Tomball Independent School District

October 2015 Second Edition, Issue 3

THE COUGAR
CONNECTION
Principal, Lauren Thompson

CALENDAR
October
Hispanic Heritage Month
6th- Picture Day
7th- PTO Meeting @9:30am in the Cafeteria

A note from the Principal...

As many of you may know, Mrs. Schaub, my administrative assistant,
has accepted a position at the ancillary department and will be
supporting Tomball ISD from the district level. We certainly want to
wish her the very best in this new venture and thank her for her
service to Timber Creek, since our doors opened several years ago.
Her dedication to our campus has been amazing and her support, as I
have transitioned to the campus, has been invaluable.

7th- Progress Reports Home

13th -Principals Partner Day
14th- Walk to School Day
14th- Spirit Day @ Crust Pizza
16th- Early Release
21st- ALL grade-level PTO coee @ 6:30pm
at 3Freestone Stream
23rd- PTO Monster Mash 6-9PM
26th- 30th Red Ribbon Week
27th- 1st Grade Field Trip at Oil Ranch
29th- 4th Grade Field Trip at Sam Houston
Museum
30th- Turn in Box Tops

November
4th- PTO Meeting @9:30am in the Cafeteria

Timber Creek Elementary School

8455 Creekside Green Dr.
The Woodlands, TX 77389
Phone: (281) 357-3060
www.tces.tomballisd.net
www.twitter.com/TISDTCES

In response to this vacancy, we have been able to fill her position in a

very timely fashion. I would like to introduce to each of you my new
administrative assistant, Mrs. Laurie Cain. Mrs. Cain comes to us
with almost 20 years of experience in the public education system
and has served as an administrative assistant for many of those years.
She is settling in this week and is very excited to get to know each of
you. Please feel free to stop by and introduce yourselves, as you visit
the building. We ask for your patience, understanding and support as
she learns about our school, district and community. I know she will
quickly feel the close parent- school connection that I felt this
summer when I first joined the TCES family.
Sincerely,
Lauren Thompson, Principal
Follow us on Twitter @TISDTCES

MAY 4-8TH, 2015

Thank You, PTO!

Did you know the following were funded last year

for students and staff from PTO contributions?

--All Grade Level Field Trips $5,480

--100 Chromebooks with charging stations for classrooms $25,000
--Smartboards for Art and Music Rooms $3,500
--Guided Reading Materials and Classroom Libraries $15,000
--4 Online Instructional Resource Subscriptions $7,000
--Studies Weekly Resource for all levels $3,500
--Recess Equipment for all grade levels $1,000
--Campus Poster Machine $5,000

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Tomball Independent School District

ACADEMIC NOTES

October 2015 Second Edition, Issue 3

Kindergarten
Look out October, here we come! This month we will be working on using reading strategies. We are getting
our mouth ready to make the first sound of the word and then looking at the pictures for clues. We are also
noticing patterns in the books we read and working on rhyming words. At this point your child should know
all the letters and their sounds. In writing we will be working on using spaces between our words and writing
with beginning and ending sounds. In math we will be composing and decomposing numbers, comparing
numbers to 10, and sorting by attributes.

1st Grade
First grade is excited that fall has arrived! Our field trip to the Oil Ranch is October 27th. We hope many of
you are able to join us as chaperones. A few objectives that will be covered in class this month include:
sequencing story events and plot structure; subtraction; matter and energy; public ocials and leaders. We
will end the month with Red Ribbon Week to celebrate good choices and healthy living. We look forward to
visiting with parents during our fall conferences and always value your partnership in educating the children.

2nd Grade
Second grade has had a fantastic start to our school year! The students are learning our routines and
procedures nicely. Please remember to keep toys at home as they can become a distraction to learning. This
month we will be exploring sensory language in language arts. In math, we will focus on place value and then
move on to two digit addition. We will learn about the dierent states of matter and how to classify matter by
its physical properties during science. In social studies, we will learn about the dierent symbols and
landmarks that represent America.

3rd Grade
How is it already October? This month in language arts we are focusing on finding the theme (moral,
message) while reading. We will do this my reading dierent myths, fables and folktales. Students will also
write real and imaginary stories that build to a climax. Towards the end of the month we will move towards
expository writing. Other skills include prefixes, suxes, authors purpose and main idea / details. In social
studies we will finish up learning about communities and write a paper on the community we did our home
project on. Then we will begin learning about how physical processes (volcanoes, hurricanes, etc.) change our
land. In math students will move into the foundation of multiplication, with a focus on patterns. Students
will relate repeated addition to multiplication. In science students will learn about matter (solid, liquid, gas).

4th Grade
Our classes are working toward earning the trophy for the best attendance. October is National Writing
month and our 4th graders are working hard each day to write their best personal narrative while practicing
grammar skills within each piece of writing. Our ELA classes are reading for deeper information through a
variety of methods such as questioning, mapping, and predicting future events. Our goal is to READ
everyday! In math, students are wrapping up place value with whole numbers and decimals. If your child
doesnt know their multiplication facts up to 12x12 PLEASE practice daily! Properties of dierent types of
matter are being studied in science. Our field trip has been scheduled for October 29 to Sam Houston
Museum in Huntsville, TX. Yeah! Thank you PTO for your generosity.

5th Grade
In Science we are going to be exploring forms of energy by working with circuits and identifying conductors
and insulators. We will be also be looking at how light transmits, absorbs, reflects, and refracts o dierent
surfaces. In Social Studies we will be learning about colonization and exploration. We will be discussing the
strengths and the weaknesses British citizens experienced during their journey to and in the "New World". In
Reading, we will analyze, make inferences, and draw conclusions about theme and genre in dierent cultural,
historical, and contemporary texts. We will also be making connections to the structure of a literary text while
creating our imaginary stories in Writing. 5th grade is working to multiply and divide whole numbers and
decimals and then we will focus on operations mixed with financial literacy.

6th Grade
In language arts, students will analyze poetic techniques and make inferences about the ways figurative
language contributes to the meaning of poems. Students will also explore the authors stated and implied
purposes in cultural, historical and contemporary context using textual evidence to support their
understanding. In math, the focus will be on adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing integers fluently.
They will also compare and order rational numbers using mathematical and real-world contexts. For world
culture, students will travel to Latin America and Europe where they will participate in discovering the
culture, climate, natural resources and the geography of the region as well as the ways colonization causes
change for those countries. In science, students will begin their exciting chemistry unit and will also research
and debate the advantages and disadvantages of various forms of energy resources.

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Safety Corner
From Mrs. Standefer,,
our Assistant Principal and
Campus Safety Ocer
Have you thought about the
weight of your childs
backpack? The weight of the
backpack should be
anywhere from 10 to 20
percent of your childs body
weight. The straps of the
backpack should be padded
for comfort and evenly
distributed to help distribute
the weight of the backpack. If
your child walks or rides a
bike home, add some
reflective tape to help with
visibility. Please help your
child understand how to wear
them safely.

GT NEWS

UIL events include chess

puzzle solving, oral reading,
spelling, calculator
applications, creative writing,
storytelling, maps/graphs/
charts, and number sense.
Permission slips were due
October 7th and tryouts will be
held the week of October 12th
- 16th.
Students who earn a place on
each team are making a
commitment to a weekly
practice on campus,
independent practice at home,
and attendance in the district
wide UIL tournament on
January 9, 2016.
-Sheri Sims, GT Specialist

Tomball Independent School District

October 2015 Second Edition, Issue 3

SPECIALS

Red Ribbon Week

October 26th 30th
Red Ribbon Week is fast
approaching! Our theme this year
is Our School has S.W.A.G.
(Students Who Achieve Goals).
Please note how we are celebrating
each day during this event.

ART
Happy Fall Yall! As we enter into a wonderful season full of changes, the
art studio is entering a new unit on the elements of: Value, Form, and Color,
with some exciting projects showcasing students new mastery.
As the next few weeks progress, you will see your child coming home with wonderful
artwork. However, if you do not see your child coming home with artwork, no worries!
Throughout the year some artwork will be selected from kids displaying exceptional
talent to be featured in the Fine Arts Festival at the end of the year! Children should
receive a note home if their art has been selected. Encourage your child to participate
in some creative outlet each day. Whether that is drawing in a home sketchbook, or
getting out the old playdough to bring some life into it, we all need a break from our
technological society to get our hands a little dirty.
-Ms. Bridges, Art Teacher

MONDAY: Show your true colors (wear neon or

tie dye clothing)
TUESDAY: Hats o to good choices (wear a
crazy or favorite hat)
WEDNESDAY: Dont sleep through life, achieve
your goals (wear your pajamas must meet dress
code guidelines)

MUSIC

THURSDAY: Blot out bad habits (wear polka

dots/stripes clothing)

Kinder will practice tuneful singing, practice High/Low comparatives and learn about
Rhythmic Percussion Instruments (visually and through sound exploration).

FRIDAY: Reach for your goals! (Dress up as to

what you would like to be when you grow up)

1st Grade will practice reading High/Low sounds on the sta and learn about Leroy
Andersons The Syncopated Clock (identifying legato and staccato sounds).

Looking forward to a fun and educational

week!
-Mrs.Cathcart, Counselor

2nd & 3rd Grade will practice rhythm writing, practice reading/writing La, Sol and Mi
on the sta and learn about Leroy Andersons The Syncopated Clock (identifying
legato and staccato sounds). 3rd Grade also begins practicing their Christmas Program
Music Mrs. Claus and the great Elf Rebellion.
4th & 5th Grade will practice rhythm writing with Quarter notes/rests, Eighth notes,
and Half Notes.4th Grade will also begin learning their Veterans Day program music
for their program on November 11th at 9am. 5th Grade will also learn about sixteenth
notes and how to identify them in music, review Curwen Hand Signs and learn about
pentatonic music and how to identify it in music.

CLINIC
CORNER
Fall is here, and FLU season is approaching!
One of the best preventatives is frequent

6th Grade Choir Elective will continue practicing the concepts of sight-reading and
music reading with Solfa. We will begin reading literature that has all of the concepts
in them.

hand washing. Length of time to wash hands:

-Mrs.Culver, Music Teacher

If your child is vomiting, running a fever or

sing the ABC song.

has diarrhea, please keep them home. Do

PE

not send them to school. They may return to

This month in PE, we will begin Mileage club, continue to work on hand-eye
coordination and introduce football/volleyball units.

without any vomiting, diarrhea, or are fever-

-Coach Kruppa, PE

fever).

school once they have gone 24 hours

TCES Birthday Book Club

is a great way to celebrate your child's birthday while stocking

our library with awesome books! Information letters and
membership forms went out in Wednesday folders last week
and are due back on October 9th. Contact Mindy Fuller at
mindyfuller@tomballisd.net for additional information.

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free (without benefit of medications to lower

If your student needs medicine at school,

even cough drops, a parent or guardian must
bring the medicine to the clinic and sign it in.
This is Tomball ISD policy. Please do not send
the medicine with your child.
-Stephanie Nelson, School Nurse

Tomball Independent School District

October 2015 Second Edition, Issue 3

PTO NEWS

Monster Mash is almost here!

The PTO will be launching our fall fundraising campaign beginning
on October 7th and ending October 23rd.
The Circle of Friends donation drive will begin on October 7th. We
are requesting check donations Oct 7th to the 23rd. Nothing to sell,
nothing to deliver, just asking for donations for our fundraising
purposes. The money raised goes towards technology, field trips,
playground equipment, and educational resources. *All donations
are tax deductible.
Monster Mash celebration will be held at the school on Friday,
October 23rd from 6-9pm to conclude our fall fundraising
campaign. We will have carnival-type games, food, a pumpkin
patch, a monster cupcake walk, dance party, costume contest, and a
spooky haunted house!
Costumes and treat bags are encouraged! Wristbands and tickets
will be sold later in October.

TCES
Spirit Days
Next Wednesday October 14th is spirit
day at Crust Pizza in Creekside Village
Center. Please come out and support our
school. A percentage goes back to our
school when you mention Timber Creek
at check out.
We are also excited to announce
monthly Spirit Days @ Crust all day
11:00am - 9:00pm the SECOND
WEDNESDAY OF EVERY MONTH! Mark
your calendars!
Always DINE IN OR CARRY OUT.

Thanks for your support!

BOX TOPS
Hello Timber Creek family!

My name is Courtney Twining and I am the 5th

Grade Science and Social Studies teacher and now
the BOX TOP COORDINATOR!

PTO: Get Involved, Stay Connected...

it's as easy as 1 - 2 - 3
1. Complete your volunteer application on the TISD WEBSITE. This is
required to volunteer on campus for anything from Watch DOGS to
helping with workstations
2. Join the TCES PTO: https://www.myschoolanywhere.com/newfamily.a5w?fam=TimberCreekElementary76908
Membership includes access to the NEW online directory
3. If you are a Facebook member, like the PTO page:
https://www.facebook.com
Get updates and reminders on Spirit Nights, calendar events,
fundraisers, etc!

I have gathered together a few 5th graders who

have volunteered their time to help with counting
and sorting all donations! With all this extra help I
hope we can increase our donations and raise more
money this year for our wonderful school. I have
attached the link for the Box Top collection sheet
above. Krogers often gives Bonus Box Tops that
can be found on your receipts that can be worth up
to 20 Box Tops, so keep an eye out!
Box Tops found on foods and other products at
home. Collected Box Tops can be taped or glued
onto the collection sheet (preferred). You can also
place collected Box Tops in a Zip-lock bag, but
please include the number of Box Tops your child
has collected and their teachers name. 50 Box Tops
can earn us $5. Please make sure all donated Box
Tops dates are still valid.
With our huge Timber Creek Family this has the
chance to be a HUGE opportunity! Thank you for all
your help in raising money for our school!

www.timbercreekpto.org

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www.facebook.com/
TimberCreekElementaryPTO