Published: September 29, 2007 11:19 pm            

School Happenings for 9-30-07

PISD NEWS

• Web Site — Log on to the PISD web site for the latest information about Palestine Independent School District. The address is: www.palestineschools.org. You can log on to Skyward Family Access from there to see your student’s grades and attendance records. You can also see your children’s teachers’ web pages, school menus, sports schedules, parenting tips and much more. Be sure to bookmark the site.



HIGH SCHOOL

• PHS Chorus — On Sept. 18, the Palestine High School Chorus went and helped Dogwood Assisted living with the celebration of Blue Bell Ice Cream turning a 100 years young by singing songs from the 1950s and celebrating Mr. Langston also being 100 years old. Cake and ice cream was provided to everyone who attended.

• Blood Drive — The PHS Student Council is sponsoring a blood drive from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday in the boy’s gym. All are welcome to come and give; to expedite for members of the community, adults will be served before students.

• Latino Club— The officers for the 2008 school year are: President Ernestina Ramirez, Vice-president Curtis Booker, Secretary Diana Valladares, Treasurer Vanessa Campa, Historian Daniel Lara, and Guards Chasity Pena and Jimmy Ledesma.



MIDDLE SCHOOL

• Volleyball — The Ladycats will have a volleyball game Monday against Mexia in the Palestine Middle School Gym at 4:30 p.m.

• No Football — There is no football game this week.

• Band Picture Day — The band will take pictures on Wednesday.

• Fall Pictures — On Oct. 30 will take fall pictures. Everyone will take pictures even if you do not purchase pictures. These pictures will be used in the yearbook.



STORY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

• Third Grade — In Ms. Abendroth’s and Ms. Thomas’ 3rd grade classes, we have had a great start to our school year. In math, we are learning about place value, comparing and ordering whole numbers. Soon we will be moving on to number lines with whole numbers. We are also having fun learning our math songs.

Science is a lot of fun for us right now, we have been learning about different ecosystems. This week we are learning about fresh water and salt water ecosystems. Later we will be learning about the grasslands and polar ecosystems. In our classes we are doing individual projects. Be creative and have fun with them.

• Fourth Grade — Thank you so much to all the wonderful fourth-grade parents who attended Story’s Open House last Thursday!

Mrs. Morrison’s class is on a roll! We have covered many interesting things in math, such as place value, ordering numbers, and we are now working on addition word problems.

In reading, we are studying main idea, summary, and context clues through creative learning strategies. We are beginning the writing process, and discussed introductions along with the different ways you can write them. My students are writing their first paper on their favorite animal and they will be in charge of their own introduction style they choose to use.

Remember to keep studying those vocabulary words each night!

• Fifth Grade — Fifth grade rocks! Mrs. Cox, Mrs. Limbaugh and Mrs. Elton’s classes are off to a great start and we are so proud of our students. As the year unfolds, we know they will continue to meet the goals we have set.

In science, fifth graders are finishing the Life Science section and will be taking a benchmark this week. Please remind your child to rest, eat a good breakfast and to study! We are building good study habits this year and by now they know they have vocabulary quizzes on Tuesdays and content quizzes on Fridays to study.

In language arts and reading, we have just finished our first benchmark. Scores will be out soon. Encourage your children to read at home and talk to them about observing the world around them. Observation is the first step in all learning and we are trying to teach your child to be a life-long learner.

Don’t forget those math skills! We are working on long division this week. Mrs. Limbaugh is continuing to review all the concepts they have covered so far and you can help at home by encouraging them to practice with you.

• Coming Up — Friday is the end of the first six weeks; Oct. 8 is Columbus Day; Oct. 12, fall pictures.

• T-Shirt Update — They have been ordered and as soon as they arrive will be distributed to students through their teachers. Thank you everyone for your patience!

• Dictionary Donation — Thanks to the Palestine Rotarians for donating dictionaries to all third-grade classes as part of their Literacy project. You are the true Story Lions!



SOUTHSIDE PRIMARY SCHOOL

• Social Skill Awards — The winners for the Social Skill of "Listening" in first grade are Daniel Barrios, Melvin Brooks, Jasmin Coronel, Fazaria Edwards, Omar Garcia, Kelly Gonzalez-Huerta, Castinn Phifer, Chasity Rutledge-Spears, Betty Thomas and Ashley Wardlaw. In second grade, the children who followed the steps for listening are Dylan Anderson, Josue Bermudes, Janie Cardona, Christen Carnley, Mireya Ferretiz, Hayden Jackson, Jose Molina, Joshua Pullin, Jessica Ramirez, Alexia Robinson, Brianna Samford, Taylor Thompson and Angela Walker. Congratulations to these children for practicing their Social Skill of "Listening"!

• Classroom News — In Mrs. Gore’s science class, the children are studying the life cycle of the frog. In order for the children to experience fully their knowledge, Mrs. Gore mixes up a concoction of something that smells like peanut butter dough and is pliable enough to make a frog. Each child creates his or her own authentic frog. Some children also made eggs, tadpoles, and baby frogs to demonstrate the life cycle of the frog and then ate the leftovers. Children are excited and are very knowledgeable about the frog and its’ life cycle. After showing off their frogs and knowledge, each child is then given a lunch baggie to put their frog’s eggs in. Can you imagine eating frog’s eggs? The children enjoyed eating their green Jell-O® filled with grapes. Imagination and creativity are a part of Mrs. Gore’s everyday teaching. She creates a learning environment filled with whimsical fancy. The giggling and excitement are contagious as the children invite me to make my own frog and eat my frog’s eggs. Yum! Yum!

In September celebrating Johnny Appleseed’s birthday is a must in Mrs. Frank’s classroom. She is teaching children about the legendary folklore figure whose story was told by early Americans and handed down through generations by word of mouth. Mrs. Franks is relating this to her math class by cutting apples to show fractions, using probability by having children guess the number of seeds in an apple and then, checking their guess by counting their seeds. She asks children to bring apples. Depending on the color of the apple, a graph is made by the children. They count the apples in each column and look to see which column has the most and the least. The best part of all is after their math lessons when they get to make applesauce with Mrs. Franks’ private recipe (maybe she’ll share her recipe if you ask her). The children also work on reading lessons by using their sequencing skills in making "apple smiles" by reading directions and using a picture sequence to make their winning grinning "apple smiles". Lastly, they cut and paste a sequence story showing how Johnny Appleseed’s hard work is rewarded. Whew! Mrs. Franks’ will have many math wizards and reading wonders!

• Library — This week in the library, we have begun celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month which goes from Sept. 16 through Oct. 16. On the tables in the library, Ms. Dailey has a set of cards that have pictures of different objects labeled with both English and Spanish. There are pictures of pets, flowers, food, transportation, vehicles, etc. The students also drew pictures and labeled them. Children were able to listen to the story Speak English for us Marisol! by Karen English. They discussed how some of them help translate for those who don’t speak English but who are working hard to learn!

• Book Fair Coming — This will be the first announcement for our School Book Fair which is one of the school’s fund-raisers. It will be Oct. 22-26. If you are interested in helping Mrs. Dailey, please call her or send a note with your child to school.

• AR Prizes — Accelerated Reader prizes will be handed out Thursday by PTO AR volunteer Ann Sokolowski. These prizes will be awarded every two weeks for our AR program. If you have any questions, call Ms. Dailey, our Southside Librarian.

• Teacher of the Month — Teacher of the Month for September is second-grade teacher, Grace Mancilla. Mrs. Mancilla has been teaching for nine years in our district and is a graduate of Palestine School District. She has two children, Gianni, who attends Southside Primary and Tori who is two years old. Congratulations for having been picked as Teacher of the Month!

• Tax Rollback — Be sure to register to vote in the upcoming Tax Roll Back Election. Your children’s education is our priority.



NORTHSIDE EARLY CHILDHOOD CENTER

• Book Fair — The book fair is this week so please make plans to come and help support your school. There will be a variety of books for all ages and also Spanish books will be available. It will be from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Friday in the library.

• Target RIF Grant — We received a $3,000 RIF grant from Target to supplement our RIF funds. Thank you Target!

This will allow us to have more RIF days throughout the year. RIF is a program called Reading is Fun and the funds allow schools to purchase books to give to children to keep as their own. A huge thank you to Teresa Myers who entered our school so we could receive the grant.

• PTO Membership — Sign up now for only $2. Members can be family members, neighbors, etc.

• Fall Pictures — Individual fall pictures were taken on Friday. If your child missed having theirs taken there will be a makeup day in the future.

• Upcoming Events — Monday through Friday, Book Fair; Oct. 8-12, Fire Prevention Week.

        

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