november07

We have just finished our first 9 weeks of school. Please make sure you are carefully monitoring your child’s grades. Earlier in the year we sent home a notice about the Home Access Center (HAC) which gives you access to your child’s grades. Grades are added once per week. If you have not registered for an account please do so.

Our WATCH D.O.G.S. program (Dads Of Great Students) is in full swing. Our first day was October 1^st and we have had about 20 dads spend the entire day as WATCH D.O.G. Every father has truly enjoyed his time and I’ve heard comments such as, “I didn’t realize how much school has changed.” “I felt proud to be here.” “My daughter and her friends made me feel important when I ate lunch with them.” “I was glad that I could help a student.” This program is designed to involve fathers at our school. We have had many dads sign up, but there are still days available. If you have any questions please call Kathryn McDonald or me. We’ll be glad to explain the program. You can also go to the Armstrong web site, address at the bottom of the page, and click on WATCH D.O.G.S. which will take you to their website. It will provide background on the program.

A huge THANKS to parents, students, and the community for a record-breaking fundraiser!! The Armstrong PTA sold over $50,000 in candles and other items this year and will have a profit of more than $27,000. A huge thank you goes out to all parent volunteers who helped count the money and compile orders, especially Kristin Elliott, the fundraiser chairman and her committee. Laine Smith, 4^th Grade, sold the most items for a total of 210 which was another record breaker. Mrs. Williams’ class (3rd grade) was the overall top-selling class and will be treated to a pizza party in their classroom. The top classes in each grade will be awarded a moonwalk party with popsicles and the top 18 sellers will take a LIMOUSINE to Cici’s for pizza! The students really love all the prizes!

The first T-shirt order has been distributed. The final deadline was October so the last T-shirt order is in process. This years shirts have been a big success. Thanks to Merridee Rodel, T-shirt chairman for a fantastic job. Remember to wear your spirit shirts on Fridays.

On Thursday, October 19, the students were able to enjoy a “Texas Safari” featuring seven amazing animals from all over Texas. Thank you goes out to Nicole Ireland, Educational Programs chairman for bringing us this wonderful and entertaining show!

Attendance is a key part to every student’s success. As it is the school’s job to educate your child, it is your responsibility, as a parent, to make sure your child is present at school. Continual absences and tardies can hinder your child’s learning and place them at-risk academically. Research shows that a student who is 10 minutes late every day will miss 30 hours of instruction during the year. A child can copy notes or make up assignments but they can’t get back the time they missed with the teacher in the classroom. Here are a few tips on how you can improve your child’s attendance.

Flu season is upon us… if you are able to get the flu shot please do! To minimize sickness please remember to wash hands frequently, do not eat or drink after another person and use a tissue when coughing or sneezing. If your child has a fever of 100 or higher they must stay home until they are fever-free without medication. Just a reminder: Children are not allowed to transport any medication to and from school. A parent or guardian must bring it into the clinic and sign it in with me in order for me to administer it. Thank you in advance. Have a safe Thanksgiving Holiday.

We have been having a great time in the library! Our shelf elf, Skoob, has really helped us to keep the library clean and organized by giving classes Skoob Sparkles when they take care of the library and their books. The classes with the most Skoob Sparkles at the end of the nine weeks will win the Golden Shelf Elf Award! Students have also been learning how to use call numbers to identify where their books belong in the library. First and second graders learned about our author/illustrator of the month, Steven Kellogg, from Jake the Birthday Cake Snake. Take your students to the public library and have them search for the Steven Kellogg books. They are great books to read together.

As the year progresses, we are starting to see more and more books that are overdue. Our new policy regarding overdue books states that when a book is more than two weeks overdue, the student will not be allowed to check out ANY books until the overdue is taken care of. Please help your student search for books that have disappeared. If the book is truly lost, it must be paid for in order to clear the overdue from the student’s account. We cannot accept checks for overdue books. Please send the exact amount of the book, as we do not keep change in the library. If the book is found before the school year is over, your money will be refunded to you. Thank you so much for your help in this matter.

November in Pre-K means pumpkins, leaves and activities to celebrate fall! We will also spend some time talking about fire safety and stranger safety. We just finished our unit on the five senses… so, get ready for some sticky, smelly, loud, and yummy work from your child!

We would like to remind our families that good behavior and work habits are a huge part of our experience and growth in PreK. Please help us by reinforcing these principles at home. Support from you at home is crucial to our success in PreK.

November is a wonderful month for Kindergarten students. We are learning about sharing and about other cultures. There will be a simple “Thanksgiving Feast” for our students; watch for more details in the weekly newsletter. Other discussions will be on autumn harvest, family traditions and customs.

The second nine weeks is full of exciting activities in first grade. Students will learn the difference between nocturnal and diurnal animals, the positive effects of eating healthy foods, and Thanksgiving traditions. In math, first graders will identify the dime and its value, skip count by 5’s, compare and order numbers 0-20, write numbers 0-20 without reversals, and begin using the addition symbol to solve addition equations. In spelling, the language, handwriting, and writing sounds portions of the test will be included in the “Language Arts” grade of the report card. Remember, the spelling sentence and sight words grades will appear on the report card beginning the 3rd nine weeks to allow all students time to develop spelling strategies. Please make sure you are continuing to work on past spelling words with your child. Our goal is to have students learn these spelling words and remember them forever, not just to memorize them for the spelling test. We also appreciate parents listening to their child read every night. Thanks for making reading important in your house.

We have been learning about fall and fall leaves. We counted them and sorted them and described them. We made a graph when we looked at the shapes. We made a bubble map about leaves. We learned that leaves that don’t fall off are called evergreen.

Where do I live? This is the unit we have been working on in social studies. Your child should know his/her continents and oceans. Also, he/she should be able to tell you about different kinds of landforms. In math, our speed tests will consist of 100 addition problems. Your child will have 10 minutes to complete the test. The quizzes will count as daily grades. The problems not completed will be counted as incorrect. It is important for students to be able to solve basic facts quickly just like they are able to read basic words quickly. This ability is the foundation for all future math skills. Also, we are working on money and addition with and without regrouping. In guided reading groups, the students are working on reading strategies such as; stretching through unknown words and reading around the word to determine the meaning. Second Graders are Great!

We have been learning about Frog and Toad in reading. Toad is lazy and Frog is playful. We did a double bubble map to see how they were alike and different. We learned to write complete sentences. In math, we learned how to count by 5’s. We learned where we live in social studies. We learned many things in school.

The 3rd Graders are off and running. In language arts the students are learning new strategies in order to be successful on their Reading TAKS Test. They are continuing to master main idea and supporting details, story elements, analyzing character traits, retelling the important events in a story and drawing conclusions from text. Students are also demonstrating their knowledge of synonyms, antonyms and multiple meaning words in order to enrich their writing through six traits. Third graders are also required to read at least 15 minutes each night.

We’re working on telling time and then it is off to study money in math. Continue to practice multiplication facts. Students should have mastered 2’s, 3’s, 4’s, 5’s, 6’s, and 7’s. Students should have 90% in order to show mastery.

Some things I have been learning in school are math, science, and social studies. When we did our multiplication facts, I passed the two’s and three’s! We also learned place values. Some of the things we did in science were matter and thermal energy. We also made slime out of liquids and then we made it into a solid. In social studies we learned about continents and oceans, the government, and being a good citizen. In my switch class we learned 4 kinds of sentences. The 4 kinds of sentences are statements, commands, questions, and exclamations. We also learned about facts and opinions. Last, we learned about prefixes and suffixes.

Reading, reading, reading! That’s the name of the game for all fourth graders. We hope that your child is spending at least 30 to 45 minutes reading every night (including weekends). Reading is the foundation on which all of education is built. Successful readers become successful writers. Success in reading also affects success in math and all the core subjects. Plus, it brings so much pleasure to every day life.

Geometry is the main focus in math this month. Your child has homework every night to help reinforce what they have been taught. It is vital that they get in the habit of completing their assignments. This helps to set up a pattern of success that will serve them well throughout their schooling experience. Have a conversation about that assignment. See if your child understands and can explain it to you. If not, remember that we are only a phone call away.

On November 1st, 4th grade gets to go to J.A. [Junior Achievement] Biztown in Houston. At Biztown we get to be an adult for a day. We will have a job, get "paid" and even write checks. There are many jobs to choose from like banker, snack shop worker, and police officer. We will even have a judge and mayor that we vote for. It is going to be a great time at Biztown!

During the month of November, the art students will continue to celebrate fall and anticipate the arrival of Thanksgiving. The kindergarten, first, and second graders will create turkeys, pilgrims, and cornucopias. The third and fourth graders will begin to study the artwork of Norman Rockwell and learn about his Four Freedoms. The students will compare the artwork of Georgia O’Keeffe and Norman Rockwell, as well as, finish their western art projects. Happy Thanksgiving!

Congratulations to the third graders for a job well done on their music program! These students worked really hard to learn several difficult songs to perform for the school and parents. Please share your complements with them so they know just how much you

enjoyed their presentation. Next up to perform will be the fourth graders. This program will take place on December 18, 2007. They will be performing a children’s version of “A Christmas Carol” called “It’s Christmas Carol.” We are looking forward to a

We have just finished up our first successful month of the Friday Mileage Club. The Mileage Club is a walking/jogging club that takes place during P.E. every Friday. For thirty minutes they have the choice of walking, jogging, or both. Every week we keep track of their completed miles, and award them at certain miles that are accomplished. If your child comes to P.E. on Fridays, please make sure they wear cool clothing, supportive shoes, and if possible bring a water bottle. We also want you not to be alarmed if your child comes home with some non-toxic, washable marker on them. This is the way we mark their laps. After we have the Mileage Club, we bring the students

inside to wash off the marker. Some students forget to wash and end up coming home with some washable marker on their skin. We have told your child that if you do not want them marked, all they have to do is walk/jog with a partner who doesn’t mind getting marked. Make sure to ask your child how many miles they accomplished. We are also going to be having a wonderful heart challenge course that will teach your child

Car Riders – Please be patient and wait in the car rider line. You will find that coming into the building to sign your child out a few minutes early will be difficult because of traffic and limited parking. Now that we are in a routine the car rider line is completely done by 3:15.