The COLT Express

The Newsletter of Chester Park Center of Literacy through Technology February 2012

FEATURED WEBSITE: www.xtramath.org

January’s COLT Kids

PTO:

Next Tuesday 2-07-12 is our Earning for Learning night at Wendy's.  Proceeds (10%) from all dining room sales between 5pm-8pm will go directly back into our school!!!!  This money will be used to help with classroom supplies, activities for students, and staff appreciation gifts.  Go enjoy dinner as a family either before or after the Valentine's Dance at Wendy's and help support our school!!! 

Otis Spunkmeyer cookie dough sales will begin next month!!!!  Start telling your friends and family!!!!

From the Clinic: Please make sure all emergency contact numbers are updated.  Once you are contacted to pick up a sick or injured child it is your responsibility to pick them up in a timely manner.  Thank you for your cooperation

Family Math Night
Feb. 23 at 6:00 PM

This is for the entire complex and is sponsored by CCSD Title I parent involvement program.  For more information contact Anitra Hughes, Title I Parent Training Facilitator at 803-581-7282 ext. 4427 or

E-mail at ahughes@chester.k12.sc.us

~ Parent Contact ~
Kindergarten – 12:20 to 1:05
First Grade – 11:10 – 11:55
Second Grade – 9:00 – 9:45
Third Grade – 8:10 – 8:55
Fourth Grade – 2:00 – 2:45
Fifth Grade – 1:10 – 1:55

Kindergarten

Kindergarten enjoyed celebrating the 100th day of school.  Many children brought in 100th day collections from home.  The children liked counting out a 100th day snack of different cereals, M&Ms, pretzels and other small foods.  The month of February will be filled with fun learning experiences while we celebrate Black History, Dental Health, President's Day and Valentine's Day.  Please continue reading with your child every day.  We gave out many Book It certificates for January and we want to give out more for the month of February!       

First Grade

In Math your first grader will be learning about addition, fact families, measurement, money and name collection boxes. In Science students will be learning about the sun, moon and stars. We will be doing many different activities. In Social Studies we will be discussing black history month and community jobs. In Writing students should be able to write 3 to 4 sentences by themselves with very few mistakes. For Reading your child should be on a level 6. Students should be practicing words from their first grade word list daily. Also, this month we will be learning about dental health.

Second Grade

In second grade, we are learning many new things. In reading we are focusing on folk tales, fairytales, and fables. You may want to ask your child to share their favorite with you. Magnets are the main topic in science. We have been learning about how opposites attract and using it to help us better understand synonyms and antonyms. In social studies we are learning about our county, state, country, and continent.  Ask your child to tell you the names of the continents and where they are on a map. They can also tell you where their country, state and county are on a map. In math we are busy rounding numbers and adding two digit numbers. You may want to take turns with your child making up your own problems and solving them.

Third Grade

       Third graders are hopping mad with knowledge.  They have become Archeologists this nine weeks!  They will be studying the properties of many rocks and minerals.

     To add some drama, it’s the Confederate States versus the Union States! Third graders are learning about the role the civil war played in American history.

     In Writing, students are researching people who contributed to our state’s history.  They will be using various resources to gather information for their projects. 

   Fractions are Fun! They are learning about making fractions to show less than and greater than a whole.

    Field trip to the State House is February 15^th.

Fourth Grade

      In Math, students are learning about fractions.  They should continue to study all basic facts.  In ELA class, students are learning about reference materials which include dictionary, encyclopedia, atlas, and almanacs.  Students began learning about weather and clouds in science.  In social studies, students are discussing early American political leaders. 

     Please check agendas every day (including Friday) for tests, homework, projects, and letters written by the teacher.  Too many students are failing to complete homework and study for common assessment tests.  Not completing homework and studying for tests is leading to poor grades for many students. 

Fifth Grade

Fifth graders did a wonderful job on their inventions! So much thought was put into them and they learned so much from them!  We have moved on in S.S. to WWI and WWII and students are really enjoying this section of history.  In math, we are busy learning about how we can use the data we collect, fractions, and percents.  In science, we're beginning our motion and design. We're engineering vehicles given different challenges.  In ELA, we have started studying poetry.  We are reading it, understanding it, and some are even writing it!