BARFIELD NEWSLETTER

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I cannot believe that it is March, it seems like February has flown by! Our students, staff, and families had some great experiences this past month and we look forward to an exciting month ahead. Thank you to all our families that participated in Student Led Conferences and Family Genius Spotlight. We loved getting to share with you the many wonderful talents of our student leaders. I hope that you had a positive experience and learned more about the leadership, culture, and academics of your child’s classroom.

We have been busy this month hiring students for various Leadership Day Roles. This year, TBE will hold its annual Leadership Day on Friday, March 7th. This day is so special to our students, staff, and community members. It is a day to showcase our students’ leadership abilities and let their genius shine! Please take the time to ask your child what their role in leadership day is, all 473 students will be engaged in some way! We cannot wait!

Directly following Leadership Day, is our Spring Break! We hope that all our families take the time to sharpen the saw over break. I know I am looking forward to spending time with my friends and family at home over break.

Once we return, we will only have a few days left of the third quarter. Please note that there is no school on Monday, March 24th as this is Teacher Planning Day.

Thank you again for your support at home. We are beyond proud of our student leaders and look forward to seeing them continue to shine, both in and outside of the classroom.

Sincerely,

Alyssa Ledbetter

Principal

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.

Your child’s teacher will let you know of the upcoming quarter 3 district testing. However, the end of the year state testing dates are as follows.

April State Testing

8-- Gr 4th-5th B.E.S.T. Writing Test

22-- Kdg ELA

23-- 1st Gr ELA

24-- 2nd Gr ELA

29-- Kdg Math

30-- 1st Gr Math

May State Testing

1-- 2nd Gr Math

1-- 3rd Gr ELA

6-- 4th Gr ELA

7-- 5th Gr ELA

13-- 3rd Gr Math

14-- 4th Gr Math

15-- 5th Gr Math

20-- 5th Gr Science

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 and/tardies could result in Out of Zone designations being rescinded and/or having to attend truancy court.

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 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

Cell Phones and Smart Watches

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.

E-Bikes, Bicycles, and Scooters

Please be reminded that e-bikes, and electric scooters are prohibited to be ridden on TBE campus, as well as city parks. All children, age 16 and under must wear a helmet when riding a bicycle, scooter and e-bike, according to state law and can be issued a citation if not worn. When riding any of these forms of transportation children must obey all traffic laws while riding on roadways, sidewalks, or bike lanes. Thank you for having these conversations with your children and keeping them safe.

Dana Franklin,

Assistant Principal, Curriculum & Instruction, Tommie Barfield Elementary School

We had a great time celebrating the 100th Day of School with many activities including 100. Thank you for the 100th Day family T-shirt project. They were amazing!

In Math, the students are learning about teen numbers. The children will also need to be able to count to 100 by the end of the 3rd quarter. It is important that the children continue to practice counting to 100 from any given number. Students will also be learning about 3D shapes.

In Science, the students will be learning about observable properties of matter and sound. In Social Studies, they are learning about locating places using a map, their phone number / address, and different landforms.

As always, 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. Please continue to practice the sight words that come home in his/her folder. Look for the Wednesday folder and review the completed classwork with your child. Your encouragement and support make a big difference in your child’s education.

The Kindergarten Teachers

First Grade

Spring break is around the corner for our first graders! The children deserve a long break for all their hard work! Towards the end of the month, we finished our third quarter for the school year! Time is flying by!

In reading the children are focusing on using correct English grammar, spelling, handwriting, and reading/understanding fiction and non-fiction texts. We are working on fluency and comprehension. Please continue to work with your child’s reading development at home by practicing high frequency words and reading for pleasure each night. For the month of March, we will focus on Prose and Poetry. We will also focus on identifying and describing the main story elements in a story, explain the moral of a story, and explain who is telling the story using context clues.

In writing we are working on the writing process, focusing on Argumentative/Opinion writing and Narrative writing. The children have come a long way with their writing compared to the beginning of the year. We have worked hard on adding more details to our writing and making sure we are using transitional words to show sequential order.

We are having a lot of fun this quarter in math! We are focusing on measurement and identifying values of coins. Please ensure that you are looking over your child’s homework and exit tickets sent home and help them with the areas they are having difficulty in.

Science is full of excitement! We are learning about living and non-living things and the parts of plants.

We are focusing on Women’s History Month, Goods and Services, and Medal of Honor Day in Social Studies.

The end of the year is around the corner and the students are all working very hard! We are so incredibly LUCKY to have these little ones in our classroom!

First Grade Teachers

Dear Parents,

As we head into Spring Break and into the final quarter of the school year, we are excited for all the fun and learning ahead!

In Language Arts, students are exploring what plants need to live and grow, connecting our reading with science. Later in the month, they will read stories about animals and how different habitats meet the basic needs of the creatures that live there. Students will focus on skills such as supporting opinions with reasons and examples, identifying and explaining figurative language, and asking and answering questions while reading to better understand the text. These are just a few of the skills we will continue developing throughout the month. Please continue encouraging your child to read nightly, as they can take quizzes in their books and earn Accelerated Reader points!

In Math, we will continue to add and subtract fluently with 3-digit numbers. You can help your child strengthen their fact fluency by using addition and subtraction flashcards for nightly practice.

In Social Studies, we will explore how communities change and analyze historical images of America and compare them to today.

In Science, we will begin our exciting at-home habitat projects! The students are very eager to get started!

Happy Spring,
The Second Grade Team

Third graders started working on their Market Day projects. They will sell the products they created to visitors on our annual Leadership Day for teacher bucks. We cannot wait to see what they created to sell!

Students are learning about fractions and how to represent and compare them using number lines and pictures. We are still practicing our number chants to help the students with their multiplication fluency.

In Reading, students focused on explaining how one or more characters develop throughout the plot and the different characters’ perspectives in a literary text. They also identified an author’s claim and explained how an author uses evidence to support the claim. In Writing, students focused on text-based argumentative writing. In Science, students learned about how light travel and worked in groups to complete a laser light challenge. This helps demonstrate that light can travel in a straight line until it strikes another object. In Social Studies, third grade students are focusing on fostering cultural awareness, celebrating important historical events, and understanding the diverse contributions that have shaped our world.

Please continue to read with your child every night. We appreciate all your involvement, encouragement, and support at home!

Third Grade Teachers

Dear Fourth grade Families,

Hard to believe we are already in the 3rd Quarter of school! As our fabulous fourth graders head into March, we know they are excited for Spring Break. More than ever, it is crucial for students to be in school, all day every day, as much as possible! We are looking forward to seeing our students work hard academically while preparing for Leadership Day on March 7, highlighting our grade level Binders with Buddies.

In math the end of the 3rd quarter brings us to Unit 14. This unit is divided into two areas of study, one involving perimeter and area and the other exploring angles. Students will explore and classify angles, draw, and estimate measurements, and classify angles in polygons. Help your student to set a goal to master their multiplication facts if that have not done so already. Multiplication and division facts are crucial to being successful in math!

Reading this month takes us through Module 8. Students will continue to dig deeper in explaining literary elements and how the theme develops in prose and poetry, identifying figurative language, summarizing across genres, identifying test structures, and how text features contribute to the meaning in informational text. Please continue to encourage your child to read nightly for 40 minutes. In writing we are continuing to prepare for the Writing FAST in April.

In science, students will learn about changes in matter. They will be able to identify some familiar changes in materials that result in a different material with different characteristics. We finish the quarter learning about the different forms of energy. Students will observe and describe some basic forms of energy.

Finally, in social studies we will explore the effects of the 1920’s Florida land boom and bust, and the challenges Floridians faced during the Great Depression.

We are so grateful for your continued support at home. We are very proud of how hard they are working, but we need to stay focused so we can finish quarter 3 strong and start on the right foot for 4th Quarter.

Thank you!

Your Fourth Grade Team

Dear 5th Grade families,

We have had an incredible start to the year, and it has been amazing to see our students dive into learning with enthusiasm. They are working hard, embracing challenges, and demonstrating outstanding leadership in and out of the classroom. Their curiosity and dedication make every day exciting, and we are so proud of their progress.

In math, we will continue working on all four operations with fractions and mixed numbers before transitioning into our geometry unit. Please take a moment to check in with your child about their classwork and progress.

In science, we just wrapped up our unit exploring space, galaxies, and planets. Next, we are diving into the world of forms of energy and energy transformation, where students will explore how energy moves and changes in different ways.

In ELA, we are finishing our study of text structures and how they help us better understand what we read. Next, we will be reviewing figurative language, exploring how authors use it to enhance their writing and deepen meaning. In writing, we have been enjoying a variety of passages and responding to explanatory prompts. Soon, we will begin learning about and writing argumentative essays, where students will develop their skills in forming and supporting strong claims.

In social studies, we are learning about Colonial life, with a focus on Early English Settlements. Students are exploring how the first colonies were established and what life was like during this time.

Please encourage your child to continue reading and studying nightly. As a reminder, we are available for homework help or to complete missing assignments before school at 7:45 AM each day.

Thank you for your continued support and partnership in your child's learning journey. Your encouragement at home makes a tremendous difference, and we truly appreciate all that you do. We are excited for the weeks ahead and look forward to seeing our students continue to grow and shine. Wishing you all a wonderful March!

Your Fifth Grade Team 😊

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!

Kinder students learned about texture when they created these textured foxes!

First grade also learned about texture when making these flowers!

Second grade learned about op art and Andy Warhol before creating their Warhol Hearts!

Third Grade learned pop artist, Chris Uphues and made pop art using his style!

Fourth Grade also learned about Chris Uphues and created these Graffiti Hearts.

Fifth Grade learned about twelve various artists throughout history and created a heart in the style of the artist they chose!

Here come the Leaders!!! March is a great month to show off our individual talents. Students have been sharing their performances and showing their artistic skills. As we come together to celebrate Leadership Day, we collectively see all the wonderful learning that is going on here at TBE. Students have prepared a variety of individual and group activities showcasing their genius. Also, I’d like to recognize our six representatives who really shined as part of the county’s Honors Chorus this year. Great job, ladies!!!

Craig Greusel

Teacher, Music, Tommie Barfield Elementary School

In PE, our skill-based standard this quarter is using different implements to strike properly with. We continue to work on our striking skills with activities such as baseball/softball, tennis, hockey, kickball, etc. This quarter we will also be discussing the importance of hydration, sun protection, water safety and pedestrian safety.

Additionally, Run Club students who have run at least 20 miles this school year will be receiving an invitation for the Final Mile Run event, where they will run a mile on the high school track with other elementary schools. The event will take place on April 17th at 6pm on the Golden Gate High School track; it’s free if anyone would like to come and cheer for our runners!

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.

• 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.
• Gr 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.

Primary - Digital Toolbox: This month, primary students build their “digital toolboxes” learning different programs and websites to support their academics. Kindergarteners learn websites to practice: Sight Words, spelling, and a little Dr. Seuss fun to honor Dr. Seuss’ birthday on March 2. Grades 1 & 2 learned online science research using District Resources Pebble Go! To follow up, students learned express their science learning through a Microsoft project.

Intermediate - Coding:

· Grade 3: In their individual code.org accounts, Gr 3 coded 4 lessons of puzzles learning the coding skills of sequencing, debugging, loops and conditionals. Following this, Gr 3 finishes Q3 Coding with OzoBot Evo robot, using OzoBlockly online and a game-like set of 10 challenges called OzoTown.

· Grade 4: Q3 Gr4 Tech Class lessons are dedicated to learning to code Dash Robot to drive, with events, lights, sounds, looks, and animations in preparation for the Class and School Dash Robot Coding Competitions. For this, they will be working in a randomly generated group of 4 or 5, to write a story about Dash in Space! and write a corresponding program of code for the robot. Each class will have a winning team based on their story and programming, who competes with the other Gr4 class winning teams, in the school competition to determine a Gr4 TBE Dash Robot Coding Champion Team!

· Grade 5: In their individual code.org accounts, Gr5 learned to code their own game in the Elementary Game Design course. Students learned to program background, environment, sprites, costumes, movements, events, variables as scores, and conditionals for Win / Lose ending the game. The students posted their game links on a Padlet wall, at this address: https://padlet.com/mccartjo/5th-grade-elem-game-design-7yf1lz871kgk5on0 , so they could play each other’s games and see how the games were coded. Take a look! 👀

Jody McCarty

Related Arts Instructional Resource, Tommie Barfield Elementary School

We now have 8 second graders who have read all 5 of the SSYRA Jr Independent Readers and 38 second graders who have read and tested on at least one. This challenge continues until March so encourage your second grader to join us in the challenge!

Third through Fifth graders continue with the SSYRA 15-chapter book challenge. We celebrated with those students who read 7 SSYRA books on Jan 30th by playing Gaga Ball! We had a blast!

We will have our final SSYRA celebrations on April 25th by having a carnival for those students who have read 11 SSYRA books. Keep reading! We will vote on our favorite SSYRA books on March 25.

We had a busy week with Accelerated Reading during our literacy week. Students read 8,540,184 words that week! Our students have read 97,055,023 words this year! We are a school of READERS!

Mary Beth Schneller

Teacher, Media Specialist, Tommie Barfield Elementary School

Dear Parent(s)/ Guardian(s)

Due to a decrease in funding, University of Florida College of Dentistry is unable to perform dental screening and sealants for our first and second graders. Unfortunately, we will have to cancel Tommie Barfield’s first and second-grade dental screening and sealant services on February 21-March 4th. If you opted-in for this service I apologize for the inconvenience.

We will still be having our third-grade dental screening only for those who opted-in, on March 4th as scheduled.

We apologize for the inconvenience. If you are in need of community resources for dental services please reach out to Ms. Bigley, School Counselor or visit CollierCares.com

With Care,

Ms. Bigley, School Counselor

biglem@collierschools.com

Happy March!!!

Thank you to all who supported our Everblades fundraiser night. It was so much.

We still have lots of in-house stock of Spirit wear shirts. Check out the website to order. Everything online we have is in stock. So ordered will be next day!

Tommie Barfield (tommiebarfieldpto.com)

Join us for our next PTO meeting on March 25th to see what else we have coming up! Next Volunteer opportunity will be Staff Appreciation week on May 6th. stay tuned for more…….

Habit 6: Synergize –

When we synergize, we value everyone’s differences and work together to come up with a better solution or idea than anyone could have come up with on their own. Sometimes, a task or challenge can seem overwhelming when we are trying to face it on our own. When we synergize with one another, we can accomplish so much more than we would be able to on our own. Give this a try at home by tackling some chores together as a family – whether it is as simple as doing the dishes or as complex as cleaning the whole house, you’ll be amazed at what you can achieve when working together!