Our youngest Mustangs are in Pre-K and have been practicing Mustang Manners for almost two weeks! We are so proud of all of their hard work!
Farmers Branch Elementary PTA Sale
Farmers Branch Elementary PTA sells Smencils (smell good pencils and erasers) every single Friday! Profits from the sale benefit students with gifts to the school throughout the year. Choose from scents like strawberry and chocolate!
Perry Eagle Cheerleaders Prepare for Competition
The 2018-2019 DeWitt Perry Cheerleaders, including a multitude of new team members, are hard at work each day preparing for their November competition in Lewisville.
The numerous new additions this year are a group of very talented 7th and 8th graders. There are also two new 8th grade captains, who are hard at work whipping their newfound team into shape.
Make plans now to to support this spirited bunch on November 18, 2018, at Lewisville High School! Read more about the cheerleaders, sports teams, and upcoming competitions in Perry’s digital newspaper, The Eagle Times, later this month.
Furneaux Students Learn Depth and Complexity
Students at Furneaux Elementary are using specialized language when they come home from school as they learn the elements of depth and complexity. There are icons associated with the different elements of depth and complexity that serve as visual prompts for students. These visual prompts are designed to help students go beyond a surface-level understanding of a concept and enhance their ability to think critically. These critical thinking tools help students dig deeper into a concept (depth) and understand that concept with greater complexity.
For a student to truly understand a topic of study, they must speak the language specific to that topic. Through the different elements of depth and complexity, students study the language of the discipline, details, patterns, rules, big ideas, ethical issues, and trends of a topic. They are able to find unanswered questions, view multiple perspectives, look how things/ideas change over time, and how things/ideas are connected through different disciplines.
In lieu of “learning to read,” these Furneaux students are “reading to learn.”
Thompson Students Utilize Digital Learning Tools
4th grade music students at Thompson elementary were showing what they know this week! These students used a digital learning tool called Plickers. They are able to answer questions with their Plickers cards and the teacher, Mrs. Kendrick, is able to quickly scan the cards with a smartphone to instantly assess.
Furneaux Fun Fridays
On the last Friday of the month, Furneaux enjoys Fun Friday. Students and staff come together to celebrate all the great things going on at Furneaux over the previous month. During August’s Fun Friday, Ms. Hopkins and Ms. Brosseau’s 4th-grade students sang a rap song about school.
Thompson Students Collaborate with Google Classroom
After researching Fort Worth, Texas for their great cities of Texas project, 4th grade cougars from Thompson Elementary are collaborating through Google Classroom to create a presentation to teach others about the city of Fort Worth. Ms. Harvey says “I am so excited by their enthusiasm to collaborate and try new technology to synthesize their learning!”
Thompson Students Begin Keyboarding
The 3rd graders at Thompson Elementary started their keyboarding lessons! They must do 22 consecutive lessons to develop their typing skills using the program Typing Club. During this time students are practicing sitting up straight, keeping both feet on the floor, and using the proper finger position on the keyboard. It is a fun way for them to learn where the keys are located while incorporating technology.
Teamwork at Thompson Elementary
Second grade students at Thompson Elementary were put to the test the week of August 27, 2018! Students attending PE classes with Coach Jaime O’Brien were challenged to transport all of their equipment, containing pool noodles, a rubber chicken, yarn balls, and several other odds and ends, across the gym. The challenge lies in that at no point, can any of their objects touch the floor. Through teamwork and encouragement groups of 3-4 children were able to successfully get themselves, and their equipment from one side of the gym to the other.
Thompson Students Explore Shapes
On August 30, first grade students at Thompson Elementary enjoyed an exploration of pattern shape cutouts during their Math geometry unit. Students enjoyed having the option of filling in their geometry figures with pattern blocks or glueing cutouts. Students are studying how they can fill in the same figure with the most and least amount of pattern shapes. As one student said, “there’s so many different ways to fill in the same shape! That’s crazy!”