Can you believe it is already February? We are well into the second semester of school. This past month was a busy one as our PTA hosted Grandparents Day and our teachers presented our Curriculum Night for grades K-1 and our Curriculum/Testing Night & Student-Led Conferences for grades 2-5. Our Jaguars did a fantastic job sharing their progress and setting goals with their families.

This month, our kindergarten and first grade teachers are busy facilitating parent conferences. Please be sure to set up your mandatory conference with your child's teacher to learn about their progress and how you can support your Jaguar at home. Families of students in grades 2 through 5 must also attend a mandatory conference with their child's teacher (and their Jaguar) if they did not attend the January meeting. Also, this month, teachers will notify you if your student is a potential retainee. Retention meetings are held in May using our last set of student data.

We have four opportunities for meeting credits this month for families with students in grades K-4. There is an additional meeting credit opportunity for 5th grade families who will be attending Thurgood Marshall or Madeira Beach Fundamental Middle schools next school year.

1. SAC Meeting on 2/3
2. Staff Luncheon donations (spaces limited via Sign-Up Genius Link) on 2/5
3. Be My Valentine Dance (@ BVF) on 2/7
4. PCS Survey Completion between 2/3-2/16--Families may earn Feb. meeting credit for taking the 24/25 PCS Stakeholder Survey between the dates of 2/3-2/16. Upon completing the survey, parents will complete a form to be returned to the school no later than 2/17. No late forms will be accepted. The survey completion forms will be sent home on a pink piece of paper on 2/3.
5. 5th Gr. families attending TMFMS or Madeira Beach Fundamental MS Next School Year ONLY

• 2/26, 6pm @ Thurgood Marshall Fundamental MS Expo Night

• 2/27, 5:30pm or 7pm @ Madeira Beach Fundamental MS Expo Night
• Parents MUST sign the sign-in sheet at their respective school to receive February credit.

The Spirit Night listed as TBD on the PTA Meeting Calendar for February has been cancelled.

The acceptance period for fundamental and magnet schools begins on February 12th and ends on February 21st at 5 p.m. Parents with incoming siblings to Bay Vista and all our outgoing fifth graders need to log back on and accept your assignment during this time. You will need your parent portal login and password.

Our PTA Be My Valentine Dance is set for February 7th under the Covered Court. This is a wonderful opportunity for our Jaguars to get dressed up and attend a dance with their parents/guardians. Students must be accompanied by an adult for the duration of the event. No students may be dropped off.

We are looking forward to a great month. Have a wonderful February!

Donna Hall

Principal

You can apply for your child to receive 9 books per year through 5th grade! It's easy to apply, just:

1. Click the link below for New Worlds Reading

2. Fill out the application to let them know the types of books you'd like to receive.

3. Receive FREE resources to support your child's reading at home.

4. Get an email confirming you are eligible and enrolled!

Please help us support your Jaguars to meet their weekly lessons on Dreambox. Research proves that Dreambox math lessons help students gain a deep understanding of math concepts while providing teachers and admins actionable data to close gaps and drive student achievement. Students who are making their completing their lessons each week are more likely to be on track to making a year's worth of growth as expected. Is your student on track?

Weekly Lesson Requirements

Grades K, 1, 2 - Complete 5-7 lessons per week

Grades 3, 4, 5 - Complete 10 lessons per week - Students are provided time during the Math Intervention block to complete a minimum of 5 lessons at school.

Reading Focus

In reading, students make a shift from learning to read to reading to learn. Students learn by identifying the main topic, retelling key details in informational text, and using key text structures. During independent practice, students will learn to distinguish fiction from informational text and read multiple texts on the same topic. With our read aloud books, students take a deeper dive into informational texts. Specifically, students explore such topics as animals, plants, and insects. Students will continue to identify parts of informational text, such as titles, headings, and illustrations/photographs. Students will use those text features to predict and confirm the topic of texts. In addition to identifying the topic, students also work to identify multiple details in a text.

Writing Focus

In writing, students will compose informational texts on topics that they know well, using the same text structures that they have learned about in reading. They will also write informational texts based on a topic that they have studied in reading, using multiple sources of information.

Math Focus

In Math, students are working with addition and subtraction within 10. They will practice joining groups together and pulling them apart. They will also be introduced to teen numbers as groups of tens and ones.

Science Focus

In Science, we will be exploring force and motion. Students will make objects move and describe the strength or direction of the push or pull. They will be able to tell you that a strong force moves an object a larger distance than a weak force would.

In Reading, our first graders are wrapping up our unit on literary texts. In this genre, students learned to read and listen to fiction stories that involve characters, settings, events and the plot of the story. Our next reading unit focuses on informational text specific to personal health. The main topics are having a healthy mind, healthy body, healthy eating, and fostering healthy friendships.

In Writing, students begin to learn the process of conducting research through asking and answering questions about their topics using selected texts. Students will be writing healthy habit teaching books. The focus will be on the four main topics mentioned above.

In Math, students will be using addition and subtraction within 100. When using addition, they will explore adding a two-digit number to a one-digit number up to 100. In subtraction, students will be subtracting a one-digit number from a two-digit number up to 100. They will subtract tens and regroup ones to solve subtraction problems. Place Value rods, drawings and/or number lines will be necessary to aide students to understand the concepts being introduced.

In our next Science Unit, students will make observations of living things and their environment using the five senses. Through observation, children will learn that all animals use their senses to obtain information from the environment and that plants also have similar ways of obtaining information from the environment.

In Social Studies, we are still diving into maps and globes. The essential question guiding our next topic is, "How does location, weather and our environment affect how we live in our community?"

Our first grade Jaguars are persevering through new challenges!

Science

We are continuing to learn about physical science as we move into February. We finished up a unit on states of matter-solids, liquids, and gases, as well as a unit all about energy. We are working on altering materials and learning about physical and chemical changes. Towards the middle and end of February, we will begin working with magnets and start learning more about gravity.

ELA

In Reading, we are finishing up module E in the next few weeks where we are continuing to learn about how humans impact with the environment. We have been reading a lot of non-fiction articles about the importance of taking care of our planet as well as a few fictional books to pair with them. We will finish this module in the middle of February. Next, we move into Module F which is all about different types of fictional tales. In this module, students explore the role storytelling plays in cultures throughout the world as they expand their knowledge of the world around them.

In Writing, students are continuing their work with expository writing in module E. We have been working on using text to support our writing with a text set on bees and manatees. Once we move into module F in mid-February, students will be working on switching back to narrative writing where they will practice creating fairytales.

Math

We have wrapped up Topic F and have also completed our Cycle 2 Benchmark Assessment. Next, we will move into our next unit, Topic G. In this topic, students will learn all about measurement. We will be working with rulers and practicing measuring in inches and centimeters, meters and yards, as well as estimating different lengths of objects.

Social Studies

We are working in geography where we are getting students familiar with reading maps and locating different places using them.

ELA

In Reading, third grade is in full swing with our literary fiction module with two classics: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane and later we will be reading Charlotte’s Web. In this unit, students explore literary elements, explain how a theme in a literary text is developed, and describe different characters’ perspectives. Students engage in this type of thinking while meeting beloved characters that take journeys of daring adventure, develop lifelong friendships, and embark on voyages of self-discovery.

In Writing, students are creating narrative pieces. Students will use photographs and mentor texts as inspiration for creating their own narrative stories. Students will focus on narrative elements, such as establishing an engaging introduction that introduces the characters, using temporal words to signal event order, and providing the reader with a sense of closure to end the narrative piece.

Lastly, our word study continues to have students apply knowledge of prefixes, such as pre- and re-, to decode and determine the meaning of unfamiliar words. In addition, students examine how authors use figurative language, such as metaphors, hyperbole, and personification, in a text. Another goal of Module E’s Word Study instruction is to teach students how to form and use the progressive and perfect verb tenses and how to form compound sentences with the use of conjunctions.

Math

Students will begin to explore different ways to use their multiplication skills. In this unit, students discover strategies for finding the area of rectangles and composite figures. They are introduced to the concept of finding the area of a 2-dimensional figure by covering it with unit squares without gaps or overlaps and counting the number of unit squares. Students will also learn to use the Distributive Property to decompose one factor into two addends, multiply each addended by the other factor, and then add the products to those facts together.

Science

In Science, we are starting our Life Science Unit. Students will describe the structure of plants and their roles in food, support, water, nutrient transport, and reproduction. They will recognize that plants use energy from the Sun, air, and water to make their food. Students will explain that empirical evidence is information, such as observations or measurements that is used to help validate explanations of natural phenomena.

ELA

In Reading, 4th grade readers will end our current Module on informational text and begin Module F which will focus on Literary benchmarks and texts. Students will be reading Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan. We will be reviewing story elements, point of view, perspective and analyzing the impact of figurative language.

In Writing, we will continue to work on Expository and Argumentative essays. The County Writing Assessment will be administered the week of February 3rd.

In Social Studies, 4th graders will continue learning about Florida Geography.

MATH

In February, 4th grade mathematicians will complete their work with Fractions and Decimals. We’ll learn how to multiply fractions by whole numbers, convert fractions with a denominator of 10 and 100 to decimals, add and subtract decimals, and work with problems involving money.

SCIENCE

In Science, 4th graders will complete their Physical Science unit on motion and learn how to calculate speed. We will spend most of the month working on conducting scientific investigations in class. As we learn about the Nature of Science, our scientists will be learning how to put together a science board to display their findings. Life Science is next up in our studies in March!

In ELA, we are studying author’s purpose and author's perspective, as well as central idea and relevant details. We are also learning about the American Revolution. More specifically, the causes and the factors that led to the war.

In Writing, we are completing our Enterprise Village work; newspaper and radio ads. After that, our focus will shift to argumentative writing.

In Math, we will continue to work with fractions. We started with adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators and are now moving into multiplication and division of fractions. After fractions are completed, we will move into our last three topics of the year starting with geometry.

In Science, we are finishing forms of energy and energy transfer and transformations. We will move into forces and motion. Students will first be learning about how energy can cause motion or change, and then we will move into familiar forces and the effects of force on motion.

FEBRUARY

2/3 - Monday

• 5:30 SAC Meeting via Zoom (meeting credit option)

2/4-Tuesday

• Class Picture Day-All students should wear uniforms this day.

2/5- Wednesday--RAINBOW GARDEN CLOSED

• PTA Staff Luncheon - Meeting credit opportunity for donating a prepared dish.
• Staff luncheon (meeting credit option for volunteers)
• January Student of the Month/Jazzy Luncheon

2/6- Thursday

• 5th Grade field trip to Enterprise Village

2/7 - Friday

• Be My Valentine Dance @ BVF (meeting credit option for volunteers)

2/13 - Thursday

• 6-7pm National Elementary Honor Society Induction Ceremony at BVF

2/17 - Thursday

• HURRICANE MAKE-UP DAY

2/27 - Thursday

• PTA $1 Dress Down Day