Grafton Gazette
NOV/ DEC 2018
Grafton Village Elementary School
Email: _@staffordschools.net
Website: www.staffordschools.net/gves
Location: 501 Deacon Road, Fredericksburg, VA, USA
Phone: 5403735454
Twitter: @GVESGrizzlies
A message from the Principal
Dear Families,
Every year at this time, we are given many reasons to reflect on our blessings and give thanks. From recognizing the brave men and women who have served in our military to appreciating our rights through our participation in elections and finally to taking time to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with our families. The same is true here at school and we are very pleased with the progress our students have made thus far as we wrap up our first grading period. Classes have been very productive and I encourage you to check out the dazzling hallway displays throughout our building when you visit our school.
In the coming months, we will have several special events and activities taking place at our school that I would like to share. On Thursday, November 15th, we are holding a Curriculum Night at 6:30. The program will begin with a performance by second graders and include stations and activities for families to visit. Parent-Teacher conferences are scheduled for November 6th. Look for a sign-up sheet that will be sent home by your child’s teacher. Finally, the PTA is planning some fun events in the coming weeks. A hike is planned for November 17th at 10:00 at Alum Spring Park. A family bingo night is planned for Friday, November 30th. We hope to see you are all of these events!
We have many items to be thankful for and I’d like to share just a few. I am thankful to our teachers and staff for working tirelessly each day to connect with each and every child. I am thankful for a tremendous office staff, who constantly amaze me with their knowledge of each student and family. I am thankful to the transportation department for carefully carrying our students over the river and through the woods each day. Finally, I am thankful for our students who make each day fun and interesting.
On behalf of the entire Grafton Village family, please have a safe and enjoyable holiday season!
Calendar
11/4 Daylight Savings Time Ends
11/5 Flex 4-4:45
11/6 No School/ Parent Teacher Conferences
11/7 Turkey Trot/Chorus 8-8:45/Chef's Club/ Indianettes 6-7 Stafford High School/ All County Chorus Concert 5-6
11/8 Fourth Grade Field Trip to Jamestown 7:15- pm// PTA General Meeting 6:30- 7:30 pm
11/12 No School/ Veteran's Day
11/13 PTA Breakfast Buddies (AM) 8:15- 8:45/ Flex 4- 4:45/ Chick Fil A Spirit Night 5-8 pm
11/14 Chorus Rehearsals 8- 8:45/ PTA Breakfast Buddies (NZ) 8:15- 8:45/ Chef's Club 4-5 pm
11/17 PTA Hike 10-12 Alum Spring Park
11/19 Fifth Gr Awards 9:15/ Fourth Gr Awards 10-11/ Third Gr Awards 2:30- 3:30
FLEX 4- 4:45
11/20 Chorus Rehearsal 8- 8:45/ First Gr Awards 9:15- 10:15/ Second Gr Awards 10-11
FLEX 4- 4:45
11/21- 11/23 Thanksgiving Break
11/26 FLEX 4-4:45
11/27 Fifth Gr to Luray 9:15- 2:30pm/ FLEX 4-4:45
11/28 Chorus Rehearsal 8-8:45/ Chef's Club 4-5
11/28 Curriculum Night with 2nd grade performance 6:30- 8:00
11/29 Picture Retakes
11/30 PTA Bingo Night
12/3 FLEX 4- 4:45
12/4 FLEX 4- 4:45
12/5 Chorus Rehearsal 8- 8:45
12/6 PTA Barnes and Noble Book fair Fundraiser
12/10 FLEX 4- 4:45
12/11 FLEX 4- 4:45
12/12 Chorus Rehearsal 8:00- 8:45/ Chorus Winter Concert 6:30- 7:30 pm
12/13 Interim Reports
12/17 FLEX 4- 4:45
12/19 Heartfields Chorus Field Trip/ Chorus Rehearsal 8- 8:45am
12/20 Greenfields Chorus Field Trip
12/21 Early Release All Students/ Chorus Holiday Sing Along 9:15- 10:15
12/22- 12/31 Winter Break
Counselor's Corner
We have been very busy teaching bully prevention guidance lessons in first through fifth grades! Coming up we will help students learn about work habits such as effort, focusing, listening, and responsibility in first through third grades. In fourth and fifth we will concentrate on making healthy choices, decision making and study skills such as time management and learning styles. In kindergarten we have focused on “trying our best” by creating our own “Little Engine that Could". We have also made Doggy Bags of Happy Thoughts to begin learning coping strategies for when we feel sad, mad, or scared. In addition, the counselors have been meeting with first through fifth grade Changing Families groups in lunch bunches. Deployment groups and Grow Stronger Grizzlies will be meeting in the months ahead. Kindergartners are not asked to participate in lunch bunch groups as they are just adjusting to the cafeteria, but they are welcome to talk to a counselor any time by themselves. Just email us or give the counselors a call!
Conversation with the Counselors: PARENT WORKSHOP ON SCREEN TIME AND CYBER-SAFETY!! A flyer will be coming out soon about our counselors’ presentation for parents on these two subjects. Do you know the connection between screen time and ADHD? Are you aware of the many apps that students are accessing that might not be as safe as you think? Join us on NOVEMBER 8 at the Howell Branch public library. Times will be noted on the flyer. Knowledge is power!
SCA NEWS!!!
Our Donate A Dollar Day for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society was a huge success! We collected almost 500 dollars ! The money has been donated to help fight childhood leukemia! Thank you so very much for your help. It is amazing how much money can be raised in a day with young children contributing. Every dollar makes a difference !
Red Ribbon Week- Thanks for wearing red on Red Ribbon Day! Please stress with your children the importance of making healthy choices in life!
Coming up: Students will be invited to fill out turkey grams to give thanks to other students with a written message. The SCA will help interested students complete the forms and they will deliver them around Thanksgiving time.
Orange Day for Bully Prevention
FOOD DRIVE
Mrs. Hopun and Mrs. Spangler
The Clinic Chronicle by Amy Pisciotta, RN
Flu season is once again upon us. If you watch any television, you see lots of promotions for getting the flu vaccine. What is the flu? It is really called Influenza and it is a respiratory virus that you could already have spread before you exhibit any symptoms. The flu is not our friend and can have some serious consequences and at minimal, days missed from school or work. There have been many serious flu epidemics in our history but with the invention of the flu vaccine, those epidemics have been greatly reduced but it doesn’t mean everyone is safe from the flu. The vaccine is made up yearly based on what is predicted to be the most common strains of flu, they are not always perfect on their guesses as evidenced last year by number of people that were diagnosed with influenza. This year’s vaccine is a quadrivalent shot meaning there are four strains of the flu virus. The nasal spray is also available again which is great for those fearful of shots. The nasal spray does have some restrictions such as age as well as anyone with asthma or a compromised immune system cannot get the nasal spray. The vaccine is a DEAD virus and you CANNOT get the flu from the shot. There are many that have said they got the flu after receiving the shot but they were probably already exposed to the virus. The vaccine itself is not fully effective for about 2 weeks after receiving it.
What are the symptoms of the Influenza virus?
*fever*
*cough
*sore throat
*runny or stuffy nose
*body aches
*headache
*chills
*fatigue
*sometimes diarrhea and vomiting
*It’s important to note that not everyone with flu will have a fever.
What to do if Ill:
-If you or your child gets sick, stay home and limit contact with others.
-If you think you or your child need medical attention (not improving after a few days, trouble breathing, lethargic), call as soon as possible to get an appointment.-Cover your nose and mouth when sneezing. We teach the children to cough into their sleeves instead of their hands.
-Wash your hands often with soap and water and if that is not available, use hand sanitizing gel (Make sure you use it after going out in public and touching common surfaces.).
-Avoid close contact with sick people.
-Avoid touching your eyes, mouth, and nose.
Grafton Village will be very diligent in minimizing the spread of this nasty virus and hopes to have a healthy school this year. If you have any questions, please call me and I will do my best to answer the questions.
The Book Buzz from Mrs. Lieser, Librarian
Greetings Grafton families,
The library has been full of activity this fall. We just completed our Fall 2018 Book Fair. Thank you so much to everyone that came out to support the Book Fair! We are so grateful to all our volunteers! If you stopped by the book fair, I hope you took a moment to wander through our “Storybook Pumpkin Patch”! The creativity of our Grizzlies is amazing! We had almost 100 storybook pumpkins entered in this year’s contest! Winners were announced on October 23rd.
All students, grades K-5, voted to try and win their favorite book from the book fair preview. We were able to give away 20 books to some very excited Grizzlies!
Our Virginia Reader’s Choice program (grades 3-5) is in full swing! Students are still able to register. Please visit the GVES Library website or contact me if you need another registration form. Students may take AR tests in the library or their classroom, but they need to show Mrs. Lieser or Mrs. Smith the results during library class.
We are working to build our Makerspace area. We are looking for the following items:
· Paper towel or toilet paper rolls
· Legos or building blocks
· Pipe cleaners
· Toothpicks
· Milk Crates
Thank you so much for your support as we continue to grow this program!
Keep reading!
Bright Ideas by Susan Kesler
Identification and Services for Gifted Students in SCPS
Gifted students are those whose potential for achievement is so high that they require services beyond those provided in the regular classroom to meet their educational needs.
In Stafford County Public Schools, differentiated services are provided for students who have been identified as gifted in general intellectual aptitude or in a single area (verbal or math) in elementary through high school. Criteria used for academic identification includes student work, a parent survey, teacher evaluations, and ability test scores (generally 95% and above). If you believe that your child has exceptional ability in one of the above areas, or you would like more information, please contact me.
2018/’19 National Geographic Bee for 4th/5th Graders
Most people of which continent speak either Portuguese or Spanish? South America! This type of question will appear in The National Geographic GeoBee, an annual competition designed to inspire and reward students' curiosity about the world.
Students in grades four and five will compete at GVES in January, via a Preliminary Round test. The top ten will then compete in the school bee. To compete for advancement from the school to the state level, the winning student in each school will take a written, multiple-choice Qualifying Test. Students may start preparations now! Check out:
Websites:
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/bee/study/study-resources
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/bee/study/quiz – Daily quiz.
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/Geography.htm - Geography of the World Game
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/web_games.htm - Geography of the USA Game
Books:
How to Ace the National Geographic Bee: Official Study Guide, 5th Edition
Apps:
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/bee/study/apps - GeoBee Challenge
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/bee/study/play-kahoot/ - Kahoot!
Mrs. Feeney's Art Message
Everyone has had a great start of the year in art!
All students are have finished their artwork for the Original Works fundraiser through the PTA!!
Art Projects
Kindergarten: The students will be creating a fall tree collage and then creating a blue collage by drawing and painting a variety of lines and shapes.
1st Grade: The students will be creating Claude Monet waterlilies painting and then create a Giraffe collage painting that is based on the book Giraffes Can’t Dance.
2nd Grade: The students are creating an Earth collage painting for their upcoming music program and curriculum night then they will be creating a Giraffe collage painting that is based on the book Giraffes Can’t Dance.
3rd Grade: The students will be creating a Pablo Picasso collage and then a Giraffe collage painting that is based on the book Giraffes Can’t Dance.
4th Grade: The students will be creating an oil pastel pumpkin project showing highlights and shadows and then create an abstract computer art lesson.
5th Grade: The students are creating the cover of the yearbook using the computer. Then they will create an inspirational wall quote.
Supplies needed for art class
-T-shirts (large, gentle worn or new)
Music "Notes" from Mrs. Greven
All 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade classes will be playing recorders. If you have ordered a recorder, we are waiting for them to arrive. If you are using a recorder from previous years, please bring it to Mrs. Greven’s music room to keep in the class bin. Please remember the following:
· During the beginning of our recorder unit, we will keep all recorders in the music classroom.
· When it is time to take your recorder home, always keep your recorder in your backpack. This will be your recorder’s home and you will always have it when you need it at school or at home.
· When washing your recorder, use warm soapy water, rinse and air dry. Remember when you are sick to wash your recorder so it is disinfected!
· Practice, practice, practice. Take a break from your homework and practice for 5 minutes. Or if you are watching your favorite television program, practice during the commercials.
2nd grade students: Students in second grade will be performing a music program called “Wonders of the Earth!” on Thursday, November 15th at 6:30 p.m. to kick off C5W Curriculum Night.
December Chorus Performances:
Wednesday, December 12th GVES Chorus Winter Concert at 6:30 p.m.
Friday, December 21st GVES Chorus Annual School Sing-a-long Concert!
Stay tuned! December dates to be determined for:
4th grade Chorus Field Trip to Greenfields Senior Living
5th grade Chorus Field Trip to HeartFields Senior Living
PE News
PE classes are having a great time - developing our skills and participating in activities to keep our bodies healthy and strong. We are really enjoying the new ideas that Mrs. Bevin Menezes, our new Physical Education teacher, has brought to our school!
· Our annual Turkey Trot is set for Wednesday, November 7th. Students will run/walk during the school day, and the boy and girl in each grade who finishes first will earn a turkey for their family. The Turkey Trot will take place during your child’s normally scheduled Specials time. Please remember to have students wear proper footwear and appropriate clothing to do their best. All students who participate will earn a turkey shoe token. We run to be healthy and to have fun!
· Students are learning about the 5 components of fitness: cardio-respiratory endurance, muscular strength, flexibility, muscular endurance, and body composition. Mrs. Menezes has come up with fun hand signals to help us remember what each component represents.
· Our K-2 students are working to perfect their throwing and catching skills. We have focused on the underhand toss and the overhand throw. Ask your child to show you what they can do!
Please let us know if you have any questions.
David Bridi
Bevin Menezes