Word Walls

New student generated word walls that were created during the EXPLAIN part of the 5E model in science this week. Take a look!

Language Arts- Dialogue

This week we have been discussing correct punctuation when it comes to dialogue. The students are encouraged to practice at home making comic strips incorporating our dialogue rules into it. Here's the link: http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/Comix/

STAAR Test

Parents,

The STAAR test is coming up for our 3rd graders! Students will be taking the Math STAAR test on May 9th and the Reading STAAR test on May 10th. Please make sure your kids are getting a plenty of rest and a good breakfast those days. If you would like your child to practice some questions, I have provided a link below of the TEA website that allows you to see previous STAAR tests given to students. It also has answer keys available to check the work. This is NOT a requirement, but a resource if you choose to use it. If you have any questions, please let me know. Thanks!

http://tea.texas.gov/Student_Testing_and_Accountability/Testing/State_of_Texas_Assessments_of_Academic_Readiness_(STAAR)/STAAR_Released_Test_Questions/

News Update

This week will be the last week of tutoring! It will be a STAAR test prep session from 3:00-3:45.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

4/25 - 5/3	Early Voting for GCISD Bond 2016- click here for voting information
4/25-4/29	Kindergarten Registration Week
5/2-5/6	Teacher Appreciation Week
5/7	GCISD Bond 2016 Election Day
5/9	3rd & 4th Grade STAAR Math tests
5/10	3rd & 4th Grade STAAR Reading tests
5/11	5th Grade STAAR Science test
5/16	Cubs Night Out @ Plucker's Wings
5/17	Parent Talk & Tea - Campus experts present about literacy skills your child needs to learn!
5/19	Young Engineer's Night - Mark your calendars for this special night!
5/20	Cannon Career Day
5/26	Field Day
5/27	Student Holiday - Bad Weather Makeup Day - No School

KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION IS THIS WEEK! Do you have a Kindergarten student starting school next year?  Do you have a neighbor or family member who will have a Kindergarten child starting school at Cannon in 2016-2017?  If so, be sure to check out THIS DOCUMENT about Kindergarten registration that begins this week!  Please note that on Tuesday, 4/26, we will host a Kindergarten Meet & Greet from 4:30-6:30 p.m., so please make plans to come to Cannon during this time, so that your child can meet the Kindergarten teachers, see a Kinder classroom, and receive a special Kindergarten welcome gift.  We can't wait to meet our incoming Kindergarten students!!

BIG THANKS TO CANNON'S PTA & DAD'S CLUB!  Wow!!  It was SO awesome to see so many of our Cannon families at events last week.  BIG thanks to all of the parents who came out to Spring Creek BBQ to support our school!  We had approximately 15% of our families attend this event.  Also, it was SO fun to see so many of our Cannon families at the Cannon Country Cookout, hosted by our awesome PTA & Dad's Club!  We had so much fun enjoying picnics, dancing, taste-testing salsa, dancing, steer-roping, playing lawn games & petting animals in the petting zoo!!  Without our incredible PTA, we wouldn't be able to enjoy such wonderful events like these!!  HUGE thanks to all PTA volunteers and Dad's Club members who made these events such a success!!  We appreciate ALL that you do!

TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK COMING SOON!  Please watch for information coming home soon with your child about Teacher Appreciation Week, which is 5/2 - 5/6.  Each year, our Cannon PTA plans such wonderful surprises & treats for all of our Cannon staff during this week, to show their appreciation for the hard work our educators do each day!  The information coming home with your chid will let you know about the plans our PTA has made for each day and will let you know what YOU can do to help!   Thank you so much for your support of Cannon teachers & staff!

PARENT  SURVEY REQUEST    BIG thanks to all parents that have already participated in this survey.  If you have not done so,  please respond to this survey by May 6th.  In 2013, the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 5 (HB 5), which made significant changes to curriculum and graduation requirements, as well as, the assessment program and accountability system. In addition to the new graduation requirements, HB 5 also includes a requirement for school districts to conduct a community or parent engagement survey and report results to the Texas Education Agency (TEA). The information collected in this survey will help us highlight areas of excellence, as well as recognize areas of growth as we strive to Build Excellent Schools Together.  This survey will remain open untilMay 6th and you can select an English or a Spanish version.  Thank you in advance for your participation in this survey and for your continued support of Cannon Elementary: A GCISD STEM School and GCISD!         Click here to take the survey .

4th GRADE PARENT VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR SKY RANCH FUNDRAISER Attention parents of 4th grade students:  Did you know that your child will have the opportunity to participate in a 3-day science camp, as a 5th grader next year?  All 5th grade students at Cannon go to Camp Sky Ranch, a science camp located near Tyler Texas, each year.  In order to start planning forward for this 3-day camping experience, our current year 4th grade team is planning fund-raising experiences that will help bring down the cost of this trip for ALL students.  A wonderful opportunity to raise money for this is coming up at Grapevine's Main Street Days!  4th grade parent volunteers are needed to "man" a parking lot for this event and all funds raised will go directly to the Sky Ranch fundraiser, so that all of our students will be able to experience this unique camping experience next year.  Click here to volunteer to help at this event.  

CANNON CAREER DAY SPEAKERS NEEDED!!  We are excited to have our 2nd school-wide Career Day for all students, K-5, onFriday, May 20th and we need your help! If you are interested in being a presenter or know someone that would be willing to present,please use this link to let us know!!   Please provide this information by Friday, April 29th. We would like to have individuals come talk to our students about what  they do and what they had to achieve to get where they are today. There are so many jobs, careers, and professions available and it would be incredible to expose the students to as many of them as we can. We believe it is important for our students to be educated about future careers and opportunities because it can help motivate them to set goals for their future.  Career Day will be all day on Friday, May 20th. Presenters will be scheduled to speak to multiple groups for no longer than 30 min per group.  Please let us know the duration of time you are available and we will coordinate your schedule to work around your availability. Some presenters will be in a central location and speak to an entire grade level while others will travel around to different classrooms. We are looking for presentations to be motivating and exciting for the students so feel free to bring visual aids, computer slide shows, pictures, videos, props or more. Thank you so much for your support!! Please feel free to email our counselor, Mandy Coburn at amanda.coburn@gcisd.net if you have any questions.

SUMMER ENRICHMENT REGISTRATION IS OPEN!  Be sure to check out the awesome summer enrichment opportunities that are offered in GCISD.  Summer classes are offered for students that have completed Kindergarten - 6th grade and are ages 5-13.  Courses are offered in all areas, including academic, physical fitness, fine arts, as well as special interest classes.  Classes run for one week for 3 hours per day either in the morning or in the afternoon.  Click here to find registration information for Summer Enrichment or watch this video  to learn more about Summer Enrichment opportunities!

MATH TELESCOPING REGISTRATION IS UNDERWAY Testing opportunities for telescoping in math for the 2016-2017 school year are available in the spring and summer for GCISD students who are completing grades K-7.   The registration deadline for the May 7th exams is closed and registration for the July 28th exams will be posted during the week of May 9th. The Math Telescoping Information Packet is available here on the district website.

GCISD WILL USE NEW REGISTRATION SYSTEM FOR 2016-2017 ENROLLMENT  Beginning with the 2016-2017 school year, GCISD will begin using Skyward Family Access to register students.  This is a change for families, as the district has previously used Infosnap.  New students to GCISD for the 2016-2017 school year, including incoming Kindergarten students may begin registering with Skyward the week of April 25-April 29.  All returning students will complete registration in August.  Be sure to share these dates with any family, friends, or neighbors who have incoming Kindergarten students or other students who will be new to GCISD next year.  To read more about this change in registration systems, click here.

STAY CONNECTED!   HAVE YOU "LIKED" OUR CANNON FACEBOOK PAGE YET? If you haven't already "liked" our Cannon Facebook page, please do so today!  We work hard to provide updates, information, and celebrations on our Cannon page. Click here to see our Cannon Facebook  Also, please follow us on Twitter @canSTEM

Cactus Adaptation Study

On Friday, the students explored how cacti have adapted to desert conditions. We even cut open our cacti to explore its interior structure. Take a look! 

These are great questions to ask your kids at home as part of a review! 

Language Arts: Capitalization

This week we are discussing the rules of capitalization. After spending the week discussing and reviewing it, we will have a quiz on Friday to assess our skills. Please spend some time this week reviewing with your child the rules for capitalization. 

Engineering Organisms Challenge

New Unit: Adaptations and Traits

Adaptations and Traits

The student is expected to explore how structures and functions of plants and animals allow these organisms to survive in a particular environment. The student is also expected to explore the concept that some characteristics of organisms are inherited, such as the number of limbs on an animal or flower color, and recognize that some behaviors are learned in response to living in a certain environment, such as animals using tools to get food.

Key Concepts

• The structures of plants and animals are adapted to particular environments.
• Structures of some animals, such as the blubber of seals or the fur of rabbits, help some animals survive in cold weather conditions.
• Structures, such as the waxy coating of a cactus or the presence of spines instead of leaves, help some plants survive in hot, dry conditions.
• Some characteristics are inherited while others are learned in response to the environment.
• Inherited characteristics include mainly physical characteristics such as fins on a fish, stripes on a tiger, and the yellow color of a daffodil.
• Learned behaviors include using tools, such as a chimp’s use of sticks to retrieve termites from mounds or a sea otter’s use of rocks to open shellfish.

Fundamental Questions

• What are some structures and functions of animals that allow them to survive in cold weather?
• What are some structures and functions of plants that allow them to survive in hot and dry conditions?
• What does inherited mean?
• What characteristics of animals and plants are inherited?
• What behaviors of plants and animals are learned in response to the environment?

Key Concept 1: The structures of plants and animals are adapted to particular environments.

Over 150 years ago, Charles Darwin, the English Naturalist, observed that species of animals and plants that were able to survive and reproduce had adapted to the challenges of their environments. An adaptation is a physical or behavioral characteristic that helps an animal or plant survive in its environment. Some organisms are better suited for some environments than others, and for any organism in any environment, it must adapt to survive. Adaptations do not happen rapidly; they are processes of change that takes generations and generations.

For example, in the rainforest with lots of plant life, the competition is for sunlight. As a result, plants in rainforests grow taller and faster than neighboring plants to reach the sunlight. Several types of plants in rainforests have adapted to the tall canopy of trees by simply growing as vines straight up tree trunks to reach the sunlight, whereas, trees and plants in cold tundra regions must adapt instead to the constantly blowing, freezing wind in an unprotected landscape. As a result, tundra trees grow only a few inches tall and stay near the ground to avoid the howling wind. Plants are also smaller in this frigid environment to conserve energy for their short growing season.

Key Concept 2: Structures of some animals, such as the blubber of seals or the fur of rabbits, help some animals survive in cold weather conditions.

Structures are how the parts are put together on a plant or animal. Because mammals living in cold climates have to conserve body heat, they need structures that will keep their bodies warm. Seals, whales, and polar bears have blubber as an extra layer of fat under their skin that helps them insulate their bodies to adapt to freezing water temperatures. The double-layered fur on Arctic hares and polar bears are examples of cold climate adaptations that help animals insulate warm air trapped among the dense hairs in their fur.
Other cold weather adaptations include large bodies with short legs and tails to conserve body heat, large padded feet to walk on snow, and short snouts (noses). All of these structures have the function or purpose of keeping an animal warm. These adaptations are inherited traits that have been passed down through the generations to help an organism survive in its surroundings. Organisms also learn behaviors that help them adapt to their environment.

Key Concept 3: Structures, such as the waxy coating of a cactus or the presence of spines instead of leaves, help these plants survive in hot, dry conditions.

Generally, evaporation occurs on plants’ leaves due to the release of moisture here. However, water is scarce in the desert so plants, like cacti, have leaves known as spines that are adapted for only allowing a bare minimum of evaporation to be able to occur due to their shape. The spines also protect against predators looking for a water source inside the cactus. The thick areas of a cactus are actually enlarged stems coated in a waxy substance that prevents water evaporation. These stems also function as photosynthesis sites, but in a different way than most plants. Instead of opening their pores to absorb carbon dioxide during the day, which would evaporate water, the cactus waits until night when temperatures are cooler to open their pores and store carbon dioxide. During the day with pores closed, cactus use the stored carbon dioxide, combined with sunlight and water, to begin photosynthesis, thereby conserving water. Cacti can store gallons of water in their trunks for use when rain is scarce. Their root systems spread far and wide across the surface of the ground to help catch every drop of water. Every part of a plant is adapted to respond to the environment around it.

Key Concept 4: Some characteristics are inherited, while others are learned in response to the environment.

Inherited characteristics are passed from parent to offspring through reproduction. Offspring are the children, or offshoots, from a parent. The number of limbs, the color of fur, and the shape of a beak are examples of traits (internal or external characteristic or feature) that are inherited from the parent organism. These characteristics are not received after birth, but are part of the genetic code passed on to offspring during reproduction and determine internal and external structures.Behaviors, on the other hand, are movements or actions that are taught or learned after birth. Riding a bicycle, knowing where to find prey, and rolling over for a treat are examples of behaviors that are not inherited, but must be learned.

Key Concept 5: Inherited characteristics include mainly physical characteristics, such as fins on a fish, stripes on a tiger, or the yellow color of a daffodil.

Every structure, size, whether it be big or small, color, shape, and the number of parts in every plant or animal is inherited through traits passed down from parent to offspring. Every physical characteristic a living thing is born with represents an inherited trait. Although general characteristics among the same species are similar and passed on to each generation, such as all spiders have eight legs, the individual variations that make each plant or animal unique result from the random combination of genes passed down from the parents.

Key Concept 6: Learned behaviors include using tools, such as a chimp’s use of sticks to retrieve termites from mounds or a sea otter’s use of pebbles to open shellfish.

Although students have seen dogs and circus animals learn tricks, a surprising number of learned behaviors exist in the animal kingdom where rocks and sticks become useful tools.