BARFIELD NEWS LETTER

Dear Parents/Guardians,

I hope that you all had a great Spring Break and had the opportunity to sharpen the saw with your family and friends. We have officially begun our 4th quarter of the school year, and we are excited to finish out the year strong! Report cards will be sent home this week and are also available online via the parent portal. While we are nearing the end of the school year, we still have a lot of learning to do. We appreciate your support in ensuring your students are at school, on time, each day to maximize their learning in the classroom. These next few months will be busy with testing, and we want to ensure your child has the most optimal learning environment to be successful.

Last month, we celebrated our 4th Annual Leadership Day! Our student leaders did an outstanding job showcasing our beautiful campus and sharing the systems we use at TBE to support leadership, culture, and academics. If you have not had a chance to see it, check out the Coastal Breeze article featuring Leadership Day!

There are many upcoming events, so please review the calendar below. Please note that we will have our last two parent lunches in the month of April. We are also looking forward to welcoming our new TBE Kindergarten students to a Kindergarten Round Up Presentation on April 25th. If you know of any new kinder students, please have the parents call the front office and RSVP.

As always, please reach out with any questions or concerns. We appreciate your support in ensuring we have a successful end to the school year.

Thank you,

Alyssa Ledbetter

Principal, Tommie Barfield Elementary School

State Testing Dates

Please mark your calendars for the following state testing dates and be sure to schedule vacations and/or appointments on days when your child will not be testing. This will ensure the optimal testing environment that your child is accustomed to.

Backpacks and Toys at School

Thank you for helping our students stay organized! Please take a few minutes to go through your child’s backpack to throw away or remove outdated papers and make sure toys backpacks are free from distractions like toys, trading cards, etc. Please keep these items at home.

Attendance Procedures

We strive for all students to be at school all day, every day. In the event your child is sick and has to be absent, please either email tbedismissal@collierschools.com and let us know or call 239-377-8500 to report the absence. Reporting all absences avoids “unexcused” absences on your child’s attendance record. If your child visits the doctor, please submit a doctor note within 24 hours of returning to school to the office and the absence or early pick up will be marked “excused”. Excessive absences could result in Out of Zone designations being rescinded and/or having to attend truancy court.

Tardies

Most TBE students are on time every day! However, we want to decrease the number of tardy disruptions at the start of the day. The TBE first bell rings at 8:10. The TBE NEWs begins at 8:15. Students are marked tardy at 8:25. Please be reminded that after the 6th tardy in one semester your child will receive a detention for every subsequent unexcused tardy.

Dismissal Pick-Up

Please be reminded that only Zone 1 walkers will be dismissed and crossed to Zone 1. In addition, the parking lot on Cushing is for staff parking only. Parents are not permitted to pick up their child in this lot. There is no supervision in this back parking lot making it dangerous for elementary students. Middle schoolers use this lot to load their bus and walk through to Zone 2. To be safe, please pick up your child in the car line or safely on the side streets of Zone 2.

Dismissal time begins at 2:50 and we are usually finished by 3:05. To help cut down on traffic congestion, we encourage all students that are eligible to ride a bus to take advantage of this opportunity.

Update Parent Portal Information

Have you moved, changed the phone number or do you need to add another person to your child’s pick-up list? Please make sure all information in the parent portal is updated with any changes that may occur throughout the school year.

Students must keep smart watches and cell phones powered off and in their backpack during school hours.

TBE Dress Code

Please be reminded that students must follow the Dress Code Monday-Thursday. On Fridays, students are permitted to wear TBE Spirit Shirts. On occasion, students are permitted to earn a dress down pass from their teacher or other staff member. Please visit TBE website for Dress Code information

https://www.collierschools.com/Domain/56

Dana Franklin

Assistant Principal, Curriculum & Instruction, Tommie Barfield Elementary School

Students are learning about Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw.

This habit empowers our students with the principles of renewal, continuous improvement, and balance for mind, body, heart, and soul. In school students Sharpen the Saw by celebrating continuous improvement with our Streak Hallway and participate in PE and recess for balance and renewal as well other fun school organized activities. Sharpening the saw is crucial for achievement. When we are renewed and balanced, we are focused and ready to tackle any challenge to continue to grow and improve every day. Balance feels best.

Dear Kindergarten parents,

March was another fun and busy month for Kindergarten!

Students did a wonderful job showcasing their leadership skills on Leadership Day before spring break!

In reading, students continue to work on retelling stories using characters, setting and events. They are also practicing identifying topics and multiple details from an informational text. We also learned about diagraphs and the different sounds they make. These are all great skills to practice when you are reading together at home!

During math, students are building on their number sense and working towards being able to count forward to 100 from any number, as well as backwards from 20 to 0. We are also working on skip counting by tens to 100.

In science and social studies, students have been learning about the different ways objects can move, as well as Medal of Honor Day and the effects weather can have on people and the environment.

At home, you can continue working with students in math on counting to 100 from any number, counting backwards from 20, practicing high frequency words and reading each night!

-The Kindergarten Team

Dear First grade parents,

We cannot believe the fourth quarter is here! The time has flown by, and your child has grown and learned so much so far!

For reading, please continue to read every night with your child and ask them questions about what they have read. Discussing the story will aid in comprehension. We will focus on describing story elements and identifying stanzas and line breaks in prose and poetry. The students will use text features in informational texts and be able to explain descriptive words and phrases across genres. Please continue to work with your child’s reading development at home by practicing high frequency word memorization and reading for pleasure to help with their fluency.

The children will continue to use the writing process to write personal or fictional narratives. We are adding more details to our writing!

In math, we will collect and represent data and understand equal parts. Please ensure that you are looking over your child’s homework and exit tickets sent home and help them with areas they are having difficulty in.

Science will be exciting! We are focusing on plants and animals and basic needs this month.

The students will focus on goods and services and scarcity in social studies.

We appreciate all you do at home to ensure your child is successful next year in second grade!

First Grade Teachers

Dear Parents,

We hope everyone had a wonderful spring break! We loved hearing all about their adventures.

As we head into our final quarter of 2nd Grade, we will be working hard to prepare for end-of-year testing.

In Language Arts, students are learning about Habitats by connecting Reading with Science. Students will be reading stories about animals and how different habitats meet the basic needs of the animals that live there. Skills that the students will be focusing on are supporting opinions with reasons and examples, identifying, and explaining figurative language, and using ask and answer questions while we read to gain a better understanding of the text. These are just a few of the skills we are continuing to develop and learn this month. Please continue to encourage your child to read nightly so they can take quizzes on the books they have read and earn Accelerated Reader points.

In Math, students will be learning about 2-Dimensional figures and Intro to Fractions. You can continue to help your child develop fact fluency by using the addition and subtraction flash cards for nightly practice.

In Social Studies, students are focusing on Civics and how one person can make an impact on their community.

In Science, we are going to begin learning about the Life Cycle of a plant and a butterfly.

Happy April!🌸

The Second Grade Team

Dear Third grade parents,

We are continuing to learn new standards and skills as we entered the last quarter. We want to finish strong during this 4th quarter.

The students had a blast on our 3rd Grade Market Day! Most of the students were able to sell all their products. We were so impressed with the creativity of the students during Market Day. It helped our students learn first-hand about economics.

In Reading, the students identified text structures, explained the development of an author’s purpose, and how text features contributed to the meaning of informational text. Your child should be reading for 20 minutes each night. This will help them practice fluency and comprehension skills, so they can continue to grow as readers.

In Math, we learned about strategies to compare and order fractions. The students will learn about measurement and solving problems with elapsed time. You can practice this skill at home by asking your child to tell time and discuss how much time has passed between activities. Homework is a great time for you to sit with your child and see the skills we are working on in the classroom. It is always a current learning goal or cumulative review.

Thank you,

The Third Grade Team

Dear Fourth Grade Families,

As our soon to be 5th graders head into April, we have enjoyed Spring Break and now need to buckle down for testing season. Please make sure your student is in school all day and every day. The 4th grade teachers continue to offer morning tutoring in both reading and math. If you have any questions regarding this service, please reach out to your child’s teacher.

Academically, in math we are finishing our study of geometric figures and will start measurement. In math, all students need to set a goal of mastering their multiplication facts, if not done already. Science is all about energy, its forms and energy transfer. In language arts we continue to work on identifying text structure and features, author’s perspective, central idea and details, and figurative language.

Please mark down the following dates for upcoming state and district assessments:

April State Testing

B.E.S.T Writing Test- April 8

iReady Diagnostic AP3- April 28 and 29

May State Testing

ELA- May 6

Math- May 14

Thank you for your continued support!

The Fourth Grade Team

Hello!

We have wrapped up 3rd quarter with our wax museum and a trip to the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. Your child can use his/her field trip booklet as a free family pass to visit the Rookery Bay Reserve!

In April, we will be covering the following curriculum and preparing for our Spring state assessments. Your child’s teachers will balance the testing with many celebrations for all their hard work, focus, and determination! Please be on the lookout for opportunities to donate to our April and May celebrations.

Please note the following testing dates in April and May:

April 28-29 - iReady end of year diagnostic.

May 7 – ELA FAST

May 15 – MATH FAST

May 20 – Science State Assessment (SSA)

In Math, we will be finishing our geometry unit before starting equations and order of operations. Students have math homework almost every night; check in with your child to make sure they are completing their work.

In ELA, we will read a class novel titled, “City of Ember.” We will read this novel together in class to discuss character perspective, figurative language, and plot. Ask your child how the theme in this novel connects to what he/she is studying in science.

In Science, we will continue to investigate and explore circuits, conductors, and electrically charged objects. Ask your child to point out the series circuits and parallel circuits in your home. Take apart a battery powered toy or flashlight and ask your child to explain a closed circuit.

In Social Studies, we continue to study the aspects of colonial life and the beginnings of our nation. We will also use primary resources, images, and literature to learn about the journey enslaved Africans experienced.

We just celebrated Leadership Day and continue to grow and evaluate our strengths with the Leader in Me curriculum.

Mark your calendar for your child’s graduation ceremony on May 23 at 9:00am. More info to come!

Thank you!

5th grade team!

Parents,

Students have been creating beautiful masterpieces lately! Some of our 5th grade students have shown interest in seeing all their artwork done on Artsonia since 2nd grade. I would love to show each one but have limited time; please show them theirs!

Lane Beauvais

Teacher, Art, Tommie Barfield Elementary School

Kinder students learned about movement in art and created these dancing cows.

First grade also learned about patterns before we created these pattern elephants.

Second grade learned geometric shapes and created these geometric robots!

Third Grade learned about Pablo Picasso and made these Picasso inspired self-portraits!

Fourth Grade also learned about warm and cool colors.

Fifth Grade learned about Vincent van Gogh and created these beautiful van Gogh sunflowers.

Performances abound!!! Now is the time of year for students to share their individual flares. From Tooting a Flute (Recorder that is) to singing and dancing, or just having some fun with sounds, the final term gives us many opportunities to see the genius in each of us. Let the Music Play On… even if it is to the beat of a different drummer!

Craig Greusel

Teacher, Music, Tommie Barfield Elementary School

Happy April! Check out these upcoming events:

CCPS 5K/1-mile Race on Saturday, April 5th – If you have not already done so, sign up and join our TBE team. On race day we will meet by the flagpole for a quick TBE group picture before the race and then again by the finish line so that we can cheer each other on! https://www.collierschools.com/ccps5K

Final Mile Run Event on Thursday, April 17th – runners who completed 20 miles by March 1st were invited to run a mile with other elementary students on the GGHS track. It is a fun, free event if you would like to come out and support our 50 runners who have qualified for TBE.

Healthy Kids Week on April 21-25 – students may choose to participate in a themed week to remind ourselves of the different aspects of living a healthy lifestyle.

Deana Richett

Physical Education Teacher

Riched1@collierschools.com

Typing: ⌨ ALL students at ALL grade levels begin Tech Class with a 10-minute warm-up activity of keyboarding at their different developmental levels. Grades K-1 typing targets focus on locating all letters and using two hands on the keyboard. Grades 2-5 Typing Targets are: sitting with proper posture, keeping fingers on the home row keys, and using the correct finger paths.

• K & Gr1 practice with Typing Club’s Jungle Junior, which teaches them how to use two hands and different fingers for typing different keys (called finger paths). K-1 students can access the program from home on any computer or laptop through Canvas/Resources page.
• Grs. 2 & 3 practice typing with a fun website called: Dance Mat Typing, accessible on Mrs. McCarty’s Canvas Resource page, so students can practice at home.
• Grs. 4 & 5 use Grade Level courses in Typing Club’s Typing Jungle & can access the program from home on any computer or laptop through Canvas/Resources page.

Grades K-1-2: Building Digital Toolbox

• Kindergarten Tech Class lessons integrate with the grade level language arts, math, and science learning. Students learn to practice language arts and math in their individual accounts of Freckle.com. Later in the month, they learn to research Zoo Animals using Pebble Go! online encyclopedia before their field trip to the Zoo.
• Grade 1 learns language arts and math skills in their individual accounts of Freckle.com. Later in the month, they learn to work with Microsoft Word program.
• Grade 2 learns to work with Microsoft Word program.

Grades 3-4-5: Minecraft Education – Engineering, Coding, & 3D Design

• Grades 3-4-5 learn creative communication, 3D-thinking and problem-solving, modeling and simulations, engineering, coding, innovative designing, and even electrical circuitry using Redstone through the District Resource Minecraft Education program. Please remind students that they are ONLY allowed to use this program in Tech Class with Mrs. McCarty for Tech Class assignments. We are NOT playing the Minecraft video game nor are we using Survival Mode.

Jody McCarty

Related Arts Instructional Resource, Tommie Barfield Elementary School

SSYRA

We had 270 students vote for their favorite SSYRA books on Tuesday March 25th. The Supervisor of Elections office sent volunteers to run the voting. They brought official ballots, voting booths and the same scanner all Collier voters use to record the votes. Those who voted received a bookmark, pencil and official “I Voted” sticker. We had two categories SSYRA Jr for the Kindergarten through second Graders and SSYRA 3-5 for third, fourth and fifth graders.

We will be celebrating those students that read 11 of the 15 SSYRA 3-5 books on April 25th with a carnival!

Accelerated Reader

Is your child using the program? If they need assistance or have questions, we are happy to help in the Media Center. Here are the number of points earned by each grade level so far this year. Way to go TBE!