November 18, 2013

Tiger Paws

Inside this issue:

Here’s the Scoop 2-3

Library Shelf 4

What New…? 5

Attendance Notes 6

Relay for Life 7

Art Splash! 8-9

Fun Photos 10

Counselor’s Corner 11

Mark Twain

Elementary

Need help with homework?

Drop by the Homework Help

Station located in the library.

Open Monday – Friday from 7:20 to 7:50 to

help with all types of homework

Food drive Wednesday, Nov. 13th

through Thursday, Nov. 21st.

Turkey Trot 2013

Friday, Nov. 22nd. The

money raised will help sup-

port water day and field

trips at the end of the

school year. Turkey Trot

shirts ($10.00 each) and

friendship bracelets

($1.00 each) will be sold

during the Thanksgiving

luncheons.

Thanksgiving Luncheon

Tuesday—Nov. 19th—PK pm, K, 3 & 4

Wednesday, Nov. 20th –PK am, 1, 2,& 5

Here’s the Scoop!!!

Student Council Coordinators: Danica Schlegel, Crystal Kauk, Kim Robertson

STUDENT COUNCIL NEWS:

Congratulations to our 2013-2014 Student Council Officers:

President: Juliana Belman

Vice President: Dylan Shain

Secretary: Luisa Hernandez

Treasurer: Jennifer Mendoza

The student council is busy this November helping Communities In Schools (CIS) with the can

food drive. They are enjoying the opportunity to give back to others. Classes are competing

against each other to see who can bring the most food per grade level so they can win a pizza

party! The food drive ends on November 21. Student Council thanks you for your support.

SNACK SHACK is coming in December! Student Council will be providing a SNACK SHACK after

school for kids to purchase snacks. SNACK SHACK will be located on a rolling cart, so be on

the lookout! Each snack item can be purchased for ONLY $1.00.

SMENCILS are coming! Starting in January Student Council will be selling SMENCILS! Look for

our table in the café before school. Remember each SMENCIL costs $1.00. Save your change!

UIL NEWS:

Great job to all students who tried out for UIL or who made a UIL team! Our UIL competition

will be held on Saturday, January 26. Remember to be studying at home if your event allows

you to do this. Please see the practice schedule below. Contact your child’s coach or Kim Rob-

ertson if you have any questions.

UIL After/Before School Practice Schedule and Coaches

Storytelling (2nd/3rd Grade): Thurs. 3-4 (Kauk and Holt)

Creative Writing (2nd Grade): Thursday 3:40-4:15 (New)

Music Memory (3rd, 4th, 5th): Tuesday 3-4 (Nearing)

Dictionary Skills (5th Grade): Tuesday 3:00-4:15 (M. Garcia)

Listening Skills (5th Grade): During their lunch time (Robertson)

Maps, Charts and Graphs (5th Grade): During their lunch time (Mondragon)

Number Sense (4th, 5th Grade): Tues./Thurs. before school

If student is in choir then practice is Mon./Wed. before school (Ryan)

Oral Reading (4th, 5th Grade): Wednesday morning 7:30 (Polinard)

Spelling (3rd, 4th, 5th Grade): Tuesday 3:45-4:15 (Currie, Geer, McGhee)

Chess UIL (this is not chess club): Wednesday 3:00-4:00 (Ciresi)

AVID NEWS:

Paws Down, Mark Twain Tigers Are College Bound! What an exciting slogan to have for our AVID Ele-

mentary School! Tigers have been promoting their favorite college by wearing their favorite college

shirt the last Friday of the month or wearing a school shirt that is the color of their favorite college.

Students take a virtual tour of a selected college on the computer on that Friday also. So far we

have visited Alvin Community College, University of Houston, and Sam Houston State University.

Please talk to your children about their college experiences they are having at Mark Twain.

Reminder: Please check your child’s planner and binder each night. The planner is an important tool

used to communicate between home and school. Organization is vital to being a successful student.

Take a few minutes once a week to help your child clean out their backpack and binder.

Page 4 Tiger Paws

Library Shelf Lesa Polinard

Librarian

Circulation 5,222

Top Student—Circulation Jennifer Mendoza

( 30 checkouts)

Top Class—Circulation Mrs. Muffeny’s

(232 checkouts)

Most popular book checked out this many

times

10 Rules You Absolutely...

(31 checkouts)

Library Statistics—Oct 17th — Nov. 14th

Remember the Bluebonnet Rumble starts next month. Make sure your team is ready to

compete on the following list of books:

10 Rules You Absolutely Must Not Break if You Want to Survive the School Bus

Barnum’s Bones

Balloons Over Broadway

Coral Reefs

Jangles

November 18, 2013 Page 5

What’s New….?

Molly New

4th Grade Teacher Campus Communications Liaison

Mark Twain Tigers are some real characters...

Students and staff at Mark Twain Elementary spent October 22nd celebrating our love of

learning and sharing. Students spent the month preparing for a "Character" pumpkin decorating

competition among their grade levels, as well as, deciding and creating their own version of a

personal favorite book character for a school-wide parade. Students also created art work, and

practiced performing their reading, singing, and dancing talents to celebrate various cultures,

communities, history, state pride, and literature.

The celebration continued as family and friends joined the students and staff for "Family

Night". Students were able to create symmetrical art, 2-Dimensional geometrical shape mon-

sters, produce slime in the "Mad Scientist Lab", trade books in the "Book Swamp", and even

bowl in the "Glow in the Dark Bowling Alley". The community was all eyes at the cafe where din-

ner and a show was the real class act. Students mesmerized the audience with their talents and

super star effort as families enjoyed a dinner of Domino’s pizza and invaluable time together.

Over 300 students, family, and friends were on hand for the evening, helping to nurture a com-

munity of learners and celebrate a lifelong love of learning.

Attendance Notes Linda Ahmann

Registrar

281-585-5318

AISD started a new procedure that began this school year. Every returning student has to

show Proof of Residence at the beginning of the new school year. A letter went home at the

end of last year regarding the procedures of the Annual Proof of Residency.

Annual Proof of Residency must include one of the following:

*Light Bill

*Gas Bill

*Water Bill

*Lease Agreement

*Mortgage Statement

Letters will be going home soon to those that have not provided this document. If you know

you have not provided your current Proof of Residence, you may bring it in to the school office

now. If you receive a letter from the school, please provide this current proof in a timely mat-

ter.

Reminders:

*If your student is absent from school, always send an excuse note within 3 days of the ab-

sence. 5 Handwritten parent notes are accepted for the school year.

*If your student goes to the doctor or dentist, always get an excuse note from them.

*If your phone number or emergency contacts ever change, contact the school with the

change.

*School starts at 8:00. If your student is a car rider, plan accordingly. 8:01 they are tardy.

*Daily Attendance to school is very important in their academic success.

If you have any questions regarding your student’s attendance, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Relay for Life

Linda Ahmann

Relay for Life Team Captain

Mr. Angel Cantu’s 3rd grade class earned the most money during the

month of October for Breast Cancer Awareness. Below are the totals

for the top three earning classes:

MR. CANTU’S CLASS COLLECTED $190.27

MR. HAMILTON’S CLASS $187.57

MS. STEPHENS’ CLASS $169.14

THE TOTAL AMOUNT FOR THE WHOLE SCHOOL WAS $1,721.64

Art Splash!

Lauren Luna

Art Teacher

National Art Education Association

Why Art Education?

What does art education do for the individual and for society? Why do we teach art? How

does art contribute to education at all levels? There are many good answers to these ques-

tions, but three stand out as crucial in today's social and economic climate. We believe that

art-and therefore art education-means three things that everyone wants and needs.

Art Means Work

Beyond the qualities of creativity, self-expression, and communication, art is a type of work.

This is what art has been from the beginning. This is what art is from childhood to old age.

Through art, our students learn the meaning of joy of work-work done to the best of one's

ability, for its own sake, for the satisfaction of a job well done. There is a desperate need in

our society for a revival of the idea of good work: work for personal fulfillment; work for so-

cial recognition; work for economic development. Work is one of the noblest expressions of

the human spirit, and art is the visible evidence of work carried to the highest possible level.

Today we hear much about productivity and workmanship. Both of these ideals are strength-

ened each time we commit ourselves to the endeavor of art. We are dedicated to the idea

that art is the best way for every young person to learn the value of work.

Art Means Language

Art is a language of visual images that everyone must learn to read. In art classes, we make

visual images, and we study images. Increasingly, these images affect our needs, our daily be-

havior, our hopes, our opinions, and our ultimate ideals. That is why the individual who cannot

understand or read images is incompletely educated. Complete literacy includes the ability to

understand, respond to, and talk about visual images. Therefore, to carry out its total mission,

art education stimulates language-spoken and written-about visual images. As art teachers we

work continuously on the development of critical skills. This is our way of encouraging linguis-

tic skills. By teaching pupils to describe, analyze, and interpret visual images, we enhance their

powers of verbal expression. That is no educational frill.

Art Means Values

You cannot touch art without touching values: values about home and family, work and play,

the individual and society, nature and the environment, war and peace, beauty and ugliness,

violence and love. The great art of the past and the present deals with these durable human

concerns. As art teachers we do not indoctrinate. But when we study the art of many lands

and peoples, we expose our students to the expression of a wide range of human values and

concerns. We sensitize students to the fact that values shape all human efforts, and that

visual images can affect their personal value choices. All of them should be given the oppor-

tunity to see how art can express the highest aspirations of the human spirit. From that

foundation we believe they will be in a better position to choose what is right and good.

....................................................................................

We in the National Art Education Association are committed to this three-part statement

about the importance of art instruction for America's children. Our specific recommenda-

tions for school art programs are set forth in Purposes, Principles, and Standards for School

Art Programs and in Design Standards for School Art Facilities. In addition, our various pub-

lications describe in detail the views of leading art educators about the issues confronting

the art teaching profession.

This article can be found online @ http://www.arteducators.org/advocacy/why-art-education

Students in Mrs. Pratt’s 1st grade classroom

enjoyed dressing up for the 50th day of school.

Gene Pizarro, a pilot, shared job

information with 5th grade students

during Career Day.

The Cigna Health Care lab recently visited Mark Twain

-sharing good health tips with students.

Students in Mr. Garcia’s

1st grade class enjoyed

celebrating this special

day!

Counselor’s Corner

Bonnie Mondragon

School Counselor

Character:

For the next few months, Mark Twain Tigers will be focusing on several character traits.

November - Citizenship – Good citizenship means obeying the rules and working to make your

community a better place.

December:

Caring and Compassion- You are caring and compassionate when you help someone or show love

to a person.

Our district wide conflict resolution program is being implemented

at Mark Twain Elementary. Kelso and K.C.’s choices encourage our

students to tell an adult when they have a big problem and to use one of Kelso’s or K.C.’s

choices to handle the small problems. Please encourage your child to use the wheel when

at home.

Big Problem Box: To help investigate some of our ―Big Problems‖ that may occur here on cam-

pus, a ―Big Problem‖ box was created. This black box is located in our school library. Every stu-

dent has been informed about the box and its purpose. When students have a ―Big Problem‖,

they are encouraged to tell an adult. The Big Problem Box allows them to make their reports

anonymously if need be.