GCIS Weekly News 4/22/2016
Weekly Celebrations, Successes, and Up Coming Events!
GCIS Office News
GCIS Parents: as we work to continually improve safety measures we ask that all parents wait in the office area regarding all matters. If visiting, we ask that you sign in and wear a visitor badge.
PBIS Trip: Our next PBIS Incentive is this next week! Last chance for reading is this weekend! Remember you reading challenges for Monday April 25th in order to attend the Web house and throw a pie in my face!
Tuesday April 26th: 4th grade
Thursday April 28th: 5th Grade
Friday: April 29th: 6th grade
Reading Challenge: Click HERE for the link to information and details. Keep reading!
Please remember to send lunch money with your students. There a various ways to pay! Just ask us how! All accounts must be in the positive before the end of the school year. If you have questions or concerns regarding this topic please give our office a call! 515-738-5721.
Parents Please Read
If you have any additional information please contact the office.
Join us for our first ever GCIS Color Run!
If you haven't returned your packet please get it in! We are so close to our goal! So excited to have the families join us for our time of fitness and building community! Not to mention getting all colored up! Hoping for wonderful weather!
HERE is the link to the website and details!
Contact the office with any future question you may have. We can get you signed up even the day of the event! (515) 738-5721
Principal Shout Out
We will have a day where we all wear orange soon, and also will be selling bracelets for $2.00. If you would like to help this cause please call the office and we can get some bracelets to you!
Parents! Mark Your Calendars and Join Us If You Can!
GCIS Key Players of the Week!
4th Grade Happenings!
Math: This week we are taking our unit 4 assessment. We also have a cumulative test with this unit. It will be testing students on all of the material we have learned so far this school year.
Lit./S.S.: This week we are looking closely at the economy in specific regions of the United States. We talked about the differences betweens needs and wants, and how those things affect our economy.
The economy in the Midwest is very dependent on agriculture and farming, so our farm trip played right into what we discussed in reading.
Science: This week we explored a few more planets and compared them to Earth. We also learned about the Milky Way Galaxy and some constellations.
This week we had a lot of fun and learned so much about farming at the Robbin’s farm. They had several stations for us to visit- explained farming technology including a drone and a planter, discussed calves, corn, beans and so much more! Below are a couple of pictures from our time on the farm
5th Grade Happenings!
Math: We are working on exponents, fraction division, and measurements.
Science: We are studying volcanoes and how lava and magma harden and make Igneous rocks. There will be a quiz next Wed. over what we have covered in our notes so far.
Lit/S.S: In Lit we just finished up our unit on Point of View. The kids took a post test on Thursday. We are looking forward to our next unit which will Poetry. The students will be learning different styles, and writing some of their own! In Social Studies the kids are finishing up their explorers projects. We will be starting our Iowa History Unit next.
6th Grade Happenings!
In reading, we just started our Political Science unit. This week, we have been researching why the Constitution was developed and how it was developed. We will be continuing to explore these questions next week.
In science, students are learning about the circulatory system and the respiratory system. We are exploring how the systems work together.
In math, we are expanding on our algebraic expressions. Keep working on your multiplication facts.
Music Mania
Spring Concert Information:
Who: 5th & 6th Grade Bands
5th Grade General Music
Date: Thursday, May 5, 2016
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Place: Greene County Middle School Gymnasium
5th Grade General Music:
The students will be performing a sports musical for the Spring Concert. The attire calls for shorts, jerseys and t-shirts. Students are aware of what their character requires for clothing. I have spoken with Mr. Palmer about band attire. He is okay with the students wearing their costuming for the band portion of the concert. This will save time transitioning from the Band sections of the concert to the Vocal section of the performance.
4th Grade General Music:
Based on data from last week’s summative evaluation of students’ knowledge of musical symbols, I have divided the students into varying groups to assist in strengthening basic music theory skills. Advanced students are working on Bass Clef notes. Remedial work is being done with note values and Treble Clef note identification.
6th General Music
6th Grade students are working in groups to create an original melodic composition. They are able to use any pitched instrument to create their piece including, but not limited to, xylophones, piano, guitar, band instruments. Students may also use computer-based programs to complete the project.
A new app released this year by Chrome allows students to experience a small piece of the digital world of music.
“Music is for everyone. So this year for Music In Our Schools month, we wanted to make learning music a bit more accessible to everyone by using technology that’s open to everyone: the web. Chrome Music Lab is a collection of experiments that let anyone, at any age, explore how music works. They're collaborations between musicians and coders, all built with the freely available Web Audio API. These experiments are just a start. Check out each experiment to find open-source code you can use to build your own.”
Band
The spring concert is Thursday, May 5th. 4th grade band testing will begin soon, and 4th grade “band night” will be May 26th.
FCS
Sharing our family pictures and giving compliments is this weeks goal along with continuing in our caregiver unit. Students are seeing the importance of discipline and how it is different than punishment.
6th graders are learning about spending plans. A spending plan is another name for budgeting and we agreed it sounds more fun. Planning to spend in the major expenditure categories and how they need to balance is the goal of our lesson.
PE
We are rolling now with our skating unit. It’s a great feeling when you witness students skating for their first time. Here are a couple of pictures.
FCS
Fifth graders are giving compliments on fellow classmates family pictures to understand the importance of giving sincere compliments and how to receive compliments. We are also finishing up our caregiver unit.
Sixth graders are learning about income versus expenses and hoping to see some net gain. It is interesting to see how much some of them know about finances.
Media & Tech Lit
The students were introduced to some new computer applications this week. The 6th graders worked with a program called Post-It. They created diagrams of different things using the tools found in Post-It. The 5th graders started working on a project using Animoto. This application allows the user to create a video using images and text. The students had to choose a favorite thing (sports teams, music groups, clothing lines, etc.) and create a video using Animoto.
The 4th graders finished up their poetry SlideShow, and began working on adding “speech bubbles” to their work. They did this by adding different shapes to a SlideShow presentation.
Art
4th grade art students are starting a unit called Gyotaku, which is the ancient Japanese art of fish printing. They choose which fish they want to print (I have fake rubber fish) and then they have to paint a background of that fish’s natural habitat. What a great project to represent Earth day!
TAG
5th and 6th graders have been challenged to create a rocket (with non-hazardous materials) to test launch on Friday, May 13th. The group whose rocket goes the highest, wins a large pizza of their choice for lunch!
5th and 6th grade students are competing in the America Answers National Quiz Bowl! They have until the end of next week to take the online Quiz as a team. We have been studying different Trivia games to prepare!
4th grade TAG students have been working hard to finish their castle!
A few of the girls got together to write a story to go along with it about King Arthur and Camelot!
Counselor's Corner
Basic Internet Safety
The Internet has drastically changed the way that children interact with the world. They have access to in-depth knowledge, tools to express their creativity, and people from all over the world. Yet along with offering a fascinating, new way to connect with the world, the Internet also offers new risks:
Cyberbullying
Exposure to inappropriate material
Online predators
- Revealing too much personal information
NetSmartz invites you to learn about the issues surrounding your children’s online lives.
Visit http://www.netsmartz.org/InternetSafety for more helpful information on internet saftey. Then use the discussion starters to help you begin a dialogue about safety with your children.
Learning to recognize the warning signs of these risks will allow trusted adults to intervene and lessen potential negative impacts. By acting as a resource, parents and guardians can help make the Internet a safer place for their families.
If your children are social networking, instant messaging, using webcams, or blogging, help them use these tools safely by learning how to use them yourself. Children whose parents and guardians regularly talk to them about personal safety are more likely to exhibit responsible behavior on their own.
Nurse News
Eating healthy with busy schedules can be difficult. KidsHealth lists 10 tips for healthy family eating. First parents supply the food chain. As a parent you decide what foods to buy and when to offer them. Second from the foods you offer your child should decide what they will eat or whether to eat at all. Third quit the “clean plate club”. Kids should decide when they have had enough to eat. Kids should learn to listen to their bodies and stop eating when they are full. I’ll talk about the other 7 tips in future newsletters.