2008 - October Smoke Signals

You can also view Smoke Signals online at: http://brookselementary.org/smokesignals


From the Principal’s Desk

Thank you for sharing your most precious possession with us, your child. We feel so fortunate, each day to work with such a wonderful group of students and parents. Thank you for your continued support.

There are three upcoming events important to the lives of Brooks students and families.

On October 31, we will be participating in our second Brooks Pumpkin Walk. As a family, we invite you to decorate a pumpkin to put on display in the town of Brooks. The pumpkins can be painted, decorated, carved – whatever you would like. More information will follow as to where and when to put your pumpkins out. On the 31st at 1:00, as a school, we will walk around town and look at the pumpkins. You are invited to walk with your child’s class. After the parade, the classrooms will have light refreshments in their classrooms provided by the parents.

November 4 is Election Day. Not only will you be voting to elect people to make decisions for you, you will also be voting on the Fayette County School System SPLOST – Special Local Option Sales Tax. This is an important decision you must make that will greatly impact your child’s education. Please visit www.fcboe.org and view the Power Point for more information.

On November 11, we will have our annual Veterans Day Program and Parade to honor those who served our country. The festivities begin with a reception at 8:30 for the veterans and their families, followed by a program at 9:15 in the gym, followed by our annual parade around Brooks. We invite you to join in the festivities!

Effective and Appropriate Help With Homework
With the year underway and students learning, it is an appropriate time to think about homework, and how, as parents, to give both effective and appropriate help with home work. Parenting requires many judgment calls, including numerous decisions related to schoolwork and school projects. Principals and teachers are always stressing how important it is for parents to be involved, but how much is too much? For a start, put yourself in these situations:

• Your child’s big science project is due tomorrow, but her after-school schedule has been so busy lately that she hasn’t had time to finish it herself. Not wanting her to get a bad grade, you end up doing most of the work with her so she can turn it in on time.
• Your son’s math homework packet is a big part of his grade, but he’s having trouble with a few of the concepts. Is it OK to help him with some of the answers?
• Your daughter must write a poem for a school competition, but the verses she’s come up with so far seem pretty bad. After thinking about her theme, you suggest different rhyming phrases that sound better. When the awards are announced, your daughter comes home excited and says, “We won!”

We all want our children to do well in school. But, sometimes, we might want it too much and end up giving them too much assistance. The problem is, while their grades might look stellar, their self-esteem can suffer. Children are smarter than we sometimes give them credit for. They know when they’ve earned a grade—and when they haven’t. Instead of helping them succeed, too much parental involvement can lead them to failure.

So what’s a concerned parent to do? How much help is reasonable? What kinds of suggestions or assistance are acceptable? And what do you do if they don’t understand their homework, even after asking you for guidance?

Don’t do it for them. Rule No. 1 is an easy one to remember: Don’t ever do your children’s homework or school projects for them. The assignments were given to them for a reason—they need to learn the concepts, and they can’t do that learning if you do their work.
Guidance is great. Help your children understand assignments by talking with them about the concepts. Let’s say your child is having trouble with basic division. Dump out a stack of pennies or paper clips, count the total, and, together, divide them into groups of five, six, or seven. If your child has writer’s block, instead of suggesting phrases to use, brainstorm together about ideas of things he or she could write about, and ask your child to list some of the things he or she could say. Help your children to learn how to think through the process.
Be encouraging. It can be frustrating to try to master new concepts and complete school projects. Give your children encouragement and understanding as they work things through.
Expand their brains. One great way parents can help their children with school projects is by asking them to go beyond their original ideas. If your son, for example, wants to do a shoebox diorama about dinosaurs, tell him that his original idea is good, but ask what other ways he could try. Don’t give him ideas, but help him use his own creativity. Ask him to think out a number of different ways he could approach the assignment. Let him follow his own path, and both you and his teacher will probably be very pleased with the result. Not only that, the work will be his own.

Finally, know when to call for help. If your child is consistently having trouble with a specific concept, even after you’ve helped explain it to him or her, it’s time to let the teacher know. Chances are yours isn’t the only child in the class who’s confused. In addition to learning the schoolwork, your child will gain some very important knowledge: that it’s smart to ask for help when you don’t understand something.
Pre-K Patriots

Fall has arrived, and cooler temperatures are nearly upon us. During the first week of October, your youngsters will learn about fire prevention and safety. It will be awesome when we visit the local firefighters, and we will be able to stand beside their HUGE truck as the lights flash. Maybe, just maybe, they will sound the siren for us, too. Such excitement awaits us.

Checking out seasonal changes that occur during autumn, we will study trees and leaves similar to the ones we will read about in Lois Ehlert’s Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf. Also, we will discover how John Chapman (a.k.a. Johnny Appleseed) changed America with his apples. Embracing technology in Art, we will draw and paint (Crayola.com) vehicles that could possibly harvest apples, etc.. Other plans include apple activities as well as chanting apple rhymes and finger plays.

Next, we will start a two-week investigation of farms, animals, and products. Building fences, making farm patterns, and solving logic problems will become the children’s quest. October 31st at 8:30, Pre-K will hold their fifth annual Hoedown, complete with activities such as Milking, Square Dancing, Pin the Nose on Scarecrow, and Pumpkin Painting. Please plan to join us and dress yourselves and your children as farm critters, farmers, etc.

Mayor Bobby Butler has invited us to be part of Brooks Pumpkin Walk to Town Hall on October 31st at 1:00. Pumpkins will be placed on the wall, up the sidewalk, and in the yard of Town Hall. So, please make plans to bring a pumpkin specially decorated in any theme appropriate for Pre-K, ex: Little Miss Moffat, farmer, owl, seasonal, etc. (NOTE: Pumpkins may be painted or carved. Perhaps some pumpkins will have costumes, too.) Have fun with your child while doing this activity together, and let the good times roll! (More information to follow.)

During the last week of the month, we’ll discover nocturnal creatures such as owls, bats, and coyotes, which are part of farm life, as well as spider webs. Believe it or not, Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner. Yikes!

As always, there is so much to do, and so little time to complete it all. We do enjoy your little lambs and appreciate each day we share with them. Ah! The things they say…

Kindergarten News

September was busy in kindergarten as the students learned about:
-Labor Day
-“matter” in science
-John Chapman [Johnny Appleseed] & tried apples in different ways
-fall season
-began Dr. Cupp Readers

October is a busy month for kindergarten.
? fire safety
? interesting things about farm life
? our fairy tale unit which will conclude with our yearly Kindergarten Fairy Tale Ball on Friday, October 24th. This has always been a really good memory making day for kindergarten students. For the ball, each child is encouraged to dress as a character from a Fairy Tale. Read fairy tale books to your child and brainstorm to decide the type of outfit that would work best for your kindergarten child.
? interesting things about bats, spiders, pumpkins, etc.
? Report cards for the first 9-weeks of school will go home on Monday, October 20, 2008.

WHAT CAN YOU DO AS A PARENT TO HELP YOUR CHILD?
? Continue using flash cards of the Dr. Cindy Cupp words that have been introduced. If your child is having difficulty learning the letters of the alphabet, flash cards would benefit. You can make your own with index cards.
? The Readers for Dr. Cindy Cupp’s Phonics and Reading program have been started. The Readers are sent home for homework. Your help is icing on the cake for your child. Your kindergarten child will be thrilled to show you the things that were achieved in the Readers! Be ready with lots of praise!
As always, the kindergarten staff appreciates each of you for your continued help and interest in all the things that will be done this school year.

HOORAY FOR KINDERGARTEN PARENTS!! YOU ALL ARE TERRIFIC!

First Grade Fun

September has been a fast and exciting month for first grade! In math, we are learning to add numbers together to find the sum. Your child will learn several addition strategies: counting on, doubles, doubles plus one, and turn-around-facts. Help your child begin to memorize math addition facts with sums to 10. Everyone is becoming a great mathematician!

September 26th was Johnny Appleseed’s birthday. We all enjoyed many fun and educational experiences with apples. We counted, added, and graphed apples, as well as listened to and retold the folktale about Johnny Appleseed.

In October we will be studying Fire Safety. Talk to your child about fire safety at home and at school, and discuss an “escape plan” with your family in case of a fire at your house.

Continue to listen to your child read as often as possible at home. Each child has an Accelerated Reader goal. Please encourage your child to read at least 1 Accelerated Reader book per week. We want every first grader to meet his/her 100% AR goal by the end of the school year. As you read with your child, ask questions such as: Who were the characters in the story? What was the setting (where the story happened or took place) of the story? What happened at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of the story? What was the main idea (what the story was mostly about) of the story? Have fun reading with and to your child!

Happy Fall!
First Grade Teachers

Second Grade News

Second grade has been so busy!!! In Math, we have been working on place-value to the thousands as well as reading and interpreting graphs of all kinds! In Reading, we have been improving our comprehension and fluency with a variety of stories. In Writing, we have been working on learning the stages of the writing process as well as how to write a personal narrative as well as book reports. In Science, we completed our study of matter and we are beginning a study on the seasonal changes around us. In Social Studies, we completed a unit on Georgia’s regions and rivers.



Third Grade News

Third grade has been really busy this month! We have been working on multi-digit addition and subtraction as well as graphing in math. In reading, we have been enjoying a variety of trade books such as Charlotte's Web, The Boxcar Children, and Ramona Quimby, age 8. All of these books were fun to read!! We have been working on improving our writing skills with the study of subject-verb agreement, adjectives, and 6+1 traits of writing. Our writing is really coming along nicely! In Science, we finished up with magnets, which was so exciting, and moved on to rocks and minerals. Rocks and minerals have really been interesting as well, since we are learning about the various kinds of both. In Social Studies, we have finished up our study of Economics and moved on to our first American Patriot we will study this year- Paul Revere. We are looking forward to the cool weather of October, too!

Be on the look out for information about our multiplication fact sundaes as well as the Brooks Annual Pumpkin Walk on Halloween.

Fourth Grade News

The Fantastic Fourth Grade is “falling” into good work habits by getting organized, staying focused and doing our best. We will continue to work toward practicing good study skill habits.

In Reading we are continuing our new reading series, Good Habits, Great Readers and encouraging students to think more about their reading using a variety of reading materials. Students should continue to read for 100 minutes per week and work toward individual AR goals and READING TO SUCCEED. We are continuing to use the writing process and other graphic organizers to help organize our thoughts on paper. In English we are editing and writing “better” sentences. We will soon be sending home information about our upcoming Story Pumpkin Projects which will make a
“Spook-tacular” display at Brooks!

In Math, we are concluding our unit focusing on the properties and evaluating mathematical expressions. Practice, Practice, Practice Multiplication Facts daily to ensure success! We are also reviewing place value, rounding numbers, and using mental math/estimation.

We will be finishing our unit on Ecosystems and begin our study of the Weather in Science. Our Second Step lessons will continue all year long.

In Social Studies we have completed our overview of Early Native Americans and their cultural regions. Students will be doing research on a specific tribe and its customs. The research will be done at school and information on a related project will go home the last week of September. Students have been excited about this and I look forward to students sharing what they have learned.

Again, please continue to check and sign agendas and reading logs daily. Remember all AR goals have been set and your child should be reading and taking tests weekly. All students should reach half their AR Goal by Christmas break.

Fifth Grade

Social Studies - This month we will continue to have officer Hannah come to our classrooms for DARE. We are near completion of our Civil War study. We have looked at the Union and Confederacy strategies and strengths. We are currently looking at the Atlanta Campaign and Sherman’s March to the Sea. Our Civil War “Dress Day” will be Oct. 15 at 9:15-10:15. We will move on to the Reconstruction Period of what happened after the Civil War. We have completed the study of Physical Changes in Science and will continuing working on chemical changes and what causes reactions to occur. Toward the middle of the month we will begin a life science unit on cells. D. Caruso

Math - Students will be finishing up Unit 1 and the nine week assessment test given by the county. We will begin unit two which deals with fractions. We will explore all operations with fractions along with how fractions are related to decimals and percents. L. Phelps

English and Reading - Fifth Grade has wrapped up their Paralympics reading with some great informational writing, and are now reading about how an Ice Hotel is built. Yes, there really is an ice hotel in Quebec, Canada, which is built every winter featuring ice beds, chandeliers, dinnerware, and more! We will continue working with the 6+1 Writing Traits in the coming month and will focus on how to brainstorm ideas for writing, organizing our thoughts before writing, and practicing opening sentences and paragraphs that really grab a reader's attention. The students are working on their narrative writing each week in their journals, finishing a picture I start for them (a squiggle) and then writing a story to go with it. The imaginative ideas that these fifth graders come up with are marvelous! A. Lynch



Art News

Our artwork for the PTO fundraiser, Art to Remember, is completed. You should soon see your artist’s hard work. Please remember that when you receive your packet, regardless if you are purchasing or not, please return the original work. You will get the work back at a later time. You can check out what to expect from each grade level on our website (some photos have been uploaded). Pre-kindergarten created Rainbow Fish using their handprint, Kindergarten created themselves as a King or Queen using their handprint, First Grade created Clowns, Second Grade created Warm and Cool Landscapes, Third Grade created a Crazy Cat or Dog, Fourth Grade create Bubble Gum Machines that hold items other than Bubble Gum (yikes!) and Fifth Graders were able to choose what they wanted to create. All of the artists did a fabulous job!

At this time I would like to give you a website that you may use to enhance your artist’s reading, writing and drawing skills in art. The site is www.harcourtschool.com. Once at the site, hit ART and it will taking you to a page that gives you two options: Art Everywhere and Art Express. Art Express offers interactive art lessons on color mixing, mask making and many other art concepts. Art Everywhere also has interactive lessons dealing with art, artists and reading skills. There is even a site for resources for parents! Please take the time to check out the site and allow your artist to use it. I will try to keep you informed about the different websites that we use in the art room through Art Talk, so that you and your artist may use them at home.

"Civilizations are most often remembered for their art and thought...I have always believed in the definition of an educated man or woman as one who could, if necessary, refound his or her civilization. That means we must teach our students more than hard facts and floppy disks. We must teach them the rich artistic inheritance of our culture and an appreciation of how fine music enriches both the student who studies it, and the society that produces it...The existence of strong music and fine arts curricula are important to keeping the humanities truly humanizing and liberal arts education truly liberating" Ronald Reagan, Former President, United States of America

Dana H. Siewert


Yearbook News

Memories like this come once in a lifetime!
Hurry and order your yearbook! The price of the yearbook will be $26.00 until December 1st. After that date, the price will be $30.00!! You can make checks payable to Brooks Elementary (please remember to include your order form) or order ONLINE at www.yearbooksonsale.com . The order form is lavender (You received it the first week of school).

5th Grade, Don’t Wait!!! The 5th Grade Dedication Ad information was also included on this form. The deadline for 5th Grade Dedication Ads will be November 21st. If you need another form, there are extras in the front office. Don’t delay—get your copy now!!!
Thank You,
Laurie P. Byars and Dana H. Siewert
Yearbook Staff

Coach’s Corner

Books Elementary students and faculty participated in Fitness Week activities at the September meeting of PTO.
Beth Holliman, PTO President, used her concept of Fitness Week to help promote exercise, recess and healthy habits to the entire school population. With the support of Mrs. Cleek, Coach Grove and Coach Robinson, and faculty and staff members – the ideas began to flow and materialize.
Each morning began with the entire school exercising to a Fit Kids dvd which was followed with health tips. Some of the tips included; be sure to drink plenty of water and stretch after exercising.
The Mileage Club was expanded from Physical Education Class to include running during recess with the classroom teachers and parapros.
On Tuesday, PTO provided the entire school with a healthy snack buffet. A variety of fruit, veggies and other healthy items were enjoyed by everyone!
At Thursday night’s PTO meeting students, parents and faculty enjoyed a healthy buffet which was followed by fitness fun in the gym. Everyone joined in as we did an excerpt from the Fit Kids dvd followed by a Robinson created heart-pumping partner dance with music from Camp Rock. Then, Mr. Jo from Martial Arts America presented us with awesome safety tips and exercises. Next, we all jumped several different types of equipment which included; ball hops, twirl-n-jumps, short ropes and long ropes. We also got to try a Heavy Hoop Challenge. The evening closed with stretching and cool-down movements.
On Friday, Fitness Week was declared a huge success and we collectively made a commitment to exercise every day, eat a healthy diet, get plenty of sleep, drink lots of water, be safe, and have fun!

Counselor’s Chatter

The need for parent support is an awareness that remains active in the development of various programs offered through the Fayette County Board of Education. We are pleased that budget concerns have not led to the total elimination of the free parenting seminars offered through the C.A.R.E. (Children AT Risk in Education) Program. The seminars and classes are designed to offer information regarding child development as well as parenting tips. Highly qualified presenters are selected to facilitate the most informative, interactive, and resourceful experiences that keep participants interested and actively engaged.

STEP (Systematic Training for Effective Parenting) is a ten session parenting workshop that is being offered at Inman Elementary School on Tuesdays from 6:30 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. The workshop began on September 16, 2008 and will continue through November 4, 2008. You may enroll until October 7, 2008. There will not be a spring session of STEP offered this school year. The presenter is Dr. Jason Snow who has received great reviews for his expertise in this field.

Love and Logic is a seven session workshop that will meet weekly on Tuesday mornings from 11:00 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. in room #208 at the Lafayette Educational Center in Fayetteville. The workshop will begin on January 20, 2009 and end on March 10, 2009. There will not be a fall session of Love and Logic offered this school year. The presenter is Mrs. Joy Conklin who is a retired school counselor from the Fayette County School System.

There are three stand alone workshops that remain available through the C.A.R.E. Workshop Series at the Learning Education Center-Media Center. All workshops will begin at 4:00 p.m. and end at 6:30 p.m. Understanding the Five Stages of Crisis Development: Managing Anger Effectively in Youth will be offered on November 20, 2008. STEPing Through the Ages: Applying STEP Parenting Principles to Spouses, Coworkers, and Adults will be offered on January 15, 2009. The last workshop for the school year, Dollars and Sense: Teaching Children and Adolescents about Money, Responsibility and Saving will be offered on April 16, 2009. All workshops will be presented by Dr. Jason Snow.

You are highly encouraged to take advantage of these opportunities. If you have any questions and would like to enroll, please contact me at 770-719-8150 ext. 231.


Linda Williams
BES Counselor

News from EIP

Things are continuing to “Fall” into place. We are excited about the motivation and daily progress from our students. Fourth and fifth graders involved in the Read 180 Program are performing very well, enjoying the program and are committed to learning. Many students are also taking advantage of the early morning tutoring opportunity, too.

Please continue to empower your children by reading with them daily and asking them many critical thinking questions. Practice mental math exercises and estimation as often as possible. Review facts frequently to assure mastery. These exercises and strategies will definitely help them connect the content areas with life skills and help them mature and grow in confidence.

We sincerely appreciate all of your support! We feel we are truly off to a great start!

Brenda Edwards and Heidi Dick

News from the Media Center

The students are off to a great start with AR. We have several students who have reached 25% of their AR goals. We hope to add to that number each day. Please encourage your children to read a few minutes every day.

Students have been learning about our new catalog system. It has many more things that the children can use besides just looking up a book. Most of the students are doing a great job remembering to bring their library cards.

Our media lessons are beginning to take off. We are looking at how to take care of books, using the internet to locate information on different people, looking at dictionaries to see what all they can help us with.

Thank you for your support with the many activities that go on in the media center.

Judy Oldham, Media Specialist

Amy Stevens, Media Paraprofessional

Music:

Please visit Brooks Elementary Music Department page for the latest.

Pre-Kindergarten through Second Grade
Your child will develop new levels of competence through singing, moving, playing, reading, creating, and listening to music.
The concepts that will be covered will be:
• Tempo – fast and slow
• Dynamics – loud or soft.

Third Grade through Fifth Grade
In Music classes this month we are continuing our review learning the basic theory to reading music. This knowledge will help us in our review for playing the Recorder. We should start our recorder playing by the end of October. (Details to follow.)

News from STAGE

Great things are happening in STAGE right now. Students are learning new vocabulary, Latin and Greek roots, and problem-solving skills. Third through fifth grades are doing Hands-On-Equations, which is algebra, while first and second grades are working with paper clip logic and domino logic. The older students also analyze editorial cartoons each week. All of the students are learning more about the world through current events.
We have been mesmerized with the events of the presidential election, yet keeping up with world affairs as well. Each grade level is also studying a special topic.
Here are some links that your child may find helpful:

http://www.dailysudoku.co.uk/sudoku/index.shtml
http://www.weeklyreader.com/election/index.asp
http://www.weeklyreader.com/kids/
http://www.askforkids.com/
http://www.nps.gov/
http://mathforum.org/dr.math/dr-math.html


Technology Tidbits

Students in prekindergarten and kindergarten have been enjoying using the mouse with activities from www.primarygames.com and/or www.funbrain.com. All students seem to love www.funbrain.com. Students in first grade have been working with patterns. Grades 2-5 have been making calendars with Print Shop Essentials.

Keyboarding is well underway for first grade using Read, Write, and Type. Second grade uses Type to Learn Jr. while third grade uses Type to Learn 3. Students in Grades 4-5 use Mavis Beacon. Please stress to students the importance of keeping their wrists level and not propped on the table or keyboard. Please also remind them of other good work habits as this use the computer: sit up straight, shoulders relaxed, and so forth.
As always,
Stay safe surfing!
Margaret Gillham, Computer

More Tidbits

A former student of Brooks Elementary, Rachel Byrd, has asked Brooks families to participate in a project sponsored by her organization HOSA (Healthcare Occupation Students of America).

They are collecting can tabs to be turned in to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Each gallon of tabs is worth one free chemotherapy treatment for a child. Wow! What a way to make a difference for these kids. Please collect and send these in to your child’s teacher. We will collect these by grade level, and Rachel will pick these up periodically to turn them in.
Thank you all so much for participating in this wonderful cause.

You can also view Smoke Signals online at: http://brookselementary.org/smokesignals