Parent Resources
RYLANDER UPDATE
November 17, 2009
Open House: Thursday evening, November 19th, Rylander Elementary will open its doors for our annual Open House and Book Fair. Open House will be from 5:30 to 6:45 p.m. This is a time for students to share samples of their work and give parents a tour of the room. It is not a time designed for a lengthy parent conference - if you need to meet with the teacher, please ask to set up another time for a conference. Don't forget to stop by and visit the specials and support teachersJ. We are looking forward to seeing everyone!
Book Fair: Our fall book fair is taking place November 16-20. The book fair gives our students and families an opportunity to purchase quality books for their own reading enjoyment while supporting the Rylander library. We will feature hundreds of titles from many different reading categories and age levels. Paperback books as well as hardcover titles will be on sale. Parents are always welcome at the book fair, so please come and visit! Your active support will help make this our most successful book fair ever!
November 16-19, 8:30 am - 3:30 pm.
Nov. 19 (Open House), 5:00-7:00 pm
November 20, 8:30 to 12:00.
**Please add 6.25% tax & make checks payable to RRE
Lea Ann Hardaway Cancer Fund Bake Sale:
Thursday, November 19, 2009, in the gym, 5:00 - 7:00 pm
Faculty and staff members will be making a baked item or other various creative dishes and specialties to sell in a Silent Auction Format. All the proceeds will go toward a college fund to support Lea Ann's 2 children.
Literacy Library: The literacy library needs your help! We are in desperate need of gallon-sized, freezer bags (like Ziploc). We were fortunate to have received several hundred new additions to our library, but we need bags so they will stay in good condition. Thank you!
Rock Days...ROCKED! Thank you very much to all of volunteers who helped to make these two days possible for our fourth grade students. A special thank you to Mr. James Brewton and Mrs. Fay Bourgeois for being our expert presenters for the entire day. We appreciate you giving of your time so generously. Fourth Graders moved through 5 stations ranging from a hands-on erosion experiment, mineral video station, rock cycle computer interactive station, SMART Board rock comparison station to the parent experts. We are just so thankful to have such great parent support at RRE. Thank you.
Picture retakes: Picture retake day is scheduled for Wednesday, November 18th.
Volunteers: Rylander loves its volunteers! Due to safety concerns for children of volunteers, we ask that volunteers make arrangements for child care when coming to school to work. Remember that if several parents pool together for childcare, the person watching the children can record those volunteer hours!! Suzi Williams is happy to add those hours to our counts for you.
In addition, teachers would love to utilize volunteer help from the home. If they know you want to help but are unable to come to school, they can send home bags of things to be cut out or be colored on an as-needed basis! Again, those hours also count towards your volunteer total hours!
BOX TOP CONTEST: It is time for our 2nd Box Top Contest. Entry forms can be found on the PTA website at rylanderpta.org ---- Please turn in the contest forms by December 18th to be eligible for the prize drawing. Eighteen students will win travel size domino sets. The winners will be announced after the winter break. If you have any questions, please contact email amontaner@comcast.net . HAPPY CLIPPING!!!!!
No school: There will be no school November 25 - 27. Classes will resume Monday, November 30.
Traffic reminder: Please be mindful regarding following traffic laws around our school. There are new laws prohibiting cell phone usage in a school zone.
Campus Advisory Team meeting: The Campus Advisory Team meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, December 1st, at 6:30 p.m., in the library.
Spelling: Out of ideas when it comes spelling practice? Spellingcity.com is a great site for your child to use. Grade level teachers are loading the weekly spelling words into this site so our kiddos can practice at both home and school. To use at home do the following.
Type spellingcity.com in the URL, click on “Find a List”, then type Rylander in the search term. Your child should be able to find this week's spelling unit with several activities for practice.
Cookie dough parties: The PTA has rescheduled the cookie dough parties. If your student has qualified to attend, please take note of the new dates:
Pump it Up party - November 23
Rocket City party - December 3
Fourth grade musical: A special thank you to the parents who worked so diligently on the scenery and costumes for the fourth grade play.
New business partner: Rylander has a new business partner - SchoolHouse Partners. A brochure is enclosed in the Tuesday folder. Mike Heinzman, a representative from SchoolHouse Partners, will have a display set up during Open House to answer questions.
Rylander Elementary “Giving Tree”: The Rylander Elementary “Giving Tree” is an opportunity for us to help some Rylander families that are experiencing a hardship, by providing gifts and clothing for their children during this holiday season. The “Giving Tree” will be on display near the front office during the Open House, November 19th. We are encouraging people to take one or more paper ornament/s from the tree and return the gifts wrapped to the Rylander front office no later than Friday, December 11th. (Please attach the paper ornament to the outside of the wrapped gift). Thank you for making this holiday season special for these Rylander families. Please contact Mrs. Zeigler at 281-237-8386 if you have any questions.
Math: Help! Teachers in grades 1-5 are noticing that many students are not practicing their basic math facts at home. As the amount of curriculum covered increases, these students are at a disadvantage. They get bogged down with computation and are not concentrating on the new concepts being presented. Learning basic facts requires practice. This can be done while riding in the car, sitting in a restaurant, waiting at the ball field or with the more traditional flashcard approach. Audiotapes and CDs are available at teacher supply stores. Try varied approaches to learning facts - some students respond to flash cards, others to games with dice (roll the die and add/multiply the two numbers) or music/chants. Immediate recall of basic facts has a tremendous impact on a child's ability to do higher level math skills. The junior high teachers tell us that this is the number one predictor of success in sixth grade math. So please, help us drill math facts whenever and wherever you can.
Here are some great math websites:
www.coolmath4kids.com
www.multiplication.com
www.aplusmath.com
www.mathmastery.com/cyberchallenge/
www.mathsisfun.com/games/mathionaire-multiplication-quiz.html
Mrs. Simmons' personal favorite is www.mathplayground.com. Press math games and click on “Number Invaders.” This is a great game to practice quick recall of facts. Use your space bar and arrow keys to play - Mrs. Simmons is working on improving her personal best score of 9! (If you feel this score is way too low, please note that Mrs. Simmons is not as adept at video games as some of her studentsJ.)
Planners: Please double check your child's planner every evening. The teachers have noticed that some grades have dropped due to homework not being turned in on time. At the elementary level, homework counts as 10-15% of the grade in a given subject. At junior high, the amount of homework increases. It is important to develop good habits early, so they are well established by the time a child gets to junior high.
Calendar:
November 18 Field Day - 3rd/5th
November 19 Open House - 5:30-6:45 p.m.
November 20 Field trip - 4th grade
November 23 Rhinos in Charge
November 24 Thanksgiving Feast - Kindergarten
November 25 Thanksgiving break begins
November 30 Students return
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Core Essentials November 2009
COOPERATION: Working together to do more than you can do alone
Activities children engage in while growing up can prepare them to effectively work with others. How can we help kids see the importance of cooperation and begin to build a solid base for working with others? Children need to know that:
Individuality and cooperation go hand in hand. As important as it is to help children understand their unique talents and personalities, it is just as important to help them see how their uniqueness can complement others to accomplish more. Children need to see that cooperating with others confirms their individual worth and acknowledges the benefits of working toward a shared purpose.
Cooperation turns individual discouragement into shared success. Realistically viewing a difficult situation or task can be very discouraging. The issue is not the analysis of the problem but the emotional response. Teaming up to tackle a task breaks what appears to be an overwhelming chore into achievable pieces. Children need to see that working cooperatively overcomes discouragement and multiplies the feeling of success.
Recognizing personal limits encourages cooperation. Learning to become a confident individual is important. But even the most self-assured cannot do everything. Perhaps a benefit of difficult situations is that our personal limits are defined for us. Though such discoveries are somewhat uncomfortable, these times help us see where cooperation makes seemingly impossible tasks possible.
Core Essentials believes that a key way to help your child internalize the character values being taught is to “catch” them demonstrating the value. Here are a few suggestions on how you can catch your child, and let him or her know you see them showing cooperation.
• Note when your child works well with others, during playtime or doing chores.
• Notice when your child works cooperatively with younger or older children.
• Catch your child working together with other kids or coaches to put things back in their place.
These are just a few ways you can catch your child showing cooperation. The Core Essentials Program believes it takes an INWARD attitude to influence OUTWARD behavior. The Program is based on aligning the home and school to teach character.
If you do catch your child cooperating, we would love to hear about it. Tell us what your child did in a note sent into the school, or an e-mail sent directly to his or her teacher.
© 2009 Core Essentials, Inc. All rights reserved. www.coreessentials.org
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Cinco Ranch High School Choral Department Presents
The 9th Annual Elementary Choir Clinic
Who: Katy ISD 2nd through 5th graders
Purpose: For students to experience the fun of singing, rhythm activities and music games. Participants will work with CRHS choir members in both small and large groups learning songs and making new friends.
When: Saturday, December 5th, 2009 (Forms must be postmarked by Nov.20th)
Time: Registration- 11:15 am. The Clinic begins at 12:00. Concert 4:30 pm. Closing 5:00 pm.
Where: Cinco Ranch High School Main Commons
Cost: $35 per student - includes a T-shirt and a snack
Concert: Participants will perform at 4:30pm
Registration: For registration information, contact:
Dorothy Wilson at Cinco Ranch High School
Clinic proceeds will benefit the CRHS Choir Scholarship Fund