Save the Date: Thursday, January 24th 6:00-7:30

Join some of the Banks Road staff on this evening to learn more about ways to help your child at home.  Refreshments will be provided and babysitting will be provided for children not yet in school.  Please look in your child's Friday folder this coming Friday for an invitation.  Please be sure to RSVP by December 20th (track out day).  Thank you!

Reading Strategies

Want to learn more about reading strategies your child should use when reading?  Visit the following webpage! 
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6zC45cAimWuOGJxcEp3V3VNMHc/edit?pli=1

First Grade Writing

In class, we have learned how to write narratives that include small moments and we have also learned how to write persuasive letters.  We are now learning about 'how to' writing.  Examples include: how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, how to bake cookies, etc.  Be sure to ask your child about these 3 different types of writing. Throughout the units, students are learning how to do the following:

-Capitalize dates and names of people
-Apply correct punctuation
-Apply legible handwriting
-Spell sight words correctly
-Use commas in dates and to separate single words in a series
-Use conventional spelling for words with common spelling patterns and for frequently occurring irregular words.
-Spell untaught words phonetically, drawing on phonemic awareness and spelling conventions.
-Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, include some details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide some sense of closure.
-With guidance and support from adults, focus on a topic, respond to questions and suggestions from peers, and add details to strengthen writing as needed.

Interims and Report Cards

FYI:  Interims were sent home this past Friday with students who were not meeting current benchmarks.  If your child received an interim, please sign the interim and return it back to school as soon as possible.  Report cards will be sent home on December 20th with all students.  Please be sure to sign the envelope and return it back to school when we track back in.  As always, please let me know if you have any questions/concerns.  Thank you! 

Holiday Activities on December 20th

On the morning of December 20^th, I am planning to have several fun holiday activities for students to complete in class.  If you are interested in helping out, please email me to let me know.  We are in need of volunteers from 9:30-11:30.  Feel free to stay and join your child for lunch at 11:35 J

Message from Ms. McCool

Banks Road Family,


Thank you to all who supported the Banks Road Media Center at the Barnes & Noble Book Fair on Thursday, November 15th. We had a fantastic turn-out and the students, families, and staff that attended had a great time participating in the scavenger hunt around the store, listening to “Gracias the Thanksgiving Turkey” read by Mrs. Graf, and hearing the Banks Boomers chorus sing!

Thanks to all of you, our total sale amount at the Barnes & Noble Book Fair last Thursday night was $3,130. The Banks Road Media Center will be receiving a gift card from Barnes and Noble for $626 for new materials and resources and this would not have been possible without all of you!

Thank you SO much for making my first book fair at Banks Road a complete success!

Megan McCool
School Library Media Coordinator
Banks Road Elementary School
919-870-7323
mmccool@wcpss.net

Optional Math for the Month of December

Problems for the Month of December

Problem #1
Pete has two puppies and ten puppy treats to give them.  How many will each puppy get if Pete passes them out equally? If Pete doesn't pass them out equally, what are some other ways the treats could be shared?

Problem #2
A dragon blows fire for two hours everyday.  How many hours would he blow fire in a school day?  In a school week?  Explain how you got your answer.

Problem #3
Our worm Boogie can go three inches in one minute.  How many inches can he go in two minutes?  Five minutes?  How did you figure this out?

Problem #4
A bag of shapes fell behind a chair.  When mom reached behind the chair, she felt two shapes that had no corners.  She felt some other shapes that had corners.  If there were a total of 26 corners, what shapes do you think she found?  Draw a picture to explain or write about your answer.

Problem #5
Sam has 4 tables for his birthday party.  His mother puts the same number of things at each table.  He has 16 plates, 8 horns, 4 flowers, and 16 chairs.  Draw the four tables.  Then draw the things at each table.  How many things are at each table?

Problem #6
Tonya has 4 coins.  How much money could she have?  Are there any other possible answers?

Optional Math for Week of Nov. 26th

Problem #1
What's my number?  I am greater than 10. I'm an even number.  I'm less than 25. 
4, 16, 9, 30, 25

Problem #2
Start at 5. Count on 6 more.  What is the number?  Count on 2 more.  What is the number?  Count on 10 more. What is the number?  Count on 4 more.  What is the number?  Do this again and write your answers at every step.  Now repeat this starting with 15. Repeat again with 25.  What do you notice?

Poe Field Trip Volunteers

As of today, I have 4 parents who have agreed to volunteer on our field trip to The Poe Health Center.  These parents include: Ms. Treffinger, Ms. Ausby, Ms. Landers, and Ms. Clinard.  Unfortunately Poe only allows a certain number of parents to attend the trip.  If anything changes and I am allowed to have additional volunteers, I will be sure to let all of you know.  Thanks for your understanding! 

Volunteers Needed for 5th Grade Activity

Dear Parents,


The 5th grade has a wonderful opportunity this year to work with the artist Leni Newell on creating painted silk banners for our front lobby. We are in desperate need of volunteers for Friday Nov.9 as well as Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of next week (Nov. 14, 15, 16). It is okay if you do not have a 5th grader, we would still love your help in creating this wonderful piece of art work for our school.

We have an online sign up located at the link below:

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0445AFA628A46-leni/3466745

If you can not sign up through sign up genius and want to contact our art teacher, Ms. Stephenson, directly. You may email her at mstephenson@wcpss.net

Thank you so much for your time,
Megan Stephenson (art teacher)

Field Trips

Please refer to the information that was sent home with your child for specific information about our field trips. 

*The science field trip will be in our classroom and parent volunteers will not be needed. 

*If you are interested in attending our field trip to The Poe Center, please let me know ASAP.  As much as I would like to have all of you who are interested in volunteering, unfortunately the Poe Center will only allow a certain number of volunteers.  Last year I was only allowed to have 4 volunteers from my class.  I am waiting to confirm a number for this school year.  I currently have 3 parents who have already contacted me about volunteering on our field trip to The Poe Center, so we are open for at least one more volunteer. 

Optional Math for Week of Nov. 12th

Problem #1
You have a sphere, a cube, a cylinder, a cone, a rectangular prism, and a pyramid.  Which shapes will roll?  Explain your reasons for each answer.

Problem #2
Pretend that Lincoln gets 50 cent for allowance Saturday.  On Monday, he bought a pencil for 10 cent.  On Tuesday, he spent 15 cent on candy.  On Wednesday, he wanted to buy a ball that cost 30 cent.  Did he have enough money?  Explain.

A Little About What we are Learning

In reading, we continue to focus on applying reading strategies to read unknown words in text.  Be sure to ask your child about the following strategies: lips the fish, flippy dolphin, skippy kangaroo, chunky monkey, stretchy snake, and fly bye.  Hopefully they can explain these to you!  We also continue to focus on various phonics patterns and sight words. 

In writing, we are learning the 5 parts of a letter and we are learning how to write persuasive letters.  We have focused on choosing 1 thing we want or 1 thing we want to do.  After choosing 1 thing, students have been expected to write reasons for wanting this 1 thing.  We are also focusing on using prepositions to explain time and place.  While we are focusing on persuasive writing, we continue to work on conventions such as applying correct capitalization and punctuation.  I highly encourage all students to work on writing at home, although this is not formally assigned each night.  At this point in the school year, students are also highly encouraged to choose sentence writing for their one night of spelling homework.  This will help to reinforce what we are practicing at school. 

In math, we continue to practice problem solving each week and we are focusing a lot on place value (tens and ones).  For example, for the number 43, students should be able to draw 4 ten sticks and 3 circles.  Students should also be able to write this number in expanded form (40 + 3 = 43).  In addition, we continue to focus on representing numbers in a variety of ways.  In science, we have started learning about rocks.  Be sure to ask your child who studies rocks?! Hopefully they will answer "a geologist!"

Library Update

Please disregard the post from earlier about students having an assigned day to visit the library.  This is not working out because students are not having enough time to trade out their library books. 

My new plan is to try taking the whole class to the library on Tuesdays and Fridays to trade out their books.  Please be sure to send your child's library book to school on these days as these will be the only two days that we will have time to trade out our books.  THANK YOU!

Optional Math for Week of Nov. 5th

Problem #1
Four children are lining up for lunch.  Their names are Lin, Bill, Jon, and Mary.  Lin is first. Bill is last.  Mary is behind Lin and in front of Jon.  Who is third in line? 

Problem #2
Kim is 7 years old.  Marcus is 2 years older than Kim.  Joe is 3 years older than Marcus.  How old are Marcus and Joe?

Nov. 1, 2, 5, and 29th

Parents,
Our class will have a substitute on the following dates:
-Thursday, Nov. 1st
-Friday, Nov. 2nd
-Monday, Nov. 3rd
-Thursday, Nov. 29th

If you need anything during my absence, please feel free to email me but please copy Mrs. Cassidy on the email so that she can respond in case I am unable.  Mrs. Cassidy's email address is ccassidy@wcpss.net

Thank you!

Banks Belief: Kindness Counts

Please look in your child's Friday folder for information about Kindness Counts.  If you, your company, your civic club or your church are interested in sponsoring a child in need by purchasing three gifts or giving a monetary donation, please complete the back of the form provided and return back it back to me by Friday, Nov. 9th.  Thank you! *If your child has a sibling in our school, please look for the form in his/her Friday folder as PTA does not provide multiple copies. 

Classroom Books-Leveled Readers

When your child brings home a leveled reader that he/she read in class, please have your child read it again that night at home and return the book the following day.  We use these books in class and it is important that the books are returned daily.

Also, please be sure to check your child's Friday folder this week for a retelling story star to use at home when reading fiction text. Students can use this at home to recall story elements: characters, setting, events, connections, etc.  If you are interested in a retelling story star for non-fiction text please let me know and I will be glad to send it home as well.  Thank you!

Pizza Hut Book It!

Starting this month, students will have the opportunity to earn one free pizza coupon every month!  Please be sure to initial the weekly homework sheet to indicate that your child read for at least 10-15 minutes every night.  The free pizza coupon will be sent home at the end of each month.  Thank you!

Barnes and Noble Book Fair

Banks Road Elementary's Barnes & Noble Book Fair


Thursday, November 15, 2012

6:00 p.m.

Optional Math for Week of Oct. 22nd

Problem #1

Find two things that cost the same amount as a ball.  Are there other possible answers? 
pencil 5 cent
ball 10 cent
eraser 3 cent
hat 8 cent
gum 2 cent
candy 7 cent

If you have 15 cent, what could you buy? 

Problem #2

Ten alligators went down to the river.  Three of them laid eggs.  They laid five eggs each.  A snake ate eight eggs.  How many eggs are left? 

JDRF

Please visit the following website to learn more about JDRF. Our class will walk on November 8th. 

http://www2.jdrf.org/site/TR?team_id=67515&fr_id=2095&pg=team

Optional Math Challenge for Week of Oct. 15th

Problem #2
If four children are sitting at a table, how many feet are under the table?  If there are 6 children, how many feet? Explain how you got your answers.

Problem #2
On a farm, a worm came out of his hole.  He saw ten legs.  How many chickens and horses did he see?

Optional Math Challenge for Week of Oct. 8th

Problem #1

Hailey has earned ten stickers for reading books.  She can trade the stickers for items in the class store.  

1 sticker = bookmark

2 stickers = eraser

3 stickers = pencil

4 stickers = notepad

What can Hailey get with her ten stickers?

Problem #2

Solve the double riddles using 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

-My double is more than 16

-My double is less that 4

-My double is between 12 and 16

-Double me and get 12

-My double rhymes with gate

-Double me and you will have half of 20

Media Center

*Students will not go to the media center for specials this quarter. Instead they will visit Ms. OGrady in the computer lab.  I have assigned your child a day to trade out his/her library book-please see below.  Students will be allowed to visit the library during morning work or snack time.  Please remind your child to bring his or her library back to school on his or her assigned day.  Thank you!
Library Schedule:
Mondays-Hailey, Aidan, Davis, Madeleine, Tyler, Uriel
Tuesdays-Tyleya, Lulu, Logan, Luke T., Ryann, Shelby
Wednesdays-Tiana, Julian, Addy, Faith, Natalie, Matthew
Thursdays-Luke D., Ella, Lincoln, Jesus, Madison
Fridays-Make up day for those students who did not have the opportunity to visit the library (ex. library was closed or your child was absent)

FYI:  Did you know that parents are allowed to check out 5 books at a time for their child?  Feel free to stop in during track out or anytime that we are tracked in :)

Apple Day

Wow, what a fun day!  I am so amazed at the parent support we received to make this day such a success.  THANK YOU to those who sent in items and THANK YOU to those who volunteered their time! 

Grade Level Basket for Fall Festival

The PTA is hosting a basket raffle at the Fall Festival, Octiber 26th, to


go specifically toward the field trip fund. Tickets will be $1 each or 11

for $10. Proceeds from the basket raffle will be distributed per grade

level depending on how much your grade level basket(s) earn at the

festival. The PTA will be sending out an email to ask those on our mailing

list to reach out to their child's teacher if they wish to help coordinate

the class/grade level basket(s). Because we do not have emails for every

parent in the school, we need you help by communicating to your class

parents and see if any of them are interest in helping coordinate the

basket(s).  Each basket should have a theme and your students can bring in things

related to that theme to help fill the basket. Your class may work

individually or team up with other classes in your grade level. It is

likely that several baskets representing your grade will raise more money

for your grade’s field trips.

Mrs. Bishop's Class and Mrs. Sinnott's Class will be responsible for creating 'Movie Night' baskets.  Please email Mrs. Bishop and/or Mrs. Sinnott if you are interested and willing to help with this basket.  Your help is VERY much appreciated! 

Questions/Concerns can also be sent to:
Heather Burgin at hlee1217@hotmail.com with:

Spirit Night at McDonalds

Spirit Night will be September 11th from 5-8 p.m. at McDonald's in Fuquay Varina (this is a change from the date that went out in the PTA Newsletter

Optional Math Homework for Week of Sept. 10th

#1 Mrs. Bishop is at the zoo.  She sees 14 legs.  How many storks?  She sees 4 giraffes.  How many legs?  She sees 8 legs.  How many elephants?  She sees 6 zebras.  How many legs?  Explain your answers.

#2 What is the question?  The answer is 2

#3 What is the question?  The answer is 5. 

#4 What is the question?  The answer is 10.

Upcoming PTA Events


The PTA is sponsoring a Penny Drive between grade levels during Spirit Week. Between 9/7-9/14, have your students bring in as many pennies as they can! There will be milk jugs located in each classrooms in which to place the pennies. The winning grade level will win a popcorn party!  The pennies raised by each grade level will go towards that grade level's field trip fund. The field trip fund helps families that are unable to pay for their child to attend field trips at BRES. Thanks for all of your support at BRES!

Spirit Week
Monday 9/10 Hat Day (wear your favorite hat)
Tuesday 9/11 Olympics Day(support Team USA, wear red, white & blue)
Wednesday 9/12 Backwards Day (what all can you wear backwards?)

Thursday 9/13 Crazy Hair Day (what can you do with your hair?)
Friday 9/14 Spirit Day ( wear BRES colors or t-shirts)

Planting Day at BRES -Sept. 7th
Calling all gardeners! The PTA Beautification Chair, Kelly Luke, is going to be planting bulbs and lariope on Friday morning out in front of the school. Please join her from 10 am-12 pm. Please bring your own gloves and garden trowels! A great way for BRES families to show their school Spirit!

Spirit Night at FV McDonald's -Sept. 11th 5-8pm
Spirit Night is on September 11th from 5-8pm at the Fuquay Varina McDonald's at
1409 N. MAIN STREET , FUQUAY-VARINA NC 27526. Be sure to tell everyone you know to eat at McDonald's on September 11th. BRES gets a percentage of every sale between 5-8pm, drive-thru included! Thanks for supporting Banks Road!

PTA Board Meeting -Sept. 13th 5pm
PTA Board meetings are open to all BRES families, teachers and staff. The meetings take place in the Media Center.

Mark Your Calenders for These Future Events!
Spirit Night at FV McDonald's -Sept. 11th 5-8pm
Spirit Night is on October 9th from 5-8pm at the Fuquay Varina Biscuitville at 605 Stellata Dr. Fuquay-Varina, NC 27526. Tell everyone you know to eat at Biscuitville Oct. 9th and to put their receipt in the BRES bucket. Some of the proceeds from this evening will do to BRES PTA.
PTA Board Meeting -Oct. 11th 6:30pm
PTA Board meetings are open to all BRES families, teachers and staff. The meetings take place in the Media Center.
BRES Beautification Day -October 13th
More details coming soon!
BRES Fall Festival -October 26th 5:30-8:30pm Rain Date: October 27th 3-6pm
More details and volunteer opportunities coming soon!

Optional Math Activities

Optional Math Problems for Week of September 3rd

#1 Beauty is trying to tell the Beast about apples.  He only knows about oranges.  What would you tell the Beast about ways an orange is like an apple and how they are different.  He knows about grapes but not bananas.  Compare grapes and bananas for the Beast. 

#2 Hailey has 2 nickels and 15 pennies.  Her friend has lots of nickels and dimes.  Hailey trades equal value for different coins.  What could she have traded?  She trades once more with her mother.  What do you think she has now? 

Sight Words

Would you like to monitor your child's progress with sight words?  If so, be sure to check out this site!  I really like this site because it is differentiated to meet the needs of each individual student in my class.  Thanks to Madison's mom (Ms. Stover) for sharing this site with me :)

http://w4.nkcsd.k12.mo.us/~kcofer/fry_words_pg.htm

Parent Resources

www.dpi.state.nc.us/acre/standards/

www.corestandards.org

www.pta.org/common_core_state_standards.asp

Spirit Week

Spirit Week is coming! This is bound to be a student favorite for the school year. Spirit Week begins on Friday, September 7 with "Wear School Colors" of blue and green or your official BRES t-shirt. Monday, the 10th brings out the hats. Wear your favorite hat to school!  Get your red, white and blue out for Tuesday the 11th. On Wednesday, get ready for "Backwards Day!"  Wake up early on Thursday to prepare for "Wacky Hair" day. We will also have our second school Spirit Night from 5-8 p.m. at McDonald's in Fuquay Varina. Join us for supper or get dinner to go to support the BRES PTA. We will end the week by once again showing our school spirit by wearing our school colors or our official BRES t-shirt.

Math Homework Challenge for Week of August 27th

Problem #1
I have six coins that are worth 51 cent.  What coins do you think I have?  Is there more than one answer?

Problem #2
Five children are playing on the playground.  The teacher called the children in for a snack.  She had twenty cookies.  How many cookies did each child get?

Mastery Club

http://bb9.wcpss.net/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_3271_1%26url%3D

Mastery Club


This is an optional activity for students who are interested in going above and beyond the normal classroom expectations. These activities are optional and meant for a challenge.  Track out would be a great time for your child to work on these activities! 

All you have to do is learn all about the topics on your own. Please let me know if you come across a link that does not work. Find the answers, write them down neatly, STUDY , and give me your answers and be ready for a short oral quiz.

You can become a 1-star member all the way up to an 80-star member.

You will earn 1 point for each topic. When you reach 10 points your name will be added to Mrs. Bishop's Wall of Fame.

You will be recognized and you will also receive a small prize.

*Once you click on the link, you will need to click on my classroom webpage to locate the mastery club assignment.  Please let me know if you have any questions.  Thank you!

Tumblebooks

I want to encourage all students to visit Tumblebooks online if you have access to the Internet at home.  In class we have practiced logging into this site.  Students are working towards logging in independently, as an adult is not always available to assist students with logging in.  This is a great site for all students to practice their reading.  There are a variety interests and book levels for students to choose from.  There are also comprehension quizzes that students can take to make sure that they are comprehending what they read. In addition, students may read books online and count this as their 10 minutes of reading homework each night! 

www.tumblebooks.com

username: banksrd
password: books

Scholastic Online Activation Code

Please use the following code when placing Scholastic orders online: GRKDY
THANK YOU and please let me know if you have any questions! 

Update 8-21-12

Thanks for taking time to check our classroom blog!  My original plan was to update our blog by Friday of each week but I'm learning that this is a lot easier said than done :)

In class, we continue to work hard each and every day!  In math we have continued to focus on calendar concepts and representing numbers in a variety of ways.  When problem solving, students are working towards equations and drawing pictorial representations to match their equations.  Students are encouraged to draw circles with a break apart line instead of taking time to draw beautiful pictures.  We have discussed that math is not always pretty :)

 In writing, I have started writing conferences with individual students.  I look forward to using the data collected to begin forming small groups to focus on specific skills.  Daily 5 is still a work in progress.  Students are doing very well working independently.  We will begin reading groups very soon!

Today we began working as scientists and the students had the opportunity to experiment with a card board crayfish.  Our little scientists came up with a question, formed a hypothesis, experimented, came to a conclusion, and tomorrow they will record their observations.

I am excited about all of the work that we are all doing together!  It's hard to believe we are into our fourth week of school.  Soon I will be sending home a sign up for our first quarter parent/teacher conference.  More information to come...

Thank you to those who attended our open house last week.  I will be sure to post the parent links onto our blog later this week.

Have a great week!
Mrs. Bishop

Math Homework Challenges

Each week I will post at least 2 critical thinking/problem solving activities for your child to complete.  This assignment is optional and it will only be posted on the classroom blog.  If your child chooses to complete these activities, he/she should be able to read the problems and solve them independently.  Please be sure to print and return the completed activities back to school each Friday for me to see.  Thank you!

Week of 8-20-12

#1 You have the following digits...7, 5, 2, 4, 6, and 3.  What is the largest 2 digit number you can make?  What is the smallest 2 digit number?  What is the largest 2 digit number you can make with the digits that are left over?  What is the smallest 2 digit number you can make with the digits that are left over?  

#2 Mary likes to dress up her dogs.  One wears a hat, one wears a coat, and one wears a scarf.  Their names are Spot, Tag, and Barney.  Tag loves to wear a scarf.  Spot won't wear the coat.  Match each dog with what it wears.  Explain your thinking with words and pictures.  

Update

Last week…


In class, we have continued to focus on letter formation (handwriting), sight words, and Daily 5. Daily 5 is a large part of our literacy time in first grade. Daily 5 includes: read to self, read to someone, word work, listening to reading, and work on writing. We have spent the past two weeks focusing on read to self and read to someone. We have also spent a lot of time discussing the importance of comprehending what we read. We learned to “think aloud” and ask ourselves questions when reading stories. We have read at least 1-2 stories every day. The students seemed to really like the stories Pete the Cat, Baghead, and Have you Filled a Bucket Today? In math, we have focused on math vocabulary, representing numbers in a variety of ways, and collecting/analyzing data. We have also practiced word problems that involve single digit addition, as well as single digit subtraction.

FYI
*Homework was accidentally sent home in your child's daily folder this past Friday.  Homework will typically be sent home on Mondays.  Homework will always be due on Fridays.  Please let me know if you have any questions/concerns about homework.  Thank you!

First Week

We have officially made it through our first week of first grade!  Congratulations :) The students have worked very hard this week and they all deserve time to relax and have some fun! 

We have spent a lot of time learning classroom routines and procedures.  We have reviewed letters, sounds, numbers, number words, color words, calendar concepts, etc.  Please be sure to look in your child's Friday folder for work samples and return the Friday folder back to school on Monday. 

On Monday, your child will bring home the weekly homework assignment/worksheets to complete throughout the week.  Please remove these from the green daily folder and return all homework back to school on Friday. 

Friday is school spirit day.  Please have your child wear his or her Banks Road t-shirt for the opportunity to win the school spirit contest. 

Please let me know if you have any questions/concerns.  Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Bishop

Welcome!

Welcome and thank you for taking time to visit our classroom blog!  I would like to also say thank you to everyone who came to meet the teacher.  I really enjoyed meeting you all and I look forward to meeting those of you who were not able to attend. 

I have been working on our daily schedule and I thought I would go ahead and share this information with you.  *Please note: our schedule is subject to change

8:45-9:15 Arrival
9:15-9:35 Literacy
9:35-10:35 Math
10:35-11:30 Literacy
11:35-12:05 Lunch
12:10-1:30 Literacy
1:35-2:45 Recess and Specials
2:45-3:30 Science/Social Studies

Specials for the first week of school
Monday-PE (please wear tennis shoes)
Tuesday-Media
Wednesday-Music
Thursday-Art
Friday-PE

End of year celebration

Dear Parents:

You are cordially invited to come to Mrs. Bishop's class on Friday June 29th from 8:45 until 9:45 for a celebratory breakfast! This should give us plenty of time to get to the 5th grade graduation for those of us who also have 5th graders. Please see below for needed items that you can bring in to help out with this occasion.

Juice
muffins
doughnuts
bagels
cream cheese
pastries
breakfast casseroles
biscuits
yogurts
fruit
plastic utensils

*Mrs. Bishop will provide the paper products and I will provide the coffee! Please join us to celebrate all the hard work our children (and Mrs. Bishop) did this year! See you then!

Sincerely,

Jean Meares

Reminder: ALL student books for TRACKS 2, 3, & 4 are due on Friday, June 15th. Thank you!

Words for May and June

May
try, example, against, toward, car, turn, it's, hear, sea, play, didn't, later,
told, heard, top, five, morning, move, young, several, turned, himself, I'm,
face, sun, change, learn, usually, body, door, thing, answer, point, money,
upon, cut, whole, room, city, seen, family, done

June
true, eat, open, course, early, idea, group, black, order, tree, sad, though,
half, short, ground, front, I'll, before, red, United States, cold, gave, learned,
lived, fish, run, really, space, brought, became, plants, remember, table,
inside, close, add, living, American, book, ago, nothing, become

Book Drive: Please read letter below from Johna Edmonds, 2012 Miss Garner

Dear Parents, Teachers, and Students,


I am Johna Alexandria Edmonds, Miss Garner 2012, and a senior at North Carolina State University majoring in Accounting with a concentration in Financial Analysis and a minor in Spanish Language and Literatures. I am so excited to partner with your school, Banks Road Elementary School, to be involved with Miss Garner’s IMPACT Book Drive.

As a contestant for Miss North Carolina and eventually Miss America, I have adopted the platform of Literacy in America’s Youth. One of the various projects that I have created in promotion of my platform is the Miss Garner’s IMPACT book drive, for which I have set a goal of raising 10,000 books to donate to both UNC Chapel Hill and Duke Children’s hospital, collectively.

With that being said, I graciously ask that you partner with me by bringing in children’s books, grades K-6, new or gently handled, to donate to this important cause, and in turn help me touch the lives of the children who occupy the beds of these hospitals. The deadline for the donation of books will be May 31, 2012. For the class that donates the most books, I will provide a pizza party, a school visit, and reading time with me in order to show my appreciation for all of your efforts in helping me to make reading more accessible to all youth regardless of race, religion, socioeconomic status, or health disparity.

Being that your school has only two donation boxes, it will be imperative that you always help your teachers keep a running count before putting your books in the drop box. I am incredibly honored to partner with such a distinguished elementary school, and am absolutely thrilled to meet and get to know each and everyone of you! I thank you in advance for your time and willingness to assist with this rewarding cause.

All the very best,

Johna A. Edmonds

Field Day

Field Day

Another great year at Banks Road Elementary has gone by! It is time to celebrate all of our accomplishments and to have fun. On field day, please make sure your child is wearing PE clothes and shoes. There will be many games and we want your child to be safe. Please have your child bring a water bottle! It will be warm out so we want our students to stay hydrated. Sunscreen is a great idea-please apply at home. If you have any questions, please let us know. Parents are always welcome to play too! Hope to see you there!

Field day will be on the following dates and times:

Thursday May 24th for tracks 1 & 3
Friday June 22nd for tracks 2 and 4

Geo-Animal Projects

Since we are out of school on Friday, the geo-animal projects can be turned in on either Thursday (4-5) or on Monday (4-9). Thank you for working on this project at home. I look forward to seeing all of the completed projects!

We have completed the research at school and students did a great job writing their reports and typing the facts they learned. Most students even inserted clipart into the stories that they typed!

Classroom Needs

We are in need of triple A batteries for our Tag Pens. Please send in any extras that you may have at home. THANK YOU!

Next Friday (3-30), we will have "Flashlight Friday”. Please send in a small flashlight with your child on this day. THANK YOU!

Spelling Words for April

head, got, mother, being, ever, across
four, page, year, picture, white, best
above, earth, light, study, paper, during
kind, need, country, second, hard, today
began, far, father, soon, near, however
almost, hand, let, story, sentence, sure
live, high, night, since, better, knew

Report Cards

Wow, I can't believe it's already the end of the third quarter! Report cards are being sent home today. Please sign your child's brown envelope and return the envelope only back to school on Monday. If your child brings his/her report card home in a white envelope, it means that I did not receive the original report card envelope back from last quarter. As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Seussville

Today we had Dr. Seuss centers to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday :) The students seemed to really enjoy the computer center. They asked that I share the website with you so that they can visit the website from home.
http://www.seussville.com/

Spelling Words for March

March Spelling Words

Note: Your child should only focus on reading and writing 4-5 of these words each week. Students are encouraged to choose words they don't already know and they are also encouraged to practice writing sentences with their chosen words.

end, saw, show, world, food, boy
left, below, always, don't, form, without
along, something, large, going, keep, once
while, thought, often, want, children, animal
might, both, together, school, feet, life
next, important, asked, few, land, enough
sound, those, house, until, side, took

Flashlight Friday

Next Friday (3-2-12), we will have "Flashlight Friday”. Please send in a small flashlight with your child on this day. Your child will have the opportunity to read books in the dark with his/her classmates and we may possibly read books in the dark with our 5th grade book buddies. The students are excited about this activity. Thank you :)
Mrs. Bishop

Scholastic Books

I am sending home a Scholastic book order form home with your child today. If you are interested in ordering any books, please return the form and money back to school on or before 2/24. Please make checks payable to Scholastic. Thank you!

Reading Log

FYI: I did not send home a reading log for February. If your child read at least 45 minutes each week, please send me a note and I'll be glad to give the free pizza coupon to your child. I do plan to send home a March reading log very soon. March is the last month that students will have the opportunity to earn a free pizza coupon.

Jump Rope for Heart

Jump Rope for Heart is scheduled for tracks 1 and 3 on Friday, March 2nd from 9:30-11:00. Please have your child wear weather appropriate clothing and Mrs. Williford is requesting that each child bring a waterbottle. She will have water available but she is trying to save on purchasing cups. Thank you!

Transportation Survey

Transportation Survey: Parents may review the potential changes for their school, answer survey questions and leave their own comments and suggestions by clicking on the large "Transportation Survey" button on the WCPSS website's front page. BRES will be impacted by 10 minutes in the morning and the afternoon. Currently, our instructional bell rings at 9:15 a.m. This means that students are expected to be in their classrooms so instruction can begin. With the new proposal, our instructional bell would ring at 9:25 a.m. and our dismissal bell would ring at 3:55 p.m. Carpool would begin by 4:00 p.m. Buses would be on campus ready for loading at 3:55 p.m. Please be sure to give your feedback by taking the online survey.

Sight Words for February

*Please remember to have your child choose 4-5 words to practice each week. Your child should focus on reading and writing these words at home. Students are highly encouraged to practice writing sentences and/or a story with their 5 chosen words. This assignment does not have to be turned in. As always, thank you for supporting your child's learning at home.

February
because, here, again, men, name, set
does, take, off, say, should, own
part, why, went, small, home, under
even, help, old, every, big, read
place, put, number, found, give, last
well, different, great, still, air, never
such, away, tell, between, line, us

100th Day of School and Valentine's Day

FYI:

*Our 100th day of school will be this coming Friday (February 10th). I have some fun learning activities planned to celebrate this day :)

*Please check your child's daily folder for information about Valentine's Day! I have assigned a fun project for students to complete at home and I have also included a list of student names for valentines.

Thank you and I hope you all have enjoyed track out. I look forward to seeing everyone back on Thursday!

Scholastic Book Fair-Message from Ms. DiBona

The Scholastic Book Fair is coming!!! The book fair is open Feb 1st - Feb 16th (8:30am to 4:00pm). Student shopping can begin Feb. 2nd!!! Our Moonlight Reading family night is Feb. 9th from 5:30pm to 8:00pm. Come out and enjoy a night of reading and fun!! Also, we will be collecting extra change for our "One for Books" program. "One for Books" is a donation program that helps us put books in students hands that may not be able to get them otherwise. Please consider send in your loose change.

Track Change Requests (FYI)

This Friday the 27th is the last day for current families to submit the track change request to the front office. If you have any questions, please contact the front office. Thank you :)

Jump Rope for Heart

Our Jump Rope for Heart fundraiser is underway! Each year, our school raises money for the American Heart Association to help those with "sick hearts". All the money that we collect is sent into the American Heart Association where they distribute it to Doctors, Patients, etc. This fundraiser is optional. Students do not have to collect donations if they do not want to. In celebration of this fundraiser, we also hold a Jump Rope for Heart day. This is a day where Students will Jump Rope to make their hearts healthier. On this day, music is playing, and students are engaged in stations that include jump ropes, hula-hoops, dancing, limbo. All Students participate on this day regardless if they collect money or not. Feel free to come on out and watch your child participate on his/her Jump Rope for Heart day.
Jump rope for heart dates are (the times are TBA):
March 2 for Tracks 1 & 3
March 9 for Tracks 2 & 4
Collection envelopes are due:
March 2 for Track 1
March 9 for Tracks 2,3,4
Questions? Feel free to email twilliford@wcpss.net or call 890-7333

FYI

*As a winter project, Ms. Graham (Tyanne's mom), came into our classroom and assisted the students in preparing a container of dry ingredients for making sugar cookies. On Friday, your child will bring this container home. As a follow up activity, we are going to write about how to make sugar cookies. The students are very excited about baking their cookies at home!

*Track 3 is tracking out on Friday! While I do not assign homework over track out, it is very important for all students to continue practicing their reading, writing, and math over the break. When reading, students should continue to focus on retelling stories read. When writing, students should continue to focus on consistently applying correct capitalization and punctuation. Most all students understand this concept, but there are still times in which I have to assist them or remind them to apply conventions correctly. I would like to see all students begin to include asking sentences into the stories that they write. In math, we have spent time learning how to count money (dimes, nickels, and pennies). I'm amazed at how well the students seem to understand this concept. We have also been working on adding double digit numbers (ex. 24+10). We have discussed how to looks at place value and add the tens and ones. This is a concept that I would like for students to continue working on over track out. As always, thanks for all that you do to support your child's learning at home. I hope everyone has a fabulous track out!

Spelling Words for January

only, little, most, good, any,
around, way, very, know, new,
day, another, find, after, get, write,
same, came, use, words, through,
our, right, come, may, called,
back, me, look, work, water,
just, much, man, think, three,
long, where, go, too, also, must

Hello 2012!

Welcome back! I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday break! I would just like to say THANK YOU to each of you who sent in cards and gifts before the break. I really appreciate your thoughtfulness and I've already enjoyed using many of the gifts :)