Lone Star Tribune
Lone Star Elementary News, December 2015
Lone Star Elementary
Catherine Bartlett, Ed.D. Principal
Melissa Freeman Assistant Principal
Kelly Lout Assistant Principal
Elisa Krug Counselor
Email: cbartlett@misd.org
Website: www.misd.org
Location: 16600 FM 2854, Montgomery, TX 77316
Phone: 936-588-6100
Important Dates This Month
12/1 - Progress reports go home
12/2 - Garden Day for 3rd graders
12/4 - E-Track, 2:3012/8 - Singing Stars Holiday performance, 9:00 cafeteria
12/9 - Lone Star Leadership for 4th graders
12/9 - Singing Stars perform for April Sound Ladies Association, 12:30
12/10 - UIL District Competition, 4:30 at Stewart Creek Elementary
12/11 - MHS band performance for LSE students, 2:00
12/11 - E-Track, 2:30
12/15 - 1st grade Holiday Party, 11:50 am
12/16 - Pajama Day for all students
12/16 - 2nd grade Grinch Day
12/16 - 3rd grade Christmas Around the World
12/16 - Lone Star Leadership for 4th graders
12/17 - 2nd grade Holiday Party, 10:45 am
12/17 - Kindergarten Holiday Party, 12:30 pm
12/18 - EARLY RELEASE (1:00 pm) No lunch visitors due to schedule changes
12/18 - 4th grade Holiday Party, 9:00
12/18 - Life Skills Holiday Party, 11:00
12/18 - 3rd grade Holiday Party, 11:00
12/21 through 1/1 - Winter Break
1/4 - Students return
Transportation Change
If your child has a transportation change, please:
*Send it in with your student that morning.
*Fax it to the front office by 2:00pm (936) 588-5941 (Try a free app, called Tiny Fax)
*Come in and write a note in person
Thank you!
Nurse's Notes
We will be busy rescreening any students eyes or ears if they did not pass the first time. Then we will call parents and send paperwork home recommending a doctor visit if your student does not pass a second or third vision or hearing screening. We all want our students to see and hear well so that they can learn and grow to their very best! ~ Nurse Lemke and Clinic Aide Johnson
Holiday Parties
Kdg - 12/17 at 12:30
Kinder - http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0c45a5ad29aaf85-kinder
1st - 12/15 at 11:50
1st grade - http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0c45a5ad29aaf85-1stgrade
2nd - 12/17 at 10:45
2nd grade - http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0c45a5ad29aaf85-2ndgrade
LS - 12/18 at 11:00 (RSVP with 3rd)
3rd - 12/18 at 11:00
3rd grade - http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0c45a5ad29aaf85-3rdgrade
4th - 12/18 at 9:00
4th grade - http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0c45a5ad29aaf85-4thgrades1
Parents, please avoid the long line at the front desk and RSVP with our sign up genius link!
Kindergarten Kiddos
Ho! Ho! Ho! Here we go! In Kindergarten, we are looking forward to a delightful December filled with lots of learning and exciting activities.
In Language Arts we will be wrapping up our study of the letters of the alphabet. We will continue to focus on beginning and ending sounds in words, blending sounds to make new words, and counting syllables in words. We will use these skills in our small reading groups and our writing activities. As we listen to many types of literature we are identifying the setting, main characters, and other important elements of the story.
In Math we are focusing on numerals 1-20, counting sets, and composing and decomposing numbers to 10. We are developing our number sense skills using many types of manipulatives and activities.
The Kindergarten classes are looking forward to a craft day on Friday, December 4th. It will be so much fun to create ornaments for our tree and other neat projects. Students will be designing a gingerbread boy/girl to decorate our halls. Our Christmas party will be on Thursday, December 17th at 12:30.
The kindergarten teachers would like to wish all of our families a very blessed holiday season!Fantastic Firsties
Twas' the month of December and all through the halls,
The first graders of Lone Star are decorating the walls.
Letters to Santa written with care,
Our very best handwriting we will share.
The children will be busy each day,
Learning to use maps to find their way.
Retelling stories and poetry too,
In first grade we have so much to do!
When at the school we will make such a clatter,
Learning so many things that matter!
Polar Express Day will arrive in a flash,
When hot chocolate cups will fill the trash.
So much to learn and so much to do!
Happy Holidays to all, from the first grade crew!
Superstar Second Graders
Second grade will jump right into the holiday spirit! In Language Arts the students will be thinking of others during this season of giving. Students will learn to write and address letters that will be sent through the mail over the winter break. They will think outside their own wants and needs as we read and learn how to see the needs of others. A traditional letter to Santa will be written to ask for things for the world and our families above ourselves.
Math and Science will be learned with a spirit of fun as we gather data and organize it into bar graphs, pictographs and picture graphs. We will survey our friends about their likes and dislikes, and analyze that information. Science will “move” right along as we manipulate objects to adjust their patterns of movement.
The students will have a “Grinchy” experience as we all wear our pajamas on December 16th, and enjoy our holiday party on Thursday, December 17th at 10:45 a.m.
Thank you to all the second grade cup stackers who represented Lone Star at our cup stacking tournament! You were amazing!
Thrilling Third Grade
Have YOU practiced your facts today?!
Third grade is continuing to practice our multiplication facts up to 10x10 to memory. They will definitely come in handy with 2 by 1 digit multiplication! We have also started to explore the meaning of division and how it relates to multiplication. We appreciate your continued support to encourage the students to show work and apply taught strategies when working through multi-step problems. We are finishing a unit on force and motion and are excited to start getting our hands dirty -literally! SOIL is up next for science.
We are ringing in the winter season with a poetry unit that reflects sensory imagery throughout their writing. In Social Studies students will be learning how various countries around the world celebrate Christmas and other seasonal holidays. Our students will pack their individual passports and take off for Christmas around the World during the last week before the winter break. Students will experience different traditions, songs, recipes, and games that children in different countries take part in during this special time of year.
Fabulous Fourth
Does McDonalds sell cheese burgers really? Ask your mathematician! As we move into division, our fourth grade students will know. Students had a great time creating circuits in class for Science!
Language Arts is continuing to explore different non-fiction text and learning how to best summarize the information. Our writers will be composing expository compositions this month. We are getting ready to learn about our first explorers in Social Studies. Busy, busy, busy...... our fourth graders are learning and growing!
C. A. M. P. (Computer - Art - Music - PE)
Computer/Bibliotech:
Biblio-Tech News
Kindergarten – We will continue practicing out keyboarding and mouse skills. We will review parts of a book and learn about the author Hollie Hobbie.
First Grade – We will complete a non-fiction investigation about animals using World Book Online, Microsoft Word and Chatterpix Kids.
Second Grade – We will create stories using Storybird.com and review different Fiction Genres.
Third Grade – We will create Bio poems about famous people using World Book Online.
Fourth Grade – We will investigate Spanish Missions in Texas and create a presentation using Microsoft Power Point.
Magazine Fund Raiser
Our annual magazine fund raiser will begin November 30. This will be the only fund raiser for the Library this school year. Many of you have asked why we have a magazine fund raiser instead of a book fair. Children become better readers and writers when they are exposed to many different kinds of reading materials. Magazines are a great source of information and can motivate children to read about things they normally would not. Plus all kids love getting something fun in the mail! We also receive a 40% profit as opposed to a 25% profit with book fair.
Last year, we made around $5500 with our magazine fund raiser. We used this money to purchase 218 Library books (average price of a library bound book is $21.07, SLJ March 2014). The remainder of the money was used to pay for an author visit and Library/Computer Lab supplies.
We will accept fundraiser packets in the Library through Monday, December 7. You may make purchases on-line anytime. This is a great idea for Christmas presents! We hope you have a lot of fun sharing these magazines with your children!
Remember, the Magazine Fund Raiser is completely voluntary as are all school fund raisers. We appreciate your help, if this fund raiser is one of the ways your family chooses to support the Library. Thanks to our families for all of the many ways you support our Library/Computer program!
Art Activities:
The Art Room is full of Holiday Spirit this December! Kindergarten is using paint and oil pastels to create Gingerbread Men… catch them if you can! First grade is have a blast making painted paper by smearing paint all over their paper however they choose, using brushes, cotton balls and texture combs. After it dries, they are cutting it into strips to make festive trees complete with sequence for ornaments. Second grade is using analogous colors (colors next to each other on the color wheel) and the element of value to paint large watercolor ornaments. Third grade is creating the same ornaments, but on a smaller scale and adding them to some oil pastel pine branches. Fourth graders are putting together a self portrait collage as singing carolers using a combination of construction paper and fabric. Check out the Singing Stars carolers on display at their show next week!
Art to Remember orders are coming home soon! Thank you to everyone who ordered!
Music Notes:
This month all students will be learning about one of the most famous composers of all time, Ludwig van Beethoven, who was born December 16, 1770. They will listen to and discuss Ode to Joy from Symphony No. 9 (which was his final symphony).
All students will also listen to, study and participate in activities based on the famous ballet The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky (a famous Russian composer).
Kindergarten students will work on keeping a steady beat though movement and playing instruments. They will also sing and move to seasonal songs.
1st grade students will create and perform actions/movements to seasonal songs and poems, as well as work on keeping a steady beat.
2nd grade students will read rhythms of seasonal songs and perform them on instruments and create actions to accompany them as well.
3rd grade students will use seasonal songs to learn and review solfege syllables, and beat versus rhythm.
4th grade students will review letter names of the lines and spaces of the staff. They will also read and perform rhythms and solfege syllables to a seasonal song.
The LSE Singing Stars Choir would like to invite you to their holiday performance on Tuesday, December 8th at 9:00 a.m. in the cafeteria.
P.E.
We want to congratulate all of LSE's Cup Stackers. They worked extremely hard practicing and preparing for the meet. They all did a fantastic job speed stacking and representing our school.
This month students will be playing a variety of games involving team work, sportsmanship, eye hand coordination, dodging, tagging, throwing, and running. Students will also work on basketball skills. These skills will involve dribbling with their hands and goal shooting.
We want to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Warm Wishes,
PE Teachers
General Reminders
Counselor's Corner
The month of December is a great time to continue our focus on cooperation. Even special events and celebrations offer opportunities to remind our children that "we are all in this together" and that we are a family. While the holiday season brings much joy and unity, it can often bring feelings of stress and anxiety for children. The link below will offer some creative strategies for establishing a sense of "calm" in our children during this busy season to help us avoid some of those holiday meltdowns!
https://stressfreekids.com/1461/holiday-meltdowns
Wishing You Well this Holiday,
Elisa Krug
Lone Star Leadership
Each month, 2 fourth graders from each homeroom meet with Mrs. Krug, Mrs. Freeman, Ms. Lout, and Dr. Bartlett. We visit two times with the students to collaborate on campus concerns and brainstorm ideas. Our November representatives helped host our visitors for Veterans Day. Thank you to: Bella Baker, Carson Blaha, Jade Cardona, Abby Carswell, Jett Clayton, Nick Crupper, Evan Geisler, Ava Gossett, Arianna Guerra, Coen Inman, Molly Marshall, Ashlynn Petty, Abel Ramirez, Alejandro Ramirez, Zachary Smith, Sam Tayar, Tressa Terna, Colby Van Bruene, Grace Verinder, and McKinley Wells.