Dear Parents, We live in a world surrounded by technology. And we know that whatever field our students choose to go into as adults, their ability to succeed will increasingly depend on understanding how technology works. But only a tiny fraction of us are learning how technology works. Only 45% of all high schools teach computer science. That’s why our entire school is joining in on the largest learning event in history: The Hour of Code, during Computer Science Education Week (December 9-15). More than 100 million students worldwide have already tried an Hour of Code. Our Hour of Code is making a statement that CMIT Elementary is ready to teach these foundational 21st-century skills. To continue bringing programming activities to your students, we want to make our Hour of Code event huge. See http://hourofcode.com/us for details, and help spread the word.

Mrs. Avsar Technology Teacher

Stem Fair time has arrived. In Ecology, students have began working on STEM fair questions. Questions were due by November 22nd. Projects are due December 16th. Questions should be written in Ecology journals and signed by parents. Please ensure all students have an Ecology journal. All students are required to complete a STEM fair project. Third through fifth graders must complete a traditional STEM fair project following the scientific method. Lower elementary may select a traditional project or a Model, STEM Occupation, or STEM Person (K-2 only). We are excited to see all the amazing projects again this year. A Newsflash video with important STEM fair details. https://screencast-o-matic.com/watch/cqXin4U1Bk STEM packets link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Fo6_-jK05wUNG-Mm7qwM-yNcpeLFxJCH6fkXPcIR0Us/edit?usp=sharing Developing a question: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Vx1MjP0zxQhmvbZZvXKqaiuzeDKeeprXuY-QcbXAUY0/edit?usp=sharing Video resources: A testable question https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=118&v=bqfQpURDoCo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CO8oENtHv-g STEM Fair topic resources https://www.sciencefaircentral.com/students/scientific-projects https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/science-projects https://www.education.com/science-fair/

CMIT STEAM Committee

It is hard to believe that we are getting ready for the second week of December. Kindergarten is moving right along, learning a variety of academic and social skills. This upcoming week we will review addition and take the Topic 6 assessment. We will also begin learning about subtraction. Please continue to work with your scholars on writing numbers correctly if they need the extra support. In ELA, we will read the story Little Panda. We will learn to compare and contrast items and books and learn how to summarize what we read. Our Sight Words are: me, with, she We will also work with the letters Nn and Bb and identify words that begin with the letter /n/ and /b/ sounds. On Friday the 13th, we will take a spelling test. The test will be on the words: he, for, we, my, like, have, is, a, to For Social Studies, we are learning about culture. If you have an item you would like to share, contact your scholar's teacher for more information about how you can share your item(s). Please send your scholars to school with a coat as we have recess outside when the temperature is down to even 40 degrees. Please label all clothing items and other property so we may easily identify who they belong to. Dates to know: December 13th--Spelling Test December 13- Jan 1st. No School, Winter Break

The Kindergarten Team

Reading - We will be reading "The Mitten" by Jan Brett, as well as, "The Gingerbread Man" by Jim Aylesworth and "The Gingerbread Girl" by Lisa Campbell Ernst. Reading Skills: comparing and contrasting, inferring, opinions, and making connections Phonics: Plurals - 's' and 'es' Math - We are starting Chapter 2, which is solving addition and subtraction facts to 10.. Science - We are continuing to learn about the Engineering Design Process. Social Studies - We are learning about continents and oceans. Health - We are learning about community helpers.

First Grade Team

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Break! Students had a blast making their own Macy's Day Parade Floats! Next week, we will be continuing our reading unit on Creative Ideas. The question of the week will be "In what creative ways do we communicate?" Throughout the week, we will focus on drawing conclusions and visualizing. The spelling pattern for List A next week will be vowel patterns: o, oa, ow. In math, we will be finishing up topic 4. This topic covers fluently adding within 100. As a reminder, it is recommended that students practice their basic addition and subtraction facts with flashcards regularly at home. Please continue to send your child to school in the correct school uniform. The only day children do not have to wear all black shoes is his/her PE day. As always, if you have any questions, please contact your child's teacher via ClassDojo. Have a great weekend and we will see everyone on Monday!

- The Second Grade Team

We are well on our way in Quarter 2. Students are being challenged and asked to apply concepts learned in various forms. We encourage that students follow through on deadlines and submitting work on time. STEM Fair projects are due on December 16th, 2019. Students will be presenting their projects in front of their peers. Please ensure that your scholar understands his/her project and can explain what he/she did. Students should also submit a research paper with their project as well. Directions for how to organize the paper can be found in the STEM Fair Packet. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Fo6_-jK05wUNG-Mm7qwM-yNcpeLFxJCH6fkXPcIR0Us/edit?usp=sharing On December 18th, we will be doing a Winter Rotation. A Sign-up Genius will be shared soon with materials and volunteers needed. Students are encouraged to complete the Winter Break packet offered through PGCPS. Students who complete the packet will receive credit for completion. Packets are due on 1/2/2020. You can find the Reading & Math enrichment packets here https://www.pgcps.org/winterpackets/. Next week in Math scholars will be finishing up the Area Unit and taking their assessment on 12/11. In Science students will be learning how to navigate through Google Classroom. In Reading, Students will be taking their Reading Assessment on Amazing Birds Nests on 12/10. IN Social Studies we will be continuing studying our environment. Let's have a great week on purpose!

Third Grade Team

This week in RELA, students analyzed the importance of text features while reading Sea Animals on the Move. Our grammar skill was Regular Plural Nouns. Next week, we will read How Night Came from the Sea and work on the skills of making inferences, determining theme, and analyzing how story elements affect the plot. In Social Studies this week, students started Chapter 2: Americans and their History. In lesson 1, they learned how cultures were changed when Native Americans and Europeans met. Next week, they will complete lesson 2: A New Nation, and learn how the United States grew out of the English colonies and became an independent nation. This week in science, we have been working on our unit about Energy. We have talked about the acronym MELTS to describe the different forms of energy. (Mechanical, Electrical, Light, Thermal and Sound Energy). We will continue to work on to the next topic of Light Energy. We will have an experiment next week to help demonstrate this. In health we have tackled some hard emotions last week in our section about empathy. We will continue to work on positive ways to talk to others and showing compassion for others. December is our Smoking awareness month and we will be talking about the hazards of smoking. STEM FAIR is upon us! The final due date for the paper and trifold board project are due on DECEMBER 16TH! The physical project and the paper should have the same information, the format is the only difference. In math, we will continue to work on 2 digit x 2 digit multiplication. The next unit we work on will be division. We still have a number of students who are not fluent in their math facts. Please work with your child at home to help them learn their multiplication facts. All Pearson homework will be assigned through Google Classroom. Students have been shown how to access that so they will know what they have to do. Please remind them that they must know their login and password, we will be using it in class and at home. Parents - we are in DESPERATE need of some basic supplies, especially pencils and whiteboard markers. Any supplies you can send in would be greatly appreciated. Winter Party contribution sign up genius' have been sent out for each homeroom on Class Dojo.

-Mrs. Michaela Moon, Fourth Grade Lead, Green Team Lead, Green Kiwanis Club Sponsor

Hello Parents, We are flying through the quarter, and it’s December! This week in math, we will be covering adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators using equivalent fractions.In Science, we will cover Properties of matter. On Thursday, December 12th we will have our Stem Lab Day at 8:30am to 9:30am for Ms. Bhatt’s and Mrs. Linton-Philp’s homerooms, and 1:00pm – 2:00 pm for Mrs. Upshaw’s and Ms. Kelley’s homerooms. Parents are invited to join us in rooms 169 and 170. The sign up genius link will be sent out soon. In ELA ,students will be reading the story Midnight Ride this week. We will focus on the skill of Author's Purpose once again. We will also work on Subject-Verb Agreement. Students will continue to read our second quarter novel Abby Takes a Stand chapters 6-7 this week. In Social Studies, students will begin chapter 3 lesson 2 which focuses on the English Colonies in America. Students will learn why and how England attempted to start a colony in North America. Updates/Reminders: Monday December 9th-Math IXL paper due & new paper assigned. Tuesday December 10th-Math Quiz on Fractions Thursday-STEM Lab day with Parents, look out for the sign up genius via dojo to come in and participate with your kiddo. Friday- Fun Friday & Winter Concert *Friday December 16th STEAM Fair project due* **Please check Schoolmax weekly.* Thank you for all that you do and your support!

5th Grade Team

PE This may help with signing into google classroom for Mr. Hamms PE homework! ONLY FOR 3rd-5th GRADES!!!!!! 2nd PE homework is due Friday the 13th!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfgqtCi7hdo Once you have signed in to the email, follow these steps. 1. Login in 2. Click on the 9 little dots that make a square near the top right of the page 3. Click the classroom icon, this will take you to a new page. 4. Click the plus sign (top right corner) 5. Click join class 6. Type in the code: 3rd - gek2hj1 4th - xrl1jq3 5th - kwkx3wp all lower case If you have joined already, all you need to do is click the 9 little dots and then click on the classroom icon, and then click on the class to enter again Ecology In Ecology we focused on science strategies. First graders built homes to demonstrate understanding of the Engineering and design process. Donor-choose link to projects https://www.donorschoose.org/MrsMccain5thgrade?utm_source=dc&utm_medium=page&utm_campaign=teacher_profile&utm_term=teacher_2870376&rf=page-dc-2019-09-teacher_profile-teacher_2870376&challengeid=20573570&projects=true Amazon prime wishlist https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3L9K2MUA5Y1PI?ref_=wl_share Tech We’re excited to report that your student is using digital content from Learning.com as part of core subject area instruction. All of Learning.com’s content is delivered online through a secure login, so your student can access assignments from home. Children are often eager to show off their new computer skills, so be sure to talk to your child about the new skills they are learning and how they are applying those skills in the classroom. 2-5 practiced Hardware Fundamentals: Mobile Devices In this engaging and interactive digital lesson, the learners receive direct instruction and practice with smartphones, tablets, phablets (larger phones), and applications, and understand how mobile devices connect to a wireless network, store information using cloud computing, and use GPS for tracking. https://login.learning.com/ K-1 students developed mouse skills such as pointing, clicking, double-clicking, and dragging while practicing counting, as well as matching shapes and colors. http://www.abcya.com Lego K-2nd grade students practiced talking about feeling and emotions (confident) and they built their own lego model. 3rd -5th grade students investigated the effect of using two sense cubelets in a robot construction. They did excellent class work this week.

Creative Arts Team

Please mark your calendar for the following events you will not want to miss! Annual Holiday Shop Monday December 9th-Friday December 13th: Scholars will have the opportunity to purchase gifts for friends and family, so make sure to send in money with your scholar next week so they can shop! We are still looking for volunteers and gift bags + tissue paper donations (no wrapping paper this year please) for the Holiday Shop. If you are fingerprinted and able to donate time and/or items please signup using the link below! https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090e44afa82ea2fb6-childrens1?fbclid=IwAR3_LizlwymqBbVr-pd7CGRlZvhMVxDVKpWgcVudJLnqn9Z5kWJQAbxQ7go Pennies for the PTO- We are collecting any spare change to help raise money for Smart Boards. Each classroom has a Milk Jug for collection. There will be a pizza party for whichever classroom raises the most money! January 22nd- 6PM: PTO General Body Meeting 6-8PM in the cafeteria dinner and child care will be available. *Note there will not be a meeting for December, enjoy your Holiday break!* January 31st: *NEW DATE* Grub for Grandparents signup genius for attendees and volunteers will be emailed soon!

CMIT Elementary PTO