CMIT South Elementary School

Dear Tiger Family

I hope this newsletter finds you well and full of the spirit of joy and learning that fills the halls of CMIT South Elementary. This week has been an exciting one, packed with wonderful achievements, upcoming events, and new opportunities for our students. Here are the highlights:

A Successful Anti-Bullying Week

I'm delighted to report that Anti Bullying Week was a resounding success, thanks to the enthusiasm and participation of our students and staff. We saw some fantastic outfits on display:

• On Monday, we kicked off the week with "Socks and Crocs Day." It was heartwarming to see everyone's unique sock and Crocs combinations as we stomped out bullying.

• Tuesday was a day for heroes! Students donned their favorite superhero costumes and showed their commitment to fighting bullying.

• Wednesday brought us "Twin Day," where students and staff paired up to stand against bullying.

• On Thursday, we united in a display of solidarity, wearing orange to raise awareness about anti-bullying efforts.

First Field Trip of the Year - National Zoo

Our 5th graders embarked on their first field trip of the year, visiting the National Zoo. They had the opportunity to explore the wonders of the animal kingdom, learn about conservation, and make unforgettable memories. We thank our teachers and chaperones for ensuring this trip was both educational and fun.

Extended Learning Opportunities

We are excited to introduce new opportunities to enhance our student's education:

• At-home Math tutoring by Carnegie Learning is now available. This resource will help students excel in their math studies for students in grades 2-5.

• Our Power Hour program began this week, offering additional support to K-2 students on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

• Starting in November, we will launch the Saturday Academy for grades 3-5 students. This program will provide valuable enrichment experiences in Math Reading and Science.

Upcoming Events

Mark your calendars for these exciting events:

• October 23-27- Candy Wars: Get ready for a sweet competition as we celebrate the spirit of teamwork and friendly rivalry.

• October 27 - Book Character Parade: Dress up as your favorite book character and join us for a fun-filled parade.

• October 28 - Fall Festival: A day of fun, games, and activities for the whole family.

• November 2 - Men Make a Difference Day: Fathers and male role models, join us to make a positive impact on our school community.

• November 2 - PGCPS Specialty Program Showcase at Charles Herbert Flowers HS, 6 pm-8 pm: Learn about the fantastic specialty programs offered within PGCPS.

• November 3 - End of 1st Quarter Tele Town Hall: We'll provide important updates and discuss our progress in the first quarter.

Thank you for being a part of our incredible CMIT South Elementary community. Your support and engagement make all the difference. Together, we continue to create a nurturing and enriching learning environment for our students.

If you have any questions, ideas, or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out to our dedicated staff or me. Let's keep making every week at CMIT South Elementary an outstanding one!

Sincerely,

Mr. Ronald A. Miller Jr.

Principal

Chesapeake Math & IT Academy South Elementary

“Leadership is not about a title or a designation. It’s about impact, influence and inspiration. Impact involves getting results, influence is about spreading the passion you have for your work, and you have to inspire team-mates and customers.”

• Robin S. Sharma

There are numerous upcoming events scheduled for October. In my capacity as your Professional School Counselor, I will be disseminating information throughout the month and conducting guidance lessons for our scholar.

Kindergarten students have been completing testing this past week and will continue this upcoming week. Please ensure that students are at school on time and are well rested. Students may also bring their Chromebook to school daily. We will begin to focus on using Lexia Core5 and iXL within the classroom. In order to make the transition easy for students and staff, please bookmark Lexia Core5, iXL, and CLEVER on your child’s Chromebook and assist students with understanding how to log on to the programs. Friendly reminder that CLEVER can be found on the PGCPS website. Within CLEVER, you can search for both Lexia and iXL in order to access the sites. Please label the inside of your child’s Chromebook, along with the password in order to help students and teachers log onto their devices.

Independent activities (homework) has been issued to all scholars. Packets are given bi-weekly and will include all work that should be completed and a list of supplemental websites that students can explore at home. Please support students in completing the activities.

CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS!!!! Please visit Volunteer with PGCPS in order to register. Please follow all of the required steps and contact your scholar’s teacher with any questions. Inform the teacher when you are approved and ready to support. Thank you for your assistance!

FIELD TRIP UPDATE!!

We have our first field trip to the Maryland Science Center, tentatively set for Thursday November 9th. Please visit Volunteer with PGCPS in order to register. Please follow all of the required steps and contact your scholar’s teacher with any questions.

Inform the teacher when you are approved and ready to support as soon as possible. We must have 6 chaperones from each class in order to attend our trip. Thank you for your assistance!

IMPORTANT KINDERGARTEN DATES-

OCTOBER 20- NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS

OCTOBER 27- BOOK CHARACTER DAY/POPCORN AND MOVIE PARTY

OCTOBER 27- HOMEWORK DUE

Reading Updates:

UNIT 1 WEEK 5- Going Places

Essential Question- How can we describe special places?

• Phonological awareness: Phonological Awareness: Middle Sounds; Initial Sounds

Blend and Segment: Onset and Rime

• Phonics: Consonants Bb and Rr

• High-Frequency Words: for, me, with

• Spelling words found in weekly readings: markers, brushes, tools, pencils

• Unit Vocabulary: map, move, land, special

Learning Goals:

• Learn words that can tell about art stores

• Make connections between author’s purpose and society

• Orally respond to informational text

Math Updates:

TOPIC 3- Numbers 6 to 10

Essential Understanding: Counting tells how many are in a set, or group, no matter which order the objects are counted. The numbers said when counting a group is the total. Counting is cumulative.

• There is more than you way to show a number

• Counting tells how many are in a set or a group, no matter which order the objects are counted

• The last number said when counting a group is the total number

• Use objects, drawings, and numbers to represent numbers in different ways

• Vocabulary: six, seven, eight, nine, ten

Science Updates:

TOPIC 2 LESSON 1- Senses

Essential Question: How can you classify different objects?

• Name the five senses

• What can our senses tell us about structure and function

• We observe using the senses

Vocabulary: senses, structure, function

Social Studies Updates:

CHAPTER 2 LESSON 1- Our Country and State

Essential Question- What does it mean to be American?

• I will know about America

• There are 50 states in our nation

• Discuss the people who live in our country

Vocabulary: nation

Health Updates:

OCTOBER TOPIC: The Five Senses

Lesson 3: Let’s use our senses

• Our senses help us learn

• How do senses help before and during a meal

• Practice using our sense

Vocabulary: senses, see, touch, feel, smell, taste, body

Dear families, please remember to focus on the STEM Fair. Information was shared via the homework packet that is due October 30. Here is a website with great project ideas for you https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/elementary-school

As students practice doing these projects at home, please encourage the use of the vocabulary that goes along with the activities: data, process, experiment, analyze, predict, investigate, and more. Let this time spent with your children be a memorable experience. If you need help, please let us know.

Essential Question: How can neighbors help each other? Characteristics and structures of informational text, including the central idea and supporting evidence.

Spell words using sound-spelling patterns

Identifying the information that different parts of a book may have.

Shout out to all of our students who participated in our Anti-Bullying Spirit Week, you all looked great! STEM Fair questions are due on October 25th as well. Your topic should’ve been approved by your teacher in order to move forward.

Please note that there are 2 weeks left in 1st quarter. All missing and makeup assignments must be turned in by Thursday, October 26th. Reach out to your child’s teacher regarding makeup opportunities.

We are wrapping up Unit 1. In week six we will be focusing on project based inquiring writing a research paper.

Many classes have began Topic 3 - Adding within 100 using strategies. Continue to utilize your class CANVAS site and optional homework packet to study.

Students are working through Topic 2 People, Places and Nature.

Shout out to all of our students who participated in our Anti-Bullying Spirit Week, you all looked great! A reminder that the last day to send in money and permission slips for our field trip is Wednesday, October 25th. If you need another permission slip, please reach out to your child’s teacher. STEM Fair questions are due on October 25th as well.

Please note that there are 2 weeks left in the 1st quarter. All missing and makeup assignments must be turned in by Thursday, October 26th. Reach out to your child’s teacher regarding makeup opportunities.

Ms. Fleet/Ms. J. Lewis (Section 31 and 32) Updates:

We have officially finished topic 2 in science on electricity and magnetism. Please check Canvas and SchoolMax for grades. We will be introducing topic 3 on Monday which covers weather. We are nearing the end of topic 3 in math. Please be prepared to take your topic assessment on Thursday. In order to prepare, study your 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8s multiplication facts, distributive and associative property. There are videos on Canvas to help you review as well as related IXL skills.

This week in Reading we have concluded our story Cocoliso and have taken a quiz on it. Through our reading, we began talking about making inferences using previous knowledge alongside the curriculum text to make inferences about the character’s thoughts and feelings. We have also been working on compound sentences and completed a mini-quiz to test our knowledge. There will be a test on compound sentences soon; be on the lookout for the official test date. This week we also completed a Unit 1 Week 3 assessment on vocabulary and identifying synonyms.

Thank you to everyone who completed the first project in Social Studies on renewable and nonrenewable resources. Everyone’s projects looked amazing and students were able to see and share each other’s work. We started talking about early settlers and how they were able to access goods and services and how that has changed over time.

Mrs. Mathews and Ms. Madison (Section 33 and 34) Updates:

We have officially finished topic 1 in science and will be moving into topic 2 next week. Please look out for scores for topic 1 assessments. We are well into topic 4 in math practicing our multiplication facts to help us divide.

Greetings 4th Grade Families we have finished our excellent eighth week of school! The teachers continue to be proud of our students' efforts this school year. We ask that you continue to check your scholar’s agenda book nightly for updates related to homework. Please sign your scholar’s agenda book each night as an indication that you saw their agenda book.

Each week we suggest checking your scholar's 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 of. 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.

Character Parade:

This will be on Friday, October 27, 2023. Students can come to school dressed as a character from a book. Students must have the book to dress down and participate in the parade. If a student does not have a book they will not be allowed to participate in the Character Parade.

This week: Our students began to read the text “Twins in Space” closely. In this magazine article, students learned about the twin astronauts Mark and Scott Kelly and the experiments they conducted with NASA. In this text, students sought answers to the question of the week: “How can living in outer space teach us about the human body? Students worked on the skills of monitoring their inner conversations, text structure, and vocabulary.

This week: Students brought a close to Topic 1. In this topic, students worked on place value while rounding and comparing whole numbers. We ask that students continue to practice their math fluency by utilizing the Skill Plan assigned to them through IXL. It is imperative that students can add and subtract within 1,000,000.

Next week: Students will be working on Topic 2: Fluently Add and Subtract Multi-Digit Whole Numbers. In this lesson, students will be asked to use mental math strategies to add and subtract whole numbers. This week students will use rounding and place value to estimate sums and differences.

This week we experimented with predicting Collisions. Discovering what happens when energies collide!

Next Week: Students will be working on Topic 1: Energy and Motion. Our focus this week will be on Energy Transfers! How energy transfers through different objects and demonstrating which materials make good conductors.

Reminder: STEM Fair QUESTIONS are due Wednesday, October 25th, 2023.

This Week: These students completed Lesson 3 which focused on the different natural resources that can be found in the different regions of the United States. Students identified the differences between capital, human, and natural resources. Students also were able to explain the difference between renewable and renewable resources and ways to conserve them.

Next Week: Students will begin working on Lesson 4 which will focus on people and how they use the land that they live on in the different regions of the U.S. Students will discover how people adapt to their environment and how people change their environment. Students will also begin working on their Chapter 1 Quest project which will have them create a brochure about one of the five regions of the United States.

Hi everyone!

We are moving right along in 5th grade! Please check the assignment calendar on our Google site to see what upcoming assignments students may have. We have been having tests, quizzes, and homework, so we want to make sure students are keeping up with their work. Report cards come out shortly! 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

Reminder that we are happy to have volunteers come in to assist us with different things throughout the year, so if you are interested, please make sure your volunteer requirements are completed.

THANK YOU to all of our chaperones who helped us have a very successful field trip in 5th grade! We appreciate you all very much and couldn’t have done it without you! We hope everyone had an amazing time at the Zoo and we are looking forward to planning the next one! Please see the Google Drive Folder to see a bunch of awesome pics from the Zoo!

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1kdwLJwl-v18Vb3jrdv8QD540G0Yj_B-X?usp=drive_link

We are now in October focusing on our character trait, kindness! We want to promote kindness in any way we can, whether the act is big or small!

We are working on section 4 of unit 1 about poetry. In this section, students will read a collection of different poems. We have new spelling words and we will be continuing section 4 next week.

Students are in the third unit of Math which is about multiplying multi-digit whole numbers. Homework will be posted on the assignment calendar as we get started so keep an eye out!

Students are in the first unit of Science, in lesson 3 which is about properties of matter. Homework will be posted on the assignment calendar as we get started so keep an eye out!

Students finished all of Chapter 1 in our Social Studies textbook on geography. We started chapter 2 this week about Early Explorers and Advances in Technology!

Art: Updates from the Art Room!

In 2-5 grade, art vocabulary knowledge is just as important as being able to draw! That being said, I have started an easier way for our artists to practice their art vocabulary at home too!

In their Canvases for Art Class and underneath "Modules" there is a page under each unit called "Unit Overview". It holds information about current projects. This includes the objective for the final project and important vocabulary about the art being created. It updates every time a new project is started which will be next week!

Lego:

Hello,

This week in Legos/Robotics students used helium balloons and oxygen balloons to determine which is lighter/heavier. And to observe the flow of air. Lego weights were taped onto the balloon to observe how the balloons moves with added weights.

Music:

Greetings,

In music class 3rd-5th have been learning about the following kinds of notes: whole, half, quarter, eighth, and sixteenth notes. We will spend some time on this topic so the students can get comfortable recognizing each note and accurately demonstrate different rhythms with these notes.

Makers Lab: Hello all, This week's makers lab project was called BALLOON FINGERPRINTS. Fingerprints are very small and hard to explore and investigate. In this fun little science experiment we used a balloon to expand our fingerprint to gigantic proportions so you can see the arches, whirls, loops and more. The children were so excited to see the outcome.

2023-2024 School Calendar

School Meals

SchoolMAX Family Portal

Fall Learning Information
School Violence Resources and Support

PGCPS TV

Vendor Managed Child Care