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Upcoming Events:
March 3rd: School Planning Day (No School for Students)
March 5th: Anmol’s 5th Birthday
March 11th: PTA Meeting @ 7PM in the library
March 18th: TL Math Night
March 27th: Heritage Showcase
What Are We Learning?
Dear Families,
February was another wonderful month as we continued to learn about winter and talk a bit about Valentine’s Day with an emphasis on friendship and mail carriers. We continued working in our small groups, went on shape hunts, played name bingo, and wrote letters to our families. Please be on the lookout for mail from your child.
This month we will explore the properties of magnets, learn about more community helpers and hopefully begin to observe the first signs of spring. We will also look at maps to explore different places and to see what they represent as well as discuss the buildings in our own community and neighborhoods. We are working hard to try to write our names or at least our first letters, please help us practice at home.
The students are more and more connected to each other at this point in the year and are still learning how to manage their friendships and the appropriate ways to treat each other as well as problem solve. We are always working on building these skills as they grow and learn each day.
Best,
Ms. Danielle, Ms. Hanna, Ms. Rose, and Ms. Lauren
Books We Have Enjoyed:
- There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Rose
- The Napping House
- Sky Color
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Knock Knock
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The Three Bears
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Me on the Map!
- A Letter to Amy
- Love Matters Most
- Construction workers Help
- One Big Building
Songs We Have Enjoyed:
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt
Take Me Out to the Ball Game with Scarves
I Get Up to Get Down
Pop See Ko
Penguin Dance
Count to 20 and workout!
Police Car Dance
Teacher information:
Ms. Rose: rosei@fcps.edu
Ms. Danielle: dsfritz@fcps.edu
 This Month's Themes:
This month we will be working on the following themes:
-Community Helpers
BIRTHDAY CORNER!!!
Happy Birthday to:
-Mr. Daniel’s birthday is March 5th!
If you would like to celebrate with your child, please let me know a week in advance to make arrangements!
Suggested Books and Activities
Books
-Who’s Tools are These?
-Who’s Hat is This?
-Jobs Around My Neighborhood
Activities
-Engage in dramatic play, acting out different jobs/roles in our community (i.e.-police officer, firefighter, doctor, teacher, mailman, etc).
-Work on conceptual words with your child by playing hide-and-seek (i.e. “I’m hiding under the blanket,” “I’m hiding behind the couch,” “I’m hiding next to the table,” etc.)
Other Information
-We have a busy month ahead of us with many visits from Community Helpers that live around us! We will be visited by a police officer, firefighter, librarian, dentist, nurse, soldier, mechanic, and a teacher (Ms. Cindy’s mom 😊)!! We will take lots of pictures and will be sure to send some home!
-Just a quick note to say how proud I am of every single one of our students! Everything we do at school and everything that YOU do with your child at home is impacting their growth and development. They have each grown in their own way this year and I want to thank you for partnering with me!! Continue to challenge them and enjoy this phase that they are in!
Important Dates
March 3rd: School Planning Day—no school for students
March 10th: Pulcinella Restaurant Fundraiser
March 11th: PTA Meeting at 7pm
March 18th: TL Math Night
March 27th: TL Heritage Showcase
March 30-April 3: Spring Book Fair
Please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments or concerns!
cmabell@fcps.edu
 Reminders:
- Change of clothes should be kept in your child’s backpack
- A healthy snack every day
- Appropriate bed time
Upcoming Events:
March 3-No School
What Are We Learning?
Reading
Our Kindergarten students are continuing to learn about characters in books. They are learning to make predications about what will happen next. The students are learning to observe the pictures in the story, while focusing on the characters’ faces
Writing
Our Kindergarten writers are continuing to write personal narratives. As teachers, we are encouraging the students to write true stories about themselves with the focus of I, meaning that the student is telling the story.
Math
We have begun our unit of study in measurement. Our mathematicians are exploring their world around them by comparing length, height, and weight. The students are encouraged to use vocabulary such as, longer, shorter, taller, heavier, and lighter.
Science
Kindergarten scientists are continuing to learn about water.
Social Studies
Our students are going to learn about the importance of money. They will learn to understand the difference between a want or a need.
Health
Kindergarteners will continue work on being kind to others and sharing.
As always, Thank you for all your support!
 Reminders:
*Please check yellow folders on Wednesday afternoons and return yellow folders on Thursday morning! Thank you!
* If there are any changes to your child's schedule, please email your child's teacher AND TimberLaneES.Attendance@fcps.edu. Use this email if your child will be late, absent, or needs to go home early. Also, use this email for changes in transportation or if someone else will pick up or meet your child. Dismissal changes MUST be emailed before 2:30 pm.
At Home Teaching:
*Please read with your child for 20 minutes every night. When students are solving a word, you can remind them to think about what is happening in the story, break up the parts of the word, and use a word they know. While students are reading, remind them to make a movie in their mind and sound like a reading star!
*Students will be learning how to count money. Have them count different collections of coins. If your child is new to counting money, start with a group of the same type of coins (all nickels or all dimes) before mixing the money.
Upcoming Events:
March 3rd: No school
March 13th: Math Night
6:00 pm-7:15 pm
Come to learn about addition and subtraction strategies in first grade and enjoy a piece of pie!
April 6th – 10th: Spring Break
What Are We Learning?
Reading: We are learning to How to be a Reading Star and Understand our Books. Readers are learning to pay attention to punctuation, use dialogue tags (said, yelled, whispered) to match the feeling, and change our voice to sound like the characters. To help understand our books, readers are learning how to check in to make sure they know what is happening and to make a movie in their mind to picture the story.
Writing: We are writing Realistic Fiction Stories. We are completing our realistic fiction stories and learning how to add talking, feeling, and action to help our reader picture our story. We will be starting our Content Area Research Books. Students will pick an animal and research facts to create a research book.
Math: We are beginning our Money Unit. Students are learning how to identify the value of coins. Students will learn how to count a mixed collection of coins and create a value with different coins.
Science: We are learning about Plant Characteristics. Students are learning about the needs of a plant as well as the parts of a plant and how they function.
Social Studies: We will be learning about Geography. Students will create their own maps and learn about landmarks.
 Dates to Remember:
March 3
No school- staff planning day
March 10
Pulcinella Restaurant Fundraiser 5-8 pm
March 11
PTA Meeting 7 pm
March 13
Family Math Night 6-7:30
March 30- April 3
Spring Book Fair
From the Teachers:
Interims will go home on March 4!
Reminders:
We eat lunch from 11:15-11:45 and 11:30-12:00
Our specials are from 2:30-3:30.
Please send in a healthy snack for your child each day.
What are we learning about in March?
Reading: Students will learn how to dig deeper into the meaning of the story. Readers will begin to summarize what they have read and find the “big idea” the author wants us to know.
Writing: Students will: understand that well-crafted, persuasive writing influences the reader’s thinking, feeling, or action; understand that in a democratic society people have the right to voice opinions, and persuasive writing is an effective tool to impact the thinking of others; understand that writers use feedback from others to clarify ideas and broaden perspective in order to strengthen their arguments.
Math: Students will understand that: numbers and operations can be represented in multiple ways (visually, symbolically, verbally, contextually, and physically); estimation provides a useful approximation for a situation; flexible methods of computation involve taking apart and combining numbers; for a given set of numbers there are relationships that are always true, and there are rules that govern arithmetic and algebra.
Science: Students will explore answers to these questions: How can matter be classified? How can matter change? How can forces cause an object to move? How can forces be used to help everyday life?
Social Studies: Students will explore the nature of economics: will describe natural, human, and capital resources; will distinguish between the use of barter and the use of money in exchange for goods and services; will explain that scarcity (limited resources) requires people to make choices about producing and consuming goods and services.
If there are any changes to your child’s schedule please email your child’s teacher AND TimberLaneES.Attendance@fcps.edu
Use this email if your child will be late, absent or needs to go home early. Also use this email for changes in transportation or if someone else will pick up or meet your child. Dismissal changes must be emailed before 2:30 pm.
 Reminders:
Every Wednesday night is Open Library/STEM night from 5:00-7:00 in the Library.
Don’t forget to READ 20 mins every night!
Parents: Please contact the office when students are going to be out or leave early.
Upcoming Events:
Mar 10-11 – Reading Horizon Test
Mar 13 – Living Museum 2:15-3:15
Mar 13 – Math Night 6-7:15
Mar 19-20 – Math Horizon Test
What Are We Learning?
Reading: We are working hard on our Biography unit. Please join us for our Living Museum on Friday, March 13th from 2:15-3:15 in the cafeteria! After that, we will be learning about poetry.
Writing: We are working hard to finish our research for our Living Museum. After that, we will be writing poems.
Math: We are finishing up our unit on measurement and will be coming back to fractions next. This time around we will be learning how to add and subtract fractions with the same denominator. After that, we will be returning to multiplication and division.
Compacted Math: We are wrapping up their final unit on fractions. Students should be able to find equivalent fractions and understand benchmark fractions. (halves, fourths, eighths) (thirds, sixths, twelfths) (fifths, tenths). Students should also be able to add and subtract fractions. Our next unit we will begin working on in March is geometry where students will be able to define and identify properties of polygons with 10 or fewer sides.
Science/Social Studies: We are beginning our Science unit on Soil. Our next Social Studies unit will be on ancient Greece and ancient Rome.
 We know the 4th graders enjoyed our classroom Valentine’s Celebrations! Many thanks from all the teachers for all the love and friendship you show us all year long.
Hugs,
Mrs. Davis, Mrs. Gilster, Ms. Wilson & Ms. Wagner
Upcoming Events:
Feb. 12 - March 13 Social Studies Units on The New Nation & The Civil War
March 3 Teacher Workday-No school for students
March 4 3rd Quarter Interims go home in Wednesday Folders
March 12 & 13 FCPS Ecart Reading Assessment Day 1 & 2
March. 17th - Science Unit 3 “Magnetism and Electricity” Begins
What We Are Learning
Reading/Writing: Next up in Reading is “Critical Literacy”. Critical literacy is about reading and analyzing all text thoughtfully, taking position, power, bias, and assumptions into consideration as readers work to deepen and/or revise their own beliefs and understandings. As students develop this critical eye, encourage them to not only examine media and persuasion in this way, but to value looking at all text through this lens and use this skill as a lifelong reader.
Next up in writing, “Persuasive Reviews”. Children often try to convince or persuade their parents and other children to buy an item, to play a specific game, or to take them to a favorite place. They naturally engage in persuasion through oral language. This unit capitalizes on students’ experiences persuading others and supports the connection between oral and written language. By studying and analyzing persuasive reviews, students learn how to craft a compelling review that considers their intended audience.
Math: We are well into unit 5 multiplication and division part 2. This unit requires students to use strategies to multiply and divide using larger numbers. Unit 5’s test is Friday Feb. 28th. Study Guides for Unit 5 went home 2 weeks ago and are also due on Feb. 28th. March 2 we begin Unit 6 Fractions Part 2. In this unit, students apply the fraction understandings they gained in Unit 2 to adding and subtracting with fractions. Students also use their knowledge of common multiples and factors from Unit 2 and Unit 3 to simplify fractions and find equivalent fractions. Students expand their understanding of the properties and equality to include operations with fractions. Unit 6’s test is Friday March 20th.
Advanced Math: Students are winding up their study of Unit 6, algebraic reasoning. After Algebraic reasoning is Unit 7 Measurement. In this unit, students derive and use formulas to find the perimeter of polygons, the area of squares, rectangles, and right triangles, and the volume of rectangular prisms using manipulatives. They solve practical problems that involve area, perimeter and volume and justify which attribute is most appropriate for a given situation. Students also explore equivalent measurements within the metric system. In addition, they learn strategies to determine elapsed time. Unit 7 is approximately a 3 week unit.
Science: March 17th brings Saint Patrick’s Day and the RETURN of Science! We will be studying Magnetism and Electricity with the outstanding support of Ms. Culpepper. Ms. Culpepper visits our rooms frequently during Science Units and guides us through exciting hands-on-lessons that help us understand the scientific concepts. Magnetism and Electricity introduces fourth graders to basic facts about the characteristics of electricity and magnetism. Opportunities are given to explore what happens when charges build up and cause static electricity. Students discover how to light a bulb and learn to distinguish an open circuit from a closed circuit. The activities require students to construct and compare series and parallel circuits. Students are introduced to energy transformations. A variety of objects are tested to determine if they will conduct electricity. Students investigate the behavior of magnets by exploring magnetic fields and their relationship to electricity. As the students conduct an experiment with electromagnets, they are introduced to the elements of experimental design.
Social Studies: We are currently studying our “New Nation”. Assessment around or about Feb. 26th. After “New Nation” we jump ahead to 1860 and the issues and events leading to “The Civil War”. Students will demonstrate an understanding of the issues that divided our nation and led to the Civil War by:
-Explaining the major events and the differences between northern and southern states that divided Virginians and led to secession, war, and the creation of West Virginia
-Describing Virginia’s role in the war, including identifying major battles that took place in Virginia
- Describing the roles of American Indians, whites, enslaved African Americans and free African Americans
Advanced Academics: In a Full-time Level IV program, changes are made to the curriculum in order to provide an appropriate level of challenge for highly gifted learners with a strong emphasis on critical and creative thinking, and problem-solving...readings and resources that are used in other subject areas are also presented at advanced levels. Students have ongoing opportunities for reflection and self-assessment that develop an understanding of the characteristics, demands, and responsibilities of advanced intellectual development.
Positivity Project: Feb. 18-March 20 we will cover the following character traits: enthusiasm, cheering other’s success, social intelligence, and love of learning.
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Reading
Our current unit is Poetry. Students will uncover the deeper meaning of a poem and understand what poetic elements are and why authors use them. Students will read a wide variety of poetry and thing about the emotions the poems show.
What you can do at home:
● Make sure your child is reading 20-30 minutes on a daily basis
● Ask your child what they are reading…. *What are you thinking about while you read? *Tell me about a character in your story, how are they changing?
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Science
In science we have been reviewing the weather unit from 4th grade. Students have been reviewing information about weather instruments, types of weather, their causes and clouds.
What you can do at home: Ask students to bring home their interactive notebook, or ask them to tell you about what they learned in science that day.
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Math
Our current unit measurement, we will study metric measurement, perimeter, and area, and elapsed time. Students will be able to solve practical problems that involve these measurements.
What you can do at home:
Each night, your student should be reviewing either:
● Multiplication Facts
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Advanced Math
Students are working on learning about proportions. They need to be able to recognize proportional relationships/ graphs, and fill in missing information on a table using proportions.
What you can do at home:
Each night your student should be practicing math for 10 minutes. They can:
- Go on IXL (make sure they are doing 6th grade math)
- Practice converting between fractions, decimals and percents
- Practice problems with integers (-4 x 6)
- Practice multiplying and dividing fractions
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AAP
Students are experiencing differentiated and challenging reading activities which incorporate the following reading skills -Synthesizing -Analyzing -Questioning character motives
-Questions authors’ choices -Making connections to bigger, real world ideas
Students are participating in book clubs where they are analyzing the text, the plot and character changes
Reading passages connect to our science units
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Writing
Our current unit is Poetry. Students will make choices about the types of poems they want to write, the meaning they want to convey and what poetic elements they want to use to tell their message.
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Dates to Remember: No School: March 3rd
Important Reminders:
*Students should be studying from their math/science notebooks every night for 10 minutes
*Students should read for 30 minutes every night
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Reminders:
- Students should not be bringing gum and candy to school. It continues to be an issue that is distracting from learning and making our learning environment messy.
- Students should be reading each night for at least 30 minutes and using IXL for math at least 20 minutes. Additionally, they should review their history notes.
- Students may NOT use their cellphones from 8:30am until 3:35pm. Usage during this time will result in confiscation and a parent will need to come pick-up the phone from an administrator.
Help Needed:
- Sixth grade will be going on a field trip to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia on June 8. It is a full day trip that starts before school and ends after school. We are looking for parents that are interested in joining us on that trip. Chaperones will oversee a small group through the museum. Please contact your child’s homeroom teacher if you are interested.
- The end of the year is coming quickly! We are looking for a group of parents who are interested in organizing the 6th grade end of year party. Please let Angela Torpy (torpy79@gmail.com) know if you are interested.
Upcoming Events:
- The after school program runs from February 27 – April 30.
- No School: March 3
- Interims Go Home: March 4
- Horizon Reading Assessment: March 18
- Longfellow Tour: March 24
- Horizon Math Assessment: March 25
- Ethics Day: March 27
What Are We Learning?
Reading: We are moving into the end of our historical fiction unit. We have examined the significance of the historical setting in several texts and thought about how authors include universal themes that are applicable in history and in our lives today. Our next unit will focus on reading for research. We will combine this with our historical fiction writing. Additionally, we are continuing to look at the words the author used and breaking them apart, specifically looking for common roots. We have been and will continue to use The Word Within the Word resource from the Level IV AAP curriculum to guide our word study.
Writing: We have finished up our investigative journalism unit and are moving into historical fiction and research writing. Students will create a historical fiction story that focuses on an area of history they have studied this year. Additionally, they will conduct research to provide their reader with informational paragraphs and footnotes to help the reader better understand the historical setting. The William and Mary Research Model from the Level IV AAP curriculum will be used as a guide in our research.
Math: We’re revisiting proportions, this time with graphing. Students can practice this skill on IXL.com doing the starred exercises in section R. We’ll have our test the end of the week of March 2, and then move on to geometry where we’ll learn to find area and circumference of circles.
Advanced Math: We are working with probability, learning to understand the difference between theoretical and experimental probability.
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