The Cape St. Claire Gazette

Dear Cape St. Claire Families,

Last week we started the second semester of the school year. We have accomplished much during the first semester as a school community, and I am excited to watch our students grow and succeed throughout the upcoming marking periods.

The month of February has been designated as Kindness Month here at Cape St. Claire. Students in the primary and intermediate grades will complete a community project in which they will write letters of gratitude to members of our community who make a difference. We look forward to spreading some kindness and joy to others.

Valentine’s Day Parties will occur on Friday, February 14th. Information about classroom parties is included in this email and will be sent to families this week through the Rooms app. There are other events occurring at Cape St. Claire this month so be certain to read the newsletter in its entirety so that you are aware.

We have had quite a cold and snowy month in January. Temperatures were downright frigid! As we begin to thaw a bit and temperatures increase above freezing, students will again have outside recess. Please make sure your students have clothing for the winter weather as recess periods are 20 minutes. Even 40 degrees is cold when you are outside for an extended period of time. If you need assistance with clothing for your students, please reach out to our school counselor, Ms. Bachman. We do have resources to assist.

Thank you as always for your partnership. You contribute to making Cape St. Claire #TheFlockThatRocks!

Yours in education,

Tamara Kelly-Molock- Principal 

Rochelle Barrett- Assistant Principal

The School Counselor’s Corner

Classroom Counseling Lessons:

In late February and early March classroom lessons focus on Preventing Child Abuse.  The lessons can be viewed by parents here https://www.aacps.org/documents/services/assistance-for-families/school-counseling/required-elementary-lessons/626222 You will receive a letter from Mrs. Bachman telling you more information about the lesson and the week that the lessons are going to be taught in each grade. Here is a copy of the Protect Yourself Rules:

Fifth Grade Parents: 

The middle school is visiting our fifth graders on February 6, 2025.  Please return the course selection sheets quickly.  Magothy River Middle will have a parent information night.  Please be on the look out for a flier and Thrillshare announcement with the date and time soon. We will be registering for classes online later in the month or in early March.  If you child applied to a Magnet Program fill out the course selection anyway and I will send it on if they get in.  If your child applied to AVID, the interviews will be soon.  Please be on the look out for information from Mrs. Glennon, the AVID teacher at Magothy River Middle.

Mrs. Bachman

hbachman@aacps.org

410-222-1685

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. 

Valentine Parties

Date: Friday, February 14, 2025

Times:

12:25-1:10 PreK and 2nd

1:30-2:15 K, 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th

• Each classroom can have 2 volunteers.

• Classroom Teachers will send out class lists for the Valentine Card exchange.

• Healthy Snacks are encouraged, which aligns to the AACPS Wellness Policy.

PBIS: Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports

We are off to a great start this school year! Students are excited about our Soaring Seagull of the Day initiative. It is great to see the smiling, proud faces of the students who earn them daily.

Children can earn individual recognition with a seagull feather for following the school rules. Classrooms can earn pompoms for their Class Respect Jar and earn group recognition. Classroom celebrations are occurring and students remain excited about them. Our quarterly event will occur early next month; it is extra recess. That is always a favorite event with our students.

The PBIS committee oversees spirit days too. We will have spirit days on the second Friday of every month. Here is a list of the sprit days for this school year!

· February 14th: Wear Red

· March 14th: Decade Day

· April 11th: Superhero Day

· May 9th: Mismatch Day

· June 13th: Beach Day

We are excited to promote school spirit and positive behaviors through our PBIS program. Cape St. Claire is truly #TheFlockThatRocks!

Did you know that as many as one in three students in the country misses 10%, or about 18 days, of the school year? This year, let's work together to make sure all kids show up and participate every day possible. Being in school supports students' social, emotional, and physical well-being and provides students with opportunities to learn and reach for their dreams. Let's show up together and make daily attendance a habit.

Cape St. Claire Overall Attendance (As of January 22, 2025) 91.2%

PreK 89.1%

Kindergarten 91.2%

1st Grade 89.7%

2nd Grade 91.9%

3rd Grade 93.3%

4th Grade 90.3%

5th Grade 92.7%

Parents and Guardians—If your student is late to school, please have them bring a note explaining their absence to the office. This can be from you or their medical professional if they were tardy due to an appointment. When they are absent, please submit an electronic attendance note through the Parent Portal, or you can write one.

Cultural Arts

Triple E: Global Studies

All grade levels are continuing to persevere through the projects listed below. Be sure to ask your students what they are learning about the success skills: communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity, in our classrooms!

PK-Habits of Mind: Part 2

K-Tinkering with Tools

1-Galimotos

2-Make Way for Ducklings

3-Fantastic Contraption

4-Water Harvester

5-Ruins Rover

Recyclable Materials Needed:

• Paper towel rolls

• Toilet paper rolls

• Cereal boxes

• Printer paper box lids

We are still collecting recyclable materials! Please see the list above for much-needed items. If you have any to donate please send them in to your student’s Triple E teacher. 

Thank you!

Tabitha Bathras Jessie Shattuck

tmbathras@aacps.org jshattuck@aacps.org 

Music:

The 5th Grade Chorus did a great job performing at the Cluster Concert at Magothy River Middle School on January 9th.  The 4th Grade Chorus is starting at the end of January.  The Dance Team has started and will perform for the Talent Variety Show on February 13th at CSCE. 

Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten, and First grades are working on rhythm skills, following the melodic contour, dynamics, and high and low sounds by singing, moving, and playing instruments.

Second Grade is working on identifying instruments and their instrument families. They will also be having fun singing, moving, and playing to music.

Third grade is performing songs on the recorder to notes B, A, and G by reading the treble clef and performing the correct rhythms while playing. 

Fourth Grade is playing the soprano recorders and working to earn their ribbons for “Recorder Karate”. 

Fifth grade is performing songs on the xylophones in major and minor key signatures, listening and comparing different styles of music, and beginning to play the Ukulele. 

Ms. Harrison and Mrs. Abbott

Media: 

Moving into February intermediate grades will continue working on a project related to one of our Black-Eyed Susan Nominated books for this year. Students will engage in makerspace activities in connection to Witness Trees and a variety of historical events. Primary grades will focus on author studies and reflecting on what we learn from our studies through makerspace activities. 

Mrs. Crocker and Mrs. Smith

Art:

All of our art classes at CSCES are wrapping up the creative process of our annual Art To Remember fundraiser! Students have been busy making a variety of beautiful Maryland-themed works of art. Towards the end of February, fliers will come home with information on how parents and families can purchase their student’s masterpiece on a keepsake item. Please see the video below for more details: Art to Remember is Coming to your School!

Mrs. Morris’ Art Classes:

PK - ATR MD Crab

K - ATR MD Skipjacks

1 - ATR MD Black Eyed Susans

2 - ATR MD Baltimore Checkered Spot Butterflies

3 - ATR MD Thomas Point Lighthouse

4 - ATR MD Flags

5 - ATR MD Terrapins

Ms. Howe’s Art Classes:

K - ATR MD Skipjacks

1 - ATR MD Black Eyed Susans

2 - ATR MD Baltimore Checkered Spot Butterflies

3 - ATR MD Thomas Point Lighthouse

4 - ATR MD Flags

P.E.:

During January, students in all grades completed a jump rope unit. Grades Prek- K focused on jumping and landing with 2 feet (with and without a rope) while also working on timing their jumps. Grades 1st and 2nd began to understand how to perform consecutive jumps and also some basic jump rope skills such as one foot and reverse. These grades were also introduced to the long rope skills. Grades 3rd, 4th, and 5th continued to work on consecutive jumps and were introduced to more advanced skills (skier, criss-cross, etc.) with the short ropes while also learning about skills with the long ropes. Overall it was another great month in PE and we are looking forward to February!

Mr. Gillette and Mrs. Venturella

Pre-Kindergarten

In Pre-K, we are beginning a new unit called “Exploring Museums”. We will build and share collections and create our classroom museum!  We will also explore rocks, fossils, and other artifacts that might be found in museums. The stories we read will focus on different types of museums and the jobs people have there. We will work on different kinds of lines (vertical horizontal, diagonal), comparing lengths and using nonstandard measurements. We will learn to identify the forms and sounds for the letters Jj, Kk, Vv, Ii, and Qq. The social skill we will focus on is asking for help when necessary.

Kindergarten

January was a great month with some crazy weather!  February is kindness month and we will learn and practice different ways of showing kindness. Be on the lookout for more information soon regarding our Valentine’s Day celebration.  

Here are the reminders for our curriculum. 

Language Arts-We are working hard during our Skills block to tap out, blend, and read 4 letter decodable words.  We will be learning more consonant clusters, and trick words, and reading our decodable books.  Students are also learning about some tricky spellings (such as /s/ for /z/). Students are so excited to be reading and writing!  In Knowledge, we will start our Native American unit, followed by Kings and Queens.  Please make sure to read the curriculum letters being sent home and posted on Rooms.  They are very helpful with lots of information to keep parents informed about the current curriculum. 

Math-In the first part of the month, we will work on being persistent and creating, things with tangrams.  "How can we slide, flip and turn shapes to make new things?"  The rest of the month will mostly focus on addition and subtraction strategies.  We will combine and break down numbers to make numbers up to 10 with pictures and models.  You can practice at home by having your children put groups of things together and tell you how many there are using full sentences.  IE.  3 cars and 4 stuffies are 7 toys.  When given a pile of something, you can ask them how they could break the total group apart.  "I have 5 crackers, 2 are broken and 3 are not."    Counting and describing things with math vocabulary are always super practice.

Science/Social Studies-During the first part of the month we will work on demonstrating inquisitive behaviors related to topics such as weather. For the rest of the month, students will continue to explore seasonal and weather patterns related to the sun, clouds, and wind. Students will explore ways to be safe in different types of weather.

1st Grade

First-grade students are excited about many special events happening in February. We will be participating in the first-grade Top Dog Reader Competition. This is a special reading competition that began at Cape St. Claire Elementary. This is our 23rd year participating! Students will aim to read 100 or more books during February and March. They will record the titles of the books in a packet. Students will bring their packet home and back to school each day. In addition, we will be celebrating Clifford’s birthday. We will read a Clifford book and hope to have a visit from the friendly big red dog! First graders are also looking forward to their Valentine’s Day party. 

In math, students will be diving into addition and subtraction word problems. They will solve real-life problems where they will need to use their addition and subtraction strategies and facts. During our science and social studies blocks we will be exploring how communication has changed over time. How do people send messages to each other? How has communication changed our lives? We will find out! During our Knowledge block, we will learn about astronomy. In Literacy Skills, we will apply decoding strategies when reading one and two-syllable words. Students will practice using past-tense verbs with the ending -ed. They will also work on using their five senses to write an informational text about an animal. 

2nd Grade

We have a lot of exciting new units and activities coming up for February.  

In Knowledge, we will wrap up our unit, Cycles in Nature. Our students will continue to increase their knowledge of cycles in nature by learning more about seasonal cycles, and by beginning their study of flowering plants and trees, animal life cycles, and the importance of the water cycle. Soon we will move on to focus on note-taking and graphic organizers and by the end of the unit students will write an informational paragraph summarizing the life cycle of a frog.  Toward the end of the month, we will begin our next unit, Westward Expansion. 

During Skills, we will continue Unit 4 and introduce vowel sounds and new spelling trees.  Our students will continue in their decodable reader called “The Job Hunt”, where we will work on text-dependent questions and utilize close reading approaches to dive deeper into the text. The students will learn more about persuasive communication, specifically how to incorporate persuasive writing as part of a friendly letter.  

For Math this month, we will begin Unit 7 Measure and Compare Lengths. Students are introduced to several measurement tools. As they become comfortable with these tools, they then compare measurements, relate measurements to each other, and estimate the length of objects before measuring. Students measure using an inch ruler and are introduced to a yardstick, centimeter ruler, and meter stick.

Lastly, in Science and Social Studies, we will begin our new unit “We are Environmental Stewards”, where students will learn the word “environment” can mean just the natural world or everything around us, both natural and man-made. "Steward" means caretaker, keeper, or custodian. During the month, students will research habitats in small groups, explore living and nonliving things, and learn about features and conditions. At the end of the unit, we will plant seeds from a native plant. 

We are excited about our Valentine's parties coming up this month. Please be on the lookout for field trip permission slips for our trip to Ft. McHenry on Wednesday, March 19th! 

3rd Grade

It is hard to believe that we are halfway through the school year!  Please reinforce the importance of respectful and responsible behavior during February, which is Kindness Month.  Wednesday folders will continue to come home each week and should be emptied and returned the next day. Here is what we will be working on this month:

• In math we will continue working on fractions.  Students should understand how to name fractional parts, use fractions to name whole numbers and identify equivalent fractions by looking at the numerator and denominator. 

• In science we are studying life cycles and the behavior of animal groups.  We will be observing mealworms as they go through metamorphosis and change into darkling beetles.  Be sure to ask your child about this fun project!

• In social studies we are beginning our economics unit.  Students will identify needs, wants, opportunity costs, and the importance of budgeting.  This is a great opportunity to practice real-life skills, and there are many ways you can piggyback on these lessons at home.

• In reading we have started our study of the Vikings.  Students will participate in a Viking quest and "travel" to Scandinavia.  We will learn about the myths of the Norse gods and goddesses.  Students will write character description paragraphs and create their own comics! Later in the month, we will start our astronomy unit, which will continue into March.

As the weather continues to be unpredictable, please make sure your student is dressed appropriately for school.  Layers are highly recommended!  Once the snow has melted, we will be back outside for recess!

4th Grade

Math - 

Topics:  Units 8 and 9 are all about fractions.  Baking is a great way to discuss fractions in a way that students can visualize and eat!  Yummy!

Resources: 

Math Unit Letters are linked below:

Unit 8

Unit 9

Social Studies -

This quarter’s unit starts with a war and ends with a war. We will begin with the French and Indian War and end with the American Revolution. This unit will involve a lot of critical thinking, analyzing British laws, and considering multiple perspectives.  

Science - 

The next unit is titled “Energy on the Move.”  It’s an exciting unit that focuses on types of energy and how energy can be transferred.  It will accompany some cool experiments. Our world is constantly changing, and we’re going to continue to learn how and why this happens. As part of our learning, we will be heading to Arlington Echo next month to learn the importance of weathering and erosion in Anne Arundel County.

CKLA  (Core Knowledge Language Arts)-  We will continue unit 5 “Geology” this month. Students will learn about the theory of plate tectonics  They will also study geological processes like rock formation, weathering, and erosion to understand how the earth changes over time and why it looks the way it does.  Then we will begin unit 6 on contemporary fiction. 

Unit 5 Family Letter

Unit 6 Family Letter

5th Grade

It’s hard to believe we are in the 3rd marking period already and 6th grade is fast approaching.  Report cards will be available online in the next few weeks.  If you have trouble accessing your child’s report card, please let her/his teacher know.  This month, we will have a few visits from the middle school to enable students to prepare for their transition.  Look for more information to come.  Also, this month, students will celebrate Valentine’s Day with a class party.  Please look for more information regarding this fun event.  In math, we are learning about the division of decimals in unit 8.  In CKLA, we are learning about the big changes the Renaissance brought to the people of that time.  Newsletters for these units are posted in Rooms to enable you to review the concepts being taught and discuss them with your child.  We are learning about the Emancipation Proclamation in social studies and matter in science. We are busy planning upcoming field trips and will send that information out shortly.  Please ensure students complete all homework as homework enables children to practice what they have learned in the classroom.  We thank you for your support at home.  

Cape Families - Please keep in mind that domestic pets, such as dogs and cats, are not permitted on school grounds. Thank you for working with us to keep all students safe!

When visiting the school, please remember to bring your government issued photo ID