Gathering Weather Data

The students began gathering weather data today for their project. We went to the learning garden to find temperature, wind speed, wind direction, cloud coverage, and precipitation. 

Upcoming Reminders!

REMINDER: FRIDAY, 12/18 IS AN EARLY DISMISSAL DAY.  ALL ELEMENTARY STUDENTS ARE DISMISSED AT 11:45 a.m. 

There are LOTS of important reminders for choir students and choir parents in this post. Please read!

http://canstemmusic.blogspot.com/2015/12/music-at-cannon-december-14-18.html 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

12/17	Choir Holiday Concerts - 5:30-7:00
12/18	Classroom holiday parties
12/18	Early Release 11:45
12/21-1/4	Winter Holiday Break!  Monday, 1/4 is a Teacher Work Day
1/5	Students return to school on Tuesday!
1/18	School Holiday - No school

HOLIDAY CHOIR PROGRAM & CLASS PARTIES ARE THIS WEEK!Our Cannon choirs will be performing their holiday program on Thursday, 12/17 from 5:30-7:00 pm in the school cafeteria.  All families are invited to attend this holiday program! In addition, they will perform for all of the students on Wednesday, 12/16, beginning at 8:45 am.  On Friday, all K-5 classrooms will have their holiday parties.  Please look for information from your child's teacher about the class party and feel free to join us if you are available!!  



100% STUDENT PARTICIPATION DURING HOUR OF CODE WEEK!Last week, students across GCISD celebrated Computer Science Week by participating in a global event, known as Hour of Code.  At Cannon, we are happy to report that 100% of our students, Kindergarten - 5th grade were involved in learning about coding/programming throughout the week! In addition to working on coding programs, students had the opportunity to Skype with experts who use programming/coding as part of their profession, work directly with programmers at school, and learn from high school students from GHS & CHHS who are currently in computer science and video game design classes. Even some of Cannon's parents had the chance to learn about coding when they attended PTA's Talk & Tea Tuesday last week!  Be sure to ask your child what they learned and loved about coding at school!  Click here to see a story on the GCISD website about coding at Cannon last week! 



CANNON'S 2014-2015 TAPR REPORT IS NOW AVAILABLE Each year, the Texas Education Agency releases a TAPR report (Texas Academic Performance Report).  This report is a culmination of our student and staff demographics, accountability and academic performance, as well as our state accountability rating for the 2014-2015 school year.  Click here to see Cannon's TAPR 2014-2015 report.  Paper copies will be available in the office in case you are unable to access it online.  Our school report card will be made available in January 2016.      



INCLEMENT WEATHER PROCEDURES  As the temperatures drop and the potential for inclement weather increases, GCISD is encouraging parents to receive important news and alerts via text message.  To sign up for text alerts, parents should text "Yes" to 68453 to subscribe to this service.  The cell phone number used must be listed in Skyward Family Access, in order for a parent to receive text messages from the district office or Cannon.  Parents may check or change the phone number listed by logging in to Family Access and clicking the button to update their phone numbers.  To review the district's inclement weather procedures, click here! 


NEWS ABOUT STEM IN GCISD!  When Cannon Elementary became the district's first STEM program for the 2013-2014 school year, it served students in grades Kindergarten through 5th grade.  Seeing the need to continue this focused STEM instruction, the district expanded the program into Grapevine Middle School in the Fall of 2014.  The program at GMS now includes students in 6th & 7th grade, and in August 2016, it will extend to 8th grade.  Currently, the district's STEM program stops at the middle school level; however, campus and district leaders are looking ahead to the future and beginning in the Spring 2016, staff at Grapevine High School will begin professional development, with the aim of offering specialized STEM instruction for 9th grade students in the Fall of 2017.  The decision to locate the high school STEM program at GHS was made after considering the curricular resources already in place at the GCISD Technology Education & Career Center, which currently serves both Colleyville Heritage and GHS students.  As with the program at Grapevine Middle School, the STEM Academy will continue to progress each year with students, eventually becoming a Kindergarten through 12th grade initiative.  While the district and GHS leaders are very early in the planning stages, we wanted to let our STEM families know that the district is looking ahead and we are excited for the opportunity this will present for our students.  We will continue to update you throughout the next year as we continue to grow the STEM program in GCISD. 

HOLIDAY FOOD DRIVE ENDS ONTUESDAY 12/16  Cannon Elementary is sponsoring a food drive to benefit local Cannon families for the upcoming holidays!  We encourage you to bring in non-perishable items from the suggested list provided below.  Each grade level will be responsible for certain food items.  We will collect the food items from November 3rd - December 16th.  The Cannon administrative staff will distribute the items to Cannon families in need.  Thank you for your support! 

3rd GRADE: Crackers; Juice Boxes; Complete Box Dinners

New Challenge

Weather Changes PBL

New Challenge 

(this is a made-up scenario)

Recently, GCISD has made a decision that all students in the elementary schools are required to make weather updates and weather education as a new part of the curriculum for students. Due to this new decision, your challenge will be to educate the students and your school community about weather and how to prepare. You will be working as a team of weather reporters that will be reporting the daily weather and researching different types of bad weather that can affect your area. You will help design and organize storm drills that will help prepare your school community to be ready if severe weather were to occur during the school day. It is important to know the weather because it could affect your school day and any after-school activities.

Weather Reports

Your class has offered to provide daily weather updates for the school. Each day your class is responsible for making an announcement telling the rest of the school what temperature it will be, if there will be precipitation, if there will be cloud cover, and if there are any storms expected (be sure to include both cities: Grapevine and your city of choice). You should use a local news station's weather site or the weather channel to gather your information. You can also use the data you collected from outside.

Weather Presentation

As part of your weather-reporting job, you are also responsible for educating other students in the building. Use Google Slides or another program to create a multimedia presentation that discusses the types of weather Grapevine and your other city of choice experiences during each season. Include the types of severe weather and how to stay safe during these storms. Include graphic sources and audio to help your audience understand your work.

Severe Weather Posters/Charts

As part of your duties as weather reporters, it is your responsibility to conduct research and provide information on the types of severe weather that is possible for your area. Create posters that explain the types of severe weather possible and the time of year this weather would most likely occur. Include information on your posters such as what signs to look for, what to do to stay safe, and any other information you think would help people understand these types of storms and stay safe during them. You will hang them throughout the hall.

New Unit: Weather

TEKS 3.8  Earth and space. The student knows there are recognizable patterns in the natural world and among objects in the sky. The student is expected to:

(A)  observe, measure, record, and compare day-to-day weather changes in different locations at the same time that include air temperature, wind direction, and precipitation;

Student Expectation

The student is expected to observe, measure, record, and compare day-to-day weather changes in different locations at the same time that include air temperature, wind direction, and precipitation.

Enduring Understandings:

Weather conditions can vary from day to day. Weather conditions can change within a day. We use tools such as rain gauges, windsocks, and thermometers to gather information about weather. We can use charts, tables, and graphs for recording and comparing weather. Essential Questions:

What observations and comparisons can we make about day-to-day weather conditions? What tools are appropriate for gathering weather data? How can we record weather data? What connections can we make between weather and location?

Hour of Code!

The high school students came to help our class with coding!

Coding....It's What We Do!

Hour of Code!

Cannon Holiday Concerts

The Sun is WHAT?!?

5E Model: EXPLAIN

Today, we learned more about the sun. Our key points:

• The sun is about 108 times larger than the diameter of the Earth (model for size- Sun = beach ball & kernel = Earth)
• The swirling granules and gases and dark patches are called sunspots
• The Sun is the closest star to earth
• The Sun is not the largest star in our universe 
• The Sun is made of gases: helium and hydrogen
• The Sun's gravity is what keeps the ball of gases together
• The Sun supplies life on Earth with its heat and light energy

Questions to ask your kids:

• If the sun is so large and so hot, why doesn't it make the Earth burning hot?
• If the Sun is so much larger than the Earth, why does it look about the size of our moon, which is smaller than the earth?
• If the Sun is a star, why does it look so different from the other stars that we see in the sky at night? 
• How is the sun like a candle? 

Surface of the Sun experiment: 

TEA & TALK TUESDAY and other Important Info.

PTA will be hosting their first parent informational meeting this week on Tuesday 12/8, from 7:45-8:45 in the cafeteria. Since this is Hour of Code week, the topic for this meeting will be Technology and Coding. Ben Waits will lead this session and talk to parents about some practical technology tips, as well as lead you through a coding lesson, similar to what your children will experience at school during this week!

NURSE KENDRA NEEDS YOUR HELP! Nurse Kendra is in need of some items for our school nurse's clinic!  If you can donate new or gently used elastic-waist pants or shorts for girls & boys, in all sizes, it would be greatly appreciated!  Sweatshirts would also be greatly appreciated!  Send any donations to the front office and we will deliver these items to Nurse Kendra's clinic.  Thank you for your help! 

SANTA SHOP IS OPEN THIS WEEK @ CANNON! For many years, one of the favorite holiday traditions at Cannon for students has been for our PTA to host a Santa Shop at school, where students can "shop" for inexpensive gifts to surprise friends and family with during the holiday season! The Santa Shop will be open at school this week from 12/9 - 12/11.  If you are interested in having you child visit the Santa Shop, please send money with them to school on 12/9-12/11.  All students will be allowed to visit the shop according to a grade level schedule that has been shared with all teachers.  Volunteers are still needed for each day at the Santa Shop.  Click here to sign up for the day that is convenient for you to volunteer! 

INCLEMENT WEATHER PROCEDURES  As the temperatures drop and the potential for inclement weather increases, GCISD is encouraging parents to receive important news and alerts via text message.  To sign up for text alerts, parents should text "Yes" to 68453 to subscribe to this service.  The cell phone number used must be listed in Skyward Family Access, in order for a parent to receive text messages from the district office or Cannon.  Parents may check or change the phone number listed by logging in to Family Access and clicking the button to update their phone numbers.  To review the district's inclement weather procedures, click here! 

Reading Science

The Sun: Important to Our Earth

Have you ever looked up into the sky on a clear night? Were you able to see the stars? Our galaxy has over 100 billion stars in it! But, did you know that you can see one star during the day? You can, because the Sun is a star!

Like other stars, the Sun is made up of gases. It is mostly made up of two gases. They are called helium and hydrogen. Hydrogen turns into helium, giving off massive, or large, amounts of energy This energy is the reason why the Sun shines.

The Sun is important to life on Earth. In fact, life could not exist without it. It provides us with light, energy, seasons, day and night, and our weather.

But, let’s take a closer look at how the Sun affects our Earth.

Energy
The center of the Sun is called the core. This is where the Sun’s heat is created. The heat is so great that it makes light. This is the light that supports life on Earth. Plants on Earth use this light to create food that animals and humans then eat.

Seasons
The Earth orbits, or travels around, the Sun once every 365 days. During this time, some areas of the Earth are tilted toward the Sun. Those parts get more direct light and heat. This light and heat cause them to have spring and summer. The other parts are tilted away from the Sun. They get less direct light and heat. They will have fall and winter. 

Volunteers Needed!

We still need volunteers to help kids shop for their family members at our Santa Shop!

We need volunteers on 3 different days, December 9th, 10th & 11th.  Click on Santa Shop to go to our sign up page OR visit www.cannonpta.com and view our volunteer page.  To see different days available click on the triangle next the date, click a date you want then click SHOW VOLUNTEER NEEDS.

Cannon PTA is also working on our school directory. However, we need your permission to list your information.  Please visit one of the links below to give us permission.  If your a paid PTA member you will automatically get a hard copy of the directory.

If you are not a paid member you can join at www.joinpta.org.

English Directory Permission

Spanish Directory Permission

See you at the Parade of Lights on December 3rd! 

Vote for Cannon on TWITTER, Tweet using the hashtag #GVParadeVote followed by the name or organization of your favorite parade float to cast your vote!

RULES FOR PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD:

Voting will open at 7 p.m. CST, Thursday, December 3 and close at Midnight CST, Thursday, December 3. Submissions will only be counted during that time period and only from Twitter. Results will be announced via the Chamber's website and Social Media, Friday, December 4.

Spelling Words

1.    precooked

2.    unchained

3.    repaying

4.    unlocking

5.    unclean

6.    preheated

7.    rewrite

8.    unturned

9.    repaint

10. pretest

11. preschool

12. unload