PARENT NEWSLETTER ISSUE NO. 3 THE PANTHER DISPATCH PFEIFFER INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL / DECEMBER 2011 From the Principal s Desk: A Time for Thanks - I hope that everyone had a restful and relaxing Thanksgiving break. There are so many things to be thankful for at Pfeiffer Intermediate. First and foremost are the parents and students of Pfeiffer. Parents who work with their children and support the faculty and staff are a blessing to the school. Research has shown that the more involved parents are in the daily school activities of their children, achievement improves. I have been reading a book entitled Beyond the Bake Sale: The Essential Guide to Family-School Partnerships and the authors state "students whose families are involved in their learning earn better grades, enroll in higher-level programs, have higher graduation rates, and are more likely to enroll in postsecondary education". We are thankful for the many families who are actively involved in their students' life. You make a difference! We are very proud of the canned good contributions that the students made during the Turkey Trot food drive. Pfeiffer was able to deliver over 4,400 items and over $500 to Perry Helping Perry for Thanksgiving. The food we were able to deliver helped many families in Perry Township. It is comforting to know that your donations benefitted those who live in our community. Thank you to the parents who came out to support the event and to the staff who helped organize and run the food drive. In closing, I wanted to say that there are many things to be thankful for this holiday season. The faculty and staff at Pfeiffer truly enjoy working with students and families everyday. Please let us know how we can make your child's schooling the best it can be. I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving and will have a wonderful holiday break. Upcoming Events Dec. 10th Breakfast with Santa at PHS Dec. 13th 7:00pm 6th grade choir concert Dec. 14th 7:00pm 6th grade band concert Dec 19th- Jan 2 Christmas Recess
Turkey Trot News The 4th Annual Turkey Trot was a huge success at Pfeiffer in 2011! Pfeiffer students donated over 4,700 food items and over $500 in monetary donations. This accounted for almost half of the District's donations. Community 5.6 and Community 6.4 brought in the most donations and earned a pizza party. In comparison to other years, the 5th and 6th graders were very enthusiastic about helping those in need in our Perry community. Thanks to all of those who helped make someone's holiday a little brighter! 5th Grade Language Arts & Social Studies Tis the season for reading and writing! At Pfeiffer, students go to the library twice a month to check out good literature. Students will be encouraged to read the novels they choose at the library independently. At school, students will read the nonfiction novel, Tarantula in My Purse. Ask the students which animal was their favorite and why. The following concepts will be the learning focus for the second nine weeks: point of view, mood, theme, elements of nonfiction, active reading strategies, elements of fiction, development of plot, summarizing, spelling, writing conventions, sentence combining, transition words, verbs, paragraph writing, and writing processes. As always, we will continue to focus on improving our reading comprehension, fluency, vocabulary, and decoding by reading different genres including nonfiction this month. In addition, students will engage in authentic writing activities to communicate with others. In social studies, students will continue to learn about the six themes of history exploring the Native American tribes, Europeans coming to the New World, and early English settlements. Students will be engaged in History Alive activities to bring enjoyment to learning historical events of North America. Enjoy the holiday season with your family by engaging in reading and writing activities at home. Some examples are: writing cards, letters, and shopping/food lists, following recipes while baking cookies, reading cards, poems, and emails, writing words in the snow, looking at gift advertisements, and sending a letter to Santa. Make the season fun and memorable with family and friends. 5th Grade Math In math class, we have begun work in Unit 5, which covers ratios and percentages. Students have been
using models and visual representation to develop the concept of ratio as part-to-part and part-to-whole, and the concept of percent as part towhole. After completing Unit 5, we will move into Unit 6, which covers writing expressions, equations, and inequalities. Students will be using number stories and word problems to create expressions and equations that represent the information given. We encourage parents to sit down with your student on a nightly basis to go over some of these story problems. 5th Grade Science Worms, beetles, and fungi oh my! We have been working on a Unit called Nature s Recyclers. Each class set up a compost bin and studied the worms in their daily work. We ve also completed various experiments to show how well plants grow in organic as opposed to inorganic materials. Upon completion of Nature s Recyclers, we will return to our first Unit, Communities and study food chains and ecosystems more indepth. As a reminder, homework is posted on individual teachers websites on a daily basis. Completion of homework is important to student success, so we encourage parents to check these websites to make sure that your child is completing all assignments. Organization is also a key to success. Please make sure that your child has the materials that he/she needs to be prepared for school each day! Some student s supplies are running low. Please check with your child to see that he/she has enough paper, pencils to adequately complete their work. Christmas is a good time to replenish! We thank you for your continued support! 6th Grade Language Arts The second grading period is off to a great start! Please continue to do anything you can to encourage your child to read. Regular trips to the library and to the bookstore can create the motivation and excitement kids need to start and keep reading, and anytime your child sees you reading, they are receiving an excellent example of the importance, benefits, and enjoyment reading can provide! As we continue through this grading period, students will be learning about drama and poetry, and how figurative language similes, metaphors, personification, alliteration, onomatopoeia, and hyperbole affects meaning in all genres of literature. We will also be discussing how themes and symbols are developed by authors to add depth of meaning to literature. In written
expression, we will be composing personal narratives consisting of multiple, well-organized paragraphs centered on a clear, consistent focus. Rubrics and the feedback of classmates will allow our emerging authors to revise and edit their compositions in order to improve the quality of their writing. We would like to wish everyone a safe, peaceful, and joyous holiday season! 6th Grade Science The sixth grade Science classes have been busy learning about plant and animals cells. Various organisms were first observed using microscopes in class. This exploration with microscopes was very interesting for everyone. The students were then asked to apply their knowledge about the parts of the cell along with their creative imagination by preparing and presenting a cell analogy project to the class. This extension really demonstrated a strong understanding of the content. In the upcoming month, we will continue our Life Science investigations. The next few explorations will have us observing, growing, dissecting, collecting, and experimenting with plants. I am sure it will prove to be an exciting learning environment for all students. 6th Grade Social Studies Our students are continuing their travel throughout time and have landed in Ancient Egypt! This section provides a series of great things for us to learn and interact with: The Great Pyramid, great pharaohs and legendary leaders, and great investigations of important wars that would shape the land and culture of human civilization. Students will learn about the development of writing and test out some of their own using ancient symbols and letters. One of the highlights of the unit comes as students will assume the roles of Egyptian government officials, artisans, priests, scribes and peasants! In a dramatic representation, students will learn first hand what it was like to live and work during this time period and solve some of the same problems that occurred within the class system of Egypt. Great historical opportunities await our students through December and beyond! 6th Grade Math The snow is flying and Christmas is almost here! Where did the start of the school year go? Thank you to all who participated in parent-teacher conferences a few weeks ago. Our sixth grade mathematicians have recently finished tackling the concepts of analyzing data, graphing, and deciphering patterns. In the coming month, our math students will be exploring the area of geometry. In this unit, students will learn to classify and describe two-dimensional figures, define geometric vocabulary, and identify relationships between planes. In pre-algebra, students have recently finished their study on proportional reasoning. We are currently investigating the concept of percent and many of its related applications. Have him/her impress you by calculating the tip on your next trip out to eat or even the markdowns on those Christmas sales! If, at any point, your child will be taking advantage of a retake opportunity, please encourage him/her to do so as soon as possible, as the second nine weeks will come to an end shortly after we return from Christmas break. Please also continue to encourage your child to bring his/her planner home nightly so you may stay aware of homework assignments and upcoming projects, quizzes, and tests! You may also check your teachers websites for important information.
Guidance Pfeiffer Peer Protection Survey Results Pfeiffer administered its first Pfeiffer Peer Protection survey of the year in October. This program is aimed at reducing bullying behaviors in our intermediate school. The survey identified 98 students as participating in bullying behaviors and 125 students as victims. Nine (9) students were identified as exhibiting bullying behaviors 4 or more times; 1 student was listed as a victim 4 or more times. Top hot spots included the bus, class, and recess. Honor Roll Recognitions 295 students earned honor roll for the first nine weeks by having a GPA of 3.5 or higher. Students who earned honor roll were recognized at lunch with a special treat on Wednesday, November 9 th. Excellent job and keep up the good work! Guidance Classes This nine weeks the counselors will lead three classroom discussions in PE. The topics discussed are listed below. Both counselors invite parents to call with any questions and concerns or if you wish to preview materials. Packing up food for this year s annual food drive. 5 th : Conflict Management; Death and Loss; Respecting Differences (disabilities) 6 th : Conflict Management; Self-Esteem; Respecting Differences (cliques) Mrs. Paustenbach and Mrs. Pittman would like to wish all students and their families a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Participants gathered at Edison Middle School s track to walk or run in this year s Turkey Trot.