GCIS Weekly News 2/12/2016
Weekly Celebrations, Successes, and Up Coming Events!
GCIS Office News
Permission Slips were sent home with students today for our upcoming PBIS incentive trip. Students need to bring these back signed and handed in to their Homeroom teachers. We are 8 days away to our February PBIS incentive trip!
Lost & Found
Please encourage your students to stop by our lost & found table to see if they have any items that may belong to them.
Lunch Money
As the year is starting to wind down, we are needing all lunch accounts to have a positive balance. Starting April 1st, we will no longer be able to let your child charge a meal to their account. We must have all accounts be at a positive balance before the end of the school year.
There are multiple ways for you to keep track of your child’s lunch account. Text messaging is an option if that is something you are interested in. Just let us know what carrier you have (Us. Cellular, Verizon, etc.) and we would be glad to text you the balance.
GCIS Key Players of the Week!
Next PBIS Incentive Day!
- Sledding at 7 Oaks in Boone
- Swimming, Game Room, and Open Gym at Hidden Acres in Dayton Iowa
- Skating in Jefferson
All trips will be paid for by the hard work of our students with our successful fall fundraiser! Snack bar will be available for students at 7 Oaks, and skating rink if students want to bring some additional money for that, or bring their own snack from home. If students are skating and want to have roller blades instead of skates that will be an additional charge too.
If you have any additional questions please don't hesitate to contact their homeroom teachers or the office and we can try and help! I have included the details of the trip below and also information how students earn a change to attend!
How does my student qualify to attend one of these trips?
- Students need to complete a reading challenge in addition to positive behaviors in order to attend one of these trips. (These are coming out soon!)
- Students will be earning key cards in all areas of our day as they demonstrate safe, respectful, and responsible behaviors. Each homeroom sets a goal and works towards earning key cards.
Recess Reminders & Private Dining Tickets
- You will be notified from homeroom teachers if your student has earned one of these.
- These are issued at recess and in the lunchroom.
- Recess: Students are given a verbal warning, then asked to take a 5 min break. If students are still making a choice to not be safe, respectful, or responsible, a recess reminder will be issued.
- Lunchroom: Students will be given a verbal warning reminding students of the desired behavior in the lunchroom. If students are still deciding to make choices that are not safe, respectful, or responsible, the student will be removed and will eat in a different location, along with getting a private dinning ticket.
- Any student receiving more than 3 of the Recess Reminders and/or Private Dinning tickets, will stay back at school during the PBIS incentive trips.
If you have any additional questions, please don't hesitate to call the office or your students homeroom teacher. All students attending one of these trips will have to return a parent permission slip. These will go out when it gets closer to the trip date.
-Mrs. Van Cleave
GCIS Principal
Reading Incentive Challenge
How can parents support and be involved?
- Encourage your readers to read each night.
- Read with your student!
- Take on the challenge with them!
- Monitor and sign the BINGO card once completed!
- Help remind your student that they need to have the card handed in by Friday February 12th
- Make plans to stop by in the AM on February 25th and join us for a morning of reading from 9:00-10:30. (If you would like to participate please call the office!)
Click HERE for GCIS BINGO card Challenge
Students must be responsible to return these on the due date signed by parents in order to attend the trip! Looking forward to seeing how our students do with RESPONSIBILITY!
BINGO Sheet Details:
- Starting Monday January 25th
- Ending Friday Feb 19th
- Students must complete 2 Bingos to attend PBIS incentive trip, along with their safe, respectful, responsible behaviors.
- Each additional Bingo earned students name will be submitted for a chance to win a 5lb bag of Gummy Bears
4th Grade Happenings!
4th graders have been rocking the Iowa Assessments this week and are now ready to celebrate Valentine’s Day.
We have been working on our non-fiction narrative book reviews that will be displayed at the Greene County Libraries in the near future. Mrs. Haley’s will be displayed in Jefferson, Mrs. Hupp’s will be displayed in Grand Junction, Mrs. Murphy’s will be displayed in Scranton and Mrs. Fish’s will be displayed in Rippey. We will let you know when they are being distributed.
We have also worked with our genius hour projects and presentations this week.
5th Grade Happenings!
Due to the weather, we will continue testing for Iowa Assessments on Monday, Feb. 15th. Please make sure that students get a good night’s sleep and eat breakfast before coming to school! Students that have missed a test will be making them up Feb. 16-18. Thank you!
Math: We are starting our unit on decimals. We are comparing and learning place value.
Lit/SS: In Lit we are identifying genre types with comparing and contrasting two of the same type through books/videos. In Social Studies we are learning about Explorers of our World!
Science: We are learning about soil and soil conservation as well as water and air in our ecosystems.
6th Grade Happenings!
Students did a great job on Iowa Assessments! Also, if your child has Mrs. Hoyle for a homeroom teacher or for reading, please be looking for a note about her upcoming maternity leave. She sent it home on Tuesday. If you have any questions please contact her.
In science, students are still exploring elements, atoms, molecules, and compounds. They have started exploring the atomic structures that different molecules make.
In math, we are taking the Iowa Assessments and sharing our recipe power points.
This week in reading we were taking the Iowa Assessment Tests. We were also reviewing previous skills we have learned. We will pick up with our informational writing piece next week.
Music Mania
General Music
4th General Music
The majority of 4th Grade has completed the 4th level out of 8 levels of Recorder Karate. A select few have chosen to take additional levels home to practice moving them ever closer to the Black Belt!
5th General Music
The students are winding down their mini presentations about specific sports. With the knowledge of terms used in the musical, we now begin learning songs, choreography, and speaking lines.
6th Grade Music
Students chose a musical artist/band/dancer that has had an impact on music. They will research and create a project using any of the following formats: a poster, google slide presentation, prezi, or costume and/or props to educate themselves and others. Our building is working on the core standards of Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening skills.
Band
Due to weather instability, I have pushed back the 6th grade percussion audition by two weeks.
Physical Education
Our bowling unit is going great. We will try and make up the classes that were missed due to our snow days. Currently, I am looking at Monday and Tuesday.
Jump rope for heart will be starting next week as soon as I complete our bowling. Please be on the lookout for the JRFH envelopes.
Bowling High Scores:
4th Grade
Gabe Ebersole 75
Georgia Osterson 465th Grade
Jamison Smithson 92
Destiny Kienast 82
6th Grade
Austin Owen Higgins 98
Haleigh Dzuris 106
FCS
5th graders are learning the 5 areas of FCS and discussing how we could benefit from FCS education. They will be taking a quiz in the near future on the five areas
Clothing and Textiles
Food and Nutrition
Housing and Home Furnishing
Human Development
Management and Consumer Economics
The sixth graders are working on learning the parts of the sewing machine so they feel confident to thread it, if it isn’t threaded while they are making their pencil pouch.
Art
4th graders are starting on a Valentine’s day art project. I am taking a picture of each student to make an art project like this one... except in our version, the students are going to write “I love you” in several different languages in the hearts. I that way they will be using their good writing skills and learning different languages at the same time!
5th and 6th graders are working on different types of pattern projects. 5th grade is making a mug and learning how to draw cylinders in perspective and 6th grade is learning the steps to draw a bright, pop art dog! We discussed the properties of pop art. Can’t wait to hang these up and brighten up the hallways!!!
Media & Tech Lit
When anticipating a snowstorm, there is always the potential of a day off from school. This might have parents wondering just how they can keep their children entertained while kept indoors for a day (or two). Always a great choice...books! Who doesn’t enjoy cozying up with a warm blanket, and not having a care in the world, except for who or what is going on in a great story?
During this time of year, don’t forget to pick up a few books at your local library. If it is in your budget, purchase a few magazines to have on hand. Thrift stores are a great place to find hidden treasures at a fraction of the cost to add to your own personal library. And don’t forget to add a few picture books! They can be a ton of fun, even if you aren’t a little kid.
Most of all, to encourage reading in your house, set a good example for your children. Let them catch you reading...or better yet, take some time to relax, tuck your child into your side and read aloud to them. (There is no guarantee they will necessarily remember the story, but this is special one-on-one time they will never forget!)GCIS T.A.G.
4th, 5th and 6th grade TAG students have been taking Iowa Assessment tests this week, so we were not able to meet for TAG classes.
Counselor's Corner
ATTENTION FAMILIES!
FREE WORKSHOP AND CHANCE AT WINNING $100!
Strengthening Families Program: For Parents and Youth 10-14 Offered in Jefferson
The Strengthening Families Program is for families with 5th and/or 6th graders. This highly active program addresses life skills in youth, conflict resolution, effective parenting styles, and promotes positive family communication in interactive and fun ways.
This seven week program, offered through Greene County ISU Extension, begins on Sunday, March 6 at 5:00 pm. and continues at the same time on Sundays, March 13th & 20th and April 3rd, 10th & 17th.
The actual program will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 pm with a free catered family meal served at 5:00 pm.
Three $100 gift cards will also be given
out in a drawing during first meeting.
This program is offered free of charge to all families, as funding has been received through Communities 4 Children and Community Partnerships for Protecting Children Neighborhood/ Community Network Mini-grants.
The will be held in St. Joseph’s Parish Center at 501 N. Locust St. in Jefferson. Families can register to take part by contacting Sue Richardson at 515-386-2138 or at srichard@iastate.edu
Nurse News
Physical activity plays a key role in keeping school age children healthy. Kids this age should be getting 60 minutes of physical activity every day. Kids that are physically active are more likely to be academically motivated and alert in school, according to the National Association for Sports and Physical Education. Children that do not get enough physical activity are at a higher risk for type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity. Keep your child motivated to be active by finding things they enjoy and can be successful doing, participating in activities as a family, and focusing on fun.