GCIS Weekly News
Weekly Celebrations, Successes, and Up Coming Events!
GCIS Office News
Things have been off to a great start so far for the 2015-2016 school year! We love seeing all the smiling faces of our students!
- We love hearing from you! Please call our Intermediate Building with any questions, comments, or concerns. We ask all families to remember to notify us if your child will be out of our building! If there is a change is schedule for the afternoon, please notify the school by 2:00 pm (12:30 pm on Wednesday) if at all possible so we can get those messages out to the students!
- It was great seeing so many parents at Mini conferences! Thanks for sharing all the great information with us! This information allows for us to create an environment where all students feel cared for and supported!
Principal Shoutout!
GCIS Student Challenges:
- Do your best everyday, no matter what.
- Treat everyone with respect, everyday, no matter what.
- Be a Leader.
Our conversations were about how a challenge is something that is hard to do, it doesn't come easy. I shared with all students that some days these challenges will come easy, and other days it is going to be really hard. That's why we have each other!
My personal believe that I shared with all students, is if everyone plays their part in these challenges, everyday, we will have the BEST school in Greene County, and even in the state of Iowa! You will hear a lot from your students this year about these challenges and how we will be working daily at making them a habit! So very excited to have your student with us this year! It is sure to be a great one!
Sincerely,
Maranda Van Cleave
Email: vancleavem@greenecountycsd.net
Website: www.edline.net/pages/GCIS
Location: 405 12th Street South, Grand Junction, IA, United States
Phone: 515-738-5721
Facebook: facebook.com/pages/Greene-County-Intermediate/
GCIS Key Players of the Week!
Add it to the Calendar!
No School - Monday, September 7
GCIS Picture Day: October 6th
Student Aspiring Messages!
Key Behaviors
4th Grade Happenings!
Wow! This week has flown by!!! The 4th grade teachers spent the weekend in Minneapolis learning new strategies for reading! (See picture) →
We are implementing Read to Self, Work on Writing, Word Work, and Read With Someone throughout our unit on Mysteries.
In Science we are starting a quick unit on how scientists create and explain their experiments.
In Math, we are working on learning the routines of math class. Our first unit will be working with Place Value.
Remember to bring your reading log back on Tuesday.
We have enjoyed getting to know the children. Have a nice weekend.
5th Grade Happenings!
5th grade is off to a great start this year! We have been doing many fun community building activities to help the students to get to know each other better and for us to get to know them as well.
MATH: students will start the year by working with area and volume in many activities throughout Unit 1.
SCIENCE: students are learning about whales.
LIT/SS: We will be working on using context clues to determine the meaning of unknown words and phrases in text.
Thanks Families for supporting students’ and ensuring they are completing their 20 minutes of home reading each night! They are doing amazing!
Mrs. Braun’s Homeroom showing off their selfie sticks!
Get Your Selfie On!
6th Grade Happenings!
In math, students are reviewing order of operations, greatest common factors, and least common multiples. Math rocks!
Reading has started off strong with making connections and visualizing. Make sure to remember to keep getting 20 minutes of reading in every night!
In science, students are working on teamwork, asking questions, and making claims supported with evidence.
Students have been doing a great job of coming to class prepared and being quiet in the hallway!
Students working together to visualize a poem!
Band
5th Grade Band
We played a first note today with, I would estimate, an 80% success rate! Make sure those instruments are getting to school please. Also, for those that have students eating at the Greene County Intermediate Building, 5th grade band students may eat breakfast immediately following band.
Feel free to join us at: www.facebook.com/groups/455113234509528 for live updates for GCIS bands!
6th Grade Band
First, I would like to welcome our new band members Asta Minella, Madison Moore, and Shelby Stoffa. Make sure those instruments are getting to school please. We will be handing out our first sheet music piece after the holiday weekend, with one or two more pieces to follow shortly.
Feel free to join us at: www.facebook.com/groups/455113234509528 for live updates for GCIS bands!
4th, 5th, & 6th Grade Music
Hi! My name is Brenda Roberts. General Music classes are off and rolling!
4th Grade: and I are getting acquainted. We are singing songs that encourage positive attitude and character. We are building our memory skills when singing lyrics written in a mode of sequence. We are also reviewing the school song to show our RAM Pride at ballgames!
5th Grade:
We are reviewing the steady beat. This concept will guide us into discussions and work with tempo and rhythm. We will explore world cultures and discover how music unites people.6th Grade:
Students are beginning a journey into studying musical genres. Our first musical genre revolves around 19th century folk music and moves into the folk music revival of the 20th century. They will be able to identify characteristics and instrumentation and importance of this musical style.Action in PE!
Mr. T
FCS
We have been discussing the five areas of FCS so far this year! Some students have passed their first quiz on the five areas and we have started discussing Values, Needs and Wants. What a great batch of students! Looking forward to all we will learn together.
- 5th graders will be sharing what being healthy and happy means to them.
- 6th graders will be writing an advertisement for a best friend using five qualities and reasons why those are important to them.
Please turn your Labels for Education, Box Tops for Education into your child’s classroom teacher to help our school. Thank you.
Art
- The 4th Graders are learning about contour lines by tracing around their names done in calligraphy!
- 5th Graders are learning about 3 Dimensional art using colors. They have created their name in 1 point perspective and are excited to color it and look through the 3D glasses to see how the colors pop out! AWESOME!
- The 6th Graders are learning about the color wheel and how all the colors mix and fit together in the full spectrum. They are working on creating a special color wheel using their names also! (This way, the art teacher gets to know their names a little better too!)
Tech Lit & Media
We are trying something new this year with library and computers. Half of the special period will be spent in the library, checking out books and listening to some awesome read alouds. The other half will be spent in the computer lab working on various projects.
To start the year off, fourth and sixth grade students will be working through different activities using the Vault (financial literacy) and Ignition (digital literacy and responsibility) programs provided by Home State Bank.
The fifth grade class will be working with the computer application Moby Max. Students will practice different math and reading skills using an interactive format. The adaptive curriculum allows each student to participate in their own unique, individual education plan. I am excited to get this year going and I can’t wait to see what the students produce!!
Special Education Updates from Mrs. Thede, Mrs. Meier, and Mrs. Coil!
Counselors Corner!
WELCOME BACK!!
We hope you had a wonderful summer and are ready for a great school-year!
As school counselors, our goal is to help every student be the best student they can be; this includes working directly with students as well as collaborating with families and staff. Please let us know if there’s anything we can do to help your child. We welcome your input!
Our September Word-of-the-Month is ASPIRE, which means to direct one's hopes or ambitions toward achieving something, including setting goals for the future. We will be talking with students about their goals for this new school year.
GCIS Clubs!
Clubs
Students at GCIS will have the opportunity to be part of clubs beginning Sept. 23rd. Club time will happen every Wednesday during the school day.
This week, students will get the chance to select which 5 clubs they’d like to be in over the course of the school year. They will get to choose from 20 different clubs based on their interests.
The purpose of clubs is to help students develop relationships with teachers outside of the classroom setting AND to give kids opportunities to explore hobbies AND to give kids a chance to interact with kids outside of their peer groups as well as across grade levels.
Nurse News!
This school year has been off to a great (and busy) start. Starting mid-September, there will be a nurse here ALL DAY, EVERY DAY! If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to call me.
-Nurse Mary :)
A few reminders from the nurse:
Make sure your student eats breakfast every day, either at home or at school.
Encourage your student to drink plenty of water throughout the day.
- Keep your student home if sick and do not return to school until 24 hours fever (100 degrees +), vomiting and diarrhea free.