McNab Matters May/June 2014

Russell Schwartz, Principal Clarice Johnston, Assistant Principal

Finishing Fifth Grade We are very proud of all our 5th grade boys and girls. They worked very hard to prepare for the FCAT and we know it will show on the test! We will now move into “getting ready for 6th grade” in math. We have twenty lessons that will help the children when entering into middle school. In reading we will be moving back into our Journeys series. We have two more units in science to complete, Changes in Environment and Plant and Animal Adaptations. Then we will begin our group biome projects. The students really enjoy the projects and it is a great way to end the year! In social studies we are moving and the American Revolution and Westward Expansion. We also have some very exciting events coming up. The 5th grade will take their trip to SeaWorld on May14th, which I know we are all very excited about. On May 16th we will participate in Career Day thanks to Mrs. Ryan. She put a lot of hard work into it, and the day is always a huge success! There is an author coming to speak to the children on May 20th and we have roller-skating on the 22nd. As always we will have our annual kickball game on June 2nd and the 5th grade “cookout.” Middle School day is on June 3rd. The students will spend 30 minutes with each 5th grade teacher before traveling to the next class. We want to say Thank You to all the parents for a wonderful year and we will see you at the Moving Up Ceremony on June 5th.

McNab Families, It is amazing that we are at the end of the 2013-14 school year. 2013-14 will be remembered for being the first year McNab had a Unified Dress Policy and the first year we operated our own aftercare, MASK. As the year winds down, make sure that you keep up with the calendar and join us at our exciting events. We reluctantly have to say goodbye to some of our McNab family. We wish Ms. Norton and Ms. Schor the greatest of retirements. We wish our outstanding 5th grade students the best of luck and success as they move into middle school. We will miss all of our students over the summer but we are excited for the 2014-15 school year. We look forward to welcoming back our returning students, new Kindergarten students, and other new students to McNab. Please share with the community that we are always accepting new registrations. Lastly, it is vital that every family completes the application for Free/Reduced Lunch. Regardless if you participate in the Free/Reduced Lunch program, you should still complete the application for next year. In closing, I wish you a restful break filled with many learning moments for you and your family. See you on August 18th!!! Mr. Russ Schwartz Principal Calendar of Events 5/5-5/9 Teacher Appreciation Week 5/8 Mother’s Day Cake Decorating 5/12 School Tour 8:30 am 5/14 5th Grade Sea World Trip 5/15 BINGO BASH 5/16 Career Day 5/19 SAC Meeting 2:15pm 5/20 Book Exchange 7:30 am 5/20 Visiting Author: Andrew Trifoli 5/21 PTA mtg/Volunteer Celebration 5:30 pm 5/23 No School/Teacher Planning 5/26 No School/Memorial Day 5/31 Family Fun Day 10am-3pm

KeepingUpwithKindergarten

Kindergarten is buzzing with activity as the students approach the final weeks of their first year in “real school.” They will be learning about the plant life cycle with hands-on activities and observation of a variety of plants growing in their classrooms. Then they will be introduced to the world of butterflies, as they watch tiny caterpillars grow into plump caterpillars, become a chrysalis, and emerge as beautiful butterflies to be released into the McNab butterfly gardens. Our young mathematicians will continue their exploration of 3-dimensional shapes: spheres, cones, cubes, and cylinders. We will also be exploring the concept of time: time of day, time of year, days of the week, and months of the year. You can help your child can make a schedule of his/her weekly activities to make this learning authentic! The students will learn to measure objects using nonstandard units of measurement such as paper clips and plastic cubes. Have your child use paper clips to measure objects in your home. During reading instruction, your child will continue to learn the foundational skills of phonics and word recognition. They will identify key ideas and details, characters, settings, and major events in a story, ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text, etc. For more information on how to help your child become an independent reader, go to http://www.definingthecore.com and click on the Parents link. This is an invaluable resource to learn more about Florida’s Common Core State Standards. As summer approaches and your child gets ready for first grade, it is crucial that you read with your child for 20 to 30 minutes daily. Your child might also enjoy keeping a “summer” journal to write about the interesting things that happen during summer break. The hot humid days of summer are also a great time to make the local library one of your favorite hangouts! The kindergarten teachers are honored to have been an integral part of the children’s educational experience and we hope that your child has many happy memories of their time in kindergarten!

Phenomenal Fourth Grade Congratulations to all of our fourth graders for their hard work on the FCAT. Please keep in mind that we are still continuing to prepare for 5th grade and the students still have many new things to learn. Our trip to the Everglades was fantastic! The students had a great time on the airboat ride and viewing the birds, fish, and alligators up close. They also saw many native and endangered animals in the wildlife exhibits. A great time was had by all! The Green Week activities were fun and educational. Please ask your child how you can help the environment. The recycling projects were a great way of turning trash into treasure; all of the projects were very clever. Please encourage your child to complete their homework and assignments every day to ensure that they are able to participate in the end of the year activities. We want everyone to be on their best behavior and end the year on a good note. As the end of the year quickly approaches, please keep in mind that summer is 10 weeks long and it is imperative that your child read, write, and practice math skills (especially the multiplication tables) daily in order to keep their minds sharp. Use it or lose it! Have a wonderful summer and we will see you in August!

Please refrain from using your cell phones when dropping off and

picking up your students from school in the car loop. It takes all of us to

keep the children safe!

Terrific Third Grade Even though the school year is winding down, we are still diligently working on mastering our multiplication and division facts as well as reviewing previous concepts taught. We have completed the Go Math 3rd grade textbook. If your teacher sends home this book, please keep it as a reference to review skills over the summer. In class, we are working on the “Getting Ready for 4th Grade” lessons in the students’ practice book. In Reading, we are still working on improving fluency and comprehension skills. Some skills we will continue to focus on are Story Structure, Compare and Contrast, Sequence of Events, Author’s Purpose, and Text and Graphic Features just to name a few. Our third grade scientists will be learning about different forms of energy, heat and how living things change. In addition, please continue to practice your state capitals, locations, and abbreviations. Fourth quarter test on the Southeast region is May 8th. In order for your children to make a successful transition into 4th grade, please continue to do the following...study your multiplication and division facts, and READ, READ, READ!! Another great idea would be to keep a writing journal to document summer activities, as well as spending quality time with your family. Please be on the lookout for more information regarding our last and final field trip on May 22 as well as end of the year activities to help your children celebrate their success this year. The third grade teachers have enjoyed learning and growing with your children and will miss them greatly. Thank you for your continued support, have a restful and fun summer.

Clothing Bank We are looking to start a uniform clothing bank. If you would like to donate uniforms that are gently used and/or too small for your child(ren) please send them into the front office. Any 5th

grade student who turns in their gently used uniforms will be able to be “uniform free” for the final 2 weeks of school. They will be given a “pass” from the office when they turn in their clothing.

Sensational Second Grade It has been a wonderful year in 2nd Grade! We have studied many exciting subjects, made special memories and prepared ourselves for 3rd Grade. However, the year is not yet over, so we will continue to work, study and learn right up to the end! In Social Studies we are diving into Economics and learning about sensible choices when it comes to goods, services, wants and needs. We are discussing these concepts in our classrooms and applying good choices into our everyday lives outside of the classroom. We've "reached our limit" in math, having completed our measurement unit. Now, we are reading and making charts and learning how to analyze data on pictographs, tally, and bar graphs. And, before the year is over we will have "shaped" up with geometry too!!! In Science we'll study various life cycles of plants, animals, and people. Reading and Language Arts is taking us into amazing worlds of folklore and nonfiction stories based in science! Through these insightful and interesting stories we are using our critical thinking skills like cause and effect, identifying main ideas and details, and predicting and inferring. These skills will be tested on our End Of Year testing that will take place the week of May 12th. It is an important test and the children have worked hard preparing for it. They are ready to show what they know! Please help your child prepare by getting a good night's rest and eating a healthy breakfast. Even though we are very busy with lessons, we have still made some time for fun events too. We have some fun projects and surprises being made in our rooms and our End of the Year Carnival on May 30th is just around the corner! Letters and information will be sent home soon with more details about this exciting event. We will need some parent volunteers to help out that day so keep an eye out for the Carnival Information Letter. From now until June, keep reading daily for a minimum of 30 minutes, study those addition, subtraction, and multiplying flashcards, and work diligently on classwork, homework and projects. Keep up the good work habits and don't let summer vacation take over yet!!!

Fantastic First Grade During the week of May 12, 2014, your Fabulous First Grader will be taking the End-Of-Year Assessments in Reading and Math. Please continue to read daily with your child, to insure that he/she will do as well as possible. Remember to ask specific questions, like what happened in the beginning, middle, and end of the story, who were the characters and what was the setting of the story? As always, make sure your child gets plenty of rest and arrives to school on time. Our First Grade End-Of-Year Party is on May 29. On that day your child needs to bring an already blown-up, inflatable beach ball. You can usually find one at the Dollar Store this time of year. Put their name on it with a permanent marker and send the marker to school so they can autograph each other's beach balls. They may also bring a beach towel and a board game to play with their friends. We are also asking parents to donate the snacks for that day. We need juice boxes, small bottles of water, and small individual packages of chips. Watch for a FUN IN THE SUN flyer to come home with your child. The last few chapters of our Math book teaches us about, Graphing, Tallies, Three-Dimensional Shapes and Flat Shapes. Then we cover a section called, "Getting Ready for Second Grade." Can you believe it? They are almost ready to move on. It goes so fast! Pretty soon they'll be off to college.

VOLUNTEERS

V aluable O utstanding in how you always come through L oyal, sincere U ntiring in your efforts N otable contributions you make T rustworthy in every project you do E ager to reach very goal E ffective in your role R eady with a smile S pecial and wonderful

We want to thank our wonderful volunteers who so generously gave their time

this year to make McNab the best school ever! Please join

us on May 21st at the PTA meeting so we can honor you!

Please Remember:

School Starts at 8am and students are marked tardy if they are not sitting in their classrooms ready for instructions at that time. Also, when your child is absent for any reason, please call the front office to excuse them or bring in a doctor’s note if possible. Five unexcused absences cause a five-day letter to be generated by the state attorney’s office and you may have to meet with administration. Thanks for your cooperation!

Don’t forget to wear you McNab Mustangs shirt every Friday to show your

school spirit!!