Fcat Explorer Games
14
Nov0
Nov0
The students are now working towards completing the Science program. There are a total of 200 questions and the students must have at least 50% or 100 questions completed by Friday, January 25th. The FCAT Explorer program is an excellent site designed to help your child enhance their computation and problem solving skills. Calendar
Feb. 1 - Mid-term progress
reports go home
Feb. 3 - Sock Hop @6:00
p.m.
Feb. 7-8 - 4th Grade F.C.A.T.
Writes
Feb. 15 - Chess Tournament
Feb. 20 - Teacher/Student
Holiday
Feb. 27-28 - F.C.A.T. Testing
for grades 3 - 5
Thornebrooke
Newsletter
www.thornebrooke.ocps.net
Dear Thornebrooke Family,
The Winter Holidays have come to an end and it is now time to
get back to learning and prepare for upcoming standardized tests. It
seems that many students received Heelys as a gift for the Holidays.
These are the sneakers with the built in wheels in the heels. Please
discourage your child from wearing these to school. It presents a possible
danger when attempting to skate through the hallways. I have
had to tell my own son not to wear his to school.
I would like to welcome two new staff members to Thornebrooke:
Ingrid Cowan is now working as an Exceptional Education Paraprofessional
and Angela Eller is working with select Kindergarten
through Second Grade students, providing extra support in the area of
Reading.
THIRD THROUGH FIFTH GRADE PARENTS:
The FCAT is coming! Please encourage your children to read every
night and complete any homework assignments related to “Blast Off”
material. Teachers and students are working diligently to master all of
the state benchmarks that will be found on the test.
www.FCATEXPLORER.com is a wonderful website to see FCAT
style questions. Your continued support is what makes Thornebrooke
such a wonderful place to be!
There have been numerous requests for Prearranged Absences in
the month of February and March. Please keep in mind that this is an
important time for instruction. Many crucial benchmarks are being
introduced in preparation for the FCAT.
If at all possible, please consider avoiding absences during these
two months of school.
Trevor Honohan
Attention Parents
To alleviate congestion issues during the afternoon, the following
staggered dismissal schedule has been established. Thank you for
your cooperation.
2:55 ESE
3:00 Kindergarten
3:05 1st Grade, Bus Riders
3:10 Car Riders, Walkers, Bikers, Car-Pool
601 Thornebrooke Dr.
Ocoee, FL 34761
February 2006
Thornebrooke
Elementary School
The Strings Program
Wow, what a great musical year so far in
Strings Class. Fourth and Fifth grade students
are learning scales and note values and even
how to compose a song! Fifth grade string
students are asked to bring back the permission
slip concerning the Festival Concert on
April 6. Mrs. Butler needs to know who can
attend this very exciting concert so she can
order music and t-shirts for all participants.
4th grade students should continue to bring all
your supplies to class, as well as a pencil. Our
final concert of the year will be held at Windermere
Elementary on Tuesday, May 2nd.
Please plan ahead and keep on practicing!
Second Grade News
We hope everyone is having a wonderful new year. The school year is
going by very quickly. We celebrated our 100th day of school on January
19, 2006. In Reading, we finished Theme 4, Amazing Animals. We
have moved on to Theme 5, Family Time. In this theme, we will read
stories about brothers and sisters, a family business, a special birthday
present, and a young girl who is afraid of thunderstorms. This is the perfect
time to share some family stories with your child. In Math, we are
working in Unit 7. In this unit, we will learn about Number Patterns,
Computation Skills, Weights, Scales, Equal Sharing, Block Patterns, and
the Applications of Mathematics. As always, please remember to practice
basic addition and subtraction math facts with your child at home.
In Language Arts, we are learning expository writing. We are also working on our class books. Each
child will have a page in his/her class book. At the end of the year every student will be a published author.
Ask your child how his/her writing is coming along.
In Science, we studied matter and how the different forms are measured. We also learned about the
changes in matter. Next, we will study Earth’s Resources and How Plants Grow and Change. In Social
Studies, we learned about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and we are now learning about Our Country Today.
February will be a busy month. During this month, we will also celebrate Black History Month, President’s
Day, and Valentine’s Day. Please encourage your child to continue reading and taking AR tests.
We look forward to another great month of learning.
Fifth Grade News
Hold on to your hats because 5th grade is
BUSY! We want to thank parents for helping the
students stay focused and on task, making sure
homework is done each night and brought to school
as we prepare for FCAT testing. Organization is the
key this marking period! The Oration projects are
underway with topics selected, outlines created,
bibliographies completed, and introductory paragraphs
being improved. FCAT Science will have
us reviewing Properties of Matter and Earth and
Space Science. The Science text will have us completing
our study of Biomes. FCAT Math will include
review of Probability, Graphing using range,
mean, median, and mode and within the Everyday
Math text we will work with fractions and ratios.
Reading FCAT will concentrate on word meaning,
main idea, author’s purpose/viewpoint. We are all
learning about the American Revolution and will
move next to declaring our independence as a new
nation. Keep studying the many vocabulary words
for the weekly quizzes. This word knowledge will
help test performance. Again, thanks for all you
do, and do, and do.
Be There or Be Square
Friday, Feb. 3rd from 6:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Bring your family to the Thornebrooke Cafeteria for our 2nd Annual P.T.A. and Relay
for Life “Sock Hop”. Come with your hair greased back, put on your leather jackets, poodle
skirts and saddle shoes. There will be entertainment, food, nostalgic candy, and an opportunity
for a chance to win aSony iPod. Please fill out the bottom portion, return to
school by Wednesday, Feb. 1st with your money to pre-purchase food and get your family in
the drawing for a door prize.
Food Prices
• Meal # 1 Hot Dogs, Chips and Drink- $3.50
• Meal # 2 Pizza Slice, Chips and Drink- $3.50
(Dinner will be served from 6:00 pm to 6:45 pm)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hey Dudes- My family is planning to attend the Sock Hop. We are paying for the following
meals: (Make checks payable to: American Cancer Society)
______ Meal # 1 @ $ 3.50 each
______ Meal # 2 @ $ 3.50 each
Total $_____________________
Family Name_____________________________________________________
Teacher Name___________________________________________________
From the Clinic
We have had a minor outbreak of head lice in our school. It seems to be pretty localized in the
Kindergarten grade level so I carefully checked that entire grade on Friday, Jan. 27. Rather than send a
separate letter home I think this a better way of letting parents know that you need to check your child. If
you find head lice, you are welcome to come by and have me confirm or you can go ahead and treat, if
you are sure of your diagnosis.
It is very important to follow that package’s directions for whatever product you buy, as formulas
do vary. Also make sure that you re-treat on exactly the day the package recommends, as it is timed to
kill any new hatchlings before they lay new eggs. It is also very important to remove all the egg casings
from the hair, as it is an OCPS requirement that a student be nit free before returning to school. For that
reason, it is also imperative that I know of and examine any cases of head lice before they are permitted to
return to school. I will also check that class as a precaution.
All cases are handled with complete discretion. We all know how sensitive children can be and do
not want any hurt feelings. Please make sure you notify me of any suspected case so that I can monitor
and help you be sure that treatment was effective.
As I tell the students before I check any class: 1.) Head lice cannot jump, hop or fly, they have to
hitch a ride 2.) Head lice do not care if your hair is clean or dirty, they just want to suck your blood 3.)
Anybody can get head lice.
If you have any questions or need advice, please feel free to give me a call @ 407-909-1301
ext.229.
Nurse Leslie
Thornebrooke Enrichment
Fourth grade has been
working on a poster
project about Famous
Black Americans.
They have learned the
6 Principles of Design
as they apply to
posters and advertising,
we used Publisher
to create a
poster and then experienced
critiquing
our peers work to
offer suggestions on
how to improve the
posters. We begin
our Museum unit
using the novel:
From the Mixed –Up
Files of Mrs. Basil
E.Frankweiler.
Fifth grade has been diving into
the future! We are reading a science
fiction novel: Ender’s Game.
We have learned about Walt Disney
as a futurist and the real plans
for EPCOT. Our research into
alternative housing has been an
eye-opener; there are some interesting
ideas out there about this
topic! We will be creating a
model of our Future City. We are
working on a second project that
relates to Video Games and
Ender’s Game; the book is being
made into a movie in the near future
and the Video game is sure to
follow closely. I have a guest
speaker coming in to explain how
to put together a design document
proposal for a real video game
next week!
Third Grade has been
learning about the
theater and scriptwriting.
Using Fairy tales
we are developing as
a group an original
script to then be performed
in front of our
peers. The students
have been doing
some advanced
mathematics and have
also been working on
narrative writing to a
prompt.
First and Second
Grade have been
learning about the
Theater and how
much patience it
takes to actually
practice and present
a play. We
adapted a short
story to scripts in
small groups. We
will continue to
work on costuming
and scenery for our
future presentation
of The Little Red
Hen/Rooster.
Math Academy
The Math Academy students have
been extremely busy preparing for
the FCAT. To reward students for
their hard work and dedication all
students were invited to a bowling
party at Carter Family Bowl in Winter
Garden. This was a huge success!
Please remember all students
will continue to take the Benchmark
tests every Friday. Don’t forget we
invite all students to attend the free
weekly tutoring. Parents, please
continue to check the agenda and
make sure your child has completed
the homework nightly. We sincerely
appreciate all of your positive support.
The Chess Club
Chess Club is back for 2006 with the students using algebraic notation to record their moves. The process
of recording has slowed the games but has increased think time. As of February 24, the older students
will practice in the Art Room. All other players will meet in the Media Center. Mr. Boon would like to
thank the Chess Club for his money tree and the parent Additions who help make Chess Club a huge success.
Chess Club T Shirts are now available for $10.00.
Kindergarten News
In February, Sea World will come to visit and talk to
us about Polar Animals. We will get to experience several
hands on exhibits. Then we will have a visit from
the Tooth Fairy to discuss Dental Health. We will
learn about proper nutrition and proper dental hygiene.
We will have Valentine’s Day activities. Watch for
notes from your child’s teacher. We will discuss Famous
Presidents and Black Americans, who have contributed
to our country throughout history.
In math, please continue working with your child on
counting to 100 by 1’s, 5’s and 10’s, measuring objects,
telling time to the hour, understanding place
value (tens and ones), creating a graph from collected
data, simple addition and subtraction stories, as well as
greater than and less than.
In reading, please work on reading sight words and
word families, recognizing letters and their sounds,
producing rhyming words, retelling a story with a beginning,
middle, and end, as well as reading fluently.
Kindergarten is working hard in reading, writing and
math. Thank you for your support at home; it shows in
the classroom!
Barracuda Bites From Our Classrooms
Third Grade News
The third grade
classes are working
hard to prepare for the
upcoming FCAT!
Please make sure you
continue to work with
your child at home.
Some suggestions are:
FCAT Explorer, reading
together & discussing
the stories
read, and keeping up
with homework assignments.
Before
testing, please make
sure your child gets
plenty of rest and eats
a well balanced
breakfast.
From First Grade
Throughout the month of February, first graders will continue to develop their reading skills as we
progress through our sixth reading theme, Animal Adventures. The phonics skills we will be
working on are reading words with long vowel sounds with the CVCe and vowel pair patterns.
Comprehension strategies such as story structure, noting details, and making predictions will be
focused upon as well. The children will improve their “fact power” or recollection of basic addition
facts in math using two new math tools, the addition/subtraction facts table and fact triangles.
In addition to all of this, the children will have the opportunity to complete their first project about
a famous Black American and activities for Dental Health, Valentine’s Day and President’s Day.
FCAT Prep for 3rd Grade
Dear Parents,
This is to inform you of added FCAT practice for your third grader.
FCAT Explorer is an excellent practice tool for the reading portion of
the test but has lacked any Math until now. The Department of Education
has combined their resources and now third graders can utilize a
web site that has Math and more reading. From this new web site
www.florida-achieves.com your child can log on to either FCAT Explorer
or the FCIM (Florida Continuous Improvement Model). The
FCAT log in is on the left and the FCIM is on the right. The FCIM
site is where the Math and more reading practice are located. There is
information provided on the Home page explaining what the FCIM is
all about. The same sign in and password for FCAT Explorer is used
for FCIM. The sign in name: child’s first letter of their first name and
entire last name with no spaces. Password: birth date in numerical
form with a leading 0 added to a one digit number and the entire four
digit year. Example: John Smith August 3, 1996
jsmith 08031996
It is not case sensitive. Any questions, please e-mail Leslie Frohlich
frohlil@ocps.net
Or 407-909-1301 x472
Fourth Grade News
The fourth grade students are in final preparations for FL
Writes, which is rapidly approaching. The dates of the test are February 7-8. It is
a two-part test: a written essay and a multiple choice grammar test. The multiple
choice section is a pilot test and will NOT count for the students this year.
On the days of the writing test, we will need parents to volunteer to bring in a
healthy snack for the students. If you are interested in helping out, please contact
your child’s teacher.
Friendly Reminder
Parents,
Please help your children remember
that library books are
due one week from the checkout
date. If your student needs
more time, encourage them to
renew the book until they finish.
Thank You.
Counselor’s Corner
PASTA for PENNIES
Please support our fundraiser for the Leukemia and
Lymphoma Society!!!
Encourage everyone to bring in their change for
this worthy cause.
The dates are January 23 through February 17!!
ESE News
Our ESE students went to Gatorland this month. Many students had the opportunity to
touch a real live alligator. YIKES!! They saw many, many alligators and some were as big
as 13 ½ feet. We saw birds, snakes, and even a black bear. We rode the train through piney
woods, which was probably the highlight of our trip. The kids loved it! In some of our
classrooms, we have been working on making “ME” books and talking a lot about our
family. Keep a look out for some Valentine’s Day activities coming up for February!