Kim Ramsey, Principal · Avery Goode, Asst. Principal · 6000 Hwy 55 E, Clover, SC 29710 · 803-631-8300

1st Qu

arter

ESCAPE INTO LEARNING BETHEL ELEMENTARY THIRD QUARTER

NOTES FROM MRS. RAMSEY

As most of you know by now, I will be retiring at the end of this year. I

had really planned on working another year or two but since I am in the

TERI Program offered by the state that ends this year, I will lose retire-

ment money if I continue to work. We do not know at this point who will

be replacing me but I will keep you updated.

I have so enjoyed my five years here at Bethel and getting to know all of

the students, families, and staff. Everyone has come to mean so much to

me and it is not going to be easy leaving such a great school. However,

it is not necessarily the principal that makes Bethel such a special place.

It is the staff, families, and community and this will continue no matter

who the principal happens to be. People often tell me how caring and

supportive everyone at Bethel is and how they know their children are

loved and cared for. Bethel also has high expectations for students in

both their academic and personal lives. I know this will continue long af-

ter I retire.

I will truly miss you all and have been blessed

to be a part of Bethel for the past five years.

Mrs. Ramsey

DON’T FORGET!

REMINDERS ARRIVAL/DISMISSAL INFORMATION

Please do not drop students off at the front of-

fice. They must go through the car line in the

mornings. Pick students up before 2:00pm if

they have an appointment. Please pick your

child up from the car line by 2:25pm in the af-

ternoon.

Bell Schedule:

7:05am Doors Open

7:25am First Bell Rings

7:35am Second Bell / Tardy Bell

2:10pm Dismissal

LUNCH SCHEDULE

You are welcome to eat lunch with your child.

We ask that you not bring in fast food such as

McDonalds when coming in to eat lunch.

PK 10:30am

1st 10:45am

K 11:00am

2nd 11:15am

3rd 11:45am

4th 12:15pm

5th 12:45pm

ATTENDANCE

It is very important for parents to understand that CSD will address excessive absences and tardies aggressively. Please send a written note in anytime your child is absent. If you take your child to the doctor, please request a note from the doctor. Trips and family vacations are not excused absences. Please do not ask teachers to provide work in advance of a trip. Students will be expected to make up missed work once they have returned to school.

Chronic absenteeism will now be counted by the school district. Chronic absenteeism in-cludes all absences (excused and unexcused). You can find more information about the CSD attendance policy (including truancy and inter-vention plans) on the Clover School District website at www.clover.k12.sc.us.

CHANGES IN TRANSPORTATION

Written notes should be sent in anytime

there are changes to transportation, up-

dates to emergency contacts, or who

can pick up your child. We do not ac-

cept phone calls to make any changes

regarding your child. Please make sure

all notes are signed and dated by the

parent. We prefer that you would not

send emails for transportation changes

unless there is an emergency. If there is

an emergency, please call the office at

803-631-8300 and then send the change

to sonya.long@clover.k12.sc.us and patri-

cia.bean@clover.k12.sc.us.

Do not send changes for transportation

by email to teachers. They do not always

read email before the end of the day.

Bus Changes: Please do not request that

your child be allowed to ride the bus

home with a friend or request that your

child ride the bus for only one day. If a

child rides the bus, he/she needs to ride it

on a consistent basis.

ID Needed: Please remember a photo ID

is needed to visit the school. Identifica-

tion is also requested when picking up a

student.

Remember to review the Student Hand-

book for additional information regard-

ing school policies.

Thank you.

PRE-KINDERGARTEN

I n February Bethel’s Pre-K students

baked and sold cookies to staff, parents,

grandparents, and family friends. In

preparation for the cookie sale a bakery dra-

matic play center was set up in the class-

room. This center provided opportunities for

children to build math, literacy, and social

skills. Children took on roles such as custom-

er, baker, and baker’s assistant. As a follow

up activity the children baked cookies that were sold at our cookie sale. Pre-K parents

helped supply the additional cookies that were needed for the cookie sale. The chil-

dren had a great time working and waiting on their customers. It was great to watch

the Pre-K children interact with adults and use their manners as they served everyone.

KINDERGARTEN Kindergarten has been busy celebrating Dr. Seuss’s Birthday!

We have been reading several Dr. Seuss books in class and were

surprised by the Cat in the Hat who came to read to us!

We will be starting our pond unit in the next week. We will learn

about many of the different pond animals.

FIRST GRADE The first-grade classes are excited about our study of the first four books in the Magic Treehouse series. They are us-ing their imaginations as they travel back in time with the main characters, Jack and Annie. The students are not only building their comprehension skills, but are also learning about animals, geography, and various periods in history. All this is sprin-kled with a touch of mystery and magic. The students are so engaged in this study that they are checking out other Magic

Treehouse books from the library. At the conclusion of this unit, first grade will participate in a Magic Treehouse celebration.

In writing, the students are finishing up a unit on opinion writing. They have written a review of games, restaurants, movies and books. This has been a fun unit for the students and they were surprised to learn that peo-ple actually get paid to write reviews.

In math, the first graders are beginning a unit on time and measurement. The students will be responsible for knowing time to the hour and half-hour on both the analog and digital clocks. We will also learn more about how to use manipulatives to measure items, as well as make com-parisons. In addition, students will learn about the differ-

ence between 2- dimensional and 3-dimensional shapes.

This spring will be a busy time for first-graders, but they will have a lot of fun while they learn!

SECOND GRADE

Main Idea and Details

Earlier this year students were introduced to the concept of finding

the main idea and details to go with stories they read. We reviewed this

topic last week and made it even more exciting!! Students created their

own main idea bag, where they drew pictures or cut pictures out of mag-

azines. We set up the bags around the classroom and students took turns

guessing each other’s main idea. To end our unit, Mrs. Carter came into

our classrooms and did a lesson with breakout boxes, using the book, A

Bad Case of Stripes. Students had to use details from the story to help

them unlock the box. Our classes had such a wonderful experience with

these and are eager to try them again soon!

THIRD GRADE

It’s hard to believe we are so far into the school year. Your children have learned a huge amount of information and keep asking for more!

In science, we are working on states of matter (solids, liquids, and gases) and how each state can change from one state to another. In social studies, we are finishing our government unit since we have defeated the British in the American Revolution. We have learned about the Declaration of Inde-pendence, the Constitution, and who some of the Founding Fathers were. We are now moving into Antebellum South Carolina and then into the Civil War.

In math, we are finishing our geometry unit and moving into our last unit, fractions. Your child has some basic knowledge, but you could show real life fractions at home when you cook, work in the gar-age and measure items. Seeing fractions used in real life helps your child see why we need to learn about them and that they are very useful.

In reading, we just finished our unit on figurative language. We are going to be working on drama (plays), nonfiction writing, and reviewing our read-ing skills. Please keep your child reading at home every night.

Mrs. Sleeper Class Happenings

In math, we are continuing to use place val-ue to round numbers and use that to estimate about how many/much in a word problem.

In reading, we finished up Magic Tree House: Revolutionary War on Wednesday. We went on a journey with Jack and Annie to help George Washington and the patriots during the Revolutionary War!

In writing, we are working on our TDA, Text Dependent Analysis and learning about how Barbadians helped develop the culture in the Car-olina Colony. Students are using a passage to find evidence. Then, the evidence is used to explain why it was important to the development of Car-olina.

In science, we are finishing up types of soil. Students have learned about clay, sand, silt, hu-mus, and loam. We’ve learned different charac-teristics of each and how to identify them.

In social studies, we learned about the ma-jor battles in SC, with the Battle of Eutaw Springs near Lake Marion as the last major battle in SC. Shortly after this Patriots victory, the British Army retreated to Virginia, where they were sur-rounded by Continentals and were defeated. America won the war! We are also going to take a look at how slaves, free African Americans, wom-en, and Native Americans, played a role during the war.

Mrs. Quick’s Class Happenings

Read Across America Week celebration was a fabulous success! Thanks for allowing your children to participate. We will be taking the MAP reading and math tests this week.

English/Language Arts

We finished Charlotte’s Web. We will re-view the main details and literacy skills that are embedded within. We will also take the test and watch the movie. Please send the permission slip back or your child will not be able to watch the movie.

Social Studies

We are deep in the causes of the American Revolution and

what part South Carolina played in the development and the resolution. We are also looking into the effects of the battles along with the

heroes of the battles.

SCIENCE

The study of rocks and soil is going well with students identifying three types of rocks and soils.

Last week we had our hands on rocks and will be working with soil and exploring the many properties

WRITING

This week, writing will be short and concise pieces to get us ready for

testing later in the year. We will focus on prompts and exactly what the

question is asking us to write.

‘’HOMEWORK is essential! Please make sure your child is practicing

by using the HW assignments sent home daily.

Any questions, comments, etc., please contact me. I love teaching your child! Mrs. Sellers

MATH

We are still reviewing place value. Graphs, plot lines, area and perime-

ter will begin soon.

THIRD GRADE Mrs. Sellers’ Class Newsletter

March 5 –March 9, 2018

FOURTH GRADE NEWS

4 th grade Science students have been studying the Sun, Moon, stars and the planets of the solar system. They have completed Keynote presentations of a planet, a constella-tion, and the moon phases. They have also been working on a STEM constellation pro-ject involving both science and ELA where they created their own constellation and origin story.

Math students have studied algebra, area and perimeter, and are now working on adding, sub-tracting and multiplying fractions

In Reading, Mrs. Dollard’s students have been reading the book, Fish in a Tree. Students have been studying point of view, different types of figurative language, writing summaries, paraphras-ing, and using quotation marks in quotations. Mrs. Jackson’s students just finished a unit on Poet-ry. During the unit, students focused on figurative language and how it added to the mood/meaning of the poems they read in class. In conclusion to the Unit, students tried their hands at creating their own poetry. They wrote poems about nature and about their favorite places. They did an awesome job! Make sure that you check them out beside Mrs. Jackson’s door.

In Writing, fourth grade students have been writing Text Dependent Analysis. Students wrote a persuasive letter to Mrs. Ramsey about why jellyfish should be served in the cafeteria. Mrs. Ram-sey responded & with help from Mrs. Carson & Mrs. Roberts in our school cafeteria, they created and served students “jellyfish” to help us make a prompt come to life. Thank you for making this possible for us to make learning fun!

In Mrs. Dollard’s class, students have started a new assignment creating their own projects. Stu-dents are working on outlining and writing an essay. Students are busy using the Mentor Text, Weslandia to create their own map.

In Social Studies, fourth graders have been learning all about the United States Government and the Constitution. Students have learned about the three branches of government and how they came to be.

Students have been busy reading for the Battle of the Books competition. The competition will take place on March 20th. Students must read at least 5 books from the list, take 3 Accelerated Reader tests, and remember what happens in each chapter.

FOURTH GRADE NEWS

Enjoying 4th grade learning

FIFTH GRADE

H ow time flies! It won’t be long before we are wishing our 5th graders farewell as they leave us for middle school. 5th grade has been busy this semester! We start-ed off this semester with a chilling experience as we put our mettle to the test dur-ing our Hooverville experience. Thanks to our wonderful soup kitchen volunteers who kept our homeless 5th graders warm and fed! 5th grade recently performed their annual performance of Porkchop Productions. This year’s theme was “Kidding Around” and our students gave fantastic performances about riding the bus, doing your chores and the terrors that come out to spook us at night. Thank you to every-one for their continued support and willingness to be a part of your child’s educa-tional journey. Battle of the books will be on Tuesday, March 20th. Hopefully one of our 5th graders will be able to take home the prize!

MRS. CASKEY CLASS

Mrs. Caskey's Class

The class celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday. Students enjoyed

listening to different Dr. Seuss books. Each student selected

their favorite Dr. Seuss book and wrote about the book.

Students completed a Dr. Seuss word search, a rhyming

word activity and made Dr. Seuss hats.

ART NEWS ...MS. WALKER

Make sure you check out my canvas page for more news about ART!

What’s Up in Art?

Over the next few weeks, most grade levels will be beginning Clay Units. Students will each create their own individualized sculptures using various clay techniques. Pre-K artists will create Ceramic Tiles and Freestyle Sculptures. Kindergarten will design Pinch Pots. First Grade students will build Pinch Pot Animals. Second Grade will create Sculptures that “Fly.” Third Grade will construct Self-Portrait Sculptures. And Fourth Grade students will design pottery in the style of the Catawba Tribe.

On art days, please remember to have your students dress accordingly for clay projects.

Clover School District Art Show

The 2018 District Art Show will be held Tuesday, March 13th at 7:00. If your student has been chosen to represent Bethel at the show, an invitation will be sent home. Each class-room will have at least one representative.

Save the Date

The Bethel Art Show will be May 17, 2018.

PK-2nd Grade 6:00-7:00pm

3rd-5th Grade 7:00-8:00pm

ALL students will have artwork on display.

Wish List

Please consider donating to the Art Room.

Supplies we always need are:

~Plastic Baby Food Containers w/ Lids

~Unscented Hand Wipes

~Giant Elmer’s Glue Sticks (.77oz)

MEDIA CENTER BY EMILY BOYD

Thanks to our parents for supporting our Book Fair. The Book Fair was wonderful! Bedford Falls did a great job providing us with a wide variety of books. The profits will be used to purchase new books for the library.

Fourth and Fifth graders have been very busy reading for the Battle of the Books. During the school battle the top three teams will be chosen to participate at the district battle. The school battle will be on March 20th and the district battle will be on March 23rd. Let the battles begin!

Thank you for supporting the

library!

MUSIC NOTES BY DEBORAH PEARSON A lot has been happening in the music room!

Pre-K and Kindergarten students are learning about instruments of the brass, woodwinds, percussion and strings families. We have just finished Peter and the Wolf. In this story, each char-acter is represented by the sounds of an instrument. These stu-dents have also formed a “shape band” by playing instruments that are created by different shapes using percussion instru-ments.

First graders have been preparing for their performance of “Seussical, Jr.” We hope you can join us on March 15 at 6:00pm for the show. Students will need to wear jeans (or

dark pants) and a bright, solid colored shirt.

Second graders have been practicing the signs for solfeggio. The students have been learning how to form these hand signs (Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti) while learning proper ways to sing. In a few weeks, students will be learning more about bucket drumming.

Third grade has been preparing for their “Celebration of America” show. They will be singing songs that include music from Veterans Day. We hope you can come to the performance on March 15 at 6:45pm in the gym. Stu-dents will need to wear jeans (or dark pants) and a red, white, and/or blue shirt.

Fourth grade has been preparing for their show “Songs of History.” This show is on March 27 at 6:00pm in the gym. We hope you can join us!

Fifth grade has been working on their songs for their performance on April 26. Students will be singing and will be bucket drumming for this performance. It should be very exciting!

Chorus is also practicing for their performance on March 27. We have also been asked to perform for the York County Museum on Saturday, April 28. Students are very excited about this opportunity! More information will be coming out about this event in the upcoming weeks.

SAVE THE DATE!

March 15: 1st grade will be performing at 6:00pm in the gym.

3rd grade will be performing at 6:45 in the gym.

March 27: 4th Grade students will perform at 6:00pm.

Chorus will perform at 6:45pm.

April 26: 5th Grade will be performing at 6:00pm.

April 28: Chorus members will sing for the York County Museum in celebration of Earth Day. More information

will be coming out soon about this.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION BY KAY WESSINGER

Students in all grade levels practiced dribbling and ball handling skills as part of our basketball unit. Students enjoyed dribble relays, dribbling between cones, and “Sharks and Minnows” (a fun dribble tag game). Students in grades 2-5 learned the mechanics of the set shot using the B.E.E.F. principle (balance/bend, eyes on rim, elbow in, and follow through). They also learned how to perform the “step, slide” aka “push, step” warm up drill. In addition, some students participated in modified basketball games while others practiced individual skills as needed. Pre-K, Kindergarten, and first grade students learned and prac-ticed the basketball set shot using smaller basketballs and goals. Third, fourth, and fifth graders had the opportunity to sign up for Bethel’s an-nual March Madness free throw contest. The contest began March 1 and is being held during Physical Education classes. Enjoy practicing your basketball shot and good luck to all contestants.

We all are looking forward to the Panther’s Play 60 Camp for grades 3-5 on Monday, April 16. In addition, Bethel’s Field Day is scheduled for Fri-day, April 20. The bad weather make-up day is scheduled for Friday, April 27. Parents, please send me an email if you would like to volun-teer to help or manage a Field Day station (kay.wessinger@clover.k12.sc.us). I hope you can join us for this FUN-filled day!

Thank you.

Ms. Wessinger

TECHNOLOGY LAB BY CHRISTINA WATTS

Tech Lab Excitement!!

There has been much excitement in the Tech Lab this month! Students in Second through Fifth grades have been exploring the iMovie App. Second graders ex-plored the different features available through the App while Third through Fifth grades created an “Acts of Kindness” project. This project required them to lo-

cate five pictures or videos which capture kind acts, and turn it into an iMovie presentation. Popular acts of kindness

students identified were completing chores at home, assisting younger sib-lings, and giving to charity. Students demonstrated their ability to edit, set speed, and add sound effects and voice overs. The theme for this month was, “Your words and actions have POWER!” Student understanding of this theme was evident through their confidence in using the App and how they modeled acts of kindness with others.

Kindergarten and First-grade students created digital picture books using the StoryMaker program through the ABCya app. This project allowed them to enhance their typing skills while practicing creative writing, and provid-ed an opportunity for them to share their published work with their peers.

BETHEL SCHOOL COUNSELING BY ASHLYN CONDON

Bethel Fourth and Fifth Graders Are Learning About Study Skills

For the next couple of months the 4th and 5th grade guidance classes will learn about effective study skills. The essential tips covered are:

GOAL SETTING – Setting SMART Goals that can be reasonably attained.

PREPARATION – Preparing a study setting with all needed material and with few distractions.

ORGANIZATION – Keeping materials organized by using planners, folders, and calendars.

MEMORIZATION – Using memorization tips like acronyms, rhymes and songs, as well as mnemonic

devices.

LEARNING STYLES – Using your strengths as a visual, auditory, or tactile learner.

LISTENING AND NOTE TAKING – Focusing on the speaker, asking questions, and using the note-

taking strategies: Cornell Outline or Web Outline

OUR RED RIBBON FLOWERS ARE BLOOMING

Thanks to the PTO for purchasing tulip and daffodil bulbs and to Carey Ojalehto who helped with getting this pro-ject organized two years in a row!

Ashlyn Condon

School Counselor

YOU HAVE CHARACTER…… Self-discipline

Janelle Otero - Cale Summitt - Kennedy Guerrier - Nellie Pylant - Ty Whatton

Neely Pratt - Kyndall Collins - Jack Litten - Jax Freeman - Bridget Mullins

Callie West - Celia LaHaie - Matthew McClure - Tyler Strong - Will Ojalehto

Connor Kemp - Emma Cegielski - Hayden Jones - Joshua Thompson-Peterson

Chelsea Davies - Luke Tilley - Marley Blackwell - Kierra Lee Keopraseuth

Kiera Martin—Drew Clinton - Marley Visser - Eli Jacobson - Nicholas Bessman

Kayla Pace—Skylar Martin - Norah Kaye Summerville - Riley Bond

Zachary Boatwright - Sarah Barnett - Blake Gauldin - Logan Stafford

Kayla Colon—Madison Weber - Landon Stone - Evan Raibsten - Maggie Work

Cooperation Lainey Metz - Tessa Mitchell - Sloan Burton - Addison Rowland

Sydney Malette - Lily Kemp - Emma Waters - Penny French - Ava Stewart

Finley Visser - Marisa Wolschleger - Finley Walter - Alaina Watts

Jack Anders - Destiny Forbes - Madeline Bessman - Desiree Forbes

Ethan Isenhour - Izzie Whitley - Riley Mae Burrell - Ajay Vang

Hayden Fortner - Braedon Glover - Alyssa Dubisz - Colton Hendrickson

Samuel Shillinglaw - Natalie Burton - Tessa Shaw - JD Alizzi

Natalie Yusenko - Dawson Parton - Natalie Ojahleto - Parker Kelley

Noah Myers - Sophia Rodriguez - Kierstin Siebert

Mark Burton - Arpan Gill - Lauren Mroz - Olivia Benfield

Ryan Sconzo - Eliana Stevenson

Bethel Vision Statement

Our vision at Bethel continues to be maintaining aca-demic excellence and a community feeling while em-

bracing change and taking risks to enable our students to become productive citizens in our ever changing

world.

Bethel Mission Statement The mission of Bethel Elementary School, in partnership with the parents and community, is to prepare students to be- come productive, confident and responsible citi-zens by creating a safe, friendly, child-centered environ-ment which effectively addresses the social, emotional

and intellectual needs of each child.

Clover School District Mission Statement Clover schools will prepare every child for a successful,

productive, and responsible future. Each Child, Each Day…..Excellence!

Escape into Learning……

Kim Ramsey, Principal · Avery Goode, Asst. Principal · 6000 Hwy 55 E, Clover, SC 29710 · 803-631-8300