From the Desk of Mr. Yoshida
Birdneck Elementary 9/11/18
UPCOMING EVENTS
Thursday, September 13, Fundraiser Packets go home
Tuesday, September 18: Back to School Night 6:00 - 7:30 pm
Friday, September 21: 5th Grade Airshow Fieldtrip to Oceana
A MESSAGE FROM YOUR PRINCIPAL
Hello Birdneck Family,
We are off to an amazing start as students and teachers begin to settle in for the best year ever! Students have been learning routines, procedures and expectations of their classrooms, specials and busses. We had much success throughout the school and will be implementing our Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) program on the bus this year also. Please assist us by asking your child about our SOAR expectations.
If you are picking students up at parent pick-up this year please be sure to get your car tag so we can continue to ensure the safety and security of your child. Mrs. White can assist you with getting your car tag if you visit her in the library.
It is important that our students are able to have the best experience possible here at Birdneck. Please be sure that lunch accounts are updated with funds and that their library books are returned on time. If a student does not have money on their lunch account or does not pay cash for lunch they will need to receive an alternate lunch until funds are available. Having overdue books will also effect their ability to continue to check out books. Students really enjoy the privelege of checking out books and reading often is one of the greatest predictors of students being successful in school. Encouraging them to read and reading with them at home will not only help them increase their academic success but will also strengthen your relationships with them.
We want to be sure that you are connected to what your child is learning this year in school. Below you will find a summary of what will be covered in the first quarter.
I wish you all the best as we prepare for Hurricane Florence here in Virginia Beach. We've been preparing for the weather at Birdneck and look forward to seeing you back here soon. Please check your local news if you are in need of shelter. The city has multiple sites in Virginia beach that are serving as shelters for the storm.
Have an awesome day,
R.V. Yoshida : Member of the BIRDNECK FAMILY since 2016
Mathematics
Kindergarten: To begin the year, in Numeration students will study numbers through ten and develop forward and backward counting skills. In Geometry, students will work with plane figures, sort and classify objects and develop patterning skills.
Grade One: Students will begin the year in the Numeration unit by expanding their understanding of numbers up to 120 and identifying ordinal positions. Students will begin developing fluency with addition and subtraction. During the Geometry unit, students will sort and describe plane figures, concrete objects and continue patterning.
Grade Two: Students will spend the first quarter exploring the Base-10 number system through identifying place and value, comparing numbers, rounding and skip counting. Determining even/odd numbers and ordinal position will be a focus as well. Students will expand addition and subtraction fluency to include sums within 20.
Grade Three: Students will begin the year exploring place and value, rounding, comparing and ordering numbers during the Numeration unit. During the Computation unit, focus will be on applying strategies for addition and subtraction of whole numbers and using understanding of skip counting to begin demonstrating fluency for 0s, 1s, 2s, 5s and 10s multiplication facts.
Grade Four: The year kicks off in the Numeration unit with exploring nine digit whole numbers through place and value, comparing and ordering and rounding. In the Computation unit, students will use and apply strategies for addition, subtraction and multiplication for problem solving. Students will demonstrate fluency in multiplication and division facts and begin exploring division strategies.
Grade Five: Numeration and Computation starts the year for Grade Five. Students will discover characteristics of even/odd and prime/composite numbers and apply strategies for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division in single-step and multi-step practical problems. During the Geometry unit, students will measure and classify angles as well as investigate triangles, polygons and circles. Students will also explore transformations.
Language Arts
KINDERGARTEN: The following priority objectives will be the areas of focus this quarter:
Make connections before, during and after reading.
Ask and answer questions about what is read.
Discuss settings, characters and events using story language.
Draw pictures and/or use letters and words to write about experiences.
Begin to compose narrative writing.
In addition, the science and social studies topics Civics and Magnets will be addressed through the lens of language arts. When entering classrooms, observers should see students engaged in reading, writing/drawing and discourse centered around making connections, describing story elements and questioning.
FIRST GRADE: The following priority objectives will be the areas of focus this quarter:
Make connections before, during and after reading.
Describe characters, setting and important events.
Retell stories and events using beginning, middle and end, including key details.
Identify and use text features in nonfiction text.
Gather and generate ideas in writing.
Focus on one topic when writing.
Write in a variety of forms.
In addition, the science and social studies topics Civics and Matter and Energy will be addressed through the lens of language arts. When entering classrooms, observers should see students engaged in reading, writing (including the use of graphic organizers) and discourse about story retellings, describing story elements, personal experiences and text features.
SECOND GRADE: The following priority objectives will be the areas of focus this quarter:
Make and confirm predictions in fiction and nonfiction text.
Make connections in fiction and nonfiction text.
Use visualizing to strengthen comprehension of fiction stories.
Summarize stories in the correct sequence.
Use text features to preview nonfiction text and locate key facts or information.
Identify the main idea of nonfiction text.
Write in a variety of forms, including stories.
Revise writing for clarity.
Students will utilize the strategies of making connections and predicting to comprehend a variety of texts. Students will use visualizing and the framework of beginning, middle and end to lead them to the big idea of summarizing in fiction text. At the same time, students will work to generate ideas and begin writing stories. Students will be reading text related to the content topics of Civics and Weather. A focus on previewing text features and identifying the main idea in nonfiction texts will support readers in developing a purpose for reading and help them to gain meaning.
THIRD GRADE: The following priority objectives will be the areas of focus for this quarter:
Identify the main idea or theme and the major events and details that support the main idea or theme.
Visualize, make connections, question and summarize in a variety of fictional texts.
Build and use prior and background knowledge as a context for learning.
Determine important information to support the main idea in nonfiction text.
Ask and answer questions about what is read while reading nonfiction texts.
Write for a variety of purposes, including personal narratives.
Readers will make connections and visualize to deepen their comprehension of fictional text. The application of these strategies will support understanding of fictional text and will serve to clarify essential elements in order to summarize what has been read. Students will question as they read in order to clarify an author’s intentions and determine the main idea or theme in fiction stories. Readers will apply prior knowledge to make and confirm predictions and will revisit text in order to read closely for details in the text to support their thinking. This will include applying knowledge of text features to locate and determine important information. Writers will study mentor texts and how authors practice to deepen their understanding of how writers generate ideas. Writers will revisit their ideas to develop and practice revision strategies for organization and written expression to develop a published piece of writing. Classroom dialogue will focus on idea generating, revising for clarity and audience, and mechanics appropriate for publication.
FOURTH GRADE: The following priority objectives will be the focus for the first quarter:
Make connections to support comprehension of text.
Summarize during and after reading fiction and nonfiction texts, including important details.
Ask and answer questions while reading fiction and nonfiction texts.
Identify the main idea or theme in various texts.
Use a variety of prewriting strategies.
Write for a variety of purposes.
Revise writing for content clarity.
Students should be reading, writing and engaging in discourse daily. While reading, students will be making connections, questioning and summarizing using graphic organizers, and also identifying main ideas/themes in literature. Students should be engaged in daily writing (shared, guided and/or independent). The writing process will be utilized to produce original narrative works, using mentor text to help students connect with authors.
FIFTH GRADE: The following priority objectives will be the focus for the first quarter:
Make connections and build background knowledge when reading fiction and nonfiction texts.
Summarize fiction and nonfiction text to include supporting details.
Describe character and plot development in fictional text, including conflict and resolution.
Use text features to aid in comprehension of nonfiction text by predicting and categorizing information.
Determine important information to support main idea, opinions and conclusions.
Produce clear, coherent writing for a variety of purposes using prewriting strategies.
Revise writing for clarity of content and edit compositions using correct grammar and mechanics.
When entering classrooms, observers should see students engaged in reading, writing and discourse about the elements of fiction to develop an understanding of the theme/main idea and summarizing during and after reading. The nonfiction strategy of determining importance in text to support summarizing, identifying main idea, formulating opinions and drawing conclusions should be seen in the classroom. Students will be generating ideas for writing and then composing pieces that are clear, are coherent and convey a central idea. An optional performance-based task that connects reading, writing and research may be completed at the end of the quarter.
Science and Social Studies
Kindergarten:
Science/Social Studies — Students should investigate objects that are attracted or not attracted to magnets. Students should demonstrate an understanding of citizenship skills and what it means to be a classroom citizen.
First Grade:
Science/Social Studies — Students should demonstrate an understanding of the roles individuals play in a community, how community decisions are made and traditions and symbols of the United States. Students will focus on classification, including the movement of objects
and mixtures and solutions.
Second Grade:
Science — Students should make observations, use tools to collect data and draw on clusions to understand the basic types, changes and patterns of weather.
Social Studies — Students should understand and practice citizenship skills. Students should ask questions to form an understanding of how beliefs shape American culture, contributions of individuals and groups and diversity.
Third Grade:
Science — Students should conduct observations, investigate and classify the physical properties of matter.
Social Studies — Students should understand and practice citizenship skills. Students should form an understanding of how beliefs shape basic democratic principles and the role of government. Students should use map skills to understand how the geography of North America affects how we live. Students should use decision-making models to understand how people make economic choices.
Fourth Grade:
Science - Students should make observations, use tools to collect data and draw conclusions to investigate how weather conditions and phenomena occur and can be predicted.
Science/Social Studies - Students should investigate and analyze important Virginia natural resources and geographic features to form an understanding of the geography of Virginia.
Fifth Grade:
Science — Students should investigate the characteristics and interactions of moving objects, including how matter responds to force, the difference between kinetic and potential energy and the basic relationship between motion, mass and force. Students should
investigate as well as use and create models to form an understanding of what matter is and how matter changes.
Social Studies — Students should analyze the geography of Virginia. Students will begin analyzing the impact of geographic features on the lives of Jamestown settlers and American Indians in Virginia and researching to understand how the Jamestown settlers
and American Indians interacted.
Join our PTA
Support Birdneck Elementary students by joining the PTA. Our PTA is AMAZING! We collaborate together to create opportunities for our students and community to learn and have fun in the process. Don't miss out on the benefits from joining the PTA. Receive over $300 in savings... all for just $5 for a membership. Registration forms were sent home in the envelope with your student's placement letter. Please know that becoming a member of our PTA does not obligate you to volunteer or do anything but does still help support our school. Our goal is to have 100% participation!!!!!!!!!
Please visit the PTA website at http://birdneckpta.weebly.com/
Arrival and Dismissal Procedures
This year we will be continuing our daily parent pick up system. Parents who elect to drop off and pick up their students on a regular or daily basis will be assigned a car "tag" with a number matched to your child in the parent pick up database.
The tag must be hung in the front window of your automobile so that you can be identified as the parent. The main loop directly in the front of the school will be used as the drop off and pick up point. Staff will be at the curb to escort students to and from cars.
If you will be picking up your child every day after school please visit Mrs. White in our library to register your child for daily parent pick up and drop off.
Only students who are signed up for daily parent pick up will receive car tags. Any child who needs to be picked up early due to illness or an appointment will be checked out by the parent using the procedures at the front desk. (Please bring a valid ID).
Also, should you need to come into the school for any reason, you must park in an allocated parking space (only in handicap parking with a valid tag) as parking in the front lane is against the fire code. For daily parent pick-up purposes, we will allow two lanes of traffic to pull up in front of the school in order to make dismissal more efficient and safe. For safety reasons, do not pull up in the lane prior to 2:30; the lanes cannot be blocked for long periods of time.
Please be patient with us as we get the system rolling a the beginning of the year. After we get to know the students and their cars and work out any unforeseen issues, things should run quite smoothly. Our goal is to make daily parent pick up both safe and easy for everyone.
Education Connection Resources
BIRDNECK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
BIRDNECK MISSION
We build relationships to encourage, inspire, and empower others to meet the challenges of today and to foster the love of learning.
BIRDNECK VISION
We are dedicated to nurturing an inclusive environment to ensure engaging, student-centered learning resulting in confident, independent learners.
BIRDNECK BELIEFS
We believe in a collaborative community in which teachers, administrators, students, and parents work together for student success.
We believe in creating a safe, nurturing, and positive environment in which all students can strive for excellence and achieve their individual potential.
We believe we will prepare our students for success by providing 21st century learning and developing within our students critical thinking, effective communications and problem solving skills.
Website: https://birdneckes.vbschools.com/home
Location: 957 South Birdneck Road, Virginia Beach, VA, United States
Phone: 757-648-2120
Facebook: facebook.com/birdneckes
Twitter: @BNESeagles