.Third graders only have to take the reading portion for winter testing. NWEA will be on Tuesday and Thursday of this week. NWEA testing will be completely virtual and I have divided the class into 2 testing groups in order to manage questions and troubleshooting during the test. Please take a look at the schedule and time that your child will log on to Zoom on Tuesday and Thursday to complete their test. To make sure your child’s device is compatible with the NWEA assessment, please take a minute to perform the device readiness check below (Thank you to those who have already done this).

• NWEA groups and schedule
• Device readiness check

Along with NWEA, I will also be giving DRA testing during learning lab time. I have created a schedule for this as well. Like NWEA, we will be doing this via Zoom. Please note that if your child is not on the schedule, it is because Mrs. Nardone will be testing them during learning lab or in class time. Please review the schedule below. 

• DRA testing schedule

Reminders for the week:

• Monday we will have our unit 3 math test. Study guide was reviewed in class Friday and shared on Schoology.
• Tuesday we will not have our regular reading and math block due to NWEA testing. See schedule above. There are still some assignments/activities for your child to complete. 
• Thursday we will be testing (During our reading block) but in a shorter time frame. We will still have math class at 11:00-11:45
• Learning lab READING GROUPS are canceled due to DRA testing, however, math extra practice time on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday will still be available from 1:20-1:50
• Please talk to your child about the importance of participating during class time. Last week I had a hard time getting students to participate in class discussions. I know that learning virtually is not ideal, but it is our only mode at this time. Participation and effort go a long way in ensuring success for your child. 
• Please review the weekly assignment sheet with your child. Please note that this could change due to time frames
• Please make sure your child is completing their daily assignments along with practicing math facts and reading daily

Looking forward to a great week ahead!

Good afternoon Haigh families and Happy New Year! I hope everyone had an amazing and well deserved break. It sure did fly, but I have to say, I am happy to say goodbye to 2020. Hoping 2021 is kinder to us all!.

This week we will get back into our routine. I am sure we will all be a little sleepy, but it will be nice to be back. Before break we were discussing the government of Michigan and why it is important. To conclude our unit, on Monday morning we will be going on a “Virtual”  field trip to see the state capital in Lansing. Students should hop on Zoom at 9:00 am and we will “leave” for our trip at 9:15. I will share the link in the chat at that time 🙂 

This week we will begin our new unit in reading which is about comparing points of view. Your child will need the new book that was passed out at the last materials sign up. 

We will continue our unit on multiplication and division 6-10 this week. Monday we will review concepts from before break. We will be skipping and combining a few lessons so please do not be alarmed if some pages are blank in your child’s Learn and Succeed books. I plan to finish up this unit by the end of the week. We will test early next week. Please have your child practice their skip counting by listening to the songs on Schoology under the resources tab. 

The week of January 11th we will begin NWEA and DRA testing again. We will be doing all of this testing virtually so please stay tuned for more information about how this will work. I plan to make a schedule for DRA testing for the afternoon in place of learning labs. Again, I will share this with you once I have it all sorted out. 

Reminders for the week:

• Schedule will remain the same for reading and math zoom times as well as learning labs/reading groups in the afternoon
• Monday morning we will be going on a “Virtual”  field trip to see the state capital in Lansing. Students should hop on Zoom at 9:00 am and we will “leave” for our trip at 9:15. I will share the link in the chat at that time 🙂 
• Math refocus time is every Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 1:20-1:50. If your child is struggling and needs help with math, please encourage them to join the zoom meetings during these times. 
• We will be using our NEW reading book this week
• Your child should be reading daily a book of their choice AND their reading group book
• Your child should be doing a Zearn lesson daily
• Assignments for the week

Good afternoon Haigh families! Today marks 12 days till Christmas! I can’t believe how quickly the holiday season is approaching!

This week is usually full of holiday hype, super excited (and unfocused) children, and preparations for a holiday party. In place of our traditional holiday school party we will be having a holiday spirit week filled with some fun holiday themed activities towards the end of the week. I will also be delivering gifts to all my students porches on Wednesday starting at around 2:00.

Fa-la-la-la-la Spirit Week:

• Monday-–Wear your ugly sweater today
• Tuesday–Festive from head to toe! Wear your favorite holiday hat, shirts, and socks!
• Wednesday– Grinch Day/Green and Red! Dress like the Grinch or wear red
• Thursday-–Baby it’s cold outside Wear a warm scarf and winter hat. Prepare a cup of hot cocoa for our Zoom meeting!
• Friday-–Twas’ the day before break….Wear your holiday pajamas to Zoom today!

Last week we worked really hard at finishing up some important reading skills including main idea, synthesizing and summarizing information in non-fiction text, and understanding how text features such as timelines help us deepen our understanding of a text. This week we will finish our reading unit of the Government on Tuesday with a reading test online through Benchmark. Please remind your child to slow down, reread the text, and go back in the passage to locate the answer.

Throughout this unit we have been working on a planning for our unit writing prompt of the different ways people participate in government. Last week we completed our organizers and students will have all of this week to work on their final copies. It is located under the Monday button in Schoology. I will be checking in with students throughout the week to answer any questions and sharing completed essays as we go.

In math last week we worked extra hard at learning out 6 and 7 facts. We did many practice drills and listened to our skip counting songs (those can really get stuck in your head!). We also learned how to solve for the unknow in a division or multiplication problem using a letter to represent the number. We will have a quick quiz tomorrow towards the end of math.

Reminders for the week:

• Monday– math quiz
• Wednesday–no PM learning labs; Look for me as I will be dropping off a special gift to your child’s porch 🙂
• Friday– Government Essay due TODAY
• Weekly assignment sheet

Looking forward to an extra special week ahead. Please reach out if you have any questions:)

Good afternoon Haigh Families! I hope you are enjoying your Sunday! I started cleaning out my boys playroom and got stuck in a never ending tornado of toys!

This week in reading we will be working on compare and contrasting in our reading as well as looking at the cause and effect. We will examine the importance of reading the text features in nonfiction texts and pay attention to the timelines that can provide us with extra information that we may not have known if we skipped it. We will also be learning about how the government of Michigan is organized and the purpose of the constitution. In writing we will continue to work on our writing organizer and focus on writing our intro and closing paragraphs this week.

Last week we finished up module 2 and began Module 3. In module 3 we are revisiting multiplication facts of 6-10. We will review the properties of multiplication that can help us solve these larger facts. We will listen to skip counting songs and practice fluency in our multiplication facts. You can help your child become proficient with their facts by grabbing them a pack of flashcards from the dollar store or making them on your own.

Reminders for the week:

• Math quiz on math topic A on Tuesday
• Please be sure your child attends their learning labs on time
• Please be sure your child is completing their daily Zearn lesson
• Please make sure your child is reading at least 25 minutes outside of class times. This should include their reading group book (On Benchmark) and any book of their choice. Epic is not required but does have some great selections for students.
• Daily assignment sheet

Looking forward to a successful week. I am hoping my internet is better then it was Friday afternoon. I was experiencing some major technical difficulties and my boys didn’t even have school!

Good afternoon Haigh Families. I hope you all had a restful holiday break. I know it will be tough to wake up and get moving tomorrow after all these days off!

This week in reading we will be reading about famous Americans who have worked hard to make sure that all citizens have the same rights. We will read 2 articles and deepen our understanding by distinguishing between important and non important parts of the text. We will also determine the main idea and find supporting details. Additionally, we will begin planning our next informational writing piece about the different ways people have participated in government.

Also this week we will begin integrating Michigan studies into our reading curriculum. We will explore state and local government in Michigan. We will be reading from our online Michigan Studies text book.

The learning lab schedule has changed just a bit. I eliminated a group and moved around a few people. This change will allow for math intervention/homework help time. If your child is having trouble with their math homework or the math concepts, they can log on to Zoom 1:20-1:50 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Please check out the new schedule here. I may also ask students to join me during this time if I notice they can benefit from some extra support.

In math we will prepare for our module 2 test tomorrow. Their is an optional study guide to complete for homework on Schoology. Our unit 2 test will be on Tuesday. We will begin unit 3 which is multiplication and division with units 6-9 and multiples of 10.

Reminders for the week:

• Tuesday –Unit 2 math TEST
• Assignments for the week
• Change in learning lab schedule

Looking forward to a great week ahead!

Check out what we are thankful for!

View Slideshow here!

Have a great Thanksgiving and stay safe!

Good afternoon Haigh families! I have enjoyed watching the snow fall today. It was pretty exciting to see it this morning when I woke up. I bet we won’t get a snow day tomorrow! ha!

Reminders for this short week:

• No School Wednesday —Friday for Thanksgiving Break
• The book fair is still opened. New books make great Christmas presents!
• Link to the weekly assignment sheet

Please be sure to check in with your child each day to talk about their day at school. Some great questions you can ask to help you both have an engaging conversation about school:

• What did you read today? What was your favorite part? What was interesting about what you read?
• What reading skill did you talk about today?
• What was the best part of your day?
• What lesson are you on in Zearn?
• Did you read your reading group book? Can you read some to me?
• How is math going? Are you understanding the material?

Wishing you all a happy, safe, low key Thanksgiving with your closest loved ones. Have a great week and enjoy the break!

Good afternoon Haigh families. Today is a great day to curl up with a good book. Please encourage your child to read, read, read! They can read a book of their choice, their reading Benchmark book online, or a wide variety of books on Epic. Today is also a great day to make sure your child has all their assignments turned in. With the start of a new marking period, it is best for your child to prioritize and take responsibility for making sure they are on top of their school work. Did you know, parents get a weekly assignment summary sent to them each Sunday? This is a great tool to check to make sure your Haigh Owl is performing to their potential. As of today, I only have a few students who need to make some adjustments to their priorities. Parents, please help me out with this!

This week we will be finishing up unit 2 in reading and taking our unit 2 test on Tuesday. We will be reviewing tomorrow with some passages and strategies on how to take our time when reading, to go back in the text to confirm answeres, and to eliminate answers that have no credibility. We will begin our unit 3 reading on Government Wednesday. This is a heavy unit with all informational text. We will learn several startegies for breaking down the text to help us understand important text implications.

This week in math we will be taking our Topic C Quiz on Wednesday. This will review rounding to the tens and hundreds on a vertical number line. Students were having a bit of trouble with rounding to the nearest hundreds with numbers in the 1,000’s. We will go over this again a bit tomorrow, but please have your child view the video for lesson 14 as support (I told them this on Friday! You can find the video on last weeks assignment sheet). This week we will work on addition and subtraction strategies while using rounding to check if our answers are in the ballpark.

Reminders for the week:

• Book Fair —-November 16-29th
• Tuesday—Unit 2 reading test
• Tuesday—NO LEARNING LABS in the afternoon
• Tuesday–Parent teacher conferences for those that signed up
• Wednesday –Math Quiz
• Please have your child complete ZEARN DAILY
• Weekly Assignment sheet

Looking forward to a great week ahead and wishing continued health to your family. Please everyone, stay safe!