Announcements - September 13

Happy Friday to everyone.

We just finished our third week of school, and it was great!  I would like to let you know (if you don't already know) that Gilmer Elementary School received its accountability rating from the state this past August.  GES received a rating of Met Standard which means that our campus met the requirements under our new STAAR test.

What we are very excited to report is that GES received 2 out of 3 Academic Distinctions for exceptional performance and growth in Math Achievement and Student Progress.  GES was in the Top 20% of elementary schools in the entire state of Texas that received 2 or 3 distinctions.  This achievement is the result of our teachers' hard work, our students great performance and our parents' tremendous support of the school.  Thank you for your continued support of GES.

Fall Leaves by
Madyson Tate

This year, we have begun a huge emphasis on writing and showing our thinking in our work.  We want our students to get into the habit of getting their thoughts down on paper and then going back and making corrections after the thoughts are completely out.  Here is a great example of how our art teachers, Ms. Currey and Ms. High are having their students write about the awesome art work that they are creating.

Home Connection - Parents can write with their child 5 minutes per day about something interesting at home.  It can be about a trip, a person or a funny event.  Take 5 minutes and write with your child.  It'll make a world of difference.



Twitter has become a popular way to keep up with our favorite athletes.  Our 4th grade teachers are using Twitter to teach capitalization, punctuation and spelling.  Here is a great example of how Mrs. Menadier's students are correcting a tweet that Tony Romo wrote last week.

Home Connection - Parents can help their children by pointing our grammar errors in every day life.

How we solve subtraction
problems with borrowing.

Math is everywhere.  Anytime that you are using math is a great time to challenge your child to develop their mental math skills.  There are lots of smartphone apps and games that reinforce math skills.  Another great skill that your child can learn is how to make change at the store.  Finally, teaching your child how to estimate the cost of a group of items at the store or keeping a running tally of the cost of items at the store is a great way to reinforce addition and subtraction.

Kindergarten students are learning sight words every day.  This week's password is "My".  Students are learning how to write, spell and pronounce sight words.  In addition to sight words, Kindergarten students are doing  a great job learning the routines for school as well as their letters, letter sounds and numbers.

Kindergarten is the foundation for reading, and every time you help your child learn their letters and sight words, you are preparing them to be fantastic readers.



Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Moore are creating future scientists in our science lab.  Last week, the students learned how to take every day household products and combine them to create a solution called Oobleck.  The students also learned how it was created by reading the Dr. Seuss book, "Bartholomew and the Oobleck".  The teachers also dressed in costume to make learning an experience they'll never forget.

Science is also doing a great job incorporating writing and technology into their daily work.

Important Events and Reminders

Book Fair is during the week of September 23 through September 27.
Family night will be on Thursday, September 26 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Fall Picture Day will be on Friday, October 4th.

End of 3 Weeks is today.  Progress reports will come out next week.

Parent Communication
Be sure to check your child's folder for newsletters, announcements, behavior reports and grades.

We Remember 9/11/2001