We had a great time at the Science Center! Students went to the planetarium and learned about snowflakes. Ask your child how many sides or points that all snowflakes have? They also learned how air moves things. They saw this in action with a balloon rocket. They also saw how hot air and cold air affects things by watching an egg go into a beaker. Ask you child how the egg went in the beaker and how it came out. How did the warm air and cold air affect the egg? We had an amazing time. We will definitely go back in the spring. The students all did amazing and learned a lot. Thank you for getting all permission slips in quickly. The DRA assessment is almost complete. Ms. Gregory and Ms. Herbert will continue on Tuesday. Remember we have a three day weekend. Have a wonderful weekend.

Kindergarten Team Ms. Curtis, Ms. Gregory, Ms. Herbert & Ms. Derfler

Dear Parents and Guardians, This week in P.E. class the vocabulary word was "observation" with additional review on communication from previous weeks. The students learned how and when we observe things and the purpose for observation. They were able to apply these skills while playing tic-tac-toe relay. BEYBLADE TOURNAMENT Next Friday, January 24, I will be hosting a beyblade tournament in the gym after school from 3pm - 4pm. Students must be picked up in the back of the school from the cafeteria doors promptly at 4pm. Students are to bring the following items to compete: -1 single beyblade only -1 ripper cord -1 launcher -1 stadium to battle ( we need a lot in order to keep the pace moving ) Stadiums are to brought directly to Mr. Loomer before the school day starts in order to store them in the gym closet until tournament time. IMPORTANT - Access to this tournament will be based upon the behavior of the prior week leading up to Friday. Access will be granted on the guidelines set up by each individual teacher. Any office referrals ( or PS74 ) forms given to a child will revoke access.

Garrett Loomer P.E. Teacher - Department Chair CMIT South Elementary gloomer@cmitsouthes.org

1st Grade is getting ready to close out the 2nd Quarter! We have worked on the following: RELA - We have started our research project on animals! Students are being walked through each step of research, which include brainstorming questions on their topic by using a KWL Chart and differentiating between reliable sources. The project will continue until the end of the quarter. We have continued practicing sequencing stories from beginning to end using key details, and remembering parts of a story (i.e. characters, setting, etc). We have introduced contractions and students will also learn about vowel teams that make a long e sound! The following Common Core State Standards (CCSS) have been addressed this week: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.1 Ask and answer questions about key details in a text. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.2 Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.3 Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.1.3.A Know the spelling-sound correspondences for common consonant digraphs. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.1.3.C Know final -e and common vowel team conventions for representing long vowel sounds. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.1.7 Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore a number of "how-to" books on a given topic and use them to write a sequence of instructions). CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.1.8 With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question. Math - We are closing out our unit on measurement using nonstandard units and telling time! Students have learned how to measure length, height, and width using nonstandard units (i.e. cubes, paper clips, etc.), and have also learned to tell time to the hour and half hour on analog and digital clocks - specifically that the short hand on an analog clock represents and points at the current hour, and that the long hand represents and points at the current minute! Students will be tested on this next week (the dates vary by class). We will start Unit 6 after this, and this addresses solving problems with an unknown addend (an unknown part)! The following CCSS standards have been addressed this week: CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.MD.A.1 Order three objects by length; compare the lengths of two objects indirectly by using a third object. CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.MD.A.2 Express the length of an object as a whole number of length units, by laying multiple copies of a shorter object (the length unit) end to end; understand that the length measurement of an object is the number of same-size length units that span it with no gaps or overlaps. Limit to contexts where the object being measured is spanned by a whole number of length units with no gaps or overlaps. CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.MD.B.3 Tell and write time in hours and half-hours using analog and digital clocks. Science - We are continuing our unit on light and sound! In the third quarter, we will dig even further by addressing communication using light and sound. Students have specifically learned that light and sound are both forms of energy - light is a wave and sound is a vibration! Students are also learning about the difference between pitch (how high or low a sound is) and volume (how loud or soft a sound is), as well as transparent and opaque objects. Students have also learned that some objects can create their own light (i.e. the sun). The following Next Generation Science Standards have been addressed this week: PS4.A: Wave Properties Sound can make matter vibrate, and vibrating matter can make sound. (1-PS4-1) PS4.B: Electromagnetic Radiation Objects can be seen if light is available to illuminate them or if they give off their own light. (1-PS4-2) Some materials allow light to pass through them, others allow only some light through and others block all the light and create a dark shadow on any surface beyond them, where the light cannot reach. Mirrors can be used to redirect a light beam. (Boundary: The idea that light travels from place to place is developed through experiences with light sources, mirrors, and shadows, but no attempt is made to discuss the speed of light.) (1-PS4-3) Social Studies - Students are continuing to learn about then vs. now, specifically that time can be categorized as the past, present, and future! Students are also learning that society changes over time, and therefore they are able to compare and contrast the past, present, and future. Students have also been taught about measuring time (i.e. weeks, months) through calendars! This unit will close with the end of the quarter. The following Maryland State Social Studies Standards have been addressed this week: A. Individuals and Societies Change over Time 1. Examine differences between past and present time. a. Use terms related to time to order events sequentially that have occurred in the school. b. Classify events as belonging to past or present. 2. Compare people and objects of today and long ago a. Construct meaning from informational text and text features about the past. b. Collect and examine photographs of the past and compare with current photographs of similar images, such as old photographs of the school and community. We look forward to seeing your STEM projects this coming Wednesday (1/22). Have a wonderful weekend! Best,

The First Grade Team

Fourth Grade Parents, The end of the quarter is upon us. All grades are due from teachers by next Friday, January 24, 2020. STEM Fair research papers were due January 17, 2020 and presentations will begin on Tuesday. Students will sign up on Friday to be best prepared to present his or her display boards. Both of these assignments will be graded as assessments. Additionally, students will have their final assessment in Math on conversion of units - both metric and customary units. 8 students from 4th grade will move on to be finalists, which will be scored by volunteer parents on January 30, 2020 between 4-6 pm. If you are interested in volunteering please contact Ms. Girch.

~The 4th Grade Team~

Greetings Parents, Here are some friendly reminders. -Friday is the Last day for ONLINE work. -STEM Fair Projects due 1/22 - End of Marking Period 1/24 -MLK observance, school closed Monday

Victor Hawkins

Greetings from the second-grade​ team! We are so excited about what is happening in Second grade this quarter. The science fair will be conducted within the school hours. The black history projects will be due February 3rd, please contact Ms. McDougnah or Ms. Phillips for details. The school will hold a black history presentation on February 21st for the students, details to follow. As the weather changes, please send the students with a heavy jacket for recess. We are still in short supply of Lysol spray, facial tissue, and paper towels. As the seasons change, we would like to have parent volunteers to help with door decorations and the bulletin board. This shows your support of our school and makes the students take pride in that their parents are involved. We are still in short supply of Lysol spray and would like to keep the classroom happy and healthy during the winter season. Also, we are in short supply of pencils, please ensure that your scholar is coming to school each day with two pencils and an eraser. Please continue to donate to our classrooms so that the students will have abundant supplies. In Social Studies, the students will prepare their projects and receive lessons for black history month. In Language Arts, students are focused on writing narratives, taking DRA testing and having classroom discussions based on the reading assignments. We are also learning to write in cursive. In Math, the students are preparing for the DRA computer-based exam. In Science, the students should be preparing their experiments at home for their projects.

Ms. Michelle Phillips, Ms. Fleet, Ms. McDonagh, and Ms. Lambert

Another great week in Third! This week in Math and Science students continued to work on concepts around properties of multiplication. They have really mastered the concept of Commutative Property and will continue working on Distributive and Associative! In science we have discussed our upcoming STEM Fair Project and reviewed what we know about force and motion! In Reading and Language Arts students began reviewing concepts of writing the writing process. They have worked on this along with discussing their research paper for the STEM Fair! These topics they have reviewed will certainly help through the research paper process and we are looking forward to seeing wonderful project in the next few weeks! Lastly, a big shout out to our students who completed the MAP Reading Test this week! A test like this can sometime be overwhelming but they put on the game faces and worked hard! We are proud!!

Ms. Cunningham and Ms. Nick

Essay Requirements (Grades 6-12 ONLY): At least 250 words, but shall not exceed 500 words • Typed and double-spaced • Original work only • Be sure to properly cite your sources. https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/ • Due on Friday, January 24th Scoring Rubric Comprehension (20 points) How well does the essay reflect a thorough comprehension of the essay topic? Does the essay provide supported reasons for the student’s topic selection? Organization (20 points) Does the argument/discussion follow a logical and easily understood progression? Does any outside evidence contained in the essay support the essay’s main points? Conclusions (20 points) Do the conclusions follow logically from the main body of the essay and reflect what the student has learned from research? How compelling are the conclusions? Creativity (20 points) Use of diverse resources, language &/or style, unique angle? Writing (20 points) Correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, sentence structure. Poster Requirements (Elementary ONLY): • Poster MUST be 18x14 inches • Illustrates & supports a significant African American • Illustrates the contribution clearly and with artistic energy • Is it Colorful? Creative? Innovative? Legible? Different? Finished? • Poster should have a caption of at least three sentences, but no more than 10 to include who, what, and how the person contributed to shaping history. • Poster should mention at least one NEW thing the student learned during this contest? (E.g. arts in STEAM, African American role models, about oneself, society, African American history &/or culture, etc.) CLF will have 3 winners from each division who will receive a $50 gift card. Student winners and their parents will be invited to an awards reception hosted by CLF. One honorary mention from each school/division will be asked to read their essay or present their poster submission. Refreshments will be served and community leaders, special guests, fellow students, teachers, school officials, and board members will be in attendance.

CLF Community Partnerships

There is no Saturday Academy on January 18, 2020. Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend

Fatih Metin Program Coordinator & Testing Coordinator

Parents/Guardians, This week I write about how we can get and stay involved in supporting our scholars as they go through school. 1. Get involved in their activities-help with homework and ask questions about school. 2. Use reinforcement to show that you value their effort by using praises 3. Reward the effort rather than the outcome. This sends a message that you appreciate where they are in the learning process. Rather than asking about the scores, ask about what did you learn, how can we get more information on this topic. Let's redo this math and practice the different ways we can find the answer. 4. Remind our scholars often about the big picture. Why is this learning important. Perhaps they have dreams of becoming a doctor-ask about why this current learning is important. Linking current learning with their goals will motivate them to want to do more. 5. We learn through mistakes, so when this happens, use it as a teaching moment. Ok, so you did not receive an A. What can you do differently now to prepare for the next test. 6. If necessary seek outside help. There are many resources online that help students to practice those difficult math skills. For example, Khan Academy.com. Teach students to know their multiplication tables. They should practice this every day. 7. Make the teacher your ally. Support the work he/she does and encourage our scholar to maintain a positive relationship. Find out whats a struggle for our scholar, and ask how you can help support that at home. 8. Read and support reading each and every day. Reading is necessary for success in all other subject areas. On a final note, don't just get involved with school-get involved in the learning. Reference childmind.org.

L. Watkis (Assistant Principal)