B.B RICE ELEMENTARY
February 2018
904 Gladstell Street
Conroe, TX 77304
936-709-2700
Fax 936-709-2799
School Mission
More than competency in the basic skills of reading, writing, and math, it is this school’s mission to nurture in each child:
The habit of creative independent thinking, a positive self-image, an attitude of social cooperation and moral responsibility, pride in self, community, state, and country, and
the ability to be a producer, not just a consumer, of Knowledge.
“In this school, we reach for the stars.”
School Information
- The building opens at 7:30 for students to eat breakfast and go to class.
- Please do not drop off students before 7:30 as there is no adult
- supervision.
- Breakfast is served from 7:30-7:55. 1st through 4th grade eat inside their classrooms. PK and Kinder eat in the cafeteria.
- Morning PK students go directly to the cafeteria and meet their teachers.
- The lunch menu is located on the Rice website: Rice.conroeisd.net
- Afternoon PK begins at 12:10. If they are going to eat lunch, then they need to arrive at 11:45.
- Students may not be checked out or change transportation mode after 2:30. This is for the safety of the students.
- Dismissal begins at 3:10.
- Please make sure you have your car rider sign in your car for car rider. You will be asked to park and come inside if you do not have your tag.
- Thank you for all your help to make this the very best year!!!
Such a cool picture of the moon from one of our families!!!
Outdoor practice measuring and comparing friends!
So proud of our Rice Raccoon
Author's Celebration
Thursday, Feb 8, 2018, 05:30 PM
Rice Elementary School, Gladstell Street, Conroe, TX, United States
From the Principal's Desk
February bring lots of excitement. We have Valentine's Day Celebrations, Science Fair, Author's Celebration, Black History Parade, and so much more. With all of these activities it is difficult to remember to schedule time for reading, 8+ hours of sleep and a healthy meal. I encourage you to sit down as a family and develop a schedule for your week nights. This allows your children to have a routine and be at there very best each school day.
Thank you for all you do to make your student successful. We appreciate you!!!
Mrs. Stewart
Message From Your Assistant Principal
Hello Rice Raccoons:
Wow, our students are working harder than ever! We are maximizing every moment with learning and assessments. This is the time of year for students to capitalize on their learning experiences. We will continue to assess for growth and meet needs wherever possible.Thank you for your continued support in ensuring that your child receives the best education achievable.
Here are some points to keep in mind:
- We will be administering various tests this semester
- Make sure that your child is getting plenty of rest and eating nutritious foods
- Attendance is vital, as testing will occur at various times throughout this semester
- When students are tardy they are missing out on instructional time, please make sure that your child is here before 8:05
- Remind students of appropriate behavior, as “focusing” is vital to learning and test taking
- Celebrate even the small successes with your children
Always remember:
An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest --author unknown—
Thanks,
Wesley Harness
Message From School Counselor...
Dear Parents,
The month of February is a very fun, exciting month. During this month we will be celebrating Random Acts of Kindness week. Students will learn that when we perform Random Acts of Kindness, we go beyond what is expected of us and reach out to help another person. I will focus on three simple steps for teaching them how to perform a Random Act of Kindness.
The first step is to find out what another person needs. For example, Sally has her hands full and she needs to open the door to get to her class.
The second step is to think about how you would feel if you had that need. You might feel frustrated if your hands were full and you could not easily open the door by yourself.
The final step to performing a Random Act of Kindness is to offer your help. Hold the door open and let Sally enter.
These steps will be taught over the announcements and will also be discussed in their classrooms. We also have lots of fun contests and activities related to kindness for the whole month of February. I’m beyond excited for all the fun activities and to see the kindness being spread like a boomerang.
Have a great February!
Watchdog Spring Kickoff
Calling all B.B. Rice Dads, Grandfathers, Uncles and other positive male role models.
Come sign up to be a WatchDOG, if you are unsure of what a WatchDOG does, please take the time to watch this short clip below.
WatchDOG Spring sign up is now up and ready. If you would like to sign up click below. Shirts are provided for any new WatchDOG and are given out on the day that you volunteer.
If you have any questions, please call Mrs. Orr @936-709-2700
Pre-K
Pre-K is off to a strong start in the New Year! Please practice writing first name, recognizing letter names, letters sounds, recognizing numbers 0-9, and counting to 30. Please make sure your child has his/her backpack and folder every day. Be sure to check and initial your child’s folder every night.
Just a reminder:
Write your child’s name on their coats and backpacks.
Keep a clean change of clothes in your child’s backpack.
If you need to change transportation please do so in writing.
Read to your child daily!
Kinder
We are continuing to grow our reading muscles in Readers Workshop. We are learning how to use sound power to read challenging words. In Writers Workshop, we are writing informational books to teach all about a topic. In math we will be exploring 3D shapes and finding them in and around our school. We encourage you to find these shapes in your home! In science we will be exploring rocks, living and non-living things and discussing soil. In social studies we will discuss Black History and Presidents Day.
We will be encouraging students to celebrate Kindness Month by doing something kind for someone every day.
First Grade
February will be a busy and exciting month! We cannot wait to practice kindness throughout the month! Please remember to keep a light jacket in your child’s backpack as the weather changes throughout the day. We are outside from 7:30 to 8:00AM and it can be chilly throughout February.
In Reading, your child will continue learning to read non-fiction books! We are using what we know from books to continue writing non-fiction books of our own during Writing time. Please practice sight words every day and continue reading each night!
We will begin our numeration unit. Please practice counting backwards from 120 to 0 and also skip counting by 2, 5, and 10! We look forward to celebrating the 99th day of school! Your child will also be practicing identifying coins! Let them explore with real change at home and tell you what they know about nickels, dimes and pennies! We will also work on addition and subtraction strategies within 15 throughout February.
Our scientist will be exploring different types of water (lakes, oceans, rivers, streams and ponds). We will then move into talking about living and non living characteristics and animal characteristics.
In Social Studies, we will begin discussing important leaders, Presidents, and fables/folktales and legends.
Please contact your child’s teacher if you have any questions or need any resources. Thank you for all your cooperation and help!
Second Grade
We can't believe spring is almost here, and there is still so much to do and learn! We are looking forward to many upcoming activities this spring. Our Second Graders will be performing their Second Grade program on Friday, March 9th!
We have been as busy as ever in the classroom. We will continue our study of Genres and our Units of Study. We have been working hard on being independent readers for long periods of time. Please remember to read with your child each night. In math, we are finished with our Measurement unit and are continuing to work on subtraction and addition with regrouping. Whenever possible, it would be great to reinforce these skills at home. We would like to continue to encourage you to practice addition and subtraction math facts at home with flash cards. They need to know their facts by 3rd grade. Your children have learned all about verbs, nouns, contractions, and adjectives in Language. We are still seeing big improvements in writing and continue to work on writing in complete sentences. Second Grade will be going on their Field Trip to P-6 Farms in Montgomery on Friday, April 6th. If you are interested in coming on our field as a chaperone, please register as a volunteer on the CISD Home Page prior to the field trip. We hope you can join us. Thank you for your continued support and help. We look forward to a rewarding and exciting spring!
Third Grade
During the month of February 3rd grades will learn in Social Studies different events in History like Black History, Women's History, and Presidents and Leaders. Students will understand that heritage is a product of culture, beliefs, and traditions. They will also be able to identify that people from the past helped to shape our world today.
In math third graders will be finishing up their Fraction unit. During this unit students will be able to represent fractions using concrete objects and pictorial models, including strip diagrams and number lines. Third grade will be able to determine a unit fraction and will be able to compose and decompose fractions. In addition, students will be able to explain if two fractions are equivalent and will be able to compare two fractions by reasoning about their sizes. In the last week of February, third grade will being the Geometry unit.
In science third graders will be learning about weather. Students will observe, measure, record, and compare day-to-day weather changes in different locations at the same time that include air temperature, wind direction, and precipitation. We will then begin our physical characteristics and environmental changes unit. Students will observe and describe the physical characteristics in a variety of grasslands, such as fields, prairies, and savannahs.
In Language Arts your readers will expand their learning of nonfiction text-features, main idea and details and cause and effect. We will then study literary nonfiction (biographies and autobiographies). We will take our second reading benchmark at the end of this month. Your writers will be finishing their informational writing pieces and beginning persuasive writing about the world!
Fourth Grade
The language arts teachers are focusing on preparing the students for the testing season, Fourth grade students will continue to receive daily revising and editing practice. Please encourage students to work on these, as they will benefit them in the future. Generating ideas and adding detail can be very difficult when writing, but our students are working very hard to write the best possible expository essay. We know that if they continue to work as diligently as they have been, we will see a great outcome from all their efforts. Throughout this month, we will be learning the different characteristics of drama. Please continue to have your child read each night. We cannot stress how important it is to read well in order to excel in all subjects.
In Math, we continue to focus on problem solving concepts and working on two-digit-by-two-digit multiplication. We have worked on one digit by four-digit multiplication in which we have shown and used different strategies to solve these complex problems. These strategies include array and area model. These are super fun for the kiddos. Ask your student to show you some examples! We are also beginning our unit in fractions.
Our Science units will consist of weather & climate changes, weathering and soil erosion. Many fun science experiments are in lessons to help teach these exciting science skills.
We will continue our journey through Texas history to learn more about the changes that led to the Texas Revolution.
From The Library ...Ms. Parks
The Rice Library announces eBooks available to Rice students…
Rice students now have access to eBooks. These electronic books can be accessed on school computers, home computers, laptops, tablets, iPads, and smart phones. We have fiction, nonfiction, easy to read and high interest eBooks for all grade levels K-4th grade.
The url is www.mycapstonelibrary.com
Username: rice
Password: school
Please contact Ms. Parks in the library if you have any question. 936-709-2700
Nurses Notes...Mrs. McLaren
I hope everyone has settled into their routine for the new year and new semester at B.B Rice. February is National Children’s Dental Health Month. Dental disease is the number one preventable disease for children in this country. It is recommended that you brush your teeth at least two times a day with only a pea size amount of toothpaste on your toothbrush. A good dental regime of brushing and flossing daily is essential in maintaining healthy teeth and gums. Please take this opportunity to ensure you child is brushing properly.
Michelle McLaren, RN
PTO
Our BB Rice PTO has a fundraiser coming up this month. For the first time ever, we are having a Parents Night Out! This event will be on Friday, February 16 at BB Rice from 6:00-9:00pm. Pre-registration is required. Watch for the registration form and more information to come home in the Tuesday folders this week.
Box Tops
Please continue to collect Box Tops for our school...You can send them with your child to school. For each box top collected the school receives $0.10. This adds up!!! Our spring collection date is coming up soon.
If you would like more information about being involved in our PTO, please contact Kristy Fancher at kristyfancher@hotmail.com