Thurmont Primary School News

Dear Families,

Research has found that the most effective way to cultivate joy in our lives is to practice gratitude. By practicing gratitude we focus more on the positive parts of our lives which in turn helps us to feel joyful more often.

When I think about what I am grateful for so many things on my list come from my work at TPS. Here are a just a few...

• smiles, high fives and hugs from students who are happy to be at school
• staff who love what they do and share that passion each day
• families who are supportive and engaged in so many ways (see below to join us for Family Movie Night & a Holiday Lunch in December)
• pride in ourselves and each other
• laughter and kindness that fills our building and makes us all feel like we belong
• commitment to our shared mission - working, learning and caring together so that we grow in our brain, heart and body power.
• being afforded the privilege to serve as your principal - it is both an awesome responsibility and one of the most rewarding ways to spend each day!

I invite you to share what you are grateful for at TPS. By clicking the button below you can fill out a quick form with examples of gratitude. These will be shared with staff because practicing gratitude not only brings you joy but also fills the hearts of those who hear your messages.

Wishing you and your family a peaceful and joyful Thanksgiving holiday!

Yours in education,

Michele Baisey

#CourageofaCougar

#BetterTogether

On Tuesday, December 20th we will be hosting a Holiday Lunch. Family members may join students during an adjusted lunch shift schedule included below.

PK - 10:45am

K - 12:05pm

1st - 12:45pm

2nd - 11:25am

Please RSVP on the form linked below so enough food can be pre-ordered for the event. Adult lunches cost $4.25, however, you do not have to purchase a meal to come visit during lunch with your child(ren).

If you are purchasing a meal, please bring exact change or a check made out to TPS Cafeteria.

Holiday Lunch RSVP

We hope you will be able to join us!

The TEPS PTA will host a Family Movie Night on Friday, December 9th at 6pm at TPS. Please see the flyer linked below for details and be sure to RSVP. We hope to see you there!

Family Move Night Flyer & RSVP

For questions, to become a member or to volunteer please contact tepsptacougars@gmail.com.

We continually review our ROAR Expectations in the building but it is equally important to remember our responsibilities for remaining safe on the bus.

Students are expected to:

• walk to board the bus
• stay in their assigned seat
• remain seated
• use a quiet and respectful voice when talking to others
• wait for the bus to come to a stop before standing/exiting their seat
• walk to exit the bus

As a reminder, families are responsible for student safety and conduct at the bus stop. Please remind your child(ren) to do their part in making bus rides safe and enjoyable for all!

As a reminder, toys are not permitted at school. Students should not be bringing toys, Pokemon Cards, pop-its, etc. to school. These items cause distractions and disruptions to the learning environment.

Students earn special days in the classroom where items may be permitted with permission by the teacher. Your child's teacher will communicate with you if/when the class earns a reward.

As your child brings books home to practice reading, it is important to allow them to struggle a little bit when trying to decode words. We call this productive struggle. If we tell them the word, they don’t get the opportunity to use the strategies to figure out words on their own. So, what strategies should you use to help your child when your child is reading to you? We want students to stay focused on the letters and the sounds they make in the word. When your child gets stuck on a word, use the prompts below in order.

Prompt your child to read a single syllable word by asking the following:

1. Look at the letters in the word.

2. What are the vowels in the word?

3. What type of syllable is the word? Click this link for more information about Syllable Types. Six Syllable Types poster is linked here.

• Closed Syllable - “cat”, “hot”, “fun”, “hen”, “pin” - When the vowel is followed by a consonant in a one syllable word the vowel says the short vowel sound.
• Open Syllable - “no”, “we”, “why” - When the syllable ends with a vowel, it is usually long
• Vowel Consonant “e” OR Magic-e - “make”, “time”, “rope”, “cube”, “these” - Has a vowel then a consonant followed by an “e”. The e at the end is silent while the other vowel says it’s name or the long vowel sound.
• Vowel Team - “boat”, ‘greet”, “meat”, “rain” - When two vowels are side by side, the first one says it’s name or the long vowel sound.
• R-Controlled Vowel = “cart” - When the vowel is being bossed around by the “r” the sound of the vowel makes the /r/ sound as in “cart”, “port”, “fern”, turn

4. What sound will the vowel make? Will it make the short vowel sound or the long vowel sound?

5. Finger-stretch the sounds in the word.
6. Blend the sounds together.
7. Read the word.

At each grade level students are learning to count out loud, read, write, and represent numbers.

• PreK: 0-20,
• Kindergarten: 0-100
• First Grade: 0-120
• Second Grade: 0-1,000

These skills help to strengthen and deepen their understanding of quantity, number patterns and how numbers are flexible; working together in many different combinations. Many children have difficulty crossing the decades (going from 19 to 20, 29 to 30, 39 to 40, 49 to 50 etc…) This is where you can point out that numbers are arranged in patterns and these patterns repeat themselves in each decade. So how high can your child correctly count without help or prompting? Do they know which number comes next on their own? Mark it on a piece of paper and challenge your child each night to count out loud to a greater number until they reach their grade level goal. Below are a few fun activities you can do at home to help support these skills.

Count It-Count the steps in your house or toys in a box. See how far your child can count without skipping a number and make a challenge to count further each day.

Guesstimate- Guess how many items are in a small jar or box, writing your guess down and counting to find out how close was your guess. Guess how many cars are in the parking lot or how many people are waiting in line ahead of you.

Number Search-List the numbers 0 to (Grade level number limit) on a piece of paper. As a group, find the numbers on the list by looking in your house, cars, signs, license plates, buildings, etc. be sure to cross off the number from the list when you find it.

Thinking of a Number-One person thinks of a number in their head. The others ask questions to narrow the range and find out the number they were thinking.

Before & After-One person writes a number or calls a number out and the other person tells the number before and after the original number.

Draw It- Have your child draw a picture for a number showing the different values of the digits in the number.

Skip It-Take turns calling out numbers for a skip counting pattern by 2’s, 5’s, 10’s and 100’s starting at any number. Make counting patterns. Can anyone guess what your skip counting pattern is or extend it?

• Wednesday, November 30th - 2 Hour Early Dismissal at 1:10pm

• Thursday, December 1st - Roy Rogers Fundraiser Night 5-8pm

• Wednesday, December 7th - Thursday, December 22nd - 12 Days of Holiday Cheer

• Friday, December 9th - PTA Movie Night at TPS at 6pm

• Friday, December 23rd - Monday, January 2nd - Schools Closed for Winter Break

Email: michele.baisey@fcps.org
Website: https://education.fcps.org/tps/
Location: 7989 Rocky Ridge Road, Thurmont, MD, USA
Phone: 240-236-2800
Twitter: @ThurmontPrimary