CMIT South Elementary School

Greetings Tiger Families,

Thank you, staff, students, and families for your support during our Charter Renewal Site Visit this week. Thanks to Prince George’s County Public Schools, Chesapeake Lighthouse Foundation, and TenSquare Educational Consultants we were given valuable information, feedback, and validation regarding our daily work. We look forward to the final report in the next month. Thank you to everyone who participated in interviews and focus groups and welcomed visitors into their spaces to be observed.

We have distributed outstanding lunch balance letters to individual students. Families please rectify this via MySchoolBucks.com and have conversations with your students about your plans and expectations for meals in the building.

Reminder Monday school is closed for President’s Day. Tuesday, February 21, 2023, is a 2-hour delay for Family Teacher Conferences. Staff will be available from 7:30-9:30 via Zoom for scheduled conferences lasting only a maximum of 20 minutes. Staff will be meeting with those students’ families who have challenges around Academics, Behavior, and Attendance. If you would like to schedule a conference please reach out to your child’s teacher as conferences can occur any day, other than Tuesdays, during a staff member’s planning time.

Students who have had more than 4 tardies since the start of the 3rd quarter, or who are chronically absent, will be conferenced with via Zoom on Tuesday morning at 8 am to address how we can support your child’s timely arrival to school daily.

Sincerely,

Mr. Ronald A. Miller, Jr.

Principal

Chesapeake Math & IT Academy South Elementary

Prince George’s County Public Schools

CMIT South Elementary’s FebruaryThemes

Character Theme: Peace

STEM Theme: African-American Inventors and STEAM Professionals

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” – Harriet Tubman

Please take note of these February - March calendar reminders:

• Monday, February 20, 2023 - School Closed Presidents’ Day

• Monday, February 20, 2023 - Black History Poster & Essay Contest Deadline

• Tuesday, February 21, 2023 - Parent-Teacher Conferences - 2hr delayed opening (10 a.m.)for students

• Friday, March 3, 2023 - Progress Reports Released online SchoolMax Family Portal or SchoolMax Family Mobile Portal

• Tuesday, March 7- Friday, March 24, 2023 - Maryland Integrated Science Assessment (MISA)- 5th grade only

• Monday, March 6, 2023 - School Closed for Students (Professional Development for teachers)

• Thursday, March 30, 2023 - End of 3rd quarter

• Friday, March 31, 2023 - Professional Day for Teachers. It is a half-day of asynchronous virtual learning from home for students and a professional day for teachers. Learn more about virtual learning days this school year.

• 2022-2023 SY Calendar

• February 2023 School Lunch Menu

School Closed on February 20, 2023 for Presidents’ Day.

There will be a 2 hr-delay Tuesday, February 21, 2023, for Parent-Teacher Conferences. Now is the time to schedule a check-in with teachers to discuss student progress. Please check with your child’s teacher for an appointment and the link to attend the meeting.

No Tuesday Power Hour on Tuesday, February 21,2023.

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Tutoring provided by CMIT South

CMIT South Elementary will have tutoring offered by 12th-grade seniors from CMIT South Middle/High school for 3-5 grade students. More information coming soon.

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Carnegie Learning Math

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Carnegie Learning Math

On-demand math tutoring for students in grades 3-12. Log in through the CLEVER tutoring app.

Families,

This long weekend is a great opportunity to extend reading activities. There is great African American literature available for students to read today and in the months ahead.

Celebrate the history and help keep the stories alive for the next generation.

Click the link to get to the list of books that you could purchase. The library is also a great place to use books.

Thank You

Ms. Watkis

Remember: masks remain a tool to reduce the spread of illness and vaccinations continue to be the best defense against COVID-19. When children are sick, please keep them home.

Want to send a Shout Out to a Teacher/Staff Member?

Do you want to say thank you or SHOUT-OUT a teacher or staff member for their great job? Complete and submit the SHOUT-OUT Google Form link and it will be shared with the faculty at an upcoming meeting and/or morning announcements.

Cell phones may be used on school grounds before school and after school. Cell phone use is prohibited in classrooms, restrooms, cafeteria, hallways, and school offices unless otherwise stated by a teacher. During the instructional day, cell phones must remain out of sight and must be turned off or on silent mode and stored in a backpack, book bag, pocket, purse, or locker. “Cell phones” include, and are not limited to, iPhones, “smart” phones, smart watches (i.e., Apple Watch, Samsung Galaxy Watch), internet-enabled phones, and other PEDs that are capable of placing and/or receiving telephone calls (including personal listening devices such as earphones, earbuds, “Bluetooth”, etc.), text messages, browsing the internet, creating and distributing videos, taking photographs, and the like. Please click to review the Portable electronic Policy (Administrative Procedure 5132).

Thank you families for supporting your scholars in completing their Black History Month projects. We all have learned about so many African American heroes, known and unknown.

We will resume our Sight Word homework activities and tests. These tests will not be graded and will be sent home for study purposes. iReady and MAP Growth testing results will be coming home next week. Thank you for your patience. Please continue to utilize CLEVER in order to access our academic programs that will help enhance your scholar’s math and reading skills.

• IXL

• Dreambox

• iReady

• Letter Zz

• Verbs- action words and how they are used to enhance a sentence

• Syllables practice

• Word count in a sentence

• Continuation with Unit 7: Subtraction

• Understanding subtraction as “take apart” or “take away” and can be demonstrated using fingers, mental math, images, drawings, equations, sounds, acting out situations, and verbal explanations

• Separating parts from a whole

• Taking apart a number and telling the parts of the whole

• Lesson 4: Severe Weather

• Preparing for severe weather

• Discussing how severe weather can be very dangerous

• Cause and Effect of storms

• Deeper dive into geography

• Using legends/keys to identify important places on a map

• Globes and how we use them to find different locations

• How can we take care of our teeth?

• Healthy eating decisions

• Routines to keep a healthy body

Be sure to practice your spelling words!

Essential Question: How can we use our imaginations?

Comprehension Strategy: Predictions

High Frequency Words: be, could, of, old, why

Spelling/Phonics: Words with Long o spelled VCe

Genre: Folktales

Vocabulary Words: create, imagine, suppose, possible

Students will describe plot elements, including the main events, the problems, and the resolution, for text read aloud and independently.

Students will make, correct, or confirm predictions using text features, characteristics of genre, and structures with adult assistance.

Students will demonstrate knowledge of distinguishing characteristics of folktales.

Students will collect and organize information using a picture graph.

Vocabulary:

picture graph

survey

Students will observe and measure weather.

Vocabulary:

weather

thermometer

rain gauge

anemometer

tornado

blizzard

Students will recognize that the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution are important American documents.

Vocabulary:

colony

document

constitution

amendments

Students will list the different parts of the body that help us to talk and to hear, and show how each process works.

Vocabulary:

brain

ear

tongue

lips

voice box

vocal cords

teeth

Hello Second Grade Families! Our team has just a few updates and reminders for the coming week.

• Parent-Teacher conferences will be held as needed on Tuesday, February 21st. Your second-grade teacher will contact you to schedule a conference.

• Please continue to check SchoolMax for up-to-date grades.

• Second grade is in need of many supplies! If you are able, please consider donating the following to our classroom: tissues, baby wipes, pencils, glue sticks, and Expo markers.

The upcoming week is short so we will be extending our current topic through the next few days. Students will continue exploring procedural text as it relates to our weekly question, “How does food help make a tradition?” Students will continue to examine text features such as labels, headings, and numbered steps.

In phonics, students will continue to practice with words that have the following vowel teams: oo, ue, ew, ui. These vowel teams will make the same sound /u/ such as tooth, glue, chew, and fruit.

We have begun Topic 6 in math! This topic is an extension of topic 5 in that it involves fluently subtracting within 100. Students will continue practicing subtraction strategies. Please consider practicing at home by reviewing the additional resources on CANVAS, completing the optional homework packet, and reviewing the Daily Review worksheets that come home daily.

Student's are wrapping up their topic on Earth's water and land. In this topic they have learned about different landforms (mountains, hills, plateaus, valleys, plains) and bodies of liquid and solid water (oceans, lakes, ponds, streams, rivers, icebergs).

Students are continuing to work in chapter 4. In this chapter, students are learning about the people who provide our goods and services. They are also learning the difference between wants and needs, and when choices might need to be made.

This month, students are learning all about their hearts. They are learning about how their heart functions and how to keep it healthy and happy!

Hi everyone! Thank you to everyone who sent in candy for Valentine’s Day this past week! We had a lot of fun passing out candy!

Next week is progress reports already, so MONDAY is the deadline for all missing assignments to be turned in! Reminder that there is NO SCHOOL Monday for Presidents Day, so students have through the long weekend to turn things in. We don’t want any zeros in the grade book and we want to stay on track as we move through each unit! Please make sure you are using our weekly assignments breakdown page to always see what homework assignments are due each night. Here is the link for those who need it: https://sites.google.com/pgcps.org/3rdgradeclasssite22-23/assignments

We have now started learning and celebrating Black History Month as we started off the month this week! We are excited to be learning about many different influential people throughout the month! We have a Black History Month project in social studies, and it is due on March 3rd! A rubric, directions, examples, and helpful links are all provided on Canvas for students to use to help!

Please make sure students have the supplies they need for school each day (pencils, scissors, colors, etc.)! Also, make sure you are sending students to school with proper jackets for the cold weather. If it is above 32 degrees, there is always a chance that we will go outside for recess.

Let’s have a great week!

This upcoming week, students will be continuing on in Unit 2 about interactions discussing persuasive text! Students will also be working on their new spelling words for the section we are on. We are working on comparing and contrasting two different stories using venn diagrams, and also comprehension questions and sequencing. These stories focus on the essential question of how a chain of events affects plants and animals. We will also be reading and writing about different biographies for Black History Month throughout the month!

This upcoming week, students will be moving into Topic 4 which is division facts. Students will have a project due at the end of the topic in the next few weeks!

Students will also be moving into learning about electricity and magnetism this week.

We are starting chapter 3 lesson 2 which is about early explorers and native american tribes. We also will be learning about people for black history month and we have our project.

We want to remind you of the delays and closings for this upcoming week. President's Day, Monday, February 20, 2023, schools are closed. Tuesday, February 21, 2023 school begins at 10:00 am. Parent Conferences will be held on Tuesday morning as well. We have a limited number of slots available so we will share the link with families of at-risk scholars or those we have not had the opportunity to formally meet with only. Thank you for all of the Valentine’s Candy Grams, donations, and gifts

Reading: This week we began a new unit “Diversity” and are officially in textbook 4.2. Our story of the week is called “Out of Mind.” In this story, we will explore a girl by the name of Melody and how she communicates differently with those around her. Our guiding question of the week is” Why do people communicate in diverse ways? Students showed their mastery with standards RL.4.1 and RL.4.3 which worked on making inferences and describing a character in depth.

Next week we will begin reading a new story called “Mama’s Window.” In this story, we will read about a boy named Sugar who is sent to live in the Mississippi Delta after his mother passes away. Students will spend the week monitoring their inner conversations while closely reading the text. Students will also identify the elements of the plot and describe the character of Sugar. Students will have their Spelling Quiz on Friday, February 24, 2023, the words are posted in the Reading Canvas. Homework will be given on IXL.

Scholastic Information: You can choose to have your books shipped to your home or delivered to me with our class order. Class Order Due Date: 03/06/23

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

Please share the Class Page link to extended family and friends. All orders also earn FREE Books for our class.

Class Code: MF27J

Social Studies: This week we continued our discussion in Black History by reading fiction stories that told stories about our hair, protesting, and civil rights. Students had an opportunity to explore African American scientists and inventors.

Next week we will begin Chapter 4 which focuses on our Economy. Students will explore what an economy is, and how economies meet our wants and needs. Students were given their Black History Project Choice Board and have been working on this as homework. The project is due by Wednesday, February 22, 2023

Math: This week scholars have submitted their Topic 5 Pick-A-Project and have explored the world of Partial Quotients. We have practiced the use of partial quotients to divide up to 4-digit dividends. We have also had daily multiplication and division drills up to our 4 fact families. Next week, we will wrap up Topic 5, which is all things division, and prepare to move toward Topic 6. Our Topic 5 Assessment, as of now, is scheduled to take place Friday, February 24, 2023. Review all lesson Resources found in canvas too in preparation for the upcoming assessment. Please refer to ClassDojo for changes if they occur. Also, continue to encourage your scholar to practice their multiplication and division facts as we will have drills from our 5 fact families, to our 8 fact families.

Science: This week scholars conducted their first experiment for this lesson As we have begun to take notice of patterns of waves, we will continue to discover what causes and impacts wave patterns. Next week, we will distinguish the difference between plane waves and circle waves.

‼️‼️ Friday was used as an in-class make-up day. Scholars were able to resubmit all qualifying Math & Science activities to improve their original scores. There are no activities that can be resubmitted as of now. Scholars will be given a copy of their reports which reflects their current Math and Science grades and performance on Tuesday, February 21, 2023, ‼️‼️

Health: This week begins Unit 5: It’s My Body which focuses on self-care/hygiene, social and emotional wellness, reporting abuse, and being responsible. Scholars have received a hard copy of this unit’s magazine but I will still place reading sections in each lesson to help with each activity. All health activities are assigned at the beginning of the week and are due on Friday. Because of this, retakes and late submissions are no longer accepted and all grades are final.

Reading: This week we began a new unit “Diversity” and are officially in textbook 4.2. Our story of the week is called “Out of Mind.” In this story, we will explore a girl by the name of Melody and how she communicates differently with those around her. Our guiding question of the week is” Why do people communicate in diverse ways? Students showed their mastery with standards RL.4.1 and RL.4.3 which worked on making inferences and describing a character in depth.

Next week we will begin reading a new story called “Mama’s Window.” In this story, we will read about a boy named Sugar who is sent to live in the Mississippi Delta after his mother passes away. Students will spend the week monitoring their inner conversations while closely reading the text. Students will also identify the elements of the plot and describe the character of Sugar. Students will have their Spelling, Vocab, and Comprehension Quiz on Friday, February 24, 2023.

Math: This week students began and completed section 4-1; Multiplying Multiple of 10, including the Quick Check. We also began section 4-2; Use Model to Multiply 2-digit Numbers by Multiples of 10. Next week we complete 4-2 including the Quick Check, we will also begin working on section 4-3 Estimate: Use Rounding or Compatible Numbers.

Science: This week students began learning about Waves and the energy produced by waves causes objects to move. Students also designed and conducted an investigation that shows how waves carry energy. Students were also given the opportunity to present their African Americans in STEM Slideshows.

Please remember to check Canvas and SAVVAS with your student to review scores, and missing and or incomplete work.

Social Studies: In social studies this week we worked on the Project Based Learning Quest for Chapter 3. We wrote a letter to a government official about changes we would like to see.

Black History Month Project Choice Board also came home. Students will pick one of the activities on the same person they are assigned to in math class. The project is due 2/22

We are continuing to work on routines and procedures in fifth grade! Please remind students each morning that they should be coming to school with the main goal of learning and listening to directions the first time given. We are running out of classroom supplies like Kleenex, Clorox wipes, pencils, paper towels, etc. If anyone wants to donate some supplies, it would be greatly appreciated. Please reach out to homeroom teachers to facilitate drop off if your student cannot carry the supplies with them during drop off in the morning or pick up in the afternoon.

This week in reading, we will be using the upcoming short week to work on our Black History Month research paper. The standard we will be focused on this week is W.5.7: Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.

Students should be reading for 30 minutes every night. There will be no additional spelling homework this week.

In math this week, we are continuing to work with multiplying and dividing fractions with a continuation of reviewing addition and subtractions. Parents can assist at home by working with students on creating equivalent fractions and finding the greatest common factors and least common multiples. Here are a few short videos to assist with GCF vs. LCM and with finding them using prime factorization.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Veo6jftWyNw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7Xav-XAhXs

In Science this week, we are covering a variety of topics this week in preparation for MISA testing.

In social studies, we are continuing to work on Chapter 4. During this chapter, we are learning about life in the American Colonies before and during the founding of the United States of America.

This month, we are looking at healthy bodies. Within this unit, students will learn about puberty through our School Nurse, Mrs. Anike. We apologize for the delay in handing out permission slips as Mrs. Anike was in testing this week. Please look out for these slips by Wednesday, February 22nd in order to opt-in or opt out of this lesson. These slips will also be posted on Class Dojo as well.

Updates from the Art Room!

This month, I want to spotlight the fifth grade! They’ve been hard at work drawing their self-portraits. A lot of determination and perseverance when it comes to correct proportions and drawing “what you see, not what you think you see” went into their art. Their backgrounds are going to be inspired by the style of Kehinde Wiley.

CHESAPEAKE MATH AND IT SOUTH ELEMENTARY

• Hours: 8:00 am - 2:25 pm
• Grades: K-5
• Uniform: Yes
• Before After School Enrichment: Yes
http://clfmd.org/enrichment-2/
• School Colors: Hunter Green, Navy Blue
• School Mascot: Tigers
• School Website: http://www.cmitsouthes.org

For more information

https://cmitsouthes.org/faq/