Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD

On Friday, August 30, 2018, Thompson Students were greeted by the school’s administration team in a special way. Principal Robert Atchison and Assistant Principal Katie Nickerson had Kidz Bop music blaring from the sound system as students exited their cars in the morning. No student entered the building without a high five and a giant smile. Staff and students paused to dance to the music before getting their day started. Librarian Lindsay Wiggins said, “You can’t have a bad day when that’s how you get your day started!”

5th grade teacher Julie Impocco shows off her school spirit with students in her homeroom class on Friday, August 25th. Thompson staff and students are encouraged to show their cougar pride every Friday by wearing green, yellow, or other shirts from Thompson events.

Everything is more fun with a little healthy competition, so a spirit reward is given to the K-2 class and the 3-5 class with the highest percentage of spirit wear participants each week. Students (and parents!) and purchase spirit wear from the PTA at any of our school events.

5th grade students in Mrs. Ghobrial’s science class worked in small groups diving into the scientific process on Monday, August 27th, 2018. After learning the steps of the process in class, students were challenged to work through steps on their own, starting with a question they could find the answer to using materials found in class. This group of students followed the scientific process to explore which type of paper was the strongest. After hands on learning like this, following the steps of the scientific process on their science fair projects will be a breeze! The school will host its annual science fair in December.

On August 27th, third grade students at Thompson Elementary learned about the steps in the scientific process. The students in Mrs. Romo’s class took what they learned and dove into a science experiment in which they investigated which brand of soap would float and why. They had a blast and were quick to compare their hypothesis with the actual results of the experiment!

Thompson Elementary first grade classes took advantage of the Yard Card welcoming the Cougars back to school and posed for a grade level photo. The cheerful installation was provided by Mrs. Lopez and the Thompson PTA through Dallas Yard Card on the first day of school, August 20, 2018. First grade students have had a wonderful week and half building relationships and learning the routines in each of their classrooms. Both students and teachers are excited about the year ahead!

On August 27, 2018 Thompson school nurse April Robinson started a series of handwashing lessons with students grades K-5. The school clinic became a classroom as Nurse Robinson reviewed the steps, shared a catchy song, and students practice proper washing in her sink. With these lessons, Nurse Robinson is hoping to prevent back to school germs from spreading and get a head start on flu season. 

Students in Ms. Shaffer’s first grade class spent the first week of school setting up the routines for Math Workshop. Math workshop is a time each day where students have a free choice of stations or games that build on the skills of the unit.

During the first week, the class works on learning how to choose their station, how to transition from one station to another, take turns, work together, and what to do when you’re finished. While learning the routines, the 1st graders reviews skills learned in Kindergarten like decomposing shapes and counting sets of objects the most efficient way.

Kindergarten students in Mr. Herrera’s put what they learned throughout the first week of school about being good readers into practice with some buddy reading.  During buddy reading, 2 students sit next to each other elbow to elbow, knee to knee.

They take turns sharing what they see on the pages and pointing out familiar sight words. These simple practices give them the background they need to become strong independent readers.