March Newsletter
Rocket News
"March is an example of how beautiful new beginnings can be."
~ Anamika Mishra
“In March, winter is holding back and spring is pulling forward. Something holds and something pulls inside of us too.”
~ Jean Hersey
We Want Your Input!!
Families will be receiving an active link through Focus on March 4th with survey questions that provide valuable feedback. The survey window is 3/4 - 3/22/24.
Substitute Teachers Needed
Substitute Employment Minimum Qualifications
In order to become a Substitute Teacher with Brevard Public Schools the applicant:
- Must be at least 18 years of age to substitute in Elementary and Middle Schools or be at least 21 years of age to substitute in High Schools.
- Present a valid Social Security and FL Driver's License.
- Be physically able to perform the duties of a substitute teacher.
- Have earned the Minimum Education Requirement (HS Diploma or equivalent).
- Complete all required employment paperwork (See Career Pathway steps)
- Pass required pre-employment screenings (Drug Screening and Security Clearance).
Additionally, the following qualifications are preferred:
- Internet access.
- Adequate and reliable transportation.
- Availability to work Monday through Friday in all grade levels and subjects.
If you have questions or concerns regarding your acceptance as a BPS Substitute Teacher, please call 321-633-1000, ext. 11205 or email substitutes@brevardschools.org.
Kindergarten Enrollment
Curriculum Updates
PreK/VPK
Kindergarten
Kindergarten has been learning about the life cycle of a butterfly in Science. Each classroom has a butterfly habitat and students have been observing and writing in their journals the stages. We are excited for all butterflies to emerge and be released! Students will be learning to count to 100 in math and fill in missing numbers on a chart. Students will identify the topic and details in a text while continuing to master sight words and expand vocabulary while writing.
1st Grade
Reading: Unit 7 Weeks 1-3 Please read attached Reading letter for more information
Grammar: possessives, subject-verb agreement
Writing: expository text process writing
Sight Words: found, your, know, always all, people, where, draw again, round, they, country
Math: Cont. Unit 10: Subtraction within 100 Please read attached Math letter for more information
Math: Unit 12 Comparing Measuring Lengths and Determining the value of a set of coins and bills.
Phonic Skills: long o /ō/ (o, oa, ow, oe)
word families -ow, -oat, -old
long e /ē/ (e, ee, ea, ie)
prefixes un-
reword families -eat, -eet, -eed
long i /ī/ (i, y, igh)
word families -ight, -ice, -ile
Social Studies: Mapping My Home
Science: Properties of Matter
Second Grade
In reading, second graders will read informational social studies texts about primary sources such as diaries, journals, and personal narratives. Discussion topics include central ideas, relative details, and text features. Students will also write their own narrative non-fiction letters.
In math students will continue Unit 10 which covers various strategies to subtract 3 digit numbers. The focus in science is “Patterns in Nature” such as weather conditions, temperature, precipitation, and seasons.
In social studies, students will learn about the lives of famous presidents and patriots such as Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, and Harriet Tubman.
3rd Grade
In reading, third graders will read personal narratives from young people who live in different types of places across the US, and selections from popular novels (one historical fiction, one contemporary). They will synthesize information to build the following Enduring Understandings:
Communities are places where people live and work.
Communities can be urban, suburban, or rural areas.
Each community has its own unique and defining characteristics.
History, culture, and geographical location impact communities and how they grow and change.
Throughout these Enduring Understandings, students will consider the author’s purpose, explain how characters develop throughout the plot, explain how text features contribute to meaning, identify and explain figurative language, and write friendly narratives.
In math, third graders will learn about place value, patterns, and properties that can be used to help them multiply. Students can use previously-learned place-value concepts to help them multiply larger numbers. Students write an equation to determine the number of cards there are in an album: 8 cards per page x 60 pages = ?
Because 60 is a multiple of 10 and 8 x 6 = 48 is a basic fact, students are encouraged to think about the problem as 8 x 6 tens.
Students will also multiply by multiples of 100, using a similar strategy.
Students will also discover how to solve word problems involving any of the four operations, using representations, such as bar diagrams and equations, to solve the problem. They will solve one equation at a time and use a letter to represent the unknown in each question.
Fourth Grade
In reading, the fourth grade students will read a variety of informational texts to analyze the text features, central idea, and author’s claims. They will compare texts to analyze how ideas are presented. Students will produce an expository writing.
In social studies, the students will learn about the nations that controlled Florida before it became a United States territory, how the Seminole tribe was formed and why they migrated to Florida, how Florida became a U.S territory, and what pioneer life in Florida was like.
In math, fourth grade students will be working on problems involving perimeter and area. They will also explore, classify, and measure angles, add and subtract angles and solve problems involving unknown angle measures.
In science, students will learn about rotation and revolution and phases of the moon.
Fifth Grade
In Math, 5th grade will be working on Understanding the Coordinate Plane, identify the origin and axes in the coordinate system, plot and label ordered pairs in the first quadrant of the coordinate plane, classify triangles or quadrilaterals into different categories based on shared defining attributes, and identify and classify three-dimensional figures into categories based on their defining attributes. In Science, 5th grade is exploring Forces and Changes in Motion.
Sixth Grade
In World History, sixth graders are starting their study on Ancient China. In Science , students are continuing the unit on plant and animal cells. The students will be creating a 3D plant or animal cell model at home that will be due Tuesday, March 19th. Their cell presentations will take place on Wednesday and Thursday of that week.
In math, students will be finishing the Area and Volume Unit (Unit 9). The Math test will be on March 7. Unit 10 (Statistics) will start prior to Spring Break and we will finish the unit in the middle of April.
In ELA, sixth graders are starting a novel study, “The Phantom Tollbooth.” Students will analyze the interaction between characters and how that contributes to the development of a plot, analyze the development of the theme, explain figurative language, and apply knowledge of context clues to determine the meaning of unknown vocabulary.
Activity
In Music, the students are learning/reviewing instrument families and their importance; additionally, the students are listening to a selection of composers each week for the month of March for “Music in our Schools,” where they will choose which composer they enjoyed listening to. At the end of the month, the favorite composers from the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Modern periods will be compared against each other to decide who the students’ favorite curated composer is!
For the month of March, students will be learning bicycle safety in grades K-5.
Title One
Did you know that Title I supports students in ELA/Reading? Currently the Title I Staff, consisting of three teachers and two instructional assistants, is supporting 38 small reading groups in grades K-6. Our goal is to provide additional instruction to help close achievement/learning gaps.
Future Title I events include Student Led Showcases to be held on March 21st. Be on the look-out for an invitation to attend, families will be given/offered designated time slots to attend. Spring Fling will be on April 18th, this is an event for the whole family. There will be many games and activities during this event.
Guidance
1. Help your child learn to do things.
2. Praise efforts.
3. Be honest.
4. Be a good role model.
5. Avoid being critical.
6. Focus on strengths.
7. Notice what goes well.
8. Encourage healthy friendships.
9. Let kids help and give.
It's Yearbook Time!
Atlantis 2023-2024 yearbooks are now on sale. Online Orders only. The order deadline is March 15th. $15.00 per yearbook. Click the link below to order.
BPS K-12 Student Art Show
Congratulations to the artists that represented Atlantis Elementary at the North Elementary Art Fair 2023-2024! They did an amazing job! Our kindergarten student won a Merit Award, which is the top award for kindergarten. It was so hard to pick one student’s artwork from each grade to share the skills they had learned in art class. We have a lot of talented students. If you want to view the students' work in-person, it is on display at Merritt Island Square Mall until March 10th, 2024.
A. Clark - Kindergarten
S. Hurley - First Grade
M. Bliss - Second Grade
A. Ridgeway - Third Grade
L. O'Keefe - Fourth Grade
W. Zumaeta - Fifth Grade
A. Kershaw - Sixth Grade
We have one more show and contest coming soon, which we look forward to showcasing more artistry!
Math Night for Families
Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports at Atlantis
Changes in Transportation
Changing the way your child goes home (bus, car, walk, Atlantis’ after-school care or other daycare), MUST be done in writing, in advance for each child. In accordance with the Jessica Lunsford Act - Florida State Statute 1012.468 http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=1000-1099/1012/Sections/1012.468.html, we cannot relay telephone messages, text messages, emails, etc. to students regarding a change to their afternoon dismissal procedures.
If the regular method of leaving school needs to be changed, the legal parent/guardian must send a signed, dated note to the child's teacher. Only a written statement signed by the legal parent/guardian can be accepted as valid instructions with this information:
• Child’s first & last name
• Teacher’s name
• Date(s) the change will be in effect (single day, week, rest of the year)
• Parent/Legal guardian’s first & last name PRINTED
• Parent/Legal guardian’s signature
• Date of the note
• Date or dates the change is for (one day, the week, the rest of the year)
• If someone other than the parent/guardian is picking up, they MUST be listed on the registration form PRIOR to dismissal. This person must be a legal adult and present a valid photo ID. The first and last name of this person must be indicated on the dismissal change note.
What's on the Menu?
3/1 - Spring Pictures for All
3/11-3/14 - iReady D3 Grades 4th-6th
3/13 - End of Q3
3/14 - Ticket to Fun PBIS Character Celebration
3/15 - Teacher Workday/Student Holiday
3/18 - PTO 4:15 & SAC 4:45
3/21 - Student Led Conferences 5:00-7:00
3/25-3/29 - Spring Break