The Bear Tracks
October 16, 2026
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Happy Friday, Brandt Bears!
Another wonderful week is in the books, and our school community continues to grow stronger with each passing day. As the fall season settles in, our halls are filled with learning, laughter, friendship, and the excitement of new experiences. We are grateful for the incredible partnership between our families and staff, which helps make Brandt such a special place to learn and grow.
As we head into the weekend, we hope our families enjoy time together, find moments to relax and recharge, and make a few special memories along the way. We look forward to welcoming our Bears back on Monday for another great week! A friendly reminder that Parent-Teacher Conferences are scheduled for Wednesday, October 21st. We look forward to connecting with our families and continuing to work together to support every student's growth and success.
With gratitude,
Principal Dickerson
Another Great Week at Brandt!
We wrapped up another great and productive week at Brandt! Our students continue to work hard, learn, grow, and make us proud each day. It has been wonderful to see the energy and excitement throughout our classrooms and hallways.
📚 Fall Book Fair: We are busy getting everything organized for next week’s Fall Book Fair! We are excited to welcome our students and families and celebrate the joy of reading.
🍎 Parent-Teacher Conferences: Don’t forget that Parent-Teacher Conferences are Wednesday, October 21. We look forward to connecting with our Brandt families and continuing our partnership in supporting each child’s growth and success.
Brandt staff showed their team spirit this week with our Friday Night Lights theme! Staff came together sporting jerseys and sweatshirts representing their favorite teams. Whether cheering for football, baseball, basketball, or another favorite, it was a fun way to show some team pride and bring a little extra energy to Brandt!
❤️ Looking Ahead: Red Ribbon Week begins the week of October 26! We have a fun week planned as we celebrate making healthy, positive choices and showing our Brandt Bear pride.
Thank you to our students, staff, and families for another wonderful week. Have a fantastic and restful weekend! Go Bears! 🐻
This week in ELA, our learners asked and answered the question “How can families work together to get what they need and want?”. We strengthened our comprehension skills by completing graphic organizers and identifying expository texts. We practiced long and short letter I sounds.
In Math, we continued using our math tools and strategies to begin solving addition story problems. We worked together in small “Math Talk” groups and practiced using key math vocabulary words and concepts.
In social studies this week, we continued discussing our family history and what makes them special. We also began identifying and collecting primary and secondary sources.
Math:
This week, our third graders spent lots of time strengthening their subtraction skills! Through our Savvas Investigations math curriculum, students solved subtraction riddles and practiced using different strategies, including number lines and regrouping. We also “leveled up” in a couple of our favorite math games, Capture 5 and Go Collecting, by working with even bigger numbers! As we wrap up this unit, we’re getting excited to dive into our next unit all about multiplication!
Literacy:
This week, we focused on identifying the main idea and supporting details in a text. Our stories explored national parks and the importance of preserving and protecting these special places. We’ve been learning so many cool facts about the amazing national parks across America!
Social Studies:
We wrapped up our learning about important Hispanic figures and the lasting impact they have made on their communities. Throughout Hispanic H
We had another wonderful week of learning in fourth grade! Here's a peek at what we've been working on!
This week in ELA, we continued reading Who Is Sonia Sotomayor? and practiced our reading comprehension skills by answering questions about the text. In our Reading Companion books, we continued the story The Talent Show while exploring our essential question: "How do your actions affect others?" Our spelling focus this week was on words with the long i sound.
We also put our writing skills to work by practicing informational essays about how animals survive in extreme environments. Students worked on organizing their ideas, using information from sources, and supporting their explanations with details.
We kicked off Unit 3 this week in Math! Students began exploring multiplication strategies, focusing on how to use arrays to represent and solve multiplication problems. We are excited to continue building our multiplication skills, and begin building our division skills as well!
In Social Studies, we wrapped up some fun fall-themed activities and began working in our textbooks! We are looking forward to diving deeper into our upcoming lessons.
In math this week, fifth graders completed Unit 1 Investigation 3, where they reviewed and refined their division skills. Students explored various strategies to solve division problems including multiple towers, the relationship between multiplication and division, and cluster problems. Students wrapped up the week with their Unit 1 Assessment to demonstrate mastery of all unit content.
In ELA, students focused on composing body paragraphs for their first writing piece by including reasons, evidence, and commentary to support their thesis statements. While reading their core novel, Esperanza Rising, students identified and analyzed literary conflicts and mapped essential plot events. They also began studying their second vocabulary list of the year!
In Social Studies, 5th graders continued studying the Industrial Revolution. Students defined the word “urbanization” and then completed a simulation activity to mimic the process of urbanization during the time of the Industrial Revolution. By following a series of instructions to add or erase drawings representing houses, tenements, trees, and factories, students got a feel for the haphazard planning that took place at the time!
Individualized Learning Pathway - Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth
During the Individualized Learning Pathway (ILP) period, students who have qualified to participate in the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY) Verbal programming engage in a wide array of course offerings that address their specific strengths and interests. Johns Hopkins CTY believes in researching and advancing ways to identify and nurture academically talented learners. CTY furthers research, guides educators and families and inspires students from diverse communities and backgrounds to pursue their intellectual passions and create the world of tomorrow.
This week, we highlight one of the Johns Hopkins CTY Verbal courses offered to qualifying
students this fall.
CTY Young Readers Series: Quests and Challenges
In this course, Verbal CTY students follow the young protagonists of three novels as they use
their wits, courage, and brains to complete elaborate missions. Verbal CTY students will
summarize, make inferences, determine characters’ motivations, evaluate arguments, provide
textual evidence to support opinions, and discuss themes virtually with peers from all over the
world in this CTY course. They will also take on different points of view and use sophisticated
vocabulary words and literary devices while crafting their own unique tales of intrigue. Their
reading and writing skills will grow as they work each day to stay one step ahead of villains and
tackle heart-thumping adventures!
你好！This week in Mandarin class, kindergarten students are reviewing how to introduce their family members. First graders are starting the unit of “Colors”. They did a great job demonstrating different colors in Mandarin. Second graders are starting the unit of “Hobbies” and talking about their favorite things to do in their free time.
Students in grades 3–5 kicked off their football unit in Physical Education this week! They reviewed the fundamentals of throwing and catching, focusing on proper technique, accuracy, and hand-eye coordination. Students also learned about the different football positions, including quarterback, wide receiver, and running back, and the important roles each plays on the field. Through fun drills and teamwork, students are building their football skills, confidence, and sportsmanship as they prepare for exciting football activities ahead!