Business Partner Spotlight 2

Britt At-Home Tech Center 2 Math and Literacy Nights 3

Reading Volunteers 3 Parent Involvement Day 3

Teachers of the Month 4

Atlanta Hawks Visit 5 Upcoming Events 5

Café News 6 Parent Survey Information 6

November AKS 7

Comet Connection

August/September 2012

Vol. Issue

Our Principal’s Message

Greetings to the W. C. Britt Elementary Community,

As November and the Thanksgiving Holidays approach, I can easily identify many things to be thankful for at Britt Elementary School. The involvement and support of the Britt Community is high on the list. So are the many volunteers who give of their time on a daily basis to support learning here. South Gwinnett High School again reached out to Britt in their support of our school program to invite every Britt Comet to celebrate academic successes and to enjoy a surprise visit from the Atlanta Hawks. Our Britt Comets displayed the same excellent behavior they display at school each day as they marched to and from the South Gwinnett High School gym. Each student enjoyed the excitement of watching the Atlanta Hawks practice, the antics of Harry the Hawk, and the performance by the Hawks’ cheerleaders. The South Gwinnett Band provided the music as Britt Comets stole the show with their team spirit while dressed all in red for Red Ribbon Week. What a memorable way to celebrate the academic successes for the first nine weeks and to stay motivated to strive for excellence every day.

On November 7, Britt students and faculty will be visiting our other

neighbor and partner, First Baptist Church of Snellville, to see their performance of Annie. Students will learn to demonstrate proper concert behavior, evaluate a musical performance, and review other AKS for music on this trip. This is sure to be another memorable event thanks to the support of our community partners.

My thankfulness extends to each of our teachers for the engaging

and challenging instruction they provide Britt students each and every day. It also extends to our precious Britt children who arrive each day with a smile on their faces and with a sweet spirit of cooperation, good manners, and good behavior. I am thankful for our parents and guardians who have chosen Britt Elementary School as a place of learning for their child and who support the school’s program. Your attendance at the first Britt Awards Night was testament to your support of excellence for academic knowledge, skills, and behavior for our children.

The fine work of our PTA is an additional indicator of continued

support of the Britt Community. The student agenda books, outdoor classroom, computer programs, Red Ribbon Week activities, academic assemblies to support the AKS, and special events planned for the Britt families to enjoy are just a few of the many ways our PTA supports children and the community. If you have not joined the PTA, I hope you will soon.

I want to thank you for your support of our school, and I wish you a very happy season of Thanksgiving! Sincerely, Doris Jones

Doris Jones, Principal

Comet Connection

A newsletter for the families of W.C. Britt Elementary School

November 2012 Issue 2

Comet Connection A newsletter for the families of W.C. Britt Elementary School

New Britt At-Home Technology Center

We are pleased to announce the release of the Britt At-Home Technology Center as an addition to our

school website. We have made it a priority to increase at-home access to our best educational

technology so that you can support your student’s learning after school hours from your own

computer or other internet device.

You will find a link to the Britt At-Home Technology Center at the top of our homepage at

www.wcbritt.org/home.html

Unless noted otherwise, students login to each of the available programs using their student ID

number and the password “comets.”

You will find all of your student’s favorite web programs from school here, and he or she will be

familiar with how to use many of them.

Please contact Doug Doblar at 770-736-2032 or doug_doblar@gwinnett.k12.ga.us with questions.

Enjoy this new service!

Spotlight on Business Partners

We would like to sincerely thank our community sponsors for their support of our annual recognition and celebration program for the 2012 -2013 Teacher of the Year and Finalists. These sponsors gave generous donations to recognize these outstanding

teachers:

Sam’s Club Ann Hamner PNC Bank

Things Remembered Gwinnett Braves

Office Max Van Adams Jewelers Chick fil a Snellville

The Avenue Webb Gin Stone Mountain Park

Stone Mountain Park – Evergreen Marriott

Bouquets Unlimited Zaxby’s Snellville

Mazzawi Family Dentistry Neiman Marcus

Britt PTA Lifetouch

Bruster’s Snellville

Britt Teacher of the Year Pam Zuber (left) with Principal Doris

Jones.

Comet Connection A newsletter for the families of W.C. Britt Elementary School

We are recruiting our parents, family members, and friends who are willing to volunteer one or two days a week. Students will get

the chance to read to you during Britt time on Tuesday or Thursday from 2:50 until 3:10pm.

Reading opens the door to our children’s world!

National Parent Involvement Day Britt Parent Center November 15, 2012

Celebrate National Parent Involvement Day and learn about the W.C. Britt Parent Center and Parent Involvement

at our school.

Title 1 Literacy Night Workshop November 1, 2012

6:00 PM Learn how to increase your child’s reading comprehension, fluency, and writing. Your child will be given the tools that

will help them become lifelong readers.

Title 1 Math Night Workshop November 29, 2012

6:30 PM Come learn from our math experts as you and your child enjoy an evening filled with fun as you both create games

that are specific to math concepts.

Comet Connection A newsletter for the families of W.C. Britt Elementary School

October Instructor of the Month

Do you need some new, great, and creative ideas for academic activities for morning work? Would you like to know more active and engaging transition activities? You need to go and visit with our Instructor of the Month. This instructor has students engaged in learning activities from the time they arrive on campus. When the students are finished with one activity, they can move on to shop for books on their instructional levels. Want to practice counting down - join in the fun dance song that has all students up and moving. This instructor is exhibiting individualized instruction throughout the day. The students are able to independently move between center activities and monitor their work. Take time to go and chat with our outstanding Instructor of the Month..........Nyana Genama.

October Technology Teacher of the Month

According to noted futurist Arthur C. Clark, “any sufficiently advanced use of technology is indistinguishable from magic.” And isn’t that the truth? Students in the October Technology Teacher of the Month’s class have gotten to experience quite a bit of magic in the last few weeks. They have practiced arithmetic by racing to do math problems against students in other states. They have whizzed their test answers straight to her computer using clickers. They’ve even learned science AKS from students in their grade level who they have never even met. Indistinguishable from magic, indeed!

But those learning experiences had more than just the “wow-factor” of seemingly magical tools. In all of these instances, her students were so involved in their learning at the moment that you couldn’t even have bribed them to be somewhere else. She used technology to create those can’t-look-away learning experiences that make being a teacher the best job on earth. She does this day after day, and it isn’t hard to see that both she and her students enjoy their time at school more than most because of it.

This month, however, we get to recognize Sara Forrester for creating more magic than even she has ever before. Word came in last week that her entire 2011-2012 class was awarded “Best in Festival” recognition at the 2012 International Student Media Festival – a level of distinction accomplished by fewer than 1 out of every 1,000 projects entered in the festival from around the world.

Atlanta Hawks Surprise Britt Students!

Britt students were treated to a big surprise during their field

trip to South Gwinnett High School on October 23. At an

assembly planned to celebrate the academic success at Britt

and at South Gwinnett, the Atlanta Hawks entered the gym,

along with their coaches, cheerleaders, and mascot! The

students watched the Hawks practice and play a live

scrimmage, as well as meet the cheerleaders and Harry the

Hawk. Check out http://www.wcbritt.org/home.html for

pictures and a link to the news release from this once-in-a-

lifetime event!

NOVEMBER

1 – Book Fair Family Night

1 – Title I Literacy Night

2 – Last Day of Fall Book Fair

5 – Stevie B’s Night

6 – Election Day (Student Holiday)

8 – Sparkles Skate Night

9 – Progress Reports Sent Home

12 – Zaxby’s Night

15 – Parent Involvement Celebration

19-23 – Student Thanksgiving Holidays

28 – Student Art Show

29 – Title 1 Math Night

20 – Bruster’s Slushie Friday

Comet Connection A newsletter for the families of W.C. Britt Elementary School

Parent Survey

Beginning November 1, an important survey about our school will be available in your parent portal account. This survey has been available to take at the school since October 1, too.

Please take the time to complete this survey next time you log into your parent portal account. It only takes a few minutes, and your input is greatly needed for our efforts to continue making Britt a great school!

Comet Connection A newsletter for the families of W.C. Britt Elementary School

Britt Café News

Thanks to everyone who participated in National School Lunch Week and Our Fall Festival and Health Fair!!! We appreciate your support!!! Remember to eat with us . . . and fill out the monthly trivia question. You could win passes to the movies!!! Every Friday is bring a parent to breakfast day! Hope to see you there! Fruits are colorful and sweet treats that are very healthy for you! Fruits provide fiber which helps you feel full, keeps you focused, and can help with stomach troubles. While fruits contain simple sugars (glucose and fructose), they also contain dietary fiber, vitamin C, folate, and potassium. Fruits contain around 80% water, zero cholesterol, and are low in fat, sodium, and calories. Consuming a diet high in fruits and vegetables can keep you healthy! You can get your serving of fruits in a variety of ways such as fresh, frozen, canned, dried, or 100% fruit juice. However, whole fruit provides more fiber and has less sugar than 100% fruit juice. Fruit can also be canned, dried, or frozen. Canned fruit is best if it is in its natural juices or light syrup to decrease the sugar content. Frozen and dried fruit should not have any sugar added. What are some of your favorite ways to eat fruit?

Where do fruits come from? Fruits can be defined as the fleshy, edible, seed-bearing part of a plant. The seeds can be inside the fruit like in an apple, pear, or peach or on the outside like on a strawberry. Some fruits have thin skins like berries, while other have thicker peels like oranges.

Don’t forget to regularly visit our website at

www.wcbritt.org/home.html for all the latest news!

What is my child learning in November?

First Grade AKS

LA-follow three part directions;

identify exclamation point and

apostrophe; read compound words;

identify verbs; write a narrative story

with beginning/middle/end.

Writing-Write a clear beginning,

middle, and end for a story; focus on

narrative and informational writing.

MATH-place value, practicing addition

and subtraction strategies; telling time.

SCIENCE-natural resources; animals

and non living things.

SOCIAL STUDIES– goods and

services; describe how Thomas

Jefferson, Lewis & Clark, Sacagawea

displayed positive character traits,

commitment, and respect for others.

Kindergarten AKS

LA:Reading-retell the beginning,

middle, & end of a story; sequence

events in a story; identify opposites.

Writing-begin to use

capitalization/punctuation; begin to

write a story with one event.

MATH-describe passages of time;

order daily events; compare and

order objects according to length and

height; label sets by writing numerals

0-20; identify the location of an

object; identify coins by name and

value.

SCIENCE-describe & compare

objects in terms of number, shape,

texture, size, weight, color, and

motion; after an investigation,

draw/write an explanation of the

observation; observe the effect of

gravity.

SOCIAL STUDIES-identify the

purpose of Veteran’s & Thanksgiving

Day.

Second Grade AKS

LA-retell: plot, setting, & characters;

summarize; identify character action,

motives, emotions, traits, and feelings;

identify silent letters, & alphabetize to

the second letter in a word.

Writing-organize a writing piece with

a clear beginning, middle, and end

using transitional words and time

cues; use linking verbs when writing;

write a friendly letter.

MATH-tell time to five minutes;

estimate and measure temperature;

explore temperature using Celsius;

collect data and organize it onto a

graph.

SCIENCE–identify three states of

matter (solid, liquid, gas) and sort

materials according to their states;

compare and contrast the different

properties of matter.

SOCIAL STUDIES-read about and

describe the lives of the Creek and

Cherokee in Georgia history.

Third Grade AKS

LA:Reading-summarize and

paraphrase stories and important

ideas in informational text; locate

titles in the table of contents; use

guide words in the dictionary;

identify purpose of the thesaurus and

where glossaries are located in books.

Writing-use organizational structures

to convey order, cause and effect,

similarities & differences, questions

& answers; learn how to take notes

by summarizing.

MATH– classify triangles, identify

polygons, identify and compare

angles, identify diameter and radius.

SCIENCE-compare and contrast the

texture, particle size, and color in top

soils; classify rocks according to how

they were formed.

SOCIAL STUDIES-discuss the life of

Susan B. Anthony, Frederick

Douglass, and Mary McLeod

Bethune; describe their efforts to

expand people’s rights and freedoms.

Fourth Grade AKS LA: Reading-present information through

reports, demonstrations, & projects; use

paragraphs, topic sentences, concluding

sentences, glossary, headings, italics, &

graphics to comprehend informational

texts; distinguish cause from effect & fact

from opinion; identify & use prefixes, root

words, suffixes, & word parts to identify

words in text.

Writing-write an informational piece in

various content areas that is organized,

uses appropriate facts and details, and

reflects the intended audience.

MATH-identify & explain the

commutative, associative, and distributive

properties: explain the relationship

between dividend, divisor, quotient, &

remainder.

SCIENCE-analyze the role of relative

position & motion in determining the

sequence of the phases of the moon;

analyze the components of our solar

system and their relationship to one

another.

SOCIAL STUDIES-explain the

development of the Declaration of

Independence; describe major events of

the Revolution; explain factors leading to

American victory & British defeat; name

key individuals in the American

Revolution.

Fifth Grade AKS

LA:Writing-organizational patterns of

reading passages; compare &

contrast, chronological order, cause

and effect, classification, argument

and support; imagery and figurative

language; correctly using and

identifying verb tenses; using correct

punctuation marks, including

commas, semicolons, apostrophes, &

quotation marks; persuasive writing

skills.

MATH-find equivalent fractions,

compare and order fractions and

mixed numbers, add and subtract

fractions and mixed numbers.

SCIENCE-analyze how surface

features of the earth are caused by

constructive and destructive forces

such as deposition, earthquakes,

volcanoes, and faults.

SOCIAL STUDIES-analyze basic

economic concepts, describe how

consumers & businesses interact in the

U.S. economy; describe how life

changed in America at the turn of the

20th century.