Ms. Arnold's Weekly News
Week of 4-13-15
**New videos attached at the end of the newsletter each week. Please share with your student. :)
***Multiplication Fact Focus attached to weekly math and multiplication videos attached to help with studying at home.
****See Mrs. H's website below for extra copies of My Math Homework pages.
What information do you need from me?
Weekly Specials and Nightly Homework
New this week:
On Monday, I will be sending home a "nightly" multipication practice tracker. I will collect/distribute them each Monday for the next 4 weeks. Students will also have a circular facts organizer in their red folders that shows which fact they are studying at the time.
Tuesday: Gym; Math Homework #2; study X facts; study spelling, red folders come home
Wednesday: Computers; Math Homework #3; study X facts, study spelling, folders come home
Thursday: Gym; Math Homework #4, study X facts; study spelling, red folders come home
Friday: No specials, bring library books, Fun Friday (if earned); Facts Tests; spelling test; red folders come home; study X facts
Math Homework News
Go to www.mrshkeicher.com to print off My Math homework pages. There will be other homework assignments other than the My Math pages. These "other" homework assignments cannot be printed off this website. They have to get a new "other" homework copies from the classroom instead. We are working on uploading end of unit study guides as well.
Our Classroom Learning Time
Our Focus Points
Reading / Language Arts
Students are continuing to work through our Daily 5 rotations, Read to Self, Read to Someone, Partner Fluency Time, Listening Time, and Teacher Time. Students are also meeting with me one-on-one and/or in small groups through the week to work on specific skills and set goals. Other areas of focus throughout our Daily 5 rotations are: response to reading, writing, fluency, listening, book talks, book analysis, and word building. I am very excited to see their excitement and focus to their day to day reading and writing grow. We are truly building life long readers and writers. In addition to the Daily 5 rotations, a reading resource we are excited to have this year is RAZ-KIDS. It's an online reading program that the students use a lot through the week. I monitor there reading and meet with them to discuss various reading skills and strategies.
Added this week: Some M-Step test practice in preparation for our May testing.
At Home Reading Tips:
*students should witness their role models reading at home
*parents/guardians are encouraged to read every day with their child
*alternate reading with and to students
*ask students to make predictions before reading a chapter or a new book
*ask students to summarize or retell the story, after reading the text
*help students decode words during reading
*don't be afraid to ask students if what they read made sense
*don't worry about things such as names and titles. These are small things that don't change the meaning of the story
*praise students for what they did well
*help students make connections to the text
Writing
Students are continuing to gather stories in their writer's notebooks. This is an ongoing process through the entire year. We are also creating an interactive "grammar" notebook that students will use through the year. This notebook will include pages that focus on: nouns, plural nouns, singular nouns, proper nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, possessive nouns,... Students will also be working on building sentences, stories with multiple paragraphs, using commas in a series, developing informational pieces on a variety of topics and working on their revising and editing skills. Paragraph structure and legible handwriting are continuously encouraged and taught. We have begun our "informational" research piece. Students have selected a topic on how they can help animals in our community/state. Students are drafting their copy of our research report. We will finish drafting and editing this week.
Writing topics this year include:
-test taking skills: written responses in math, reading, and writing (M-Step)
-personal narrative
-paragraphing and sentencing (writing multiple paragraphs in the same story)
- a variety of informational pieces (short and long pieces)
-an opinion piece
-a variety of poetry
Science and Social Studies:
Science topics we're learning about this year:
*Motion
*Forces
*Magnets
*Traits (OUR TOPIC)
*Plants/Animals
*Organisms/Habitats
*Weather
*Hands-on engineering
Social Studies topics we're learning about this year:
*Michigan geography and maps
*The people of Michigan: the three fires, the french, the pioneers (OUR TOPIC)
*Michigan's economy: fur trade, farming, logging, mining, lumbering, automotive
*State government
*Public issues
Math (Chapter 8/Unit 8)
We will be wrapping up Unit 8 on Wednesday with the Unit 8 assessment. Each day students rotate through Math Workshop. Math Workshop consists of 2 rotations. The 2 rotations are: Teacher Time (the day's lesson) and Ipads: Front Row Math. Homework comes home with each lesson taught through the week.
Multiplication Fact Focus: multiplying by 6
-Strategy focus: repeated addition
-Memorization
Previous Fact Focus: multiplying by 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Another Fact Focus: multiplying the "doubles" (1X1, 2X2, 3X3, 4X4, 5X5, 6X6, 7X7, 8X8, 9X9, 10X10, 11X11, 12X12)
Multiplication Tricks:
0- When multiplying by 0, the product (answer) is always 0
1- When multiplying by 1, the product is always the other number (1 x 2 = 2)
2- When multiplying by 2, the factor is doubled (2 x 3 = 6... 3 + 3 = 6)
3- Sing the 3's to the tune of "Jingle Bells"
4- Sing the 4's to the tune of "Dashing Through the Snow"
5- Just count by 5's
6- Hold up the number of fingers you are multiplying, count by 5s, then count again by 1s
7- Sing the 7's to the tune of "Happy Birthday"
9- Starting with your left hand, count the number of the factor you are multiplying. Then count the number on the left of the bent finger, and then the number to the right of the bent finger.
10- Take the other factor and just add 0
Addition/Subtraction Baseball (tests given weekly)
By the end of 3rd grade, students are expected to be able to add and subtract fluently within 1,000. To help students with this concept we take weekly mixed addition and subtraction quizzes. There are six quizzes for students to pass, each quiz with 25 problems; students are given 10 minutes to complete the entire quiz, and may only miss 2 problems to pass. If a quiz is not passed, students will continue to retake the quiz until they pass it. The quizzes start with small numbers 0-10 and gradually move onto larger numbers 0-1,000. When students pass each quiz they move around the baseball field. Upon passing the last tests, students will have hit a home run! Students earn a token upon passing all quizzes. Students fully pass the tests once they have passed all tests A-F.
Multiplication Football (tests given weekly)
3rd graders are expected to be able to fluently multiply up to 10 x 10 by the end of the school year. Each week we focus on a new factor, starting at 0 and moving along to 10; then we take a timed (3 minute) multiplication quiz at the end of the week. Each multiplication quiz consists of 30 problems. To pass they have to get 100% before moving to the next number. Students must continue to take the quiz until they have mastered the fact. As students pass each fact, they move along the football field. After passing all facts 0-10, students will receive a token.
This Week's Spelling Words
List #22
1. able
2. purple
3. riddle
4. handle
5. towel
6. eagle
7. puzzle
8. castle
9. little
10. nickel
11. camel
12. pickle
Keicher News!
DATES AT A GLANCE
APRIL
10 Progress Reports go home
13 Bible Release
Good News Club – Flyers the week before
School Board Meeting – MCHS – 7:00 p.m.
14 M-STEP – ELA – 5th Grade
Michigan Center Community Food Pantry – 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.
15 M-STEP – ELA- Part 2 – 5th Grade
Credit Union
3rd Grade Parent Mackinac Informational Meeting – 6:00 – 7:00 p.m.
17 Keicher Parents’ Night Out - Glow Party – 6:00 – 9:00 p.m.
21 M-STEP – Math – 5th Grade
22 M-STEP – Math – Part 2 – 5th Grade
Credit Union
23 M-STEP – Social Studies – 5th Grade
24 5th Grade Tiger Stadium – Final payment of $25.00 due
27 Ann Arbor “Hands on Museum” – 3rd Grade – 8:45 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
28 M-STEP – ELA – 4th Grade
Michigan Center Community Food Pantry – 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.
29 Credit Union Day
M-STEP – ELA – Part 2 - 4th Grade
MAY
5 M-STEP – Math – 4th Grade
6 M-STEP – Math – Part 2 - 4th Grade
Credit Union Day
Mackinac Trip – Final Parent Meeting – 6:00 p.m.
7 M-STEP – Science – 4th Grade
8 6th Grade Camp - $35.00 due – Final Payment
11 School Board Meeting – 7:00 p.m. – MCHS
12 Spring Band Concert – 2:30 p.m. – West Gym
Spring Band Concert – 7:00 p.m. – H.S. Auditorium
Michigan Center Community Food Pantry – 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.
13 Credit Union – Last one of the year
18 4th Grade Mackinac Trip
19 4th Grade Mackinac Trip
M-STEP – ELA – 3rd & 6th Grade
20 4th Grade Mackinac Trip
M-STEP – ELA – Part 2 - 3rd & 6th Grade
22 5th Grade Trip to Tiger Stadium
25 NO SCHOOL - Memorial Day
26 Michigan Center Community Food Pantry – 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.
27 M-STEP – Math – 3rd Grade
28 M-STEP – Math – Part 2 - 3rd Grade
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1. REMINDER – A $25.00 payment for the 5th grade trip to Tiger Stadium is due on April 24th and a $35.00 payment for 6th grade camp is due on May 8th. If you have not paid this final installment, please send payment in as soon as possible. Thank you.
2. TEACHER REQUESTS for the 2015-2016 school year are now being taken in the Keicher office. We will continue to take requests during the month of April. We have a super teaching staff at Keicher Elementary and are excited at the variety of teaching styles we can offer our students. Requests must be written and have an educational reason to be considered for the placement. As much as we are able, we will honor requests made, but there are no guarantees. The deadline is April 30, 2015.
3. MARCH IS READING MONTH – Our bike winners for our Accelerated Reader Challenge were Teri Decker – 6th Grade and Emily Heim – 6th Grade. Congratulations to everyone who participated in the reading challenge.
4. Allskate – Congratulations on a school record of 10,316.3 AR points for “March is Reading Month”! You exceeded your goal of 9,000 AR points. By doing so, the students that met their personal goal were able to go to Allskate on April 8th (3rd and 4th grades) and April 9th (5th and 6th). Everyone had a great time!
5. SPRING PICTURES - Pictures were sent home several weeks ago for you to preview. If you would like to purchase portraits, please return your payment and any un-purchased portraits to school as soon as possible. Your cooperation in this matter would be greatly appreciated as we would like to conclude our school’s spring picture program. A special thanks to the ones that have been so prompt in getting them returned.
6. TAKE YOUR CHILD TO WORK DAY – April 23rd is the official “Take Your Child to Work Day”. If you are planning on taking your son/daughter to work with you, they need to complete the appropriate form for it to count as an excused absence. The forms are available in the Keicher office and need to be returned on the 24th when they return. Thank you for your help in this matter.
7. We have completed a school-wide head lice check. As you are aware, it is necessary to treat more than just the hair. It is a time consuming task, but it is the only way to reduce the cases of head lice. If your child was sent home, after they are treated and your environment is treated, please bring him/her to the office to be checked. Students should not return to their classrooms until they have been checked by the office. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.
8. HOOPS FOR HEART will take place during your student’s gym classes. Forms will go home next week. All forms and donations need to be returned by Wednesday, April 29th. All monies raised will be donated to the American Heart Association. Thank you in advance for your support.
9. EASTERN BRANCH LIBRARY HAPPENINGS - Hello from the Eastern Branch Library. We just want to let you know about a couple of programs we are having this month. On Saturday, April 18th, at 2:00 p.m., we are having a Mario Kart Tournament. There will be plenty of goodies for all. We also have board games and LEGOS for folks, too.
Speaking of LEGOS and board games, remember that we offer LEGOS and board games from 1:30 – 4:30 p.m. every Sunday as part of our services to families. Sunday afternoons are also an excellent time to get books or information for school assignments.
Finally, we will be offering more gaming in the near future. We are going to be offering Xbox gaming for Minecraft and other games within a month or two, and our Summer Reading Program is just around the corner. So…stay tuned for more information on those programs. Remember, if you have any questions on any programs, call us at 788-4074 or come visit us at 3125 East Michigan Avenue, right next to Arby’s.
Attention All
Parents and Students
As of Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Charges for lunches will no longer be accepted
All balances need to be paid in full by the end of the school year.
Math Strategies and Videos
Coming soon...a list of KEY math vocabulary!
Click the Link Below: Multiplication Videos
Click the Song Below: Multiplying by 6s
HAVE AN AMAZING WEEK STUDENTS AND PARENTS!!!
Ms. Arnold
Email: Stacy.Arnold@mccardinals.org
Location: Keicher Elementary School, Broad Street, Michigan Center, MI, United States
Phone: 517-764-5200
Facebook: facebook.com/KeicherArnold
Twitter: @Arnold12Stacy