Cougar News October 2014

October 2014
Important Dates
Volume 1, Issue 2
Cork Elementary School
Cougar News
Oct 6
Fundraiser Kickoff
Oct 10
Fall Dance for Relay for Life
6-8 p.m.
3501 N. Cork Road, Plant City, FL 33565
Oct 13-17 FTE week-be present at school
(813) 757-9353
http://cork.mysdhc.org
A Hillsborough County Public School
Letter from the Principal
It’s so hard to believe that we have already completed a full month of school! The older I get, the more time seems to fly. It
has been a great opening! Students are in a routine now as classroom procedures have been learned, and teachers have
completed administering a series of assessments in reading, writing, math, and science that will give them the necessary data to
provide your child with the best individualized instructional plan for a successful year. With our new Florida Standards, there
will be higher expectations placed upon our students in all subjects and even technology. To learn more about the Florida
Standards and the new assessment, FSA (Florida Standards Assessment) which replaces FCAT, please visit the FLDOE website
at www.fldoe.org or www.fsaassessment.org. You will find sample questions that will be similar to the ones students will face in
the spring.
The first quarter will come to an end on October 17th. Parent communication folders went home this past week with your child’s
mid-term progress. Please look over this document with your child, sign it, and return it to your child’s teacher as soon as
possible. Teachers are available to meet with you during their planning times or before/after school, if you would like further
information about your child’s progress. Simply call or email them to set up an appointment for a conference.
Our first PTA Meeting will be held on October 14th in conjunction with our first Studio Night highlighting Math and Science.
This is a wonderful opportunity to have some family fun with your child and show your support of their academic endeavors. We
hope to see you there!
At the School Board Meeting held on September 16th, Cork Elementary was recognized for having daily attendance over the
district average of 96% for the 2013-2014 school year. Currently we are at 97% daily attendance. That is OUTSTANDING!
Students who are present and ready for class achieve at a higher level. Thank you, parents, for making sure your students are
here (and on time) each and every day.
Oct 14
1st Gr to Tampa Theatre
Oct 17
2nd Gr to Cracker Country
Oct 17
End of 1st 9 weeks
Oct 20
Non-student day
Oct 22
5th Gr to MOSI
Oct 22
1st Gr Sonny’s BBQ Night
Oct 24
Treat Night 5:30-7 p.m.
Oct 27
Scout Meeting 6:30 p.m.
Oct 28
2nd Gr Dental Sealant
Oct 29
All Pro Dad 7:10 a.m.
Nov 3
Report Cards go home
Nov 4 & 5 5th Gr to Plant Museum
Nov 6
Picture Make-ups
With attendance and wellness in mind, Hillsborough County Public Schools has partnered with Healthy Schools to provide free
flu vaccines to students at all of our school sites. Your child brought home important information about this service which
included a consent form. NO CHILD WILL BE VACCINATED WITHOUT THIS FORM! We must have your application form
returned if you would like for your child to have the flu vaccination. A team of nurses will be at Cork Elementary on October
14th to provide the flu vaccination (mist) to only those students whose parents have given consent and returned all required
forms. If you have any questions, please call our school nurse, Mrs. Preet Shikha at 757-9353 x226.
Cork Elementary School
As always, thank you for your continued support!
Sincerely,
Sherri Black, Principal
Ryan Bruck, Assistant Principal
Sherri Black
Message From Our Assistant Principal
October is one of my favorite months of the year! October is a busy month for school activities; please mark your calendars for the school wide
events listed below.
Fall Dance benefitting Relay for Life -Friday, October 10th from 6:00-8:00 P.M.
Studio Night Math and Science-Tuesday, October 14th from 6:00-8:00 P.M.
Treat Night -Friday, October 24th from 5:30-7:00 P.M.
Red Ribbon Week -Monday, October 27th- Friday. October 31st.
Field Trips begin in October for many grade levels. First Grade will be going to the Tampa Theatre Production, “Kids Power and Operation Lunch Line
3D” on Tuesday, October 14th. Second Grade is going to Cracker Country on Friday, October 17th. Finally, 5th grade will take a trip to MOSI on
October 22nd.
We had great crowd at Open House. Thank you to all the parents who attended. The administration realizes the importance parents have in the
education of our students. Thank you for your interest in your child’s education!
Regular attendance in elementary school sets up a good pattern for your child’s entire school career. Show them that school comes first by trying to
keep days off for illness and family emergencies. Also, try to schedule routine doctor and dentist appointments for after school or over school
breaks.
As always, thank you so much for all of your support and cooperation.
Sincerely,
Ryan Bruck
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @
HCPSCorkES
Check us out on Twitter,
we will tweet what’s
happening at Cork.
Grade 2
Page 2 - October 2014
Kindergarten
Thank you so much for coming to Open House.
We appreciate your support. It takes teamwork
to help make each of these kindergarteners
successful. Homework began last week and is
due back on Friday. Also, please remember to
read with your child each night. It is important
to show each child how reading is a big part of
our daily lives. We need to instill a love of
reading early on. Remember to check your
child’s folder daily for important notes.
It is fall and it is almost time for our first field trip. Second graders
are getting ready for a field trip to Cracker Country on October 17th.
We have been busy learning so many wonderful things. In reading and
writing, your child has been learning to infer, determine the main idea,
identify text features, paraphrase information, research and analyze
non-fiction text. The Seven Habits are also being reviewed and
classes have created class mission statements to do our best work, be
good citizens, and do the right thing, even when no one is watching. In
math and science, your child has been practicing place value, word
problem skills, gravity and force and motion. A 2nd grade school winner
for the Science Olympics will be announced soon. Students learned
how to make paper airplanes and recognized that objects are pulled to
the ground unless something holds them up.
Homework is very important. Please make sure your child is
completing their reading responses and recording the books that they
are reading. Your child should be reading 20 minutes daily and
completing all math homework. Daily attendance is very important, as
well as getting your child to school on time. The end of the first
grading period is October 17th. Please make sure you come out and
celebrate with us on October 24th for Treat Night. It will be a
howling good time.
Grade 1
First grade teachers would like to thank all of the families that attended Open House.
We hope you learned a lot of valuable information that will help to make the school
year run more smoothly. If you missed Open House and have any questions, don’t
hesitate to write a message in your child’s planner or to call.
Our upcoming field trip to the Tampa Theatre to see Kid Power: Operation Lunch Line
3D is Tuesday, October 14th. Please make sure your child has returned the signed
permission slip and money.
In Reading, we have been working on main idea, supporting details, sequencing events
in a fictional story, and identifying text features in informational text.
In Math, we have been focusing on using models for solving word problems with
addition and subtraction. We have also been comparing our models to help us add or
subtract.
During Writing, we are working on writing a complete sentence using proper
conventions. We are also learning to respond to a question across the curriculum.
In Science, we are finishing our Properties Unit and are going to begin our Pushes and
Pulls Unit. We are also participating in Science Olympics in October as we create our
aquafoils. Please ask your child to explain what an aquafoil is to you in the upcoming
weeks.
Grade 3
Third grade is continuing to Rock and Roll! In science, we
are studying various forms of energy. Also, our long term
investigations have begun. STEM Fair is coming up and
more information will be sent home soon.
In math, we are working on rounding and place value.
Please help us by assisting your child with their math
homework, especially their story problems and written
responses.
Our Social Studies lessons have been centered around being a responsible citizen and
civics.
Story elements (character, setting and plot) have been
the focus of our reading instruction. For RP, your child
should have at least 60% of their reading goal and their
average percent correct should be at least 85%.
In closing, first grade teachers would like to remind parents to read and discuss books
with your child every evening. Also, please check and sign your child’s planner daily.
Please continue to check and sign planners daily.
PLEASE DO NOT SEND SODA CANS
IN LUNCHBOXES! We are trying to
teach students to make healthy choices
and hope this can be modeled at home as
well as school!
Page 3 - October 2014
SPEECH/LANGUAGE NEWS
Children will play. Children MUST play. Did you know the foundation of those “golden” inferencing
skills so emphasized today in classrooms today are rooted in play. Humans are hard-wired for a
“theory of mind.” “Theory of mind” means that a person can safely assume to know what another
person is thinking or feeling. In order to hone our “theory of mind” as children, we play! To master
“theory of mind” we must be ultimately able to share space with others and we must be able to
adapt from situation to situation. What better way to practice these skills than in play with peers?
Part of “theory of mind” is being able to take perspective. When we take perspective, we
understand that other people affect our actions, thoughts and feelings; we also understand we
affect other people. This mutual “understanding” in action creates smooth social interactions.
When perspective is weak or absent, a person may become someone we want to exclude or
otherwise avoid. Returning to a child in play, a child with challenges in taking perspective is at risk
for many undesirable consequences. These could range from being a bully, to being bullied, to
being excluded, and finding extreme challenge in academic coursework. A child’s natural
perspective-taking ability is set by grade three. This is why a child who is a proficient reader in
grades K through 2 (when we learn to read) may suddenly become a poor reader in grade three
(when we read to learn). In grade three, with the expectation a child can take perspective,
academics become focused on finding meaning in every text read, rather than simply decoding
words. A child who struggles to guess at what people around him or her are thinking will certainly
struggle more in the abstract world of books!
The hard-wired “theory of mind” and the ability to take perspective work together on a social level
in the classroom. Proficient perspective-takers know how to “read” the teacher’s intonation, bodylanguage, and spoken language. Proficient perspective- takers know how they affect the teacher
and their peers and constantly monitor their own thoughts and behaviors to ensure teachers and
peers maintain good thoughts and feelings toward them! Proficient perspective-takers also apply
these skills during coursework; they may be asked to determine a character’s motivation or predict
events. They are quite experienced in these areas socially and need little if any support to
INFERENCE academically.
Play does not gift us with “theory of mind” nor does it gift us with perspective. It does give us
opportunities to practice the social skills upon which academics so depend. Let the children play!
This is not time wasting frivolity, it is academics in motion!
ESE
The Exceptional Student Education Department here at Cork is off to a
great start for the 2014/2015 school year.
We have added a new member to our team this year! Her name is
Claudia Fouts, and she is an Exceptional Student Education (ESE)
Paraprofessional/Instructional aide. She is working in all grade levels
this year. Claudia has been with Hillsborough County Public Schools for
the past 27 years. Her first 19 years were spent at Plant City
Exceptional Center/Simmons ESE. For the last 8 years, she worked at
Man Middle School. Claudia was one of the five finalists for the Support
Personnel of the Year Award. She was also nominated for ESE Personnel
of the Year. We are very fortunate to welcome Mrs. Fouts.
Please remember to read at least 30 minutes with your child every night.
After reading, talk about what you read with them, what will happen
next, who the main characters are, and help them make a connection
with another book that has been read or a place they have been.
PTA
This is what PTA has going on this month.
*Our Box Tops, Tyson A+ Project, & Labels for Education competition will
be ending on 10/17/14 for the 1st nine week competition. Please get them
turned into your homeroom teacher.
*If you haven't returned your PTA membership, please do so.
*Our Otis Fundraiser kick-off will be 10/6/14, packets will be sent home.
*Our first general PTA meeting will be held during Studio Night, October
14th at 6 p.m.
*Spirit Night for 1st grade will be on 10/22/14 from 5pm - 8pm at
Sonny's BBQ.
Thank you all for your continued support.
Page 4 - October 2014
GUIDANCE
I can't believe we are in October already. Our first All Pro Dad
breakfast was a hit. We had over 27 fathers and over 50
participants total. Please join us for our next breakfast on
10/29/14 at 7:10AM. Studio Night is fast approaching on 10/14
at 6PM. Please join us for an exciting night spotlighting Math
and Science. I have finished visiting all 3rd-5th grade classrooms.
We learned about the Guidance Department, Cork Ambassadors
and Bullying. I will be visiting KG-2nd in the upcoming weeks.
Please make sure you are reading the school newsletter and
watching out for any flyers that might be coming home.
This is the way we communicate with you about
upcoming events, etc.
Grade 5
Wow! Can you believe it’s already October?
Time is flying in 5th grade. We are busy, busy,
busy! We have currently started our LDC
(merging reading and science). Your child will
be creating a roller coaster along with a
brochure to explain the design process and to
tell about how their roller coaster works. Be
sure to ask him/her about this. As always,
please make sure your child is completing their
independent reading at home, as well as
completing their reading responses. In Math
class, we will be starting division soon.
Knowledge of multiplication facts is a MUST for
success with this new concept. As always we
appreciate all of your support!
Page 14 - October 2014
Media Center
Don’t have Internet at home?? See below for information on discounted rates from Bright
House Networks.
Also available is MS Office FREE to all Hillsborough County students. Visit the following
website for additional information: http://www3.sdhc.k12.fl.us/pdf/Office365_MSA.pdf
Absence Line
Please let us know of your child’s absence by
10:00 am.
Call 757-9353 and press #1
during the
greeting. Leave your child’s name, teacher’s
name, date and reason for the absence.
Estimados Padres
Si necesitan esta información en
español, por favor avisan a la
oficina, 757-9353. Gracias
County School Board
Carol W. Kurdell, Chair
Transportation Changes
If your child will be
changing the method of his
or her transportation home,
please send in a note to
your child’s teacher.
Beginning this year we must
have all transportation
changes in writing.
Susan L. Valdes, Vice Chair
Doretha W. Edgecomb
April Griffin
Candy Olson
Cindy Stuart
Stacy R. White, Pharm.D.
Superintendent of Schools
MaryEllen Elia
www.sdhc.k12.fl.us