Panther Paws Newsletter - Puckett Elementary...

Dates to Remember:

March

March 4�8 Texas Public Schools Week 7 3rd, 4th & 5th PE Program @ AHS, 7:00pm 11�15 Spring Break 29 Holiday

April 2 STAAR 4th Writing

& 5th Math 3 STAAR 4th Writing

& 5th Reading

The week of March 4�8 is Texas Public Schools Week. This is a special week when we invite you to visit our classrooms, take note of the great student work in our hallways, or have lunch with your child. We are proud of the students and staff at Puckett and invite you to join us as we celebrate pub�lic education at Puckett!

Our 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students will present the an�nual Physical Education pro�gram at 7:00 pm on Thurs�day, March 7 at the Amarillo

High School Activity Center. Mr. Carpenter and the stu�dents are preparing a great program and invite you to this special event.

The first round of the STAAR assessments begins for our 4th and 5th grade students on April 2 and 3. We appreciate the support you provide by making sure the students are well rested, have a good breakfast, and arrive at school on time. The STAAR is a timed test (4 hours) so it is important that we begin promptly on those days.

Letter from the Principal

Puckett Elementary

Winter 2013, Issue #7

March, 2013

Puckett Panthers are…

“Respectful, Responsible,

and Safe”

Panther Paws Newsletter

March: Staff Birthdays:

Sybil Boyd 1 Robynn Britten 9 Lori Cogliandra 13 Renee Doss 21

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU ALL!

Inside this issue:

News & Dates 1

K�5, Music, Library 2"3

Parent Info, Kid’s Korner, 4"5

Thank you for supporting the magazine fundraiser. The proceeds help to provide learning materials and incen�tives for our students. Be watching for information about the PTA geranium sales!

We appreciate the time you spend working with your stu�dents on homework, reading with them, and listening to them share their learning. We know our students’ success comes from the joint efforts of teachers and parents!

Jeanine Powell

Book Fair was a HUGE success!!!!

Puckett’s 2013 book fair—Story Laboratory: Reading Gives You Super

Power—was the most successful book fair in school history! Thanks to each of

you for what you did to help us surpass our goal.

The net profit for Puckett will be over $4300. This includes both cash profit and over $1600 of weekly

readers and scholastic newspapers for the 2013,14 school year. Each homeroom teacher was able to

select $40 in books for their classroom at no charge thanks to our increase in sales this year. Families

purchased over $800 in books to give to our teachers’ classroom libraries. Our Family Night/Open

House was the highest grossing day of sales we’ve ever had!!

Our amazing volunteers:

Christy Trybus, Terri Slaughter, Alexis Baer, Erin McLemore, Allison Nance, Jennifer McElreath,

Vicki Keister, Mary Gillmore, Brandon Massey, Chas Massey, Melissa Purser, Brooke Ward, Jena

Stafford, Emily Edwards, Stephanie Tucker, Jill Griffith, Courtney Neely, Teri Rummel, Cathy Weber,

Christy Amason, Sheila Garcia, Kate Schneider, Emmy Watkins, Sara Richardson, Donna Furrh, Svet,

lana Petrey, Sarah White, Amy Krizan, Cherie Sanders, Sandra Britten, Keri Preston, Jill Goodrich,

Jalane Pointer, Mary Margaret Girty, Areline Soto, Edwin Vazquez, Tiffany Thomas

We are so thankful to the fantastic Puckett teachers and staff who encourage our students to become

better readers!

Nickie Lancour, Crystal Moreno and Jennifer Wade

GERANIUM SALES—Puckett students will be selling Geraniums from Tuesday,

March 19 – Thursday, April 7. Look for details in Tuesday folders the Tuesday after

spring break. All proceeds will be going straight to our school with the proceeds

from the 4th grade class going to their 5th grade activities!

It’s time to shine up those boots and dust off those cowboy hats as we learn about the Lone Star

State. From landforms to symbols, we’ll “travel” around and see what makes Texas such a great

place to live. And what better way to finish our study than with a rodeo! (The state sport of

Texas!) Parents should have received information about how they can be a part of this exciting

event!

One fish, Two fish, Red fish, Whose fish? Why, Kindergarten’s of course. We will finish out

the month of March celebrating the birthday of Dr. Seuss with reading, math, and writing activi/

ties based on many of our favorite books. Don’t be surprised if you see some Thing 1, Thing 2 and

3 and 4 making an appearance on a hallway wall near you. And be careful/don’t knock over Yertle

the Turtle’s Tall Turtle Tower!!! And always beware of the Cat in the Hat!

“From near to far, From here to there, Funny things are everywhere!”

Especially in Kindergarten!! (From One fish, Two fish, Red fish, Blue fish)

Second Grade

First Grade First grade is learning about money. Ask your first grader to tell you everything they already know about coins. We will continue with that skill and then move on to telling time to the hour and half hour. We will welcome the spring season with a unit on spring when we return from spring break. We are planning a field trip to the zoo at the end of April. Be looking for more information as that date gets closer. We are learning about United States symbols and Texas symbols too! Be looking for some information about a short Texas sing song program we will be performing the week before spring break with the help of our wonderful Mrs. Terrell. We read every day and continue to encourage you, as parents, to do the same with your first grader. Can you believe the end of the year is fast approaching? Let’s prepare our future second graders with the ability to read fluently on their levels and comprehend what they have read! Remember…. The more you read the better you read!

Kindergarten


Second graders will be botanists this month. They will be planting plants and grass while observing

their life cycle and taking notes on it. They will also learn the parts of a plant and the function of

each part as well as what the plants need to survive. In social studies, we will be reviewing the Texas

symbols as well the roles of public government. In math, we will continue time and measurement.

Just a reminder that second graders are expected to know all of their addition/subtraction facts up to

18 when they leave second grade. Please continue to work on math facts nightly to help them accom�

plish this goal. READ!READ!READ!

In social studies, the third graders will learn about economics. We will learn ways to earn, spend, save, and donate money. We will continue to work on our writing and focus on editing and revision. In reading, we will work on skills such as characterization, inferencing, cause/

effect, and summary as we read stories and informational articles about the Underground Railroad, slavery, and the Civil War. Students will continue to have multiplication tests as we work to master all multiplication facts 0 # 12. We will study area and perimeter in math as well. We will study about natural resources in science. We will have our Character Pa#rade on Friday, March 8th. Students will dress up as one of their favorite characters that day and do many fun characterization activities. Parents are invited to come to the Char#acter Parade that will begin at 2:30. Look for more information about the Character Parade in your child's Tuesday folder.

Third Grade

“The more you read, the more things you ill know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”

� Dr. Seuss, "I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!"

SOCIAL STUDIES: During the 5th six weeks, students

will be learning about the Indus#

trial Revolution and the many

inventions that came about dur#

ing the 1800’s impacting life in

America. Each student will re#

search an invention, create a

model, and write an essay about

the inventor and invention. We

will focus on how inventions of

the 19th century changed the way

work was done.

MATH – we will continue our

study of making like frac/

tions, comparing fractions,

adding like fractions, sub/

tracting like fractions. We

will study the relationship

between fractions, decimals

and percentages. Then we will

go into measurement and con/

versions in the customary

system and metric system.

SCIENCE: The students learn

that Earth’s surface is constantly

changing and consists of useful

resources. The students will

explore the processes that led to

the formation of sedimentary

rocks and fossil fuels; recognize

how landforms such as deltas,

canyons, and sand dunes are the

result of changes to Earth’s

surface by wind, water, and ice;

identify alternative energy re

sources such as wind, solar,

hydroelectric, geothermal, and

biofuels; and identify fossils as

evidence of past living organisms

and the nature of the environ

ments at the time using models.

Fift

h Gr

ade

SOCIAL STUDIES: Students have chosen a Nota�ble Texan to do research on and create a booklet that will be displayed in our hallway. We will then be working on our “Old 300 Project” about the first 300 people that set�tled in Texas with Stephen F. Austin.

SCIENCE: The students

learn that there are recog-

nizable patterns in the

natural world and among

the Sun, Earth, and Moon

system. The students will

measure and record

changes in weather and

make predictions using

weather maps, weather

symbols, and a map key

and collect and analyze

data to identify sequences

and predict patterns of

change in shadows, tides,

seasons, and the observ-

able appearance of the

Moon over time.. Four

th G

rade

MATH – we will continue our

unit of measurement in the

customary and metric sys/

tems, ask your child about

the Gallon “G” and see if he/

she can draw it for you. We

will begin our geometry unit

and work on 2D and 3D

shapes and their attributes.

We will study reflections,

translations, and rotations

and symmetry.


Library Online Catalog – use database to locate books, audio books, and video titles. The library patron

must use their library card number and PIN when using online resources. PIN is available from the school or public librarian and can be changed by the patron. Searchasaurus – An exciting and easy way for young researchers to ex�perience online searching. Kidzone – links to reliable sites for learning and playing online. Students can learn about internet safetly, play games, visit animal sites, or get help with homework.

LANGUAGE ARTS/

READING: 5th grade is fin�ishing up their Autobiogra�phies and self portraits to hang on the hall wall, and are excited for their parents to view them during Texas Pub�lic Schools Week. We are finishing up biogra�phy book reports and My

Side Of the Mountain, as well as working on compre�hension skills.

LANGUAGE ARTS/

READING: Congratulations to the students whose work was selected to be printed in the Anthology of Poetry by Young Americans. This anthology is printed yearly and has selected poems from students across America. The students that were selected received a letter asking for parent permission, which must be returned to have the work published. The school library and the teachers who submitted work will receive a copy of the book, so parents do not have to purchase the book for the student to see their poem published. 4th grade continues to work on putting thoughts and feelings into a=our narrative pieces, and explaining our topic in our expository pieces. In reading we continue to work on reading comprehension.

Thank you Puckett families for collecting box tops. We earned $646.50 this school year! Keep clipping so we can earn even more next year!

BE IN THE KNOW...


Puckett PTA News:Puckett PTA News:Puckett PTA News:Puckett PTA News:

For Schools Without Kids’ Banks:

Parent Participation Needed for the

Smarter Texans Save Financial Education Evaluation

This spring, 4th grade students are learning about saving, banking, and money management in school as part of Smarter Texans Save, a collaboration between Amarillo ISD, Happy State Bank, and OpportunityTexas. Researchers are evaluating Smarter Texans Save as part of a national effort to improve financial education. Student participation is critical to the success of the evaluation. However, parents’ permission is needed before we can collect infor�mation about students’ experiences with Smarter Texans Save. We have sent parents of 4th graders a packet with information about the program. The packet included a consent letter. We ask that parents return the signed consent form to their child’s school. We thank those of you who returned the consent form. However, we need more parents to participate. We will be mailing parents an�other consent form within the next month and encourage parents to sign and return the form to school or mail it back. We are thrilled to be helping students master financial skills that will serve them now and in the future! More information about Smarter Texans Save is available at http://smartertexanssave.wordpress.com/. If you have questions, please contact Laura Rosen at [email protected] or 512.823.2868.

Welcome to Spring, Puckett Families! First of all, I want to say thanks again for a very successful book fair. You will find the information in this news�letter and I encourage you to read it!

Thursday, March 7 is our Puckett PTA Association Meeting in the AHS Activity Center at 7:00 p.m. The 2012�2013 PTA Nominating Committee will be presented for approval. Also the PTA Life Member Awards will be announced which is always exciting to see. The 3

rd – 5

th Grade Physical Education program will follow

the meeting.

The nominating committee will begin soon working on the board for 2012�2013 so I encourage you to contact me if you are interested in serving next year ([email protected] or 352�7177)

Thank you to all the Homeroom Moms and parents who helped with class Valentine’s parties. They were a great success!

Also thanks to all of you who have been collecting box tops. Thanks to Mary Margaret Girty for all her hard work counting the box tops. So keep cutting and turning in those box tops!

This year the 4th grade class will be hosting the annual geranium sale this spring. All Puckett students can sell geraniums and will benefit in the following ways: 5th Grade—end of year activities 4th Grade—Fall 2013 Outdoor Education and their other activities for 2013�2014. K�3rd grades—general PTA fund for gift to school to help with technology and other academic needs. Geranium sales will begin Tuesday, March 19...all information will be sent home on that day

Also mark your calendars for Wonderland Night—Friday, April 19. Tickets on sale soon!

Thanks so much to everyone who contributes to our school in all areas to make it a great place for our children! Happy Spring!

Allison Nance PTA President

Kids KornerKids KornerKids KornerKids Korner

Reading Club It is every Tuesday from 3:15 to 3:45 in

Mrs. Britten’s room for second, third, fourth,

and fifth graders.


Puckett Family Night Out!

Please eat at Dyer’s Bar"B"Que

on Tuesday, March 19th.

Puckett will receive 10% of the total orders for that day.

Spread the word to everyone you know to skip the cook�ing and eat a wonderful meal! Also watch for Flyer in the

Tuesday folder that day!

Yearbook Deadlines Approaching! Attention Parents!! " Need 5th Grade Dedications!! " Need Photos!!

The Deadline for ordering 2012"2013 Yearbooks is ap�proaching. This deadline will be the Monday following Spring Break, which is Monday March 18th. So be sure and get your orders in. Order form will be in Tuesday folders and are available at the office. Parents of 5th graders, please remember to get your 5th grade dedications turned if you haven’t done so yet. This year will be over before we know it! The deadline for 5th Grade Dedications is also the Monday following Spring Break which is Monday March 18th.

And if anyone still have Yearbook forms please get those turned in at the office as well. Don’t want to miss getting your copy!

We REALLY NEED PHOTOS , so remember as you attend your children's sports, music, scouts, and other extra�curricular activities this fall, PLEASE remember to take pic�tures of Puckett kids and send them via email to the year�book ladies at [email protected]. You can also contact Traci Bentley at 359�3914.

We especially want team / group photos. If your activity has non�Puckett kids, kindly ask them to step out of the picture so you can take a Puckett picture for the yearbook. (we can't include non�Puckett students because of liability issues)

We know our Panther stu�dents are involved in so many things� we want to capture them in action to be included in the yearbook!

Extended School

Day Program

Dear Parents,

Thank you so much to our

parents that came and read dur,

ing reading and literature week

and to our families that helped

with the Valentine’s party! Re,

member that this month is pro,

rated due to Spring Break. Please

see your statement for the correct

tuition amount.

Thank you for your continued

support!

ESD staff

*March tuition is due on Tuesday

the 5th. Please get this in

promptly to avoid any late

charges. This month is prorated.

Contact Info: Rachel Jackson"Site Coordinator Cell" 570"3400 Email" [email protected]

Upcoming Dates

Tuesday Mar. 5th, March

Tuition is due.

Mar. 11th015th0 Spring

Break!

&

Mar. 29th0Good Friday

No ESD… We will not

be offering any ac0

tivities these days.

Mar. 4th,8th

Dr. Seuss week

Mar. 11th,15th

Spring Break!

Mar. 18th,22nd

Colors week

Mar. 25th,28th

Spring week

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