CMIT South Elementary School

Dear CMIT South Elementary Families,

I hope this message finds you well. It's been another successful week at CMIT South Elementary, and I am pleased to share some important updates with you.

A Successful Third Week in School

We are delighted to report that we've had a very successful third week in school! Our students are settling into their routines, and the enthusiasm for learning is palpable throughout the school. We truly appreciate your support in making this transition smooth for our students. This week kicks off Hispanic Heritage month and classes were assigned Spanish Speaking Countries, Regions and Territories. Please reach out to your child’s classroom teacher to see how you can support learning more about Hispanic Culture and contributions this month.

Staff Clearing the Human Resources Process

I want to express my sincere gratitude to our dedicated staff for their hard work and diligence in supporting one another taking on extra coverage as additional staff have and are clearing the human resources process. Your patience and commitment have not gone unnoticed, and it is your dedication that makes our school such a wonderful place for our students. Currently we are awaiting the following staff Kindergarten teacher, Physical Education, Technology, 4th Grade Paraprofessional to complete the onboarding process.

Virtual Back to School Night Success

Our virtual Back to School Night on Thursday night from 6:30-8pm was a resounding success! Thank you to all the families who joined us to meet our teachers, hear about our curriculum, and get to know our school community better. Your active participation is essential to your child's success, and we are grateful for your involvement. There will be more Parent University and school engagement opportunities for in person and hybrid to see and interact with our school and staff throughout the coming months.

Congratulations to Mrs. Leah Jones

I would like to extend hearty congratulations to Mrs. Leah Jones, who was the lucky winner of a raffle organized by the Community Outreach office of the Prince George's County Executive. We are proud to have Mrs. Jones as part of our school community, and this achievement is a testament to her dedication and involvement.

Upcoming Fall Assessments:

As we move forward, it's important to prepare our students for success in the upcoming schoolwide fall assessments. Please ensure that your children are well-rested and have a nutritious breakfast as we begin these assessments:

- Kindergarten (Kindergarten Readiness Assessment

- K-3 DIBLES

- Grades 1-5 NWEA Map Reading and Math

- Grades 2-5 NWEA Map Science

These assessments provide valuable insights into your child's academic progress and help us tailor our instruction to their needs. Required instructional services such as Talented and Gifted and Special Education are ongoing as we are delivering them through small group, pull out, and in classroom support in accordance with Individual Education Plans (IEP), 504 and assessment data. Recommendations for tutoring and extension services will also be based upon these assessments that will begin in October. Your support in ensuring they are ready to tackle these assessments is greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your continued partnership in your child's education. Together, we can make this school year a truly enriching and successful one for our students.

Warm regards,

Ronald A. Miller, Jr

Principal

Chesapeake Math & IT Academy South Elementary

This week we would like to highlight some at-home reading strategies!

• Invite a child to read with you every day.

• When reading a book where the print is large, point word by word as you read.

• Read a child's favorite book over and over again.

• Stop and ask about the pictures and about what is happening in the story.

• Read from a variety of children's books, including fairy tales, songbooks, poems and information books.

UNIT 1 WEEK 3- Going Places

Essential Question- What makes us want to visit a special place?

• Phonological awareness: Middle Sounds; Recognize Alliteration; Blend and Segment, Onset and Rime

• Phonics: Consonants Pp and Cc

• High-Frequency Words: he, is, have

• Spelling words found in weekly readings: library, movie, librarian, computers

• Unit Vocabulary: map, move, land, special

Learning Goals:

• Use text evidence to identify the main idea in informational text.

• Develop understanding of types of books.

TOPIC 1 LESSON 3- Compare numbers 0 to 5

Essential Understanding: Good math thinkers use math they know to show and solve problems

• Compare groups to see whether they are equal by matching

• Tell whether one group is less or greater than the other by matching

• Use objects, drawings, and numbers to compare numbers

• Vocabulary: compare, equal, group. Model, same number as, greater than, less than

TOPIC 1 LESSON 3- Change movement with pushes and pulls

Essential Question: What does motion mean?

• Investigate how objects move

• Tell ways that a push and pull can move an object

• Use directional words to describe a movement

Vocabulary: mootion

CHAPTER 1 LESSON 3- Rules and Laws

Essential Question- How do people best cooperate?

• Recognize why we need rules and laws

• Know the consequences of breaking the rules

• Identify community laws

• Compare past/present rules and laws

Vocabulary: community, rule, law

SEPTEMBER TOPIC: Safety at play

• Tell how to avoid certain unintentional injuries at play

• Explain how to show respect for the safety of oneself and others when playing

• Demonstrate safety routines and how you would respond to danger

• Predict what happens when one plays in safe and unsafe ways

Vocabulary: stay, safe, helpers, danger, emergency

Thanks to all our families who attended Back to School Night. If you did not get a chance to attend, there will be more opportunities throughout the school year for you to visit -virtually and/or in person. First graders are settling down. This is good as we anticipate further testing mandated by the district. You will be informed as testing dates approaches. Please read the newsletters weekly.

Please make note of the following dates.

• 9/15 -10/15 - Hispanic Heritage Month
• 9/19/23 - Fall iReady Reading Test
• 9/20/23 - Fall MAP Growth Math
• 9/21/23 - Fall MAP Growth Reading
• 9/22/23 - Fall MAP Growth Science
• 9/25/23 - Yom Kippur- Schools and Offices Closed

Essential Question: How do signs in our neighborhood help us?

Genre: Informational Text

Students will learn new vocabulary, practice new sight words. Short vowel /o/ using simple sentences in written /oral form, as well as practice new spelling words.

Hi everyone!

We are moving right along in 2nd grade! Thank you to all who came to back-to-school night this past Thursday! We appreciate you all coming and receiving all the important information we have to help make this a successful year! The presentation has been shared out for anyone who missed it. Here is a link: Back to school night 2nd Grade

This week we have been moving along in our curriculum for each subject. Students are working on our first unit in each subject and have started receiving homework and completing quizzes. Please check your CANVAS site often for any assignments that your scholar has completed or needs to complete.

We are looking into a new platform for math homework as DreamBox is no longer available to us. Stay tuned for updates from your homeroom teacher by Monday.

Next week, students will be taking the Fall term of our MAP assessments and the iReady Fall baseline! Please make sure students are on time and have a charged chromebook! Please see the dates below:

• Tuesday, September 19 - iReady Reading Diagnostic
• Wednesday, September 20 - MAP Math
• Thursday, September 21 - MAP Reading
• Friday, September 22 - MAP Science

Good day Dream Team Parents! We survived another week of school. Can you believe it? Thank you for attending Back to School Night and for your unwavering with third grade students.

• Please take a moment to view the Back to School Night Slides

• Testing Updates:

• i-Ready Diagnostic Assessment- September 11, 2023 and October 2, 2023

• Map Testing- Mathematics Wednesday September 20,2023

• MAP Growth Reading Thursday September 21,2023

• MAP Growth Science- Friday, September 22,2023

This week students learned about parts of simple sentences: subjects and predicates. We also identified and used different types of figurative language: similes, metaphors, and onomatopeias. We will take the Unit 1 Week 1 comprehension quiz on Grandma and the Great Gourd and our first Spelling Test next week. Please allow students to reread the story or listen to read aloud posted in Canvas and also available here. Discuss the setting, characters, and plot (including the conflict and resolution). Finally, be sure to quiz students on their Spelling Lists sometimes this upcoming week. We are looking forward to success on the upcoming quizzes.

Students have been reviewing multiplication and are working on division. Ms. Lewis and Ms. Fleet’s classes, be prepared to take your Topic 1 Assessment on Monday.

We have finished our third week of school and we are welcoming Ms. Felton to the team! We thank everyone that was able to join us for Back to School Night. Next week our scholars will be completing diagnostic testing Tuesday-Friday. Students will sit for these diagnostics three times this year. On Tuesday students will take the i-Ready diagnostic with their reading teachers. Wednesday we will take MAP Math, Thursday MAP Reading, and Friday MAP Science. Our students have taken MAP Reading and Math since 2nd grade and there is nothing new about these diagnostic tests. This year we are taking MAP Science which is new to all students. Students have had an opportunity to try a practice test to see how the diagnostic will look. They also should have brought home letters about the upcoming testing. As soon as testing is concluded we will share data and next steps with families.

In order for students to be prepared for testing we ask:

• Scholars come to school on time

• Have a charaged chromebook

• Bring headphones

• Get a good night's rest

Each week we suggest checking your scholars browser history and YouTube history. This is to make sure that your scholar isn’t going to a site or watching videos that you would not approve. Teachers are limited to only seeing activity on your scholar’s screen when they are in class. We utilize a system called Hapara that allows us to prevent access to certain sites. We are asking that you check your scholar's computer history weekly.

This week we continued to explore Topic 1 and place value. This week focused on sub topics 1-2 Place value relationships, 1-3 Comparing whole numbers using <,> or = and 1-4 Rounding up to a million. Next week we will be working on subsection 1-5 Constructing an Argument as well as reviewing Topic 1 as we prepare for the Topic 1 assessment as well upcoming County testing.

Hi everyone!

We are moving right along in 5th grade! Thank you to all who came to back-to-school night this past Thursday! We appreciate you all coming and receiving all the important information we have to help make this a successful year! The presentation has been shared out for anyone who missed it. Here is a link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1IufHXXyDcK63yuX47C4ndQXiHlw9bkCh?usp=sharing

This week we have been moving along in our curriculum for each subject. Students are working on our first unit in each subject and have started having homeworks and quizzes. Please check the assignment calendar on our google site to see what upcoming assignments students may have. Students should click on their homeroom teacher’s name to see their assignments. Here is the link to the 5th grade website for those who need it: https://sites.google.com/pgcps.org/5thgradeclasssite/home

We have just planned our first 5th grade field trip! We are going to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo on Wednesday, October 18th. Thank you so much to all of our parents who already volunteered to be chaperones! Please make sure your volunteer requirements are completed.

Next week, students will be taking the Fall term of our MAP assessments and the IReady Fall baseline! Please make sure students are on time and have a charged chromebook! Please see the dates below:

• Tuesday, September 19 - IReady Reading Diagnostic
• Wednesday, September 20 - MAP Math
• Thursday, September 21 - MAP Reading
• Friday, September 22 - MAP Science

Art:

This week our budding artists are continuing to work on their projects inspired by the styles and techniques of various Latino cultures. I am very proud of the 5th grade’s mastery of vocabulary in relation to the concept of positive and negative space!

Lego:

This week in Legos and Robotics, students will practice critical thinking skills. They will assess last week's tower and determine what factors caused their towers to be weak or strong. Scholars will also debate on a topic. They will need to employ critical thinking to produce valid points.

2023-2024 School Calendar

School Meals

SchoolMAX Family Portal

Fall Learning Information
School Violence Resources and Support

PGCPS TV

Vendor Managed Child Care