Farmland Elementary School
Barnyard Bulletin
March 2016
7000 Old Gate Road
7000
Old Gate
Road
Rockville,
MD 20852
Rockville,FAX
MD(301)
20852
(301) 230-5919
230-5424
http://montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/farmlandes/
(301) 230-5919 FAX (301) 230-5424
Mary Bliss, Principal
[email protected]
http://montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/farmlandes/
Daniel
Tucci,Principal
Assistant Principal
Mary Bliss,
[email protected]
[email protected]
Farmland Elementary is a school
where students can achieve their
greatest potential in a positive and
safe learning environment.
Dear Farmland Families,
Welcome to March! Everyone at school is so happy with the warmer temperatures and they
are ready to celebrate spring’s official arrival on March 20th. We hope that the warmer
temperatures will bring out our recess volunteers once more! Having parent volunteer
greatly increases the opportunities to have more field activities such as soccer, kick ball,
races, or field track. If you can find time, please call Mrs. Wright or Mrs. Boland at 301-2305919 to let them know to expect you so we can plan accordingly. Many thanks in advance to
everyone who can assist in helping our students have multiple healthy physical recess
activities!
We had such a fantastic Science Fair again this year! As the PTA aptly wrote, “We braved
the thunder, lightning, and torrential rains” to attend and I am so glad we did. This event is
one of the highlights of my year. I absolutely love to see what students select as their
project and hear their hypotheses and findings. The sad part for me is that I only get to half
of the building in that time period so I am alternating each year. I would also like to do a
huge shout out to Deborah Cheung, Silvia Bolland, Jinghua Lu, Robin Brannan, Pat
Wagner, Wei Liu, Natalie Soto, Leslie O’Malley, Amy Pollin, Sarah Alley and our other
fantastic scientist reviewers who made this spectacular event so successful. Included in that
recognition is our students earning Student Service Learning hours and our own wonderful
staff: Mrs. Weissenburger, Ms. Peters, Mr. Trachtenberg, Ms. Powelson, Ms. Strauss, Ms.
Buffano, Mrs. LoSapio, Mrs. Ulrich, Ms. Smith, Mrs. Ricke and Ms. Lund.
The PTA is hosting a guest speaker tomorrow night after the regular general PTA meeting.
The PTA meeting begins at 7:00 followed by guest speaker Sargent Ken Sanger from the
Montgomery County Police Department. He will be speaking on a critically important topic,
Internet Safety. It is not too early to learn how to keep your children safe on the internet, so
we hope you will be able to join us for this valuable presentation and discussion. The PTA
wants to remind you that this event is not appropriate for children to attend.
Last night was the Farmland Winter piano recital. Our children had been practicing
diligently for many months and we had a delightful opportunity to reap the enjoyment of the
fruits of their efforts. We were not disappointed- they performed magnificently! I marvel at
how they put so much self-discipline and effort into practicing to be able to learn how to play
and perform in front of an audience. Mrs. Strumpf is to be commended on this
accomplishment in guiding our children to achieve. We also want to recognize Vicki Dunn
and Elizabeth Hayes for all their work and energy in making piano an option for our
children to cultivate their creative sides. Many thanks to Mrs. Powelson and Mrs. Peters for
taking the time to attend to enjoy their students’ performances.
“Just because you have a disability doesn’t mean you have a disadvantage.”
- Autistic Valedictorian student with a 4.0 GPA going to college to study Applied Math.
Warmest regards,
Mrs.. (Mary) Bliss
Important Dates
March 1
 PTA Meeting 7:00 pm
March 2
 Family Life – Parent
Info. Mtg 4:30 pm
March 23
 3rd Marking Period
Ends
March 24
 No School for Students
March 25
 Holiday – No School
March 28
 Holiday – No School
March 29 – April 1
 Spring Break – No
School
April 4
 No School – Professional
Day
April 5
 PTA Meeting 7:00 pm
April 6
 Celebration Assemblies
April 12
 Spring Photos
April 20
 5th Grade to Tilden
 International Night
April 27
 Geography Bowl
April 28
 Take Your Child to
Work Day
Page 2
Farmland Elementary School
Counselor’s Corner—Stephanie Mann
Positive Behavior Interventions & Supports (PBIS)
Spring is in the air. Please review with your children the Farmland Three- Be Respectful,
Be Responsible and Be Safe. Ask them to discuss examples of ways that they can use
these expectations to help them learn and participate in school. Please also ask them to
discuss ways the Farmland Three can be used at home and in the community.
· Be Respectful
· Be Responsible
· Be Safe
Counseling Lesson
During March, I will be discussing “Citizenship” in all classes. Students will identify ways to be a good
citizen. In addition, students in grades K-2 will also be learning about the definition of acceptance. They
will be able to identify similarities and differences among students within the school community and be
able to recognize that our differences are what make us unique. In grades 3-5, students will be learning
about conflict resolution. Students will be able to identify problem solving steps and apply those steps to
real life problems. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. My email address is Stephanie_
[email protected] and my telephone number is 301-230-5919. I look forward to working with you and your child!
Let’s Talk About Character
The Pillar of Character for the month of March and April is Citizenship. Students at Farmland show Citizenship by following the Farmland Three and cooperating with others.
Citizenship means: do your share to make your school and community better, cooperate, get involved in community affairs,
stay informed-vote, be a good neighbor, obey laws and rules, respect authority, and protect the environment.
Career Day at Farmland
Our annual Career Day will be on Friday April 29th. The purpose of Career Day is to allow students the opportunity to learn about different career options and to learn about different skills that are required for different careers. We are currently searching for a variety of presenters. If you would like to share your exciting
career with our students, please contact me by email at [email protected] or by telephone at
MSA SCIENCE
This year every 5th grader will be tested on Maryland State Assessment (MSA) Science during March. Each student will take the test
using the Chromebook provided to them. This year, testing will
take place on March 2 and March 4. Testing begins promptly at
9:30am so please make sure your child arrives to school on time. If
a child arrives late, they are not able to join their testing group until the next session begins.
If you have any questions please call the main office at 301-230-5919. Thank you.
Daylight Savings Time Begins on
March 13th.
Don’t forget to set your clocks ahead
one hour.
Page 3
Farmland Elementary School
Music News
Music News and Notes from Anne Kasab, Theresa Kormann, and Rose
Weich
What will students learn during music in March?
In March, students will be working on mastering a variety of skills during their music classes.
Kindergarten This month students will continue to learn and show that symbols can be used to
represent sounds in music and that music can have a steady beat. The students will demonstrate
their learning for the measurement topic reading music by identifying picture symbols representing long/short and high/low
sounds in music. They will demonstrate their learning by playing various classroom instruments and using their voices and
bodies to represent the steady beat. Our critical thinking skill focus will be on synthesis and our academic success skill focus
will be on effort, motivation, and persistence.
First grade This month students will demonstrate their learning for the measurement topic creating by learning how to
improvise using instruments to enhance a story or song. They will also continue to show they can read and notate music by
aurally and visually identifying simple rhythm and pitch patterns. The students will show their learning through paper and
pencil activities to show they can read and perform quarter notes, quarter rests, eighth notes, and so and mi on a modified
staff. The students will also demonstrate their learning for the measurement topic performing music by performing on
classroom instruments. Our critical thinking skills focus will be on synthesis and our academic success skill focus will be on
effort, motivation, and persistence.
Second grade This month students will demonstrate their ability to create music by improvising rhythmic and melodic
phrases using their voices, bodies, and classroom instruments, such as rhythm sticks, drums, and xylophones. They will
continue to practice reading and notating music by composing and performing simple rhythm and pitch patterns with and
without using a five-line staff. Our critical thinking skills focus will be flexibility and our academic success skill focus will be
intellectual risk taking.
Third grade This month students will learn that musical symbols can be interpreted to read music. The students will
continue to learn and perform simple melodies on classroom instruments, such as xylophones, using G, A, and B on the staff
to demonstrate their learning for the measurement topic reading and notating. The students will demonstrate their learning
for the measurement topic analyzing and responding to music by describing and demonstrating different ways to show
expressive qualities of music. Our critical thinking skills focus will be on originality and our academic success skill focus will
be intellectual risk taking.
Fourth grade This month students will continue to use music vocabulary to describe examples of music that represent
musical styles and traditions from various historical periods and world cultures. Students will demonstrate their learning
topic of analyzing and responding to music by performing spirituals and explaining their use and significance and how it
relates to different genres of music. They will also demonstrate their learning for the measurement topic reading and
notating by writing rhythmic phrases from dictation. Our critical thinking skill focus will be on evaluation and our academic
success skill focus will be on metacognition.
Fifth grade This month students will continue to demonstrate their learning for the measurement topic analyze and
responding to music by identifying differences in two performances or arrangements of the same selection of music. They will
focus on various elements of music and will be able to make comparisons and elaborate on their descriptions of the
differences and similarities they hear. Students will also take intellectual risks as they practice notating short melodic
phrases from dictation; reading and notating is another measurement topic for this quarter. Our critical thinking skill focus
will be on elaboration and our academic success skill focus is on intellectual risk taking.
Contact Information:
Anne Kasab: [email protected]
Theresa Kormann: [email protected]
Rose Weich: [email protected]
Page 4
Farmland Elementary School
Art News
What will students learn during art in March?
Kindergarten—My First Clay Pot
Students in Kindergarten will be introduced to the properties of clay. With this being our first
experience with natural clay, students will experiment with the material and compare/contrast
it to modeling clay and Play-Do. Students will then learn about the pinch pot method of pottery,
to make their own clay pinch pot! After pots are bisque fired, students will decorate their pinch pots with glaze to give their
pot a smooth texture. Students will demonstrate understanding by manipulating the clay with the pinch method to create a
flower pot, while using color glaze and texture.
First Grade—Rousseau Jungle Landscapes
Students will be introduced to the artist Henri Rousseau and his Jungle landscape paintings. Though Rousseau created very
realistic Jungle scenes, he spent his whole life in the city of Paris. Instead, along with his imagination, he studied exotic
plants at Botanical Gardens and wild animals at the zoo. Like Rousseau, students will also do some research to paint their
own jungle landscape, by observing plants from around the art room and pictures of wild animals. Students will demonstrate
an understanding by creating an original jungle painting scene with 2-3 different types of jungle plants and 2-3 different types
of jungle animals.
Second Grade—Stitchery Story Cloth
Second grade students will learn about stitchery and how it’s like painting with a needle. They will be introduced to three
stitching techniques: the running stitch, the cross stitch and the crouching stitch. After reading the story of the Raven by Gerald McDermott, students will compare McDermott’s Raven illustrations to other animals found in traditional blankets and
totem poles from the Pacific Northwest. Using burlap and colored yarn, students will design and stitch an animal story cloth.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of textile stitching by successfully using 2-3 different stitching techniques to
create the shapes and patterns of their Pacific Northwest animal.
Third Grade—Clay Aztec Calendars
Students will study the Ancient Aztecs of Mexico and their giant stone sculpture called the Sun Stone. Not only an ancient
sculpture, this stone also functioned as a calendar for the Aztecs, with picture symbols for their days, years and even events,
circling around the important center sun. Students will learn the slab clay handbuilding technique, where a piece of clay is
rolled out into a flat, even surface. Out of their clay slab they will carve and construct a NEW Sun Stone. Students will
demonstrate proficiency by rolling out a clay slab and adding all their calendar symbols by carving in or added on raised relief.
Fourth Grade—Molas
Students in Fourth Grade will learn about Mola art by Kuna Indians of San Blas Islands near Panama. In this culture, the
Kuna Indian women traditionally created fabric artwork called Molas by using a reverse appliqué sewing technique, where
color fabrics are layered and then shapes or patterns were cut away from the top layer to revel the colors underneath. Students will demonstrate an understanding by creating an original bird themed Mola out of colored construction paper. Their
paper Mola must correctly use both appliqué and reverse appliqué cutting techniques as well as including two different Kuna
Indian inspired patterns in the background.
Fifth Grade—Shoe’s Value
Drawing from observation, fifth grade students will be drawing one of their shoes. Sounding simple, students will start off by
drawing a contour or outlines of their shoe. All students will be encouraged to draw what they actually see and not what they
think they see. After the shoe’s inner details and textures are added, student will focus on creating a three-dimensional shoe
drawing using value. Students will discover how to make different light and dark tones by using several value techniques; (i.e.
shading, stippling, cross-hatching and cast shadows). Students will demonstrate understanding by correctly using two or more
value techniques to create an accurate drawing of their shoe’s form.
Contact Information:
Carlos Rodriguez
[email protected]
Page 5
Farmland Elementary School
Media Center News
What will students learn when they visit the media center during the month of March?
During March, we continue to read our Black-Eyed Susan picture books in
the lower grades, and upper grade students are encouraged to read the chapter books. Voting for favorite books will occur after spring break. Some of
the highlights in the coming weeks by grade:
LFI: Students visit the media center every week and activities include a read aloud, with student engagement through retelling of the story or a related activity, songs to complement the
theme of the book, free reading time, and a fine motor skill activity.
Kindergarten: Students will look at a digital tool to illustrate their informational writing
piece about an animal. Students will learn the importance of citing to your source.
Grade 1: Students will be researching about a place and finding out what sites are interesting
to visit there. They will create a brochure about that place.
Grade 2: Students will discuss the Black-Eyed Susan books and form opinions related to what
they like and don’t like about a text. They will write a book review and two students from
each class will have theirs filmed and shown on the morning announcements. Students will
begin work on their typing skills in the computer lab.
Grade 3: Students are working on writing a realistic fiction story. Media lessons will focus on
finding relevant digital images to illustrate their story, note-taking of details about a setting
to support the story, and creation of a citation.
Grade 4: Students are working on a project relating to analysis of advertising. They will rewrite an advertisement to make it more responsible.
Grade 5: Students will be working on creating a book trailer for the science fiction story that
they are writing. Students will learn to use a new technology, a Google App called WeVideo,
on their Chromebooks.
If you are interested in searching for books in our catalog please go to https://
destiny.mcpsmd.org and click on Farmland and then Catalog.
Happy Reading!
Mrs. Gleeson
Page 6
Farmland Elementary School
PE News
Kindergarten
Students will be working on balancing and identifying healthy ways to live.
Physical education students will also be reading 3 books at home to fulfill the
Keys for Reading Program. This is a reading program where students get a
free ticket voucher to a Frederick Keys minor league baseball game in April.
Thank you to those students who participated in Jump Rope for Heart . It
was a huge success and very heart-warming to know that our Farmland family is so generous when it comes
to helping others in need!
First Grade
Students will be working on gymnastics rolls (pencil, log, egg) and identifying reasons to exercise. Physical
education students will also be reading 3 books at home to fulfill the Keys for Reading Program. This is a
reading program where students get a free ticket voucher to a Frederick Keys minor league baseball game in
April. Thank you to those students who participated in Jump Rope for Heart . It was a huge success and
very heart-warming to know that our Farmland family is so generous when it comes to helping others in need!
Second Grade
Students will be working on transferring body weight onto and off of equipment and identifying healthy
choices. Physical education students will also be reading 3 books at home to fulfill the Keys for Reading
Program. This is a reading program where students get a free ticket voucher to a Frederick Keys minor
league baseball game in April. Thank you to those students who participated in Jump Rope for Heart . It
was a huge success and very heart-warming to know that our Farmland family is so generous when it comes
to helping others in need!
Third Grade
Students will be working on creating a sequence that involves balancing, rolling and weight transfer and
identifying rules for a social setting. Physical education students will also be reading 3 books at home to
fulfill the Keys for Reading Program. This is a reading program where students get a free ticket voucher
to a Frederick Keys minor league baseball game in April. Thank you to those students who participated in
Hoops for Heart. It was a huge success and very heart-warming to know that our Farmland family is so
generous when it comes to helping others in need!
Fourth Grade
Students will be working on creating a sequence that involves balancing, rolling and weight transfer and
identifying rules for a social movement setting. Physical education students will also be reading 3 books at
home to fulfill the Keys for Reading Program. This is a reading program where students get a free ticket
voucher to a Frederick Keys minor league baseball game in April. Thank you to those students who
participated in Hoops for Heart. It was a huge success and very heart-warming to know that our Farmland
family is so generous when it comes to helping others in need!
Fifth Grade
Students will be working on creating a gymnastic sequence that involves a balanced beginning and end
position, a roll, transfer of weight from feet to hands to feet, smoothing transitions and a soft landing and how
to resolve a conflict in a movement setting. Physical education students will also be reading 3 books at home
to fulfill the Keys for Reading Program. This is a reading program where students get a free ticket
voucher to a Frederick Keys minor league baseball game in April. Thank you to those students who
participated in Hoops for Heart. It was a huge success and very heart-warming to know that our Farmland
family is so generous when it comes to helping others in need!
Page 7
PTA
Hi Farmland Families,
Tuesday, March 1st is our next PTA meeting at 7pm.
Immediately following our meeting, we will have a
presentation by Sgt. Sanger, MCPD, Exploitation
Section to discuss internet safety and our children.
This is such an important topic to learn about as our
children get older and more involved in technology. If
your child has any interaction with the internet, this
presentation is highly recommended. Due to the
nature of the content, this is not appropriate for
children.
Get those BoxTops in this week! Your
child will get a SPIRIT STICK for every
25 BoxTops they bring in to school! Our
BoxTop collection WILL NOT end this
week for the year but it is the cut-off for
the 2015-2016 rewards year. We are only 500 short of
our goal!!!!!
Farmland Elementary School
Elementary Foreign Language Immersion
Programs
Parents who are interested in
having their child attend an
Elementary Foreign Language
Immersion Program are
encouraged to visit the website,
www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/specialpr
ograms/ to begin the application process. Parents may
participate in the immersion lottery process using the
Elementary Immersion Interest Form, which can be
found on the website. You may also call the Division
of Consortia Choice and Application Program Services
(DCCAPS) at 301-592-2040 for more information. The
application deadline is April 8, 2016
Lost and Found
Parents, please make sure
International Night is April 20th! Mark your
to write you child's first
calendars! Farmland families represent more than 70
and last names on their
different nationalities! Please consider sharing a
special part of your heritage with the Farmland
clothing so we can try and
community. Dances, songs, and performances are
return any items that
very welcome. Information on how to get started will
might get lost. Also,
follow in the coming weeks. Start thinking about this
parents, when visiting
with friends and family today! More information
Farmland please take the
coming soon!
time to look through our lost and found to find any
lost items.
Deadline for YEARBOOK candid pictures is less
than 1 month away!!! Please load your candid
pictures into the ReplayIt App:
1. Go to www.replayit.com or download app
2. To register, find Farmland Elementary School.
3. Enter our password: "Farmland" and agree to the
terms of use.
4. Under "Choose Your Registration Method" select
"Create ReplayIt account."
5. Enter the required information and click
"Register."
6. Select "Submit Photos" to upload photos
***OR You can also send your pictures to Jennifer
Kindergarten Orientation
Eckel at [email protected]***
Follow us on Facebook (Farmland PTA) which will
help us keep you informed!
We are utilizing our website http://www.farmlandpta.org , so you can check there for ALL PTA info!
Thank you!
Amanda Michalowicz
Farmland
April 18—19
If you have a future Kindergartener please call the
main office to schedule an appointment at 301-2305919. If you have a friend or neighbor who has a
future Kindergartener tell them to call the main
office to schedule an appointment.
***Note there is no school for current
Kindergarteners on April 18-19***
Jump Rope for Heart
Jump Rope
for Heart
Grades K,1,2
Hoops
for Heart
Grades 3,4,5
$10,419
Donated to the American Heart Association
Thank you to the students, teachers, staff, administrators, parents,
family and friends that helped Farmland Elementary School raise
money to help in the fight against heart disease! Many of us have
stories about family, close friends, or even ourselves with respect to
heart disease. This is not a surprising coincidence. Heart disease
is the number one cause of death in the U.S.
We had a total of 237 students bring in an average of $43.96 each
to give to the American Heart Association. Some students brought
in a handful of pennies. Some students brought in a handful of bills.
Some students brought in hundreds of dollars via online donations,
written checks and matching gift donations. Everyone who
participated should be commended for their effort to help other
people in need. The American Heart Association “Thank You” gifts
for each participant should arrive by the middle of March.
Sincerely,
Mr. Adkins
Mrs. Pickett
Top Ten 2016 Jump Rope for Heart Donation Earners
First Name
Last Name
Teacher
Grade
Total Collected
Caivs
Wagner
Mann
1
470
Arya
Connor
Alemansour
Unnithan
2
410
Luecking
Basra
1
350
Isaac
Torres
Bardin
2
258
Rylie
Alley
Basra
1
230
William
Menard
LoSapio
2
180
Grace
Worch
Unnithan
2
155
Mikey
Hennemuth
Basra
1
150
Mira
Mann
Roberts
1
145
Dain
Phillips
Rachel
2
130
Top Ten 2016 Hoops for Heart Donation Earners
First Name
Last Name
Teacher
Grade
Total Collected
Seth
Stein
Buffano
3
665
Richard
Wagner
Weissenburger
4
470
Tom
Spanswick
Weissenberger
4
250
John
Jernell
Heckleman
3
225
Dylan
Himelfarb
Ortiz
3
165
Maddie
Hennemuth
Weissenburger
4
150
Ben
Taylor
Peters
4
150
Maria
Burrus
Heckelman
3
140
Arielle
Boxt
Heckelman
3
131
Margaret
Menard
Murphy
5
130