Dragon Tales
Dr. Samuel A. Mudd Elementary School
November 7, 2023
Attention Dr. Mudd Parents:
Our Joe Corbi's fundraiser delivery will be on Friday, November 10, 2023.
Pick-up time is scheduled for 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM.
Please come to the cafeteria for your orders.
Important Dates to Remember
November 6-10, 2023 American Freedom Week & National School Psychology Week
November 7, 2023 Dr. Mudd PTO Meeting 6:00 pm
November 8, 2023 National STEM Day
November 10, 2023 Veterans Day Schools Closed for Students Only
Joe Corbi's Fundraiser Pick Up
November 12, 2023 Diwali
November 13-17, 2023 American Education Week
November 13, 2023 Report Cards Posted
World Kindness Day
November 14, 2023 Board Meeting 1 pm; Public Forum 6 pm
November 15, 2023 Educational Support Professionals Day
Title I DADvisory Meeting 6-8 pm at Starkey
November 17, 2023 Substitute Educators Day
November 19-25, 2023 National Family Week
November 22, 2023-November 24, 2023 Schools Closed for the Thanksgiving Holiday
November 23, 2023 Thanksgiving
November 24, 2023 National Native American Heritage Day
November 27, 2023-December 15, 2023 CogAT Post Screener
Grade Level Information
Prekindergarten News
Kindergarten News
First Grade News
Over the next 2 weeks we will learn about animal characteristics and learn how animals use their bodies to survive. Students can read different books to learn more about animals. Don’t forget to practice those weekly sight words. We are still working with word problems, students can think about the relationship between addition and subtraction. For example:
We are wrapping up the first quarter, with a lot of learning ahead of us. Thanks for your support!
First Grade Team,
Miss Simpkins, Mrs. Hayden, Mrs. June, Ms. Thompson
Second Grade News
In our current math unit, before learning to use a ruler, students use base-ten blocks, which have lengths of 1 cm and 10 cm, to measure objects in the classroom. Using these tools to measure the length of objects reinforces place value concepts. Students use metric units to create their own centimeter ruler to see the tick marks as noting the distance in centimeters from the 0 mark and the accumulation of length units as they move along the ruler. They learn the importance of placing the end of an object at the starting point of zero and discuss that the numbers on the ruler represent the distance from zero. Students learn about the meter, which is equivalent to 100 centimeters, further reinforcing place value concepts. They make estimations about metric units and measure shorter objects with centimeters and longer objects with decimeters and meters.
Our students will be learning about stories that teach valuable life lessons. We will read many kinds of stories, from classic fairy tales to modern retellings, and even an informational text about how to appreciate a story. Children will also write a story about an imaginary friend or place.
As the weather is changing, please make sure that our scholars are dressing for the colder weather! Thank you for helping our students to continue to grow!
Ms. Alexander, Ms. Bland, Mrs. Buitrago-Curtis, and Mr. Foster
Third Grade News
Parents please remember:
- Check folders and agenda books daily
- Let the office know by 12:30 of any changes to dismissal
- Breakfast is over at 8:55 so please be on time for school
- Send a water bottle to school for your child
- The weather is changing please make sure we have coats
- Please remind your child that hands should be kept to themselves. We can use nice words to solve our problems and always tell a teacher.
Reading Reminders:
- Your child should be completing the homework packet daily and practicing their spelling words. The spelling words match the phonics skills being taught in class.
- We are starting our unit on drams and stage plays
- Have your child practice writing by writing a letter to a teacher
- If you are able have your child, get on IREADY My Path at home for extra practice.
- Encourage them to read every night for 20 minutes.
Math Reminders:
- We are continuing to work on multiplication facts. Please work at home on facts and skip counting.
- We are starting our unit on addition and subtraction with large numbers
- We will need to review place value
- If you are able at home, please have your child get on IREADY My Path for math.
Fourth Grade News
In math, we are continuing unit 3 on fractions. We will be finishing up multiplying fractions by a whole number, then adding and subtracting fractions with like denominators.
In reading, we are beginning Module 3. We will be working on identifying claim, synthesizing, and author’s craft. We will also look at the plot and theme of a text. Additional information on vocabulary and spelling words will be sent home with students in black Tuesday folders.
In addition to the list of resources given at parent/teacher conferences, please consider checking your student’s graded work and the newsletters sent home to support your student with skills they need additional practice on.
Please, review the Student Code of Conduct for information on behavioral consequences and remind your student that cursing and inappropriate language is not permitted at school and will not be tolerated.
Feel free to reach out to the team via email/Talking Points, or schedule a phone conference as needed.
Ms. Butler, Ms. Doss, Mrs. Forbes, Ms. Williams
Fifth Grade News
For Quarter 2, fifth grade classrooms are in competition! Encourage your students to log their minutes of reading using the provided reading log. Check homework folders and backpacks for more information. Also students can log the number of minutes read by logging onto Clever and using the Beanstalk app.
Students did a great job showing school spirit during Red Ribbon Week and Pink OUT Day.
Also, permission slips for Destination College are due November 17th. Reach out to your homeroom teacher if you need more information.
Continue to stay informed with grades, classroom news, and updates by checking your ParentVUE mail and Class Dojo.
Ms. Baker, Ms. Greene, Ms. Ford, Ms. Bommer
Special Area News
Library News
Storybook Pumpkin Decorating Contest Announces A Winner!
Greetings Families! Thank you for devoting time and effort to the Storybook Pumpkin Decorating Contest! Classes voted when they came to library class and staff voted as well. Everyone was involved in selecting the winner (except the librarian).
The three students with the most votes are as follows:
First place goes to: Karina Cooper – Kindergarten – Beauty and the Beast pumpkin
Second place: Isaac Lopez – Second Grade – Disney’s Up pumpkin
Third place: Adiel Garcia – Kindergarten – Gastly Pokemon pumpkin
Check-out Updates
Now that second quarter has begun, students in grades 3-5 are able to take their books home. Their books are due each time they have library. This is two-weeks for grades 3-4 and 1 week for grade 5. This is because students in grades 3-4 have library every other week and grade 5 has library each week.
Students are expected to follow book-care norms to prevent damaging the books.
One of the most important guidelines: Please read the books. A good idea is to read as a family.
What are we learning?
Pre-K: letter and number recognition, story details
Kindergarten: Parts of a story (beginning, middle, end, characters & setting)
1st Grade: Character analysis – internal vs. external character traits
2nd Grade: Story elements (characters, setting, plot)
3rd Grade: Main Idea and Details
4th Grade: Theme of a Story
5th Grade: Fiction Subgenre: Folktales
Science News
Students in grades 3, 4 and 5 will be reviewing science material from the 1st quarter in order to take the Science Common Assessment for the 1st Quarter. 2nd grade students will be beginning our Matter and its Properties Unit.
Art News
For Art upcoming projects.
* Pre-K: The students will continue learning about shapes and will create a turkey using oil pastel colors.
* Kindergarten: The students will create a turkey collage.
* First Grade: The students will create a nighttime nature scene.
* Second Grade: The students will create a pop-up character.
* Third Grade: The students will create an oil pastel drawing that depicts an architectural structure in a specific season, emphasizing subject matter, lines, and colors to convey a mood or feeling.
* Fourth Grade: The students will draw a landscape and select warm or cool colors to convey a mood.
* Fifth Grade: The students will sketch plants or animals, emphasizing detailed observation to capture their unique features.
Music News
Students in music will be finishing Halloween activities, continuing Fall activities and starting Thanksgiving activities. Students are working on rhythm and beat using centers and games as review!
PE News
We have been learning the importance of ball control for third grade-teaching our students how to dribble properly. We are starting to refine the fundamentals of controlling the ball without even thinking about it. Keeping in mind the safety aspects of dribbling accurately throughout several obstacle courses!
Computer News
For the month of November students will be learning about AI (Artificial Intelligence)
The lessons we will be teaching can be found on code.org here:https://code.org/ai
If you would like to try out one of the AI lessons it can be found below.
AI for Oceans: https://studio.code.org/s/oceans
Community School News
Please look forward to receiving your child's acceptance letter to the Wise Dragon Afterschool Program. You must return the acceptance letter by the due date since space is limited.
If you are looking for assistance with identifying resources and wraparound services, please get in touch with your Community School Coordinator, Andrill Harris, at 301-753-1762 or asharris@gmail.com.
Remember, Dr. Mudd Community School has a Parent Business Center, providing our parents with assistance with completing applications, access to laptop usage, copying, and emailing. Ms. Evelin, the CCPS Educational Interpreter, is available Wednesday and Friday to help with interpretation by appointment only.
The Community School Program at Dr. Mudd is looking for a few volunteers to assist with events and activities throughout the school year. If you are interested in helping the Dr. Mudd community, please get in touch with the Community School Coordinator.
Student Support News
Instructional Leadership Team
The next phase of a typical Illustrative Mathematics (IM) lesson is: Instructional Activities
After the warm-up, lessons consist of a sequence of one to three instructional activities. The activities are the heart of the mathematical experience and make up the majority of the time spent in class.
An activity can serve one or more of many purposes.
Provide experience with a new context.
Introduce a new concept and associated language.
Introduce a new representation.
Formalize a definition of a term for an idea previously encountered informally.
Identify and resolve common mistakes and misconceptions that people make.
Practice using mathematical language.
Work toward mastery of a concept or procedure.
Provide an opportunity to apply mathematics to a modeling or other application problem.
Testing
iReady reports are available for parents to view through your child's iReady page in clever. For more information, use the link or directions below. If you need a copy of the report, you can print it from iReady using the steps from the CCBOE website, the steps below, or request it to be sent home by emailing Dr. Blue, LRT, at ablue@ccboe.com.
Accessing Family Reports Through Clever
Clever
Click the link.
Click “Student and Staff Login”.
Log into the portal using your child’s ccps login (student id number @ccboe.com and password). *This login information is also located in parentvue.
Click on the “I-Ready” icon.
Choose the subject (Reading or Math).
Click the “For Families” button in the upper right corner and choose “For Families Report”.
Select your language.
You will be prompted to “Enter Report Code”. The code for Charles County Public Schools is MRBKQ8.
Select the subject area(s) for the report(s) you would like and click “Get Report”. The report will open in another window.
Gifted
All 2nd graders and students new to Charles County who do not have a score will take the Cognitive Abilities Test, CogAT, pre-screener beginning next week. Those students who will be taking the CogAT should have received a CogAT letter. For more information, use the following link!
https://www.ccboe.com/departments/gifted-education-services
Carson Scholars Fund
All 4th and 5th grade students have received a letter regarding the Carson Scholarship. All items must be submitted to Dr. Blue, LRT, by Friday, November 17, 2023 in order to be considered for the scholarship. Of those applicants, one will be selected from Dr. Mudd. If you need another copy of the letter, please contact your child’s homeroom teacher.