Winter Service Project

The First Grade Team at Banks Road has decided on our winter service project for this year. We would like to try and bless people in our community that may not otherwise be blessed this holiday season. The children voted and have decided to collect items to help those less fortunate keep warm this winter. Please look through your closets for items like coats, sweatshirts, hats, mittens, and blankets that you and your family have either outgrown or, like many of us,  just have a few too many of.  You can even recruit neighbors and other family members to clean out their closets and donate as well.

Please send in clean, gently-used items by Friday, December 5^th. We will donate these items to various homeless shelters and outreach centers throughout our community.

This is a great opportunity to teach your children about the joys of giving and helping those in need. Thank you so much for your generosity.

The First Grade Team

Message from Ms. Stephenson-Art Teacher

Another Exciting Art Residency Coming To Banks Road—

During this year’s Artist in Residency, every student at Banks Road will get to experience working with a professional artist during their art special.  January 21^st through 28^th  we will be hosting the environmental artist Bryant Holsenbeck. The students will participate in her “Weaving Like a Bird” residency where they will use recycled materials, string, yarn, old sheets etc to weave a wall sculpture that will be installed in the school.

We need everyone’s help collecting fabric for us to use in our artwork! Please send in scrap fabric, old sheets or curtains, ribbons, and yarn! The more colorful, the better! If you would like to contribute but don’t have these things lying around, gift cards to fabric stores like Joanne’s Fabric would be very helpful and much appreciated as well.  Also, keep a look out for information on ways to volunteer to help with this residency.

Our art teacher, Ms. Stephenson, will collect all contributions. Please send in contributions through your child or bring them in to the office with Attn: Ms. Stephenson. She will begin accepting them immediately. Thank you for your support of Banks Road Visual Arts!

For more information about Bryant Holsenbeck’s Residencies check out her web page at:

http://www.bryantholsenbeck.com/weave.html

Contact Ms. Stephenson with any questions- mstephenson@wcpss.net

Thanks everyone!!

Megan Stephenson
Visual Art
Banks Road Elementary School

Yearbooks

FYI:  The deadline for ordering a yearbook is December 20th (track out day).  

 

Reminders from PTA

TONIGHT is Family Fitness Night from 6:30-8:15.  Try Zumba or Jazzercise, enter in the FREE Raffle to win some great prizes, or get your picture taken with Mr. and Mrs. Wuf!

Reflections DEADLINE has been moved up to Thursday, November 21st!  If anyone is interested in participating, please email the PTA at banksrdpta@gmail.com.

FREE Movie Night is scheduled for Thursday, December 12th at 6:00.  Wear your pj's and each student gets a FREE bag of popcorn.  After the movie, a Kindle Fire HD will be raffled off -- $5 for 1 ticket, or $20 for 5 tickets.

Will you be doing some Online Shopping for the holiday season?  If you like to shop on Amazon, please use the following link http://www.fundyourpta.org/banksroades.php --  we will get 6% back from all purchases, 4% from electronics.

Challenge Words for Week of November 12th (No school on Monday, November 11th)

uphill
mess-up
toss-up
nutshell
shellfish
refill
November
turkey

Letterland Challenge Words

Feel like your child is able to independently read and write the weekly homework words?  If so, please feel free to have your child practice these words at home.  Your child will still be responsible for the assigned weekly words on his/her spelling assessment each week.  Please let me know if you have any questions.
Challenge Words for Week of Nov. 4th
puffball
callback
mall-cop
pinball
kickball
pitfall
uphill
mess-up
toss-up
nutshell

Fall Centers

Thank you to Mrs. Walters and Mrs. Moose for helping us with this fun learning experience!

 The students enjoyed making a candy corn hand print and a pumpkin glyph.

 Our first time using QR codes in the classroom.  Students used QR codes to listen to pumpkin songs and stories-so fun!

 Students practiced place value with candy corn and candy pumpkins.  They also practiced with pumpkin seeds from inside of a real pumpkin :)

 Students looking for words written on pumpkins.  They had to sort these words and use one of the words in a sentence.  Great practice!  

Geologists at Work

Scholastic Orders

November orders were due today.  I am sending home the December order form today as well.  Scholastic books make excellent Christmas gifts!  If you are interested in purchasing books and you would like for it to be a secret, please let me know. I am happy to keep the books in the classroom for you to pick up at your convenience.  Thanks to all of you who have purchased books from Scholastic!  It helps us earn points towards free books for our own classroom and we love getting new books :) December orders will be due by December 22nd.  As always, please let me know if you have any questions.