Important Dates
Dr. Charles Drew Elementary School
October 2015
Book It Begins
10/1
Family Portrait Event
10/1
Early Dismissal 1:20 p.m.
10/2
MAP-R Fall Assessment
10/6
Walk to School Day
10/7
MAP-M Fall Assessment
10/7
Open House
9:30 – 12:30 pm
10/12
Data Notebooks go home
10/15
It is evident that you are engaged in your child’s learning by your engagement in the
home-school communications—signing the agenda book and reading log regularly, reviewing
Thursday Folder information and your child’s Data Notebook, and by completing the Data
Notebook Parent Reflection. We also appreciate your effective communication of dismissal
changes and student absence information to classroom teachers and Mrs. Whiting in the Drew
office. Thank you also for the supplies you have sent in and to all who have joined the PTA!
Fall Festival
(Details coming soon!)
10/15
No School for Students
10/16
Book Fair
Week of
10/19
In October, as the chill sets in, students will be bundled up
for travels to and from school, and for recess. To help your child
manage their fall and winter clothing, please make sure your
child’s name is clearly marked on coats, hats, scarves, and
gloves. All unclaimed (and unmarked) belongings will be turned
into the lost and found located in the All-Purpose room
(cafeteria). Please be sure that all lunch boxes, backpacks, and
instruments are clearly marked as well.
Flag Pond Field Trip
(Mrs. Leichtling’s Class)
10/21
Unity Day
10/21
Math Night
10/22
PTA Ice Cream Social
10/23
Flag Pond Field Trip
(Mrs. Doane’s Class)
10/27
Student Portrait Day
10/28
Fourth CPHG Dolphin Splash
Dear Parents,
The fourth graders have been settling in to classroom routines and getting to know new
classmates and teachers. It was a very busy month with community and class meetings, fire drills,
“Lockdown” and “Shelter” practice, a student instrumental music assembly and instrument try
out day. We are all working hard on following the High Five School Standards. We truly enjoyed
meeting parents at Back to School Night, Open House, and during the “Get-to-Know-You” chats
e-mails, and phone conferences. We appreciate everyone’s support and enthusiasm.
We have enjoyed getting to know your child in these first
few weeks, and look forward to a fantastic month of October!
Mrs. Leichtling and Mrs. Doane
[email protected]
[email protected]
Student Terrariums
Last Day of Marking Period 10/30
No School for Students
11/2
Social Emotional Learning
“Listening is a core competency skill for relationships. There is no communication that goes only one way. Listening is
the basis of conflict resolution, the core of trust, and also central to the development of healthy self-concept. - Joshua Freedman
4th CPHG Dolphin Splash
Dr. Charles Drew Elementary School
October 2015
Reading News
In pursuit of answers to the focus question Why does myth endure? our language arts unit on Culture has engaged our fourth
grade center students with much enthusiasm. Students have read several myths and essays about mythology, and will continue do
so into early October. They are beginning to effectively support their opinions about these texts with specific textual evidence.
Students will develop their critical thinking skills through Shared Inquiry discussions. We find that shared inquiry discussions are
especially helpful to motivate students to identify not only explicit text evidence in support of opinions, but also as a way to explore
the hidden or inferential meanings in challenging text. Shared Inquiry discussions are also particularly valuable because they
provide an oral rehearsal prior to informational or opinion writing as students analyze a piece, engage in the inquiry discussion,
reflect on whether or how their analysis has changed, then write a final analysis.
In the later weeks of October, our exploration of Culture continues but we will broaden our focus to examine current and
historic primary and secondary source documents pertaining to Native Americans. To build student background knowledge of
Native Americans, they have begun working in literature circle groups to discuss historical fiction novels with Native American
themes.
Writing News
Our writing curriculum is also linked to Culture. Just as students are engaged in reading about mythology, so too are they
engaged in writing about gods and goddesses. They have written opinion pieces about elements of mythology and will shortly
create their own biographical poem about a chosen god or goddess, and develop informational pieces that analyze the effects
of culture on myths and legends. All of these writing pieces are based on research, which students will be doing in the classroom
and during our weekly Information Literacy special under the guidance of our Media Specialist Mrs. Linda Kilcoyne. To prepare
them for this, our substitute Media Specialist Mrs. Jill Doll has provided lessons involving the elements of Digital Citizenship and use of
the Google Documents application. Mrs. Doll has also been working with students in the use of Noodle Tools, an electronic
research tool that enables students to link information to specific sources in order to help them effectively gather and organize
their research.
Science News
In Science, we have been busy in several hands-on sessions involving setting up and learning to take care of our aquariums
and terrariums. Soon, students will connect the two parts to create an “eco-column,” a self-sustaining model ecosystem. These
eco-columns help students learn about the basic needs and characteristics of plants and animals and important concepts such as
animal classification, the relationship between the observable features of plants or animals and the habitats in which they are
found, decomposition, food chains and webs, competition and beneficial interactions within ecosystems, animal adaptations,
and the interdependence of organisms within different ecosystems. Students will also begin learning about how to conduct a welldesigned investigation through experimentation.
Social Studies News
In Social Studies, the focus of the first marking period is on geography. Students will be using map tools to study the
geography of the United States, before focusing on Maryland specifically. Students will learn about different types of maps and the
relationship between the physical features of a region and settlement patterns, and about various types of human features that
influence the quality of life in a region. With that foundation, our history and culture exploration will be on the early American
Indian groups before the arrival of the Europeans, and their interactions with the environment.
Math News
It has been a busy time in mathematics. Students in Compacted Math 4-5 and in Grade 4 Math are working on identical
concepts but at different paces. In Compacted Math 4-5, we began marking period one by reinforcing student understanding of
place value of numbers up to 1,000,000 and have built on this foundation of place value to compare and round whole numbers.
Next, we will explore a variety of strategies other than the traditional algorithms for adding and subtracting whole numbers
including the compensation strategy, adding on, and mental math with “friendly” numbers. Following that, we will work on solving
word problems and comparison problems using “close” (careful) reading, bar diagrams, and multiplicative and additive
comparisons. Then we will work on multi-digit multiplication and division skills using arrays, area models, partial product and partial
quotients and will solve word problems involving time, mass, weight, area and perimeter of rectangles.
Please review the two math newsletters for the marking period to learn more about the curriculum. The math newsletters
contain examples of the sorts of problems students should be able to solve. They often contain useful, practical strategies to
support your child.
Support Student Learning Outside of the Classroom
Consider taking the family on a day trip to the University of Maryland’s Center for Environmental Science on the Chesapeake
Bay at Horn Point Laboratory’s Open House in Cambridge, Maryland on Saturday, October 10th from 10 am to 3 pm. Students will
be able to meet environmental scientists and learn about their Chesapeake Bay research projects involving marshes, oysters,
seagrasses, climate change, plankton, underwater gliders, and more… There are games, hands-on activities and t-shirts for kids. In
the past, there have been short hay rides and boat trips and opportunities to explore many labs and see many different types of
bay animals and plants as well as an opportunity to buy a picnic lunch. This event is free. It is held rain or shine. For more
information and directions, visit the web site at http://www.umces.edu/hpl/openhouse. We highly recommend this activity!
Two Opportunities for Gifted Children
Learn more about the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth and the Grades 2-8 Talent Search at www.cty.jhu.edu.
Learn more about Montgomery College enrichment programs for students in Grade 2-12 at 240-567-7264 or at
http://www2.montgomerycollege.edu/departments/wdce/youthpdf/kidscollege.pdf . This year, fall courses open to
students in Grade 4 include Math Olympiad, Engineering Fundamentals Using Lego, and Keyboarding for Computer.