Dear Parents,
A goal of CMIT Elementary is to work in partnership with parents and the community. This year we have already seen how you, our parents support our school community. We are proud of you and your unwavering support for our academic and social programs.
With this in mind, we will be offering parent workshops all designed to meet the needs of our scholars.
Our first parent workshop is on next week Tuesday at 5.30pm-7.30pm in the cafeteria. The workshop is for parents with students in 3rd -5th grade. The goal is to inform/educate our parents on the PARCC assessment and to answer questions concerning student preparation for the test next spring.
Looking forward to seeing you next week.
Monroe/Watkis

Lesma Watson Watkis

Tuesday, November 21, Quarter 1 recipients enjoyed signing the party banner, dancing to music, pinning the tail on the tiger, hitting the piñata, winning prizes, and receiving a dojo bag full of toys. We look forward to more students attending Quarter 2 Class Dojo Celebration.
Parents, keep encouraging your child to R.O.A.R. to earn their points to meet their grade level goal.
Lastly, I want to give a shout out to all of the staff that helped make this event a success and a special shout out to our student support specialist, Mrs. Addie Broadnax for all of her behind the scenes work.

Tenika Fryson

Parents,
On Wednesday, December 13, 2017, we will have our Quarter 1 Honor Roll Assembly in the cafeteria. Our grade level times are as follows:
2nd -8:15-8:45 a.m.
3rd-8:45-9:15 a.m.
4th-9:15-9:45 a.m.
5th-9:45-10:15 a.m.

Tenika Fryson

Thank you to all the families who donated items for our Toys for Tots and homeless care packs. You are amazing!

CMIT Staff

December 13th: Book Drive/Pajama Day
December 25th - January 1st: Winter Break

STEM fair is is fast approaching. In the link below you will find the information needed for our STEM fair projects. The STEM fair packets were not distributed to students. However, students received outlines of due dates to help guide them in creating their STEM fair projects. Please review the packet with your child so that they will have a successful STEM experience. Upper elementary students should have written their title, question, hypothesis, materials, and procedures. Students should start their experiment. Lower elementary students should start research. Thank you to all the families who came out to STEM night. Please consider volunteering for our STEM fair.

Volunteer link
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe1QTeDU0CAq-9v-k89PN7GAP38F01PEXXWWa-H78YypmU8yA/viewform?c=0&w=1

Link to STEM Packet:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZUCIPLiZQYrzoNOwGTdCgpR9Ju4ORm1Af68spDPBQAU/edit?usp=sharing

Link to possible STEM fair project ideas:
http://www.education.com/science-fair/

Scientific method Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUa-ilQqEv0

Selecting a STEM fair topic guide:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Vx1MjP0zxQhmvbZZvXKqaiuzeDKeeprXuY-QcbXAUY0/edit?usp=sharing

CMIT STEM fair Committee

November STEM inventions were incredible! We saw the most amazing things some of which including: a gumball machine that plays music, a gnat trap, a pen holder, a guitar, a robot pencil holder, a nightlight, an egg carton waste basket complete with a built-in air freshener, and more! We were blown away with how well these turned out! We cannot wait to see the gifts our scholars make for December monthly homework due December 22nd!

This week in Kindergarten...

English Language Arts
We will be reading the story "Animal Babies in the Grasslands." The story will look at animals that live in the grasslands! We will be discussing Main Idea, working with initial and final /p/, and learning about adjectives.

Mathematics
As we finish up counting and writing numbers 11-20, we will be moving onto counting numbers to 100! We will start with counting to 30, then skip counting to 100 by 10's. It will be the first time we are going to use a hundreds chart! Please note: students should still practice finding 1 and 2 fewer. Be sure to get some extra practice at home! An easy way to incorporate this at home is during dinner prep or at the grocery. For example, "I have eight apples, but I need 2 more (or 2 fewer). How many will that be? Can you do that for me?" This will help make Subtraction and Addition much easier later in the year!

Science
Students will begin exploring the water cycle and using vocabulary terms including precipitation, accumulation, evaporation, condensation.

High Frequency Words
Here are our sight words we have learned so far. Remember to practice reading and writing these words regularly! (When reading at home, if you see these words, have your child point it out!) All of the words we will learn this year are available on our grade level website under "Sight Words."

I, am, little, to, a, have, is, the, we, my, like

REMINDERS
- Homework is due on FRIDAY each week and returned the following Monday.
-December STEM homework is DUE December 22nd.
- Please read regularly! Remember that just 20 minutes a day can boost your child's reading levels!
- We have a pending field trip to the National Aquarium on January 30th. If you would like to chaperone any future field trips, you must have a fingerprint background check. This can be obtained from the Fingerprint office at the county building 14201 School Lane, Upper Marlboro, MD Monday-Friday from 8:00am-3:45pm. For more information or to contact the fingerprinting office, please look at the fingerprint office website: http://www1.pgcps.org/fingerprinting/
- Please remember to send an extra pair of uniform clothes to keep in your child's cubbie at school in the event of accidents or spills.
- Uniform is enforced daily, including uninterrupted black shoes. Please go to http://cmitelementary.org/uniform-policy/ for more information.

The Kindergarten Team
www.kindergarten.cmitelementary.org

-The Kindergarten Team

In Reading, students will be reading the story "Ordinary Mary and the Extraordinary Deed". They will be focusing on the skill of kindness.

For math we will continue chapter 1 which is addition and subtraction word problems. Students will be taking the end of unit test at the end of the week.

In science, we will be beginning our Gingerbread Boats. We have read the story "The Gingerbread Pirates". Students are now using the Engineering Design process to plan and construct a boat for the gingerbread men to get across the water safely.

For social studies, on Monday December 11 students need to dress formal. We have our election campaign on this day and students will present and be elected!

Our students have a field trip on Friday, December 15! Please submit permission forms and money for this trip. If you signed up to volunteer for this trip you MUST pay for your part which is $10 by December 12. If payment is not received by then your spot will be removed to make room for other parents that would like to volunteer.

December 22 is our Gingerbread House day. All parents are invited to attend. Please sign up using the sign up genius that teachers have sent out to you. You NEED to sign up to attend on this day. Also, please donate supplies for your class. In order for this day to happen we need your help with all supplies.

First Grade

Dear Parents,

This week we will begin Unit 3 in Reading Street. The theme is creative ideas.
Reading Story: Pearl and Wagner
Skill: Author's Purpose
Spelling:Long e: e, ee, ea, y
Writing Convention: Verbs

Math: Double Digit Addition (Topic 4)

Science: Technology, Tools, and Simple Machines. Please continue working on STEM fair projects.

Social Studies: Chapter 2: Economics

The PE field trip to Skate Zone is on Wednesday, December 13th.

2nd grade team

As we approach the winter holiday break, please remind your scholar that learning is still a priority. Your scholar is expected to come to school prepared and ready to learn each day.
In Language Arts, scholars will continue identifying the main idea and detail. In Social Studies, we will continue investigating Native American lifestyles.
In Math, students will continue learning how to measure and tell time to the minute.
In Science, students are learning about electricity, magnets, and energy.
Gentle Reminders:
Skate Zone field trip, Wednesday, December 13 (Students MUST wear their school uniform, polo shirts and pants. Girls should also wear pants on this day.)
Progress reports will be released on Friday, December 22.

Third Grade Team

This week in ELA we are starting our new story "The Ch'i-lin Purse. We are focusing on point of view, understanding vowels sound with “R” and how the "R" changes the sound of the vowel, story structure, and Compare and Contrast. We are also working on Fluency reading/ Reading with expression. This week during their reading time I would like them to practice reading aloud and with expression.

They did receive some homework in a hard copy that is due on Monday and they received their chapter book project that is due on January 2, 2018.

The students also have homework on Pearson tonight they are required to complete page 83 and 86. Please do not let them click the turn it in button until Sunday night.

Social Studies
(Big Question) What does it take to build a new society?

Students will understand Environment and location influence where people live and what they do there.

People adapt and modify the world around them to better suit their needs.

Please feel free to email me if you have any questions or concerns.

The Picture attached is Ms. Keys homeroom realeasing their sillies before they get started with their day.

Terri Keys

When the holidays arrive, so does the season of gift giving. Did you know that your annual traditions shape children’s lifelong values about giving?...

https://www.rootsofaction.com/the-gift-of-giving-how-the-holidays-shape-childrens-identities/

Graciously,
Your School Counselor

The iPhone X came out earlier this month, marking 10 years since the release of the first iteration of Apple’s ubiquitous device. Since the beginnings of smartphones, psychologists have been interested in studying the effects of technology on sleep, attention and stress. Some psychologists are finding that technology use may be giving users symptoms that resemble attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

“The more technology that we have, the more ADHD-like symptoms people can develop who are not ADHD,” Seattle-based Adult ADHD Physician Dr. Angela Heithaus said. “Or, if you have ADHD, it can make the symptoms even worse.”

Continue reading here:
http://www.seattlespectator.com/2017/11/29/technology-adhd-nuances-modern-attention-span/

Shannon McVeigh