Dear CMIT South Elementary Families,

As we continue our journey through this academic year, I am inspired by the remarkable learning and growth happening in our classrooms every day. Your unwavering support and active involvement in your children's education truly strengthen our school community. Thank you for being such dedicated partners in your scholars' success.

🎉 Celebrating Our Student Leaders

I'm thrilled to share the results of our incredibly successful SGA Election Day! The enthusiasm and civic engagement demonstrated by our students was inspiring, with an impressive turnout of over 560 staff and students participating in the democratic process on November 4th. A special thank you to Mrs. Jones for her outstanding leadership of our Student Government Association. Her dedication and guidance in developing our young leaders is invaluable to our school community.

Congratulations to our newly elected 2024-2025 Student Government Association (SGA) leaders:

Executive Board

• President: Ava Gamble

• Vice President: Tyson Cooper

• Secretary: Sahara Ansah

• Treasurer: Savannah Gilbert

Grade Level Mayors

• 5th Grade: Taylor Thomas

• 4th Grade: Gabrielle Akintade

• 3rd Grade: Jaxon Petty

• 2nd Grade: Demi Tapp and Tahj Miles

• 1st Grade: Phoenix Quattlebaum and Skylar Overton

• Kindergarten: Ali Gamble and Magnus Javiel Lecompte

Special Positions

• Media Coordinators: Serena Brown and Parker Williams

To all candidates who participated: Your courage to step forward and desire to serve our school community is admirable. Remember, leadership takes many forms, and we encourage you to continue making your voices heard through active participation in SGA activities throughout the year.

📚 Upcoming Events

Parent University Sessions

• STEM Fair Night (Virtual)

• Date: Monday, November 11, 2024

• Time: 6:00 p.m.

• 3rd and Final session for STEM Fair guidance and project updates

• If you have any questions about STEM Fair, please reach out to Mr. Holloway at andrew.holloway@pgcps.org

• Reading & Phonics Workshop (In-Person)

• Date: Monday, November 18, 2024

• Time: 6:00 p.m.

• Interactive session featuring hands-on phonics activities you can use at home

• If you have any questions about Reading & Phonics Night, please contact Mrs. A. Matthews at ayana.matthews@pgcps.org.

📸 Picture Day - November 12, 2024

• Individual AND class photos by Lifetouch

• Students are encouraged to wear their white Oxford CMIT shirt

• Order online using Picture Day ID: EVTKTXGZV at lifetouch.com

• Volunteer opportunity: 8 AM - 1 PM (Must have completed volunteer requirements)

• Sign up at: https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/70A0D4BADAF2AA0FD0-45938202-school

🧥 Winter Coat Drive (November 6-21, 2024)

Join us in spreading warmth and hope this winter season! Your generosity can make a meaningful difference in the lives of local families.

How to Contribute:

• Donate new or gently used coats (infant to age 9 sizes)

• Send donations with your student by November 21st

• The class with the most donations will receive a prize

• Make monetary donations at beesbabiesessentials.org/donate

Distribution Day:

• Date: November 23, 2024

• Time: 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM

• Questions? Contact Ms. Hendy at ania.hendy@pgcps.org

As always, remember that the STEM Journey Begins Here at CMIT South Elementary! We're looking forward to a year filled with exciting learning opportunities, personal growth, and impressive achievements for all our scholars. Your partnership in education makes a profound difference in our students' success. Thank you for your continued support and engagement in our school community. Together, we're creating an environment where every child can thrive and reach their full potential. Remember, we can't continue this STEM journey without you!

Let's make this year a roaring success! 🦁📚

Wishing you all a 🐾 PawwRific 🐾 day and see you all Monday, November 11, 2024!

With Tiger Pride,

Ms. Tauheedah N. Simmons-Lewis

Acting Principal

Chesapeake Math & IT Academy Elementary South (CMIT)

Our November character trait is GRATITUDE—embracing thankfulness and showing appreciation. We’re excited to celebrate by offering students the chance to give "thank you shoutouts" to staff or friends, which will be shared during the morning announcements! Complete the form below to participate.

Please keep your response to a maximum of 1-2 sentences.

Attitude for Gratitude

Classroom Guidance Lesson

I will continue teaching personal safety lessons to our 1st-grade students and begin with our 2nd-grade students. These lessons are designed to help children understand important safety rules, including those related to appropriate and safe touch.

Grade Level Blurb:

We are so excited about our upcoming field trip to the National Aquarium. A huge thank you in advance to everyone who will be chaperoning our trip to make it a success. We will be eating lunch on the bus, so lunches from home should be sent in a disposable bag, with no glass containers/bottles, and no food that needs to be heated up.

All students should wear their gym uniform, including a gray T-shirt. The field trip permission slips are due on November 15. This year we will be only collecting money for the field trip through My School Bucks. Chaperones also need to pay.

The next homework packet will go out Monday, November 11 and will be due on November 21 along with the Family Tree Project.Thank you for your assistance!

IMPORTANT KINDERGARTEN DATES-

NOVEMBER 12: Picture Day

NOVEMBER 17: Parent University: Phonics

NOVEMBER 21: Family Tree Project due

NOVEMBER 22: Field Trip: Baltimore Aquarium

NOVEMBER 27-29: Fall 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 4- Comparing Numbers 0 to 10

Essential Understanding: Two groups can be compared by counting the number of objects in each group and telling which group has more objects or fewer objects.

• Finding the position of each number within the counting sequence helps to compare

• The number that tells more is greater than the other; the number that tells fewer is less than the other.

• The use of matching, drawing, ten frames, and counting to compare numbers

• Vocabulary: zero, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, compare, ten frame

Science Updates:

TOPIC 2 LESSON 2-

Essential Question: How can you classify different objects?

• Identify how objects are alike and how they are different

• Describe and sort objects

• Observe how objects can change

Vocabulary: matter, change, shape

Social Studies Updates:

CHAPTER 2 LESSON 2- Symbols of our Country

Essential Question- What are the important symbols of America?

• Recognize the American Flag, what it looks like, and what it represents

• Identify important national symbols that represent the U.S.

• Recognize different songs important to our nation

Vocabulary: pledge, landmark, freedom

Health Updates:

NOVEMBER TOPIC: Healthy Foods

Lesson 3:Healthful Food Comes in Many Forms

• Identify how family and culture influences food choices

• Describes how healthful foods come in a variety of forms

• Identify goals for healthful eating routines and food preparation.

• Compare and contrast the needs of living things.

Vocabulary: alive, not living, healthy, routine, manners, meal

Hello Tiger Families, Thank you for another great week of partnership. Please ensure that you are keeping up with the STEM Fair timeline provided in your STEM Fair handbook!

Reading Updates:

Students are beginning the second unit. This week students will focus on informational text. Within the informational text students will work to identify text structure as well as generating ideas to ask and answer questions.

Math Updates:

Scholars are continuing to learn a variety of strategies to help add within 100. Compensation is the current method that your scholars should be learning.

Science Updates:

Students are continuing to learn the Scientific Method to help as they begin to work on their Stem Fair Projects

Social Studies Updates:

The next Topic will be People, Places and Nature.

Health Updates:

Students are learning what memory is and how it works.

Grade Level Blurb:

Greetings Tiger Family,

We have completed our first full week of the second quarter. As we continue the year the classroom expectations have been set around behavior and work habits. Students are expected to follow school policies and be bucket fillers not dippers. As we move into the second quarter we will increase the level of interventions to support student needs. We will continue to have Winning Wednesdays with the focus being on reaching students where they may be. Please be on the lookout for specialized letters and emails sent to you regarding tutoring and other programs we have at the school.

Parent Teacher Conferences:

Conferences with teachers are available to conference with families as needed. Please reach out to the homeroom teacher about scheduling a parent teacher conference.

Scholastic Book Club:

This year your scholar will be able to order books directly from Scholastic. If you would like to order books for your scholar or any other child in your life please read the information below.

All orders are due by Monday November 18, 2024 so that final approval can be sent to Scholastic. Please use the links below to order, please do not send your scholar to school with money.

Shop Our Class Page: https://orders.scholastic.com/MF27J

Shop Flyers: https://clubs.scholastic.com/all-flyers

Invite relatives and friends to help your child discover the joy of reading when you share our class page link. Every order benefits our classroom, helping me earn FREE books and resources that every child can enjoy.

Important Upcoming Dates:

• Parent University STEM Fair Night-

• Parent University Reading Night- Monday November 18, 2024

• Thanksgiving Break- November 27- 29, 2024

Uniforms:

We are a uniform school. Students must be in the proper uniform each and every day. Students are expected to have mostly black shoes. They may wear a navy blue or school logo jacket or pullover during class. Students will be asked to remove any jacket or sweater that is not following the uniform policy.

Fourth Grade Reminders:

This is a friendly reminder that late work is only accepted if a student has an excused absence! If a scholar is absent and does not bring a note they will earn a 0 on the assignment that was missed. Please read the reminders to ensure that you are partnering with your scholars to make them successful for school.

Students must bring their agenda book each day. Teachers will note the agenda book and it should be signed nightly by the adult at home.

Please allow up to 48 business hours for all responses to emails and Classdojo messages. Teachers are not actively monitoring their emails during the day because we are engaged in instruction. Emails are not monitored over the weekend or in the evening hours when teachers have gone home. If the message sent relates to dismissal changes please call the school directly to leave a message with the front office.

Please check Synergy 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 Synergy 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.

Reading Updates:

All texts that are being read in the classroom are also available for students to reread at home in their Vol. 1 textbooks. Please have students continue to read and discuss with you information that they find in the text. Students should always read a portion of the text and share any thoughts or questions they had while reading. Students should also note the text underlining, circling, and highlighting parts of the story that were important to know. Homework continues to be sent home on a weekly basis on the first day of the week.

This Week: Students began Unit 2 Adaptations. In this unit students will read texts that explore how living things adapt to their environment. Our first text is “Feathers: Not Just for Flying” in Vol. 1 textbook pages (227-245). In this text students will read about different ways that birds use their feathers so that they can survive in their environment. We will explore features of an informational text. We will also explore the main idea of the text and support it with details from the text. This week's spelling words will be plural nouns regular and irregular.

Next Week: We will continue reading closely our new story “Feathers: Not Just for Flying. Students will show their understanding of the text by composing an essay that explores how bird feather adaptations help birds survive. Students will plan and complete their writing during the reading class. We will also have our spelling quiz and story quiz this week.

Math Updates:

This week we will continue with Topic 2:Fluently Add and Subtract Whole Numbers. Our focus strategies for this week is to continue with ; partial sums and differences, and using the number line to count up and down when solving equations. We will also be taking our Second Quarter IXL Diagnostic.

Please check Synergy ParentVue and Canvas with your scholar to ensure the completion of assignments.

Science Updates:

This week we began Lesson 3 Energy Transfers and learned how heat and other energy forms transfer and transform.

*STEM FAIR REMINDER* Parent University Night 11/11

Please check Synergy ParentVue and Canvas with your scholar to ensure completion of assignments

Social Studies Updates:

This week: Students explored the significant interactions between Native Americans and European settlers. They will examine how these encounters transformed Native American cultures, from shifts in lifestyle and trade to the impact of diseases and colonization. Through this lesson, students will gain insight into the complexities of these early relationships and the lasting changes that shaped the history of both continents.

Next week: Students will be able to understand and explain how the United States grew out of the English colonies. They will learn the key events and factors that led to the colonies' decision to declare independence, including issues like unfair taxation, lack of representation, and the desire for self-government. Students will also be able to explain how the American Revolution and the signing of the Declaration of Independence ultimately led to the creation of the United States as an independent nation.

Health Updates:

In health we are learning about our Mouths and keeping our Teeth Healthy and clean.

Updates from the Art Room:

This quarter, both Kindergarten and 5th grade are starting work on self-portraits! Kindergarten will make theirs out of paper and 5th will use traditional pencil, paper, and pencil shading.

First grade is learning about one of my favorite Black artists, Kara Walker and the subject of her silhouettes being Black history. They are using the knowledge gained to create silhouettes of their hands to remember a day in their history.

Second grade is learning about another of my favorite Black artists, Romare Bearden. They learn about his influences during the Harlem Renaissance, then they will use his collage techniques to create a torn paper landscape.

Third grade classes are learning about Vincent Van Gogh and his painterly, bright flower paintings! Using this knowledge they will create colored pencil drawings of their favorite flower.

Last but not least, fourth graders are learning about color families and schemes. They will use this knowledge to create a painting that uses color to convey a mood.

PE-

Music-

C Week 11/11/24 - 11/15/24

Announcements

Mark Your Calendars for our Winter Concert, Thursday, Dec 19, 2024.

• Primary grades K - 2, 8:30 AM - 9:30 AM

• Intermediate grades 3 - 5, 9:45 AM - 10:45 AM

• Attire TBD

It’s the Holiday Season!

The Kennedy Center and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra have several upcoming performances for you and your family to enjoy. Feel free to take and look and see which performances you may want to attend.

Click Here for Kennedy Center

Click Here for Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

2024-2025 School Calendar

School Meals

School Violence Resources and Support

PGCPS TV

CMIT South ES Enrichment Program

Vendor Managed Child Care

Parent Handbook

Students’ Rights and Responsibilities Handbook.

Synergy ParentVUE Support for Parents and Guardians