The Lion's Roar Bonnie Wilkinson Elementary
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Bonnie Wilkinson Elementary
The Lion's Roar
April 2015
Principal’s Message – Victor Uher
At this time of year, 3rd and 4th graders are ready to begin our state testing in math
and reading. We have some of the best teachers in the state at Wilkinson Elementary and
through the hard work of both teacher and student the children will be ready.
Keep in mind, there is no complicated formula for student success, it begins quite
simply by having good attendance. Next, to become a better reader you have to read,
DAILY. This is why we emphasize reading at home every night. We have over 18,000
books in our library and it is open every day for check-out. In addition we have our e-
books that are available.
To become a master of math skills, a child must know the addition and subtraction
facts by memory. All math hinges on these two areas being mastered. If your child is in
2nd grade he/she should be able to tell you what 8 + 7 is without counting on fingers.
Likewise, if your child is in 3rd grade he/she should be able to tell you what 9 x 7 is
immediately. Test your child with these two problems. If you get an answer immediately
everything is in place. Anything less will tell you more practice is needed.
PTA News – Sara Ullrich, President
Welcome spring! We are looking forward to the Lion Dash on April 11th, a fun
fitness activity for families. Thanks to all who are helping to make it a success!
The PTA will be doing our annual school supply sale soon. Keep an eye out for
more information in your Monday folders. The PTA provides this as a service to our
families. It is not a fundraiser. Supplies will be delivered in time for Meet the Teacher in
August of 2015.
Our last general meeting of the year will be held Thursday, April 23rd at 6pm in
the library. Please join us.
Assistant Principal – Mrs. Summerville
GT referrals for summer testing will be accepted from April 1-April 29. Please
contact your child's teacher for more information and a nomination packet if interested.
2575 Ed Kharbat Dr. Conroe, Texas 77301 936-709-1500
http://wilkinson.conroeisd.net/
Counselor’s Message – Kelly Locke
R = Responsibility
We will continue our focus and teaching on responsibility during the month of April. Our
biggest responsibility is to treat others with kindness. As a campus we will have a major
focus on kindness throughout the rest of the year.
Throughout the month of May we will have a campus wide kindness challenge. We will
be challenging our students to look for ways to “Brighten Someone’s Day with
Kindness”. Look for more information to come.
Due to rainy weather in the month of March, we were unable to hold our Rock Solid
Character event. It has been rescheduled for May 6th.
PRIDE LUNCH DATE:
April 24 (Friday)
Special Thanks to our Pride Lunch Sponsor:
· Constable DeForest
Upcoming Events:
Rock Solid Character (Rescheduled) for 2nd, 3rd and 4th Grade
May 6
Brighten Someone’s Day with Kindness (Kindness Challenge) Month of May
From The Clinic – Linda DeBaugh R.N.
WOW! It was an amazing year for our Pennies for Patients campaign.
Due to your overwhelming generosity, we were able to raise $ 6,935.82 to donate to the
Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Ms. Camacho's Kindergarten class collected the most
money, $ 776.21, and will get a lunch donated by Olive Garden. Mrs. Schaller's 4th grade
class won the pizza party for 2nd place, and Mrs. Maier’s 3rd grade class won the ice cream
party for 3rd place. ALL of our classes from PK through 4th grade raised over $100 and
will get popsicles! Congratulations to all of the winners.
Thanks to all students, parents, and staff members who contributed to this worthy cause.
PE/ recess restrictions and use of crutches
Please remember that a student cannot be withheld from PE or outdoor recess or use
crutches on campus without a doctor's order. If your child is restricted from physical
and/or outdoor activity, or requires the use of crutches at school, a copy of the doctor's
order for the restriction or use of crutches must be given to the school nurse. The order
should state the restriction or crutch use and the length of time the order applies. Please
call with any questions.
2575 Ed Kharbat Dr. Conroe, Texas 77301 936-709-1500
http://wilkinson.conroeisd.net/News from the Lion's Den – Michelle Vaughn
I hope everyone had a fun and relaxing spring break. Our Wilkinson students
continue to amaze us all with their excellent book choices and incredible reading.
Our first and second graders are doing a great job with Lionopoly. As of Friday,
March 20 we have 11 students who have read all 30 books. If your child has not started, it
is not too late. Please contact Mrs. Vaughn if you have any questions at:
mvaughn@conroeisd.net or 936-709-1515. The following students have read all 30 books
and will be coming to our Lionopoly Reading Celebration in May: Naomi Henson,
Aubrie Dionne, Garrett Doster, Lillian Neimeyer, Lolly Millbaum, Miranda Becerra,
Owen Schexnayder, Taylor Foster, Cadance Gleich, Lilly Cauthron, and Noah Bouley.
Good Job!!!! The last day to play is Friday, April 24.
Remember to keep reading.
Prekindergarten
HAPPY SPRING! We hope that everyone is enjoying the warmer weather. With
the warmer weather we are sure to spot some flowers and butterflies while at recess. We
have just finished up our study on plants and seeds. In science, we will be learning about
the life cycles of the butterfly, the frog and the sunflower.
At this point in the year, we have finished introducing all the letters and sounds in the
alphabet. We will continue to review all our letters and sounds and sight words. In
addition, we will be working on several emergent literacy concepts. We will be working
on creating compound words, figuring out the number of syllables in a word and
identifying story elements after reading fiction stories. In math, we will be comparing
heights and lengths of different objects, demonstrating positional words and using verbal
ordinal terms like first, second, third.
So as you can see, we are working really hard and learning SO much. As always,
continue to work with your child on counting aloud to 30+, number identification,
letter/sound identification and sight words with your child at home. Thank you again for
all your continued support!
Kindergarten
April is already here. This year has gone by so fast. Your little one will be in first
grade before we know it.
April is an exciting time of year for kindergarten. We continue our plant unit
discussing seeds and plant needs and some classes will even be growing their own plants.
We will also talk about new beginnings in April with Easter around the corner. We will be
having a kindegarten Easter egg hunt this month. More information coming home in
Monday folders.
In math, we continue working on 2D shapes and will begin studying 3D shapes.
Please continue to review number ID, number writing, and counting to 100.
We continue to review concepts taught throughout the year to make sure your
child is prepared for first grade. We are reviewing sight words, letter ID/sounds, word
2575 Ed Kharbat Dr. Conroe, Texas 77301 936-709-1500
http://wilkinson.conroeisd.net/families, and writing a complete story. Please continue to work with your child in these
areas daily. Practice never hurts.
April is also the time of year when we will be taking our field trip to the zoo. Our
field trip will be on April 28th. We will be sending home many letters about the trip and
we will be asking for lots of volunteers.
Important Dates to Remember
*April 2-Easter Egg Hunt
*April 15-Cap and Gown Pictures
*April 28-Houston Zoo Field Trip
*April 30-Music Program 6:00 pm
*May 1-Music Program 9:00 am
*May 27-Field day
*June 4-Kindergarten Celebration/Awards
First Grade
Well, it's been a long winter, but Spring is finally here and first graders are really
blooming and growing. The progress that our students have made since the beginning of
the school year is outstanding!
Our readers will be focusing on answering questions about stories and poetry as
we prepare for our Reading Benchmark at the end of the month. Please listen to your
child read books that come home or books that you have at home, and ask questions
about the story such as: What happened in the beginning, middle and end? What
happened before or after an event in the story? What reason does the character have for
their feelings? What is the main idea? Also, have them give you specific details and facts.
Please continue to work on fluency with your child that is in the homework. The end of
year expectation is for each child to read 60 words per minute on an end of year text.
In writing, students will be creating their own poetry books. As authors, they will
use their five senses, poetic language, and voice to create poetry and convey strong
feelings. They will also learn to use repetition and sounds, as well as continuing to revise
and edit their writing to match what they are trying to say. At the end of the unit, they
will publish their books and share with others!
We will build on what we have learned in mathematics by solving real world
problems related to money, geometry, fractions of a shape, and addition and subtraction.
Continue to count an assortment of nickels, pennies and dimes with your child and have
them write the value of the whole group. Our goal is to give these first graders a deeper
understanding of number concepts and strategies so that they are successful problem
solvers.
Please plan for our music program which is scheduled for Thursday evening,
April 9th, 2015. As always, hearing their beautiful voices and seeing them all dressed up
in costumes makes for a proud moment! We look forward to seeing all of you there!
Also, our field trip to the Houston Children's Museum is scheduled for Wednesday, April
22nd and Field Day is scheduled for the following Wednesday, April 29th. More
information regarding all of these events will be coming home soon.
Thanks again for the daily attention and support in helping prepare your child for
second grade.
2575 Ed Kharbat Dr. Conroe, Texas 77301 936-709-1500
http://wilkinson.conroeisd.net/Second Grade
We hope everyone had a wonderful and restful Spring Break. The year is slowly
coming to an end, however, there is still much to be accomplished.
In reading, the students will enjoy one of their favorite genre studies of the year:
Traditional Literature. In this unit we focus on Fables, Myths, and Legends. Just like any
other unit the students continue to review main characters, discuss author's purpose, infer
and analyze to comprehend, and improve vocabulary through context clues, prefixes,
suffixes, antonyms and synonyms. We will also practice determining the theme of the
story. In addition to a Traditional Literature unit of study the students will also review
elements of poetry. We will examine the structure and sensory details of a poem as well
as improve inferencing skills. Finally, as the month comes to a close, the students will
take their last reading benchmark on April 28th.
In math, the students will learn how to classify, compose, and sort two and three
dimensional shapes. The best way to help students with this topic is by identifying and
describing real life versions of the shapes learned in class. Ask questions such as, “How
would you classify these shapes?” “Which of these shapes would not go with the others,
and why?” As always, check your child's homework when it comes home each
Wednesday.
Last, but not least, we continue to stress the importance of having your child at
school each day. This means arriving at school on time and remaining at school until the
end of the day.
Third Grade
This month in math third graders will review the multitude of skills we have
learned this school year. Students will practice with word problems that cover the topics
of number sense and place value. We will work on operations of addition, subtraction,
multiplication, division, fractions and geometry. Students will also review measurement
of area, perimeter, capacity, weight, mass and time including data and graphs. We will
also study personal financial literacy which explores how to manage financial resources
effectively for a lifetime financial security. During this unit we will discuss items such as
income, spending, saving, credit, and charitable giving. In science we will discover the
characteristics of plants and animals as we engage in activities about their life cycles.
On April 2nd, we will visit the Sam Houston Memorial Museum in Huntsville, TX
for our 3rd grade field trip. This promises to be a fun-filled day with opportunities for
learning about our state's history.
Fourth Grade
Spring is here and Math and Reading STAAR tests are just around the corner. The
Math test is on April 21st with Reading on the 22nd. We have a fun and exciting math
and reading camp planned for the week of April 13 th-17th. The math and reading camp
will be called Super STAAR Crash Course. It will be a Mario Kart themed camp and we
are really looking forward to it. Our camps are a great way to review all the skills and
concepts we have learned throughout the year in a fun and stress-free way.
2575 Ed Kharbat Dr. Conroe, Texas 77301 936-709-1500
http://wilkinson.conroeisd.net/This month we are reviewing reading concepts to help us get ready for STAAR.
We have a strong focus on main idea, summarization, drawing conclusions and inferring
in all genres, making connections across genres, and drama and poetry. We will continue
to stress the importance of reading and believe reading ensures success in school and
beyond. In addition, fourth graders need 100 A.R. points to attend our school reading
carnival in May.
We are working on developing an appropriate problem-solving strategy to solve a
problem and reviewing concepts students still need to master. Some of the tougher 4 th
grade math concepts are long division, fractions and measurement. If your child has a
good grasp of these things, then they are on the right track. The students are expected to
be “thinkers” and we are giving the students many opportunities to “think” it out in math.
We are growing their brains!
This month in science we will be learning about inherited traits and learned
characteristics. We will be exploring which traits we inherited from our family and which
ones we have learned. Also, we will be introducing life cycles and investigating the life
cycles of butterflies and beetles as well as some plants such as radishes and lima beans.
Our fourth graders have been working very hard this year, and we are very proud
of them. A special thanks from all the fourth grade teachers to our parents for their
constant support.
Special Subjects
Art-Mr. Peterson
Thank you for all the yarn donations. We are having a great time weaving and braiding a
variety of unique art projects. Weaving involves using a loom to interlace two sets of
threads at right angles to each other. Significant weaving terms, such as warp and weft,
make up a loomed or woven fabric. Warp threads are the vertical threads that run along
the length of the yardage. Weft threads are the horizontal threads that run from side to
side. We could still use more skeins or balls of yarn if you would like to make donations.
I appreciate your support with our art program. I look forward to seeing students each
day come into my classroom with enthusiasm and smiling faces ready to explore and
demonstrate art.
Music-Mrs. Hallbauer
We are excited to present our 1st grade program this month, “Hats.” Performances
are Thursday, April 9th at 6 p.m. and Friday, April 10th at 9 a.m. Kindergarteners will
begin preparing their program this month as we look forward to performing for friends
2575 Ed Kharbat Dr. Conroe, Texas 77301 936-709-1500
http://wilkinson.conroeisd.net/and family on April 30th and May 1st. 2nd graders will begin a bell unit in April exploring
the way melodies rise and fall. 3rd and 4th graders begin their recorder unit this month.
This is a rewarding opportunity to tie all our music concepts together—rhythm, note-
reading, and dynamics as we learn to play an instrument.
P.E.-Ms. Burney
It's hard to believe our 4th grading period has begun! We continue to stay very
active in the gym. Last month students participated in Conroe ISD's Heart Adventure and
followed by the obstacle course with our basketball unit. Students learned drills and
skills related to basketball including dribbling while controlling the ball, three basic
passes, and basketball games and rules. 3rd and 4th grade students did a wonderful job
completing the district wide Fitness Gram Test. It's wonderful to see student progress!
Maddox Rodel and Chan Nguyen participated in the First Tee Champions Challenge in
Humble at the end of last month. I am so proud of all their efforts and representing
Wilkinson so well. The 4th Annual Lion Dash will take place on Saturday, April 11th. We
look forward to seeing our Wilkinson Lions and their families come out to this great
event to support PTA and healthy lifestyles.
This month is filled with lots of movement! Students will be participating in cup
stacking, recreational sports, and geo mats.
4th graders will be working on preparing for the Future Tiger Challenge. This
event will take place at Moorhead Stadium on Friday, May 15th. If you are interested in
volunteering, please email me. We can always use extra water bottles, cool towels, and
snacks. We are so grateful for all our wonderful volunteers and Watchdogs.
APRIL CALENDAR
2 3rd Grade Field Trip
3 Holiday
6 – 10 Kindergarten Round-up – Registration opens for new kindergarten
students for 2015-16.
9 1st Grade Music Program – 6:00 – Cafeteria
10 1st Grade Music Program – 9:00 – Cafeteria
11 Wilkinson PTA Lion Dash – Saturday
17 Conroe High Jazz Band Performs – 9:00 Cafeteria
21 STAAR Math Test - 3rd and 4th Grade
22 STAAR Reading Test - 3rd and 4th Grade
22 1st Grade Field Trip
23 PTA General Meeting – 6:00
24 PRIDE Lunch
28 Kindergarten Field Trip
30 Kindergarten Music Program – 6:00 – Cafeteria
May 1 Kindergarten Music Program – 9:00 - Cafeteria
2575 Ed Kharbat Dr. Conroe, Texas 77301 936-709-1500
http://wilkinson.conroeisd.net/You can also read
