Pearl S. Buck Elementary

RESCHEDULED: The February PTO meeting will now be held on WEDNESDAY, February 15th, beginning at 7:00 PM.

RESCHEDULED: The 4th grade parent meeting will be held on THURSDAY, February 16th, beginning at 7:00 PM.

Science Fair (3rd and 4th grade) - Thursday, February 23rd, 2017, 6:30-7:30 PM at Buck. We will have nearly 100 projects on display. Come see the many fun experiments conducted by our young scientists.

The PTO Book Fair Family Night will also occur on February 23rd, 6-8 PM. Come join us!

PSSA Testing Dates for 3rd and 4th Grades:

• Monday, April 3rd, through Thursday, April 6th (ELA)
  
• Monday, April 24th, through Wednesday, April 26th (Math)
• Tuesday/Wednesday, May 2nd & 3rd (Science - 4th grade only)

Testing will occur throughout the morning of each testing date. Please do not schedule appointments or vacations for your child on testing dates.

Mrs. Schaeffer's class (among others) celebrated the 100th day of school today!

Our PTO will be selling Glow Bracelets (2 for $1.00) during lunches on February 13th and 14th. Make someone's Valentine's Day extra bright!

Although not as fancy looking as the Bat Mobile, the Bucks County Community College Art Mobile comes to visit Pearl Buck every two years. Over the next week of school, students will have the opportunity to visit the Art Mobile during their art special. Under the care of docent Carol Cunliffe, the Art Mobile's mission is to bring original, professional artwork to students. This year's presentation offers works from local, national, and international artists. After a brief introduction and explanation of the artwork the connections to literature, students were permitted to meander around and enjoy the exhibits, many of which were interactive. For more information, and to see more of the displays from this and past Art Mobiles, follow this link: Www.bucks.edu/art

During Reading Buddy time this week, Mrs. Budman's students learned how to count money with the assistance of Mrs. Beck's 4th grade students. The fourth graders gave the second graders a certain amount of play money and then used white boards to calculate how much was shown. Mrs. Beck's class enjoyed the opportunity to ‘play teacher’ while reinforcing their own money counting skills! These types of socially and emotionally positive learning experiences support our District Mission of empowering each child to be a productive citizen and a lifelong learner.

As you may remember, Monday at Pearl Buck was a hot one! Mr. Knight's class moved to a cooler climate in Mrs. Oswald's class and created Valentine's cards with kindergarten students.

...teams of 3 or 4 were carefully selected. Each team had to create a February attribute calendar. For each day of the month, a piece had to have one attribute different than the previous day. Thirty-two unique pieces were cut, colored, and arranged by the group members before they were permitted to glue the pieces to the calendar.

Following the calendar project, students were given an integrated writing activity: describe how a STARR-worthy group would perform the February calendar activity safely, thoughtfully, with a positive attitude, and while being both respectful and responsible. Before writing, the class was shown a teacher-written piece on the ways the Atlanta Falcons exhibited STARR qualities on their quest for Super Bowl 51.

Mr. Rohne, a mail carrier from the Langhorne Post Office, visited Mrs. Gallagher's class today. Mr. Rohne talked about his job and the various equipment he uses to do his job. At the end of his presentation, Mr. Rohne collected letters to be mailed home just in time for Valentine's Day!

If your child will be participating in the Science Fair, below are some questions you may want to ask of your young scientist. We will be looking for up to 6 projects to be presented at the STEAM Expo on Thursday, April 20th, at Neshaminy High School. Having great answers to the questions below will help us recommend which projects will be presented at the expo. Parents, it's okay to help develop ideas and assist with the experiment, but be sure your young scientist takes ownership of the final product. This should be a fun, learning experience for everyone!

Where did you get the idea for this project?

Listen for how the presenter determined their project idea would make a good science project. Did they have a question about how something worked? Curiosity about how something would react to certain actions? There's no 'right' answer, but clarity is critical.
What would you do differently next time?

Listen for the presenter to recognize that all projects have limitations and they could always have done better if they had more time, more resources, better equipment, etc.
What would you do next?

Listen for the presenter to propose an example of the next logical experiment.
What was the hardest part?

Listen for the presenter to acknowledge which parts they thought were hard and how they solved the problems that arose.
What research did you do?

Describe any reading (or searching) that was completed before the presenter wrote his or her hypothesis. A variation of this question is: Why did you think that would happen? (Referring to the hypothesis).
What was your control?

Listen for the presenter to identify the need for a control, and identify the independent variable.

Why did you do the experiment more than once?

Listen for the presenter to demonstrate an understanding of the concept of variability and that the more an experiment is repeated, the more confidence we have in the accuracy of the results.
Why are your findings important?

Listen for the presenter to link his or her results to the “bigger picture” including who might be interested in the findings. ("Y'know, you may save a lot of money buying off-brand paper towels because my results showed....")

Who helped you?

This sounds like a trick question because you were supposed to do your own project – right? But no scientist works in isolation (and if they did we wouldn’t know about them because they wouldn’t have communicated their results!). Acknowledge your teachers, parents, friends, and anyone else that gave you an idea, advice, equipment, or assistance.

Please remember to bring I.D. with you when picking up your child. If someone else routinely picks-up your child, please make sure to list them as an emergency contact AND remind them to have proper I.D. when they arrive.

Please be sure to write your child's teacher a note regarding ANY changes to your child's afternoon routines. For last-minute changes, please call the school office at 215-809-6300 and speak with one of our secretaries.

Our lost and found is growing. It is full of coats, fleece jackets, hats, scarves, etc. Please have your child check for lost personal items. Parents may also visit the lost and found. Please check-in at the office first.

Due to varied allergy and dietary needs, please contact your child's teacher before sending in food for students other than your child (e.g. for birthday celebrations, class parties). Do not send in any items until the teacher has responded and confirmed the appropriateness of your request. Also, students should not share food at any time during school - even with a close friend. A seemingly harmless food item may unexpectedly contain allergens, or interact with other medical conditions. Depending on the health needs in the classroom, teachers may choose to avoid food-oriented experiences altogether.

Please see our guidelines for more information.

You are served a hot cup of coffee and room-temperature cream at a restaurant. You want to wait a few minutes before you drink the coffee, and you want it to be as hot as possible when you drink it. Should you pour the cream in the coffee:

a) Immediately
b) Just before you drink it
c) It doesn't matter

Give up?