Tiger Tales
November 2007
VOLUME 8 NUMBER 2
Newsletter for Parents and Students of Stockbridge Elementary
VISIT US ON THE WEB
HTTP://www.henry.k12.ga.us/se
Henry County is providing NetTrekker, a safe
way to search on the web. This service is free.
You will need to register; go to
http://school.nettrekker.com/login.epl
WE SALUTE OUR PARTNERS IN
EDUCATION
Applebee’s (Stockbridge)
Buchanan Chiropractic
Chick-fil-A Dwarf House (Stockbridge)
East West Karate
First State Bank
Kroger (Stockbridge)
Moe’s Southwest Grill (Stockbridge)
Moye’s Pharmacy
O'Charley's Restaurant (Stockbridge)
Publix (East Atlanta Rd.)
Ryan’s Family Steak House (Stockbridge)
Shane’s Rib Shack
Songahm Taekwondo-Jonesboro ATA & Karate
for Kids
Sonic Drive-In
Stockbridge Florist
Sylvan Learning Center (Stockbridge)
The Paulk Clinic
Tropical Smoothie Cafe
Waffle House (Stockbridge)
DATES TO REMEMBER
Nov 19-23……Thanksgiving Break (No school)
Dec 6……..……….PTSO Dance 6:30-8:30 PM
Dec 20……...…1st Grade Chorus PAC 7:00 PM
Dec 21………………………Grade Period Ends
Dec 24-Jan 4…....…..Winter Break (No school)
Jan 7..…Staff Professional Learning (No school)
Jan 14...…...…………..…..Report Cards Home
PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE,
DR. LA VERN LYNCH
(lavern.lynch@henry.k12.ga.us)
“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME
LATELY?”
If your child were to ask you this question
from an educational point of view, what
would be your response?
Are you involving your child in everyday
math to strengthen his/her skills?
Are you reinforcing reading at home?
MATH REINFORCERS
Our goal is to develop confident and
competent mathematicians. Here are just a
few ways to support your child’s
mathematical learning. Ask your child’s
teacher for more grade-specific ways to
practice math concepts at home.
Show me the money… Empty your pocket
or purse change each evening and have your
child count the money. Another variation,
when checking out at the store, ask your
child to help you select the correct change to
make your purchase or determine how much
change you will receive. It’s about time…
We need to be at soccer practice at 6. It
takes 15 minutes to get to the field. When
should we leave? Ask your child to help you
solve some real-life word problems
involving time. Talk the talk… Look for
comparisons and use math vocabulary like
greater than, less than, greatest, and fewest.
Point out patterns. They’re all around us…
Think walkways, wallpaper, tiles, and
windows. A numbers game… Play games
that involve doing arithmetic. Dominoes,
chess, checkers, and puzzles all reinforce
math learning. Ask your child to add up the
score after a hand of cards or a round of
Scrabble. Yummy math… Cooking offers
many chances to practice math skills. Grab
the measuring cups and spoons to talk about
fractions. Have a crowd for dinner? Ask
your child to double the recipe. Younger
children can use cereal or grapes to group
and count. Smart shopper… Store
advertisements give your child another
opportunity to subtract and compare,
relating math to everyday situations. Take
coupons to the grocery store and ask your
child to figure the new price with the
discount. If your child is unable to
complete these activities on their own,
modeling and explaining are great ways
to move him/her toward independently
solving these real life situations.
READING REINFORCERS
Studies show the average U.S. student
spends hours each day with electronic media
(TV, computer, game systems) but only
minutes reading. And that’s just not enough,
literacy experts say. Strong readers make
successful learners. The more your child
reads, the better reader (and student) he will
be! Use these reading tips at home.
Daily reading time at home… Help your
child set aside daily reading time at home—
15 to 30 minutes after dinner or before
bedtime— to read books at a comfortable,
just-right reading level in different genres
(realistic and historical fiction, fantasy,
fables, fairy tales, myths, non-fiction, and
biographies). Try new books, but keep those
old favorites, too. Be a good (reading)
example… When it’s reading time for your
child, pick up a book or magazine yourself.
No holiday for reading… Your child’s
daily reading habit should be just that, daily,
even during vacations. Take along books—
or books on tape that the whole family will
enjoy— for your next car trip. Family
read-aloud… Turn off the TV and start a
family tradition with a childhood favorite,
reading a chapter or two together each night.
Even older children (yes, teens) may like
read-aloud time when it means a few extra
minutes with Mom or Dad. Reader’s
choice… Ask your reluctant reader to select
his own reading material— whether that’s a
how-to book, a song or joke book, a specialinterest magazine, the sports page, or a
graphic anime novel. Reading is reading, no
matter the content or type of reading
material. Books on tape can enhance
traditional reading.
FROM OUR ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL,
DR. KAREN SCHNEID
(kschneid@henry.k12.ga.us)
For the past six weeks, I have had the
opportunity to sit in on several Student
Support Team meetings. Parents have asked
how they can help their child succeed in
school. Topping the list of suggestions, as
Dr. Lynch has stated is to encourage your
child to read.
Next, make sure that your child does his/her
homework. It is “ok” for you to discuss
homework assignments with your child
before he/she gets started and to periodically
check on his/her progress; but it is your
child’s responsibility to do the assignment
on their own.
Talk to your child about school each day.
Ask about the activities that occurred at
school and make sure to check their book
bag daily.
We appreciate all the great support we had
at Grandparent’s Day. A special thanks
goes to Ms. Re, the Dance Team and Pep
Squad for their performances.
MUSIC NOTES, MS. RE
Our next big event is the choral performance
by the first graders. This event will be held
Thursday, December 20th, at the Performing
Arts Center in McDonough at 7:00PM. Be
sure to put this on your calendar and bring
along your relatives and friends to see these
excited first graders.
Be sure to go on line and see the music room
website for Stockbridge Elementary School.
Encourage your child to listen to some great
classical music. Why not try a different
radio station as you are riding in the car
together and see what you can discover?
Ask your child some questions such as; what
instruments do you hear? Is the music high,
low, fast or slow? Is the music loud or soft?
Wouldn’t life be dull without music?
MEDIA CENTER NEWS
The media center will be reading, reading,
reading from January 28-February 1 with Be
Enthusiastic About Reading Week. One
lucky student per grade level will win a bear
and book at the end of the week. The more
a student reads the greater the chances are
that he or she will win the bear.
KINDERGARTEN NEWS
Kindergarten is off to a great start. We are
still working on recognizing the letters and
letter sounds. We are very proud to say that
many of our students are reading. We had a
very busy month in October. Our pumpkin
patch trip was a lot of fun and Johnny
Appleseed came to our school for a visit. In
the next few months, we will be learning
about some different holidays around the
world. We hope that everyone has a safe and
happy holiday season
FIRST GRADE NEWS
First Graders have really been busy this
year! We had fun learning the importance of
being drug free during Red Ribbon Week. In
Science, we enjoyed learning about so many
animals! We have been practicing
informational writing. There are so many
fabulous pieces of writing on display in and
around our classrooms! In Social Studies,
we are really excited about our present unit,
Lewis & Clark and their guide, Sacagawea.
In Reading, First Graders are becoming
better readers by reading independently and
getting more and more accelerated reader or
“AR” points! By participating in selfselected reading, reading with partners or
“buddy reading”, reading in small groups, &
being read to by others, First Graders’
reading are improving…PRACTICE
MAKES PERFECT!
We enjoyed our Storyteller that came to our
school for the First Grade field trip
yesterday! His program was all about the
Pilgrims and Native Americans. He even
had authentic pilgrim clothes for the
students to try on! He will return next month
to read the story, Polar Express.
First Graders will be having a Chorus
concert Thursday evening, December 20th at
7:00 p.m.…please be sure your child arrives
at the Performing Art Center by 6:30. We
are excited about this and hope you & the
entire family will be sure to attend!
While your child is out during the upcoming
breaks, please review with them their
vocabulary & spelling words and other
important items that they bring home
weekly, such as Making Words. You may
also want to encourage your child to keep a
daily journal to sharpen their writing and
spelling skills.
SECOND GRADES NEWS
We are looking forward to our field trip to
Dauset Trails. The students learned a lot
during our science unit on animal habitats.
They will be able to see some of these
animals in action. Our next field trip to The
Center for Puppetry Arts is in February.
Thank you for your support with field trips.
The students will be taking their second
Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) tests
in December. The information from the
MAP tests will be used to guide instruction
in the classroom to ensure that all students
make progress in reading, language arts, and
math. Please make sure your child comes to
school with all necessary materials and
ready to learn. Please continue to
encourage your child to make good choices
every day.
Addition facts to 18 are a first grade
standard, however many second grade
students have yet to master this skill. We
need your help! Please practice addition
facts every night with your child. The facts
are in your child’s agenda or you may see
your child’ teacher. Knowing these math
facts will help your child make the transition
to multiplication a lot easier.
THIRD GRADE NEWS
Third graders enjoyed a fabulous field trip to
Stone Mountain Park on November 1. The
day was highlighted with live Native
American dances, a closer look at Native
American regalia, and a picnic lunch in the
park. It was a wonderful way to close out
our social studies unit on the Native
American way of life.
Finally, thank you for your support of our
reading initiative. Our goal is to foster a
love of reading and grow strong readers.
Please continue to check your child’s
agenda each night, read with your child for
at least 15 minutes each night, and visit the
public library with them as often as possible.
You’ll find a wide variety of reading
resources there.
Look forward to upcoming information
about CRCT online. As you know this is a
critical year for our third graders. It is the
first year that they will be required to pass
the reading portion of the CRCT with a
score of 800 or better for promotion to the
next grade level. We encourage you to stay
abreast of your child’s performance in
school and talk to your child’s teacher if you
have questions or concerns. In the
meantime, please check out some of the
websites below when you need extra
practice or activities for your child.
www.allmath.com
www.harcourtschool.com
www.coolmath.com
www.rif.org/kids
www.starfall.com
www.funbrain.com
www.softschools.com
www.kidsdomain.com
www.rhlschool.com
STUDENT COUNCIL NEWS
This is the first year that we’ve had a student
council here at SES, and our third graders
are anxious to get to work on their
upcoming projects such as:
• Kindness Week
• Nursing Home Visits
• Valentine’s Day Dance
• Earth Week
• End of the Year Dance
• Friends Forever
Our first project is coming along
successfully. We are collecting Box Tops
for Education. Currently we’ve collected
over 1,600! Ms. Noel’s second grade class
collected the most boxtops during the month
of October and won the popsicle party! We
look forward to rewarding the next winning
class at the end of November, so please
continue sending in Box Tops! Please visit
the website at www.boxtopsforeducation.com
for a complete list of participating sponsors.
Congratulation to our student council
members for the 2007-2008 school year:
Co-Sponsors
Mrs. C. Freeman & Mrs. T. Mays
Officers
President: Alyssa Coplen
Vice President: Yasmine Moore
Secretary: Draylon Hicks
Treasurer: Jade Stockton
Class Representatives
Juan Guespan
Jacob Seritt
Jack Kiernan
Kyla Wootson
Kiara Manley
Ashley Medert
Jalen Holston
Emilee Goodwin
Ashley Cofer
Sidney Conyers
Cherith Grizzell
Sydney Dilworth