The Cougar ConnectionChallenging all cougars to achieve—growing hearts and minds

November 2016

Timber Creek Elementary School • Tomball Independent School District • Lauren Thompson, Principal

A Note from the PrincipalAs I shared last month, I would like to take a moment each month and outline our campus goals and the progress we are making in achieving those goals. This month I will focus on Goal #2, Student Achievement. We have a tradition of high academic success at Timber Creek. Our students perform very well on state assessments. Our goal at Timber Creek is to drive our achievement toward excellence for all learners. Our motto is, “Challenging All Cougars to Achieve- Growing Hearts and Minds”. This motivates us to ensure each and every child is pushed toward excellence and provided the supports to succeed.

Fall assessments are taking place this month in all areas to enable teachers to determine student progress and see where more support may be needed. As a campus, we want to see more of our students not just meeting a year’s progress, but exceeding a year’s progress and reaching the advanced measure of academic performance. Students are setting goals for their own learning. This means not being satisfied with passing grades or meeting state standards on assessments. It means excelling at a distinction level.

Families can support our campus progress by setting goals with your child. When district assessments are given, monitoring your child’s progress toward his or her goal. Together we can ensure that as a campus all of our students achieve at the highest levels and become problem solvers and critical thinkers.

Warmest Regards,Lauren Thompson, Principal

8455 Creekside Green Drive The Woodlands, TX

Phone: (281) 357-3060 www.tces.tomballisd.net

www.twitter.com/TISDTCES

November 7 Kendra Scott Spirit Night 6-8PM

9 PTO Meeting 9:30-11AM

10 4th grade Veteran’s Day Program—9AM for School-Wide Performance; 6PM Evening Parent Viewing

15 Club and Group Pictures

16 Spirit Night @ Crust & Jordan’s Sweet Shoppe - ALL DAY

17 Author Visit for Grades 4 and 5

21-25 Thanksgiving Break

28 Book Fair Begins

29 Parents and Pastries @ 7:30AM

December1 Family Literacy Night

5:30-7PM

1 Fall Evening PTO Meeting 6:30-7:30PM

2 Nutcracker Performance for 3rd Grade @ THS

2 Book Fair Ends

6 TCES Spelling Bee @ 1:30PM

8 2nd Grade Program—9AM for School-Wide Performance; 6PM Evening Parent Viewing

9 Birthday Book Club

10 Santa’s Workshop 9-11AM

14 Spirit Night @ Crust & Jordan’s Sweet Shoppe - ALL DAY

16 Holiday Sing-a-Long and Winter Parties from 9-10:30AM Early Release @ 12:50PM

19-Jan. 3 Winter Break (Jan. 2 and 3 Teacher

Professional Development)

Jan. 4 Classes Resume

Attendance- Did You Know? Both excused and unexcused absences are calculated into our accountability percentage for state distinctions. Excused absences are weighted equally with unexcused absences when calculated into our ADA. We need every child on time, every day and all day to help reach our goal.

October Attendance Data:

TCES Monthly Attendance Goal- >/= 98%Total Absences- 205 Late Arrivals- 85 Early Dismissal- 135 Total Missed Instructional Instances- 425 Travel = 13% of Total AbsencesUnexcused Absences in October= 111October Attendance- 97.8% (down from 98.8% in September)

Safety Station—Mrs. Standefer What happens when your child comes home with a problem or worry? Here are some ideas to help families cope with emotional situations.

1. Talk with and listen to your children- everyday. They will share things without knowing they are troubled. Help them understand what they are feeling.

2. Spend time at school and be present during special events. Seeing parents support the school they attend boosts self-esteem.

3. Be a good example of kindness and leadership.

4. Talk with your child’s teacher and talk to your child.

5. Create healthy habits early in the school year such as demonstrating kindness, empathy, fair play, and turn-taking.

6. Help TCES deal with important issues and ensure the school is aware of troubling issues that may occur.

Counselor—Mrs. Cathcart November 16th is our district-wide Tomball ISD College Day. We are asking all students to wear their favorite college shirt. Elementary is the best time to start students on the road to college success!

Thank you for such a wonderful Red Ribbon Week. A HUGE thank you to Nicole Abril, Leslie Borden and Kristen Rodriguez for all of your constant help! As we now enter our holiday season our Timber Creek Gives program continues the spirit of giving. Please consider sending in canned food items for our local food pantry, T.E.A.M.

Reading Specialist—Mrs. Storck Our Family Literacy Night will be taking place Thursday, December 1 from 5:30-7:00. Our theme this year is Bookaneer: Where Books Are The Treasure! Each grade level will be hosting pirate themed literacy activities for families to work on and complete together. In addition, Grades 3-5 will receive Lead4ward’s Academic Vocabulary Analysis which specifically lists new to the grade level reading/writing content vocabulary. Make plans to shop at the Scholastic Book Fair too! Every student that comes will take home literacy activities to practice at home as well as one new free book! Arrrgh you ready to read??

Math Specialist—Mrs. Boudoin Parents in grades 2-4: FIRST IN MATH These are the years of growing fact fluency with addition/subtraction (2nd grade), multiplication/division (3rd and 4th grade). Your child has been enrolled in an online program called First in Math for a fun and engaging way to grow these skills. When it comes to fact fluency practice, children often disengage if they are not receive immediate feedback. First In Math’s game-style activities provide immediate feedback, to ensure that students engage in the amount of Deep Practice necessary for skill retention.

ESL Specialist—Mrs. MacPheeWhen students are learning a second language, our teachers know that they must use strategies such as visuals, sentence stems, scaffolded writing assignments, extra time to complete work, the use of dictionaries and many other things to help make the ESL student successful in all subjects. Our staff meets regularly to monitor the progress of our ESL students. If the student is not progressing, classroom teachers, specialists and administrators brainstorm ways that accommodations and interventions will be more effective.

GT Specialist—Mrs. Sims Looking for enhanced academic opportunities for your child? Texas Performance Standards Project (TPSP) is available to the public at no cost. Project based tasks and independent learning opportunities are offered

in multiple content areas and levels. More information can be found at http://www.texaspsp.org. Would you like to develop algebraic thinking skills in your child? Hands on Equations is a program developed by Dr. Borenson as an innovative approach for introducing algebra to children. Visit http://www.borenson.com. Video demonstrations of each lesson in the 26 modules are available on youtube. Android and ipad apps are also available.

Music—Mrs. Culver Kinder will continue practicing Fast/Slow and High/Low. We will learn about Loud/Soft and how we hear it in music. We will do different activities with RUSSIAN composer, RIMSKY-KORSAKOV’s, “The Flight of the Bumble Bee.”

1st Grade will continue learning about Melodic Direction and how we can listen and draw what we hear. We will practice counting Quarter Notes, Eighth Notes and Quarter Rests. We will review Orff instruments and practice playing rhythms on them. Kinder and 1st will also learn about ITALIAN composer, VIVALDI, and how he create music for the different seasons. We will look at “Fall”.

2nd Grade will be reviewing La, Sol and Mi on the staff and working on reading and signing what we see. We will learn about Half Notes and how we count them. We are also learning our program music “Elfis and the Sleigh Riders”.

3rd Grade will continue learning about bar lines in music, finding the “Key” that unlocks “Do” and how to write pentatonic based on that. We will learn about sixteenth notes (reading and counting). We will learn about AUSTRIAN composer, HAYDN, and how to hear the sixteenth notes in his music.

4th Grade will be reviewing the lines and spaces of the Treble Staff and ostinatos in music. We will also be working on memorization of our music for our Veterans Day Program.

5th Grade will continue practicing our new system of counting and solfa reading. We will begin learning the Instruments of the Orchestra - identifying their history, how they are made, played and their classification. 3rd-5th will look at FRENCH composer, SAINT-SAENS, and how he used instruments to create the story of “Danse Macabre.”

Art—Mrs. Bridges With the Thanksgiving holidays fast approaching, so is the Houston Rodeo! This year we will be represented by 18 Timber Creek Students, who will be chosen prior to the Christmas break. In addition to rodeo art students are focusing in on the element of Space, learning about background, foreground, vanishing points, and even different types of perspective. In October, students competed in a book mark contest to honor Conflict Resolution Day. We are pleased to announce that we had a multitude of winners this year and would like to congratulate them for all of their hard work and effort.

Nurse—Mrs. Nelson Itchy, watery eyes? Is it “pink eye” or allergies? A doctor must diagnose, but Dr. April Oliver has some hints and things to look for:

Allergies: BOTH eyes are itchy/irritated and you may want to rub them. Can occur with runny/stuffy nose, with some eyelid swelling and sensitivity to light. May have mucus or watery eyes. You may feel better after taking over the counter allergy medicine or allergy eye drops.

“Pink Eye”: Usually starts in 1 eye then spreads to the other eye. Eyes are pink/red and may have watery discharge. Eyelids are crusted shut when waking up in the morning. Eyelid may be swollen, and eye may have mild itch and feel like something is in the eye. May have light sensitivity. May occur with recent illness/sore throat. This is contagious while eye is still crusting/watering (usually 3 days). Do not touch affected eye then touch the other eye.

SPECIALS

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KinderWe are soo thankful for the wonderful kinder kids we have!! We are excited with the growth and progress the kids are making. This month in reading we are focusing on reading fictional stories and discussing the characters, setting, and key events. We are writing personal narratives and trying to add details to our stories to make them more interesting. In math we are comparing and decomposing numbers from 1-10. We really want the kids to have a good understanding of numbers. In Science we are talking about how things move, and in Social Studies we are discussing customs and traditions.

1st Grade First Grade would like to thank all the parents that joined us as chaperones on our field trip – The Oil Ranch was a blast! Objectives that we will cover during the month of November include: ELA – story elements of fairy tales and folktales; short vowels with blends and digraphs; writing letters. Math – continue with addition and subtraction with word problems. Science – force, motion, and magnets. Social Studies – anthems, mottoes, and symbols. We are feeling blessed and thankful for our parents and students!

2nd Grade November will be a fun month for second grade. We will continue to learn about different fairy tales, folktales, legends, and myths. We will also learn how to write friendly letters. At the end of the month we will learn how to read and write poetry. We will continue to learn about different addition and subtraction strategies so that we can solve two digit and three digit problems. We will learn about different types of energy. We will also continue to learn about American and Texas symbols and landmarks.

3rd Grade Students will take three district CBA assessments this month: Math (11/2), Science (11/8) and Reading (11/10). These assessments will cover all concepts students have learned about during the first nine weeks. Make sure your child gets a good night’s sleep before the assessments and eats a good breakfast the day of the assessment.

Here are some of the topics students will be learning about in November: Math - multiplication using a strategies including arrays, skip counting, repeated addition, strip diagrams and more, Science - force and motion, magnetism and mechanical energy, Reading - non-fiction genre study, poetry, fiction and non-fiction writing, Social Studies - human processes and natural resources.

4th Grade In reading this month we will focus on fiction skills like summary, inferring and visualization. In writing we will move to expository. This is what the students will be tested on when the STAAR test arrives. We will make sure to understand the differences between narrative and expository writing. In social studies we will finish learning about explorers that came to Texas and move into the Spanish colonies and missions in Texas. Since it’s the month of November, we will also spend time learning about the election and Veteran’s Day. During math students will practice fractions and algebraic reasoning. Science classes will learn about energy and our natural resources.

5th Grade In Math, we will be working on simplifying, changing mixed to improper fractions, adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators and multiplying and dividing fractions. In Reading, students will analyze, make inferences and draw conclusions about expository texts and provide evidence from text to support their understanding. Students will connect reading to writing through an expository essay. In Science, we will be applying our prior knowledge about force related vocabulary to help us design experiments that test the effects force has on an object. We will also learning about changes to the Earth’s Surface by weathering, deposition and erosion. Fall Benchmark for Science will be November 8th. In Social Studies, we will be analyzing events that occurred before and after the Revolutionary War including important governing documents. Fall Benchmark for Social Studies will be on November 10th.

TCES Tidbits

ACADEMIC NOTES

Follow us on Twitter @TISDTCES for “real time” update regarding the wonderful happenings at TCES as well as weather related dismissal changes.

Cooler Weather Please LABEL jackets and sweaters that your children bring to school. This is the time of year our “Lost and Found” begins to grow. We want to be able to get those items home.

November Attendance Incentive We are entering the holiday season, when our attendance tends to fall. Every child who is at school all day, every day from November 2 through November 30, will earn a 30 minute open gym pass with Coach Kruppa or a 30 minute technology “bring your own device” pass dependent upon student interest. In order for a child to earn this incentive they need to be on time for school every day, with no early check outs. Thankful for our families and their help in making this goal possible to achieve!

LEGOS Tired of stepping on random lego pieces? Want to find a home for them? Donate your old legos to the TCES Lego Club. Mr. Barnhouse is collecting donations to assist in starting up our TCES Lego Club, in November.

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NEWSWe Did It! Congratulations to our generous Timber Creek families and community sponsors! Together we met our MONSTER goal and raised over $20,000 for TCES!!

Your tax-deductible donations are helping the PTO purchase field trips, technology, playground equipment/improvement, a running track, club materials and more for our students!

A special thank you to our Monster Mash Event-Level Sponsors!

• Creative Grounds/Treat Walk• Highland Homes/Haunted Library• Maximum Athletics/Dance Party

And thank you to our amazing local businesses, TCES families, and neighborhoods for sponsoring our carnival games!!

As we turn our hearts and minds to the start of the holiday season, we want to introduce our new program: Timber Creek Gives! TCES is such a fortunate school and

our hope is that Timber Creek Gives will foster a sense of community service and teach our children that being a good citizen means we try to give our resources or time to those less fortunate.

Upcoming Timber Creek Gives events

November 7-11At school collection of canned goods for Tomball Emergency Assistance Ministries – Food Bank (TEAM)

December 10TCES PTO Annual Santa’s Workshop (family event & collection): Non-Slip Socks and Slippers for

Interfaith of The Woodlands, Cozy Blanket craft to donate to Montgomery County Women’s Shelter, Gently used and new bikes for Tomball Emergency Assistance Ministries (TEAM)

$18,000$16,000$14,000$12,000$10,000$8,000$6,000$4,000$2,000

WE EXCEEDEDOUR GOAL!!!

Thank you for all your generous DONATIONS

We have new Volunteer Opportunities!• Parent UIL Coaches: We are still looking for volunteers

interested in helping coach UIL teams. Please contact Nancy Hairell tcespto.educationenrichment@gmail.com.

• Bookfair Volunteers: Mrs. Russell needs parents willing to help with the Fall Book Fair Nov 28th – Dec. 2nd! Please contact our librarian Mrs. Russell to signup!

• Volunteers for our Timber Creek Gives! Santa’s Workshop Service Project on Saturday Dec. 10th. Please contact Volunteer Coordinator Jenn Kable tcespto.volunteers@gmail.com.

• Two (2) volunteers interested in helping with the December Holiday TCES Teacher Luncheon. If interested, please contact: Hospitality Chairperson Heather Loftus tcespto.hospitality@gmail.com.

Family/ Home Business Sponsorship Opportunities!Own your own business and want to get your name out? Want to find a fun way to donate? Become an Event Sponsor/donor at our Spring Fundraiser: Dash & Bash! Signage provided, interact with our families, and its tax deductible! For more information about becoming an Event-Level Sponsor or to donate silent auction items to our largest fundraiser of the year, please contact:

Sponsorship Chairpersons: Andrea French or Silvia Gonzalez at tcespto.sponsorship@ gmail.com or

Auction Chairperson: Stephanie Piepho at tcespto.fundraising@gmail.com

It’s never to late to join PTO!Go to timbercreekelementarypto.digitalpto.com

and click on Join TCES PTO! Or go to Join.myschoolanywhere.com and enter TCES2016.

Like Us on Facebook TimberCreekElementaryPTO & add us to your News Feed to get

updates on what’s happening with our PTO!

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