D R. G U S T A V U S B R O W N E L E M E N T A R Y S C H O O L #choosekind Important Dates: January/February V O L U M E 2 J A N U A R Y / F E B R U A R Y, 2 0 1 9 1/7/19 to 1/11/19 Oral Health Check up 1/7/19 WIDA Testing Begins 1/8/19 PTO Mtg.-6:30 PM 1/11/19 PTO Movie Night 6 PM to 8 PM 1/19/19 Saturday School 9 AM to 12 PM (tentative) 1/21/19 PTO MLK Day-No School 1/23/19 Raising a Reader Night-5:30 PM to 7:30 PM- 3 s and PreK 1/24/19 Second Marking Period Ends 1/25/19 Semester Break- No Students/WIDA Testing Ends 1/28/19 Third Marking Period Begins 2/2/19 Groundhog Day/ Saturday School-9 AM to 12 PM (tentative) 2/4/19-2/8/19 National Counselor s Week 2/13/19 Two Hour Early Dismissal-No 3 s or PreK 2/14/19 PBIS Celebration/ Valentine s Day 2/15/19 Honors Assemblies-Primary 9:30 AM/ Intermediate 10:30 AM 2/16/19 Saturday School- 9 AM to 12 PM (tentative) 2/18/19 President s Day- No School 2/19/19 Post-testing Begins 2/22/19 PTO Dance-6 PM to 8 PM 2/28/19 Black History Living Museum Hello Parents/Guardians, Happy New Year and I hope everyone had a great winter break. We are so excited about 2019 at Dr. Brown ES. We are gearing up for the 2nd half of the year and the upcoming assessments, especially post-testing and PAARC. Post-testing begins on 2/19/2019 and PAARC on 4/26/2019. Please stress the importance of working hard to prepare for and doing their best on all assessments to your student(s). Our teachers and students have been working so hard all year! In order for our students to be successful, we want them to follow the 5 R s. We all need to be responsible, be reliable, be a role model, be ready to learn, and be respectful. Please stress these A School-Wide Title I School 421 University Drive Waldorf, MD 20602 We are all STARS at Dr. Brown ES Dr. Brown ES attributes to your student. We need to work together to make our students the best they can be. Please check out our webpage, twitter, and facebook for updates and information on all the wonderful stuff going on at Dr. Brown ES. We are so proud of our students and staff. Please make sure to follow all the rules associated with arrival and dismissal. The rules help us make sure that we have a safe, reliable, and organized arrival and dismissal. Please respect parking areas and speed limits while dropping off or picking up. As the weather continues to get colder, please make sure your students are dressed appropriately for the outside temperatures. Gifted/Testing Corner January/February There will be outdoor recess everyday that the temperature is 32 degrees and above (with the wind chill factor). We want to assure that all students are dressed properly for the day. In the event of inclement weather please check the CCPS website for emergency closings at www.ccboe.com or call the 24- hour information line at 301-934- 7401/301-932-6656 or check your student s school calendar (page # 10) for a list of local radio and television stations that broadcast CCPS closings as well as delayed openings. -Dr. Brown Administrators January and February are busy months in Charles County! The start of winter brings about testing season! In January and February, select students will be taking the WIDA ACCESS for ELLs. County post-testing begins in February and will go through March. Students in grades K-5 will be taking the county post-tests in several subject areas. In order for students to perform at their personal best, it is important for them to get a good night s rest and arrive at school on time. Your support with testing is greatly appreciated. The Winter Chess Tournament will also take place in February. It will be held on Saturday, February 23, 2019 at Henry E. Lackey High School. On-line registration is available at https://ccpsregistration.wufoo.com/forms/ccps-2019-winter-chesstournament or interested students can see their classroom teacher for an informational flyer. As always, feel free to contact me at 301-753-1741 or smccabe@ccboe.com with any questions.
Happy New Year! Here are a few ways to encourage reading for a child in your life: Pay attention to what your child is interested in, and encourage him or her to read books and/or magazines on those subjects. Set aside time to read with your child every day. Spend time reading together just before bed and take turns reading aloud. Set time aside every week for family reading night. Include time for everyone to talk about the favorite parts of the books. Make reading a daily part of life, including reading road signs, recipes and directions aloud. Make reading interactive ask questions while reading including your children s opinions on what they are reading. Set goals that challenge your child to read. Ask older children to help younger ones with reading. This activity will boost older kids confidence, in addition to providing important practice for younger children. Spend some time each week at the public library. Actively encourage your children to read and congratulate them on their progress. Set an example seeing you read will encourage your child to do the same! Article adapted from: https://www.mercyhome.org/blog/parenting/get-your-child-reading Ms. Jacquelyn White, jwwhite@ccboe.com Reading Resource Teacher
Helpful Tips for If learning basic math facts has your child (and you) at wit s end, play a game! Drilling math facts and timed tests may work for some folks, especially those with an excellent memory. For others, the flashcards of old and mad minute drills fill them with fear and worry and a sense of I m just not smart at math! We all know practice is important, so why not make it fun? We ve attached two basic fact games that are proven to bring smiles to children s faces. Over time, playing these and other fact games with your child will help them acquire speed and accuracy without the tears. Check out this short video about facts practice and remember to have fun! https://vimeo.com/291223047 Using DreamBox at Home Make sure your child works independently. Remember the program analyzes data from your child and adjusts the lessons she receives. Encourage your child to finish each lesson. If he gets stuck, use the help or hint button on the screen. If he runs out of hints, take a guess! The program needs this information in order to adjusts lessons. Encourage your child to use the on -screen manipulatives. Calculators, pencils, or paper are not necessary. NEED MORE INFO? PLEASE CONTACT Ms. Lynn Killius Instructional Resource Teacher lkillius@ccboe.com
How Close to 100? Number of players: 2 This game is played in partners. Two children share a blank 100 grid. The first partner rolls two number dice. The numbers that come up are the numbers the child uses to make an array on the 100 grid. They can put the array anywhere on the grid, but the goal is to fill up the grid to get it as full as possible. After the player draws the array on the grid, she writes in the number sentence that describes the grid. The second player then rolls the dice, draws the number grid and records their number sentence. The game ends when both players have rolled the dice and cannot put any more arrays on the grid. How close to 100 can you get? Variation Each child can have their own number grid. Play moves forward to see who can get closest to 100.
How Close to 100?
Tic-Tac-Toe Sums This game is a great way to practice and build fluency with the addends 0 12. As students develop new strategies they will begin to use subtraction. Encourage students to discuss, write about or illustrate their strategies after they have played. You can also ask students to explain why they are choosing their addend and to justify the sum of their addends during play. Number of players: 2 Player X and Player O each select one of the numbers, 0 12 at the bottom of the page and places one of the markers on that addend. Player X may move only one of the two addend markers to a different addend. Player X then places a marker on the grid covering the sum of the two addends. Player O may move only one addend marker at the bottom of the page, 0 12. Player O makes a new sum and covers it on the grid. The markers can be placed on the same numbers, 0 12. For example, two markers on 12 would be 12 + 12 = 24 and the player would cover 24 on the grid. Players alternate moving one addend marker at a time and continue placing their markers until a player has marked four sums in a row. After the game players should discuss their strategies. From Helping with Math at Home: More Ideas for Parents. 2006. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Tic-Tac-Toe Sums
Counselor Corner Parents and guardians, Happy New Year! Welcome to 2019! In this first month of the year the counseling department will be focusing on self-control. Selfcontrol is your child's ability to stop and think before acting which is a lifelong challenge. Our goal is to nurture the ability in making good choices to develop habits of self-control over time. Next month our character focus will be service. Please encourage your student to lend a helping hand this February. Hear ye, hear ye! National School Counseling Week will be celebrated the first full week of February (4th-8th) and this year's theme is "providing lessons for life." Our Charles County Public School Counselor's do provide a unique contribution to our schools and we want to highlight the impact that our very own School Counselor has in helping our students to achieve school and life success. Also, next month, be on the lookout for the Living History Museum on Thursday, February 28th. A Living History Museum is a type of museum which recreates historical settings to simulate past time periods. Join us as our very own costumed historians portray both current and historical figures. Warm Regards, Mrs. Batiste
A School-Wide Title I School Expect the unexpected! Our Mission and Vision Statements Mission: Our charge at Dr. Brown is to partner with the community to create a safe, respectful, environment that meets the needs of diverse learners by utilizing best practices to deliver a quality, challenging education, that inspire children to be productive members of society, and lifelong learners. Dr. Brown Elementary School s vision is to create, foster, and maintain an environment where teachers, staff, parents, and the community are empowered and work together to help children achieve academic, social, and emotional success and to focus on closing the gaps in academic, social, and emotional achievement. Our charge is to do this in a welcoming, respectful and inclusive manner where high expectations are the norm for all.