Dear CMIT South Elementary School Tiger Family,

I hope this message finds you well as we approach the end of the year. It's been a remarkable week at our school, and I'm thrilled to share some exciting updates with you.

Celebrating Achievements:

We've successfully completed the NWEA MAP testing for Reading, Math (K-5), and Science (2-5). I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to our incredible students for their dedication and hard work during these assessments. Your commitment to showcasing your growth and learning is commendable. Mr. Metin our School Testing Coordinator, has done a great job in training staff and students. We look forward to growth from the first Fall assessment to Winter for our students.

Appreciation for Families:

I'd like to express my gratitude to all our families for their diligence in ensuring students are present, on time, and well-prepared for these assessments. Your partnership in fostering a conducive learning environment is truly invaluable. Thank you for your patience and persistence in partnering with our school as we are continually improving to be the best choice for educating our students not only in Prince George’s County but the state of Maryland.

Weather Reminder:

As the weather continues to change, I kindly remind everyone to dress appropriately. Our school uniform policy remains in effect, and I encourage students to add layers underneath as needed for warmth and comfort.

Carnegie Math Tutoring:

We're excited to announce the upcoming second round of Carnegie Math Tutoring. This free online tutoring opportunity provided by the Chesapeake Lighthouse Foundation is a fantastic resource for our students. Registration details will be shared soon, and I encourage families to take advantage of this valuable support. Registration closes on December 15th.

School Events:

Please mark your calendars! The next school-wide dress-down day is scheduled for Friday, December 22nd. Additionally, from December 18th to the 22nd, there will be no Power Hour Tutoring or Clubs. However, we'll have normal Enrichment hours taking place before and after school during this week.

Final Thoughts:

As we near the holiday season, let's continue fostering a supportive and engaging learning environment for our students. Your continuous support and dedication to our school community are truly appreciated.

Thank you for being an integral part of our school's success.

Sincerely,

Ronald A. Miller, Jr

Principal

Chesapeake Math & IT Academy South Elementary

Hazel Health Services Coming to CMIT South Elementary

What is Hazel Health?

Hazel Health has partnered with Prince George's County Public Schools to provide access to quality healthcare services for all students, at no cost to families, this school year. Students can be referred by the school counselor or their parent/guardian. A designated person at the school or a parent/guardian can initiate a video visit with a Hazel health care provider while your child is at school or at home to provide either physical or mental health services. Therapy sessions with Hazel Health are a safe space and are private and confidential.

How can your child receive services?

Waitlists for mental health services for children are sometimes long or sometimes as parents it's tough to find the time to take our children to appointments which makes it difficult for them to receive the immediate support they need. Hazel Health is geared to bridge that gap. Students are able to receive these services free, virtually and while in school. If you have any questions please feel free to visit their website https://www.hazel.co/ or reach out to me.

Great job with MAP Growth math and reading testing last week scholars! Teachers will inform all families about the test scores when we have all data readily available for you. This upcoming week, progress report grades will be released on SchoolMax on Thursday, December 14th. Please contact your child’s teacher if you have any questions or concerns regarding the grades. Below you will find a grading rubric below to help assist with understanding the grades that are

IMPORTANT KINDERGARTEN DATES-

DECEMBER 25- JANUARY 2: Winter Break

Reading Updates:

UNIT 2- Week 2: From Nectar to Honey

Essential Question: How do some living things make what they need?

• Phonological Awareness: Initial and Final Sounds; Segment and Blend Phonemes

Blend and Segment: Onset and Rime

• Phonics: Consonants Oo and Ff

• High-frequency words: do, you, they

• Spelling words found in weekly readings: bees, honey, nectar, hive

• Unit Vocabulary: grow, need, share, depend

Learning Goals:

• Identify the main idea to understand informational text

• Find the Main Idea and Supporting Details

• Ask and answer questions about text structure

• Learn what animals need

• Making a place to live

• Adjectives and Articles

• Rhyming Sort

Math Updates:

TOPIC 5- Classifying and Count Data

Essential Understanding: Data can be classified based on different attributes in order to help answer questions

• Classify objects into different categories and explain why they are there

• Record how many objects are in the different categories through counting and tally marks

• Using counting to compare how many objects are in different categories

• Vocabulary: category, classify, chart, tally mark, attributes

Science Updates:

TOPIC 3 LESSON 1: The Sun

Essential Question: How can I describe the sun?

• Learn how the sun moves in the sky

• Describe how the sun keeps things/people warm

• Designing structure to keep animals cool and protected

• Observe the sun

Vocabulary: star

Social Studies Updates:

CHAPTER 3 LESSON 1- Why People Work

Essential Question- Why do people work?

• Jobs are a way to make money

• What is a job that you would like to do?

• Differences between a need and a want

• Reasons people work

Vocabulary: work, job, need, want, cost, benefit

Health Updates:

DECEMBER TOPIC: The Family Team

• All families are different

• Families take care of one another

• Healthy communities

• Families changes but still are a team

Vocabulary: community, rules, special, team, family

Hello families, skills/content for this week continues into next week. MAP testing took place this week, so extending these will ensure that all goals are met. Teachers may also include additional activities that address areas of focus. Continue to support reading at home and support scholars to write about what they read. Spelling is important, but do not spend too much time focusing on spelling every word correctly when they write for you at home. Instead, allow students to write their ideas down freely. The more they write and read to you, the more they will develop into better readers and writers. Response to reading is very important to developing proficient writers.

Reading Updates:

Students are learning to demonstrate mastery in:

Understanding the characteristics and structures of informational texts. Fluency, and using text evidence to support responses.

High-Frequency Words: blue from think, use

Spelling/Phonics: Consonant blends (final)

Genre: Informational text

Oral Vocabulary: nature, notice, reason, pattern

Math Updates:

Using different types of strategies to strategies to solve subtraction problems within 20.Vocabulary: open number line, doubles, plus facts

Science Updates:

Describe the sun, moon, and stars

Vocabulary: star, sun, gravity

Sun watch this video

Social Studies Updates:

Choosing Leaders

Vocabulary: vote, democracy, ballot

Health Updates:

Prepare a variety of healthy meals using food groups

Vocabulary: fruits, vegetables, grains, proteins, dairy

Supporting writing at home.

• List maker. Ask your child to help you make a grocery list or a “to-do” list for weekend chores. ...

• Family letters. Help your child write letters to relatives and friends. ...

• Family stories. ...

• Reader's theater. ...reading plays and writing their own

• Bookmaker. ...making their own stories/books

• Message board. ...

• Label it. Labeling items

We have finished another round of MAP Testing! Thank you to all the students who came prepared and ready to go daily! We have 2 weeks left until break! Let’s finish strong!

Continue to check SchoolMax and CANVAS weekly as progress reports are coming out soon.

Please ensure your scholar has: A charged Chromebook DAILY, A reusable water bottle, and is dressed for the weather as we have outdoor recess multiple days throughout the week.

Reading Updates:

We are wrapping up Unit 2! Entering our last week Unit 2 Week 6 focusing on writing a research paper about tree bark. This research project correlates to our unit question What patterns do we see in nature?

Our spelling words will focus on compound words! Packets will come home on Monday and be due on Friday!

Math Updates:

Many classes wrapping up in Topic 4- Fluently adding within 100. Please utilize the optional homework packet and your homeroom teacher's CANVAS site for additional support in excelling in this topic. Refer to your child’s homeroom teacher and class dojo site for a testing date.

We will start Topic 5- Subtracting Within 100 soon!

Boddle assignments are due every Friday. Students should be answering 10 questions nightly for a total of 40 by Friday. Boddle participation will be graded. Please check to ensure your scholar is completing their work.

Science Updates:

We will be moving on to Topic 3 - Earth's Land and Water. Please utilize our CANVAS site for review material as we dive into this topic.

All components of the STEM Fair have been completed. If you have not done so already, begin working through and documenting your project.

Social Studies Updates:

We will be moving on to Topic 3 - Government. Please utilize our CANVAS site for review material as we dive into this topic.

Health Updates:

The focus for December is a Healthy Heart. Students will read all about how to keep their hearts healthy!

We have completed another round of MAP testing! Thank you for making sure your students came to school on time and prepared for to test. We are just two weeks away from winter break.

Reading: This week in reading we…

Fleet/Lewis: Continued our conversation on descriptive Language and how it adds to a story. We’ve started applying this knowledge to build out our first draft of our personal narratives.

Mathews/Madison:

Unit 1 Week 5 Review and Quiz

Continue with Parts of speech focus on Proper and Common Nouns

Prepare for the Unit 1 assessment

Writing Workshop: Revising and Editing

Math Updates: This week in math we…

Fleet/Lewis: Continued working through topic 5. At this point we are halfway, so please be on the lookout for a date for the topic 5 assessment. Please make sure to have students practice their multiplication and division facts within 10 at home. This will help them master their fact fluency quizzes as well as do well in these lessons.

Mathews/Madison: Students will begin Topic 6 for math on Monday (Connecting Area to Multiplication and Addition).

Science Updates: This week in science we…

Fleet/Lewis: Students should have spent this week reviewing topic 3 to prepare for their topic 3 assessment on Monday, December 11th.

Mathews/Madison: Our assessment for Topic 2 in science (Electricity and Magnetism) will take place on Wednesday. We will start Topic 3 (Weather) on Thursday.

Social Studies Updates:

Fleet/Lewis:

Due to MAP testing this week, the Chapter 2 test has been postponed. Students will be taking this test next Friday, December 15th. Students will receive their study guide on Monday.

Health Updates:

The focus for December is community health. Students will describe community, and helpful behaviors that impact your community, and identify how environmental problems can hurt a community.

As the weather changes, it is imperative that students come to school prepared for outdoor recess or outdoor P.E. A suggestion would be to dress scholars in layers so they can remove outer layers as they get warmer.

Scholars should come to school each day with a fully charged chromebook. As a STEM school technology is utilized in all classes and students are completing assignments digitally. It is difficult to charge chromebooks during class.

Scholars must have a reusable water bottle. We do not have water bottles to provide to students nor do we have cups to provide water. Water bottles must have a resealable cap to prevent spillage if dropped or knocked over! Scholars are able to refill their water bottles at one of the filtered water fountains that are provided around the school.

Please check Schoolmax weekly to see scholar’s updated grades. Canvas is a Learning Management System in which scholars utilize to complete assignments and get access to materials. The grades provided in Schoolmax are those that will be used to calculate progress reports and report cards.

If your scholar is absent, please share a note with the homeroom teacher within 3 days of your scholar returning back to school. In order for students to receive make-up work you must provide a note stating; the student’s name, the date of absence, and reason for absence. Work is provided to students upon their return to school with an absence note.

Each week we suggest checking your scholars browser history and YouTube history. This is to make sure that your scholar isn’t going to a site or watching videos that you would not approve. Teachers are limited to only seeing activity on your scholar’s screen when they are in class. We utilize a system called Hapara that allows us to prevent access to certain sites. We are asking that you check your scholar's computer history weekly.

Reading Updates: This week: Students began reading our second text in Unit 2, “Animal Mimics.” In this text students will read about how animals mimic or copy other animals in their environment in order to survive. Due to MAP testing this week we were only able to close read the text just one time. We were able to monitor our inner conversations to ensure that students were comprehending the information given in the text.

Next week: Students will continue to read the second text in Unit 2, “Animal Mimics.” In this text students will read about how animals mimic or copy other animals or their environment to survive. Students will continue to identify the differences between mimicries. This week we will continue to work on the skills of close reading, monitoring our inner conversations, text structure, and vocabulary.

Math Updates Felton & Holloway:

This week students participated in the Winter administration of the MAP Growth test, this test is designed to measure student growth throughout the school year. Scores will be released in the coming weeks. In Math, class students focused on Sub section 3-2 Estimating Products, students are using rounding and estimating products and checking to see the answers are reasonable. Next week students will 3-3 “Using arrays and partial products to multiply” and 3-4 “Using area models and partial products to multiply”.

Please check Schoolmax and Canvas with your scholar to ensure completion of assignments.

Science Updates:

In Science this week and the following, students will continue exploring how energy moves through Electric Circuits! We will wrap and prepare for our Topic 1 Test.

STEM Fair Reminder:

All students were given a hard copy of the STEM FAIR Packet, a downloadable copy was also added to Canvas. STEM FAIR Research paper drafts were due Wednesday November 29th, 2023 (Felton and Crusoe) . We got many, but not all. Be sure to have your scholar submit before the cut off date.

Final STEM FAIR Projects are due Wednesday January 17, 2024.

Social Studies Updates:

This week: Students began reading Lesson 2: A New Nation and explained how the United States grew out of the English colonies and became an independent nation by answering text dependent questions..

Next week: Students will begin reading Lesson 3:Growth and Civil War and describe how the growth of and changes in the United States in the mid nineteenth century affected American Indians.

Health Updates:

In health we are wrapping Let’s Talk about Teeth with our Unit Quiz before we move into our next unit. I hope you’ve been brushing!

Hi everyone!

We are moving right along in quarter 2 in 5th grade! Progress reports are here! All missing work was due this week. Please check the assignment calendar on our google site to see what upcoming assignments students may have. We have been having tests, quizzes, and homework, so we want to make sure students are keeping up with their work. Students should click on their homeroom teacher’s name to see their assignments. Here is the link to the 5th-grade website for those who need it: https://sites.google.com/pgcps.org/5thgradeclasssite/home

A reminder that we are happy to have volunteers come in to assist us with different things throughout the year, so if you are interested, please make sure your volunteer requirements are completed. We would love it if people wanted to come in and volunteer during lunch times for students, so let us know if you are interested.

We had MAP testing this week for Reading, Math, and Science for our winter term of testing! Scores will be going out to you all soon if they haven’t already! We are proud of our students for working hard this week through all the testing!

We are in the month of December, and we are focusing on our new character trait, generosity! We want to show generosity in any way we can!

The temperature is dropping, and students MUST have a winter coat to be allowed outside for recess. The CMIT fleeces are no longer warm enough for recess. If the temperature drops below 32 degrees, we will have indoor recess!

Reading Updates:

We are moving along into unit 2 which is about observations. We are working on our story which is a realistic fiction called “from Hatchet.” We also have our spelling words on r-controlled vowels.

Math Updates:

Students are in the third unit of Math which is about multiplying multi-digit whole numbers. Homework will be posted on the assignment calendar as we get started so keep an eye out!

Science Updates:

Students are finishing the first unit of Science, about properties of matter. Homework will be posted on the assignment calendar as we get started so keep an eye out!

Social Studies Updates:

We’re onto chapter 3 about settling the colonies in North America and we finished up section 3 this week about English colonies!

Health Updates:

Students are in the first unit of Health which is about first aid.

Lego:

Hello,

This week in Legos and Robotics, we are filming Lego movies! We are also building our Lego Wonderland. It is all coming along well. We are extremely excited!

Maker’s Lab:

Toothpick and Marshmallow Tower Challenge

In this experiment, students are given a set of marshmallows and toothpicks and are tasked with building the tallest possible tower using these materials. The challenge is to create a stable structure that can support the weight of the marshmallows and toothpicks. This experiment was not only fun but also promotes teamwork, problem-solving, and creativity. Participants often need to collaborate and think critically to design a stable structure using the given materials.

2023-2024 School Calendar

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