The Roadrunner Report
News from Rolling Ridge Elementary
From the Principal's Pen
January
1/5/2020
Hello Roadrunner Families,
Happy New Year! I hope that everyone had a chance to spend time with loved ones over the winter break. We will return from the break ready to start a new year and to continue the progress that students have been making since the beginning of the school year.
The month of January will bring new opportunities for you to get involved at school. On January 14th we will hold an information session on gifted services. We will also hold a math curriculum night on January 24th. This will be a great opportunity to play some math games with your children and to take some home for additional practice. We invite you to join us for some math fun!
January 17th is the last day in the second quarter. Report cards will be available in ParentVue starting on January 24th. If you wish to receive a paper copy of the report card, please let your child's teacher know. Also, if you wish to have a conference to discuss your child's performance at school, please reach out to schedule.
We will be holding a family coffee on January 31st for fifth grade families to discuss the transition to middle school. Staff from Sterling Middle School will be on hand to answer questions and provide insight. We hope that you are able to join us for this valuable information.
Thank you for your partnership.
Sincerely,
Ms. Sacco
PTA Meeting
Friday, Jan 10, 2020, 08:00 AM
Rolling Ridge Elementary School, East Frederick Drive, Sterling, VA, USA
Gifted Education Information Night
Tuesday, Jan 14, 2020, 06:30 PM
Rolling Ridge Elementary School, East Frederick Drive, Sterling, VA, USA
Family Math Night
Friday, Jan 24, 2020, 05:30 PM
Rolling Ridge Elementary School, East Frederick Drive, Sterling, VA, USA
Family Coffee
Friday, Jan 31, 2020, 08:15 AM
Rolling Ridge Elementary School, East Frederick Drive, Sterling, VA, USA
News from the Gym
January Physical Education Newsletter
December was a productive month for students participating in class. The five food groups were taught daily and students are more informed about some of the foods that belong in each food group. Nutrition cards with pictures, food group colors, and nutritional content were used often to help teach the food groups. We even took advantage of the Hour of Code by having several of our classes experiment with programming and vocabulary.
The five food groups will carry over into January as students set goals for the new year. Instead of only focusing on exercise students will get to choose a New Year’s resolution that pertains to exercise, nutrition, sleep, or hydration. This month we’ll also discuss “sometimes foods” and “everyday foods” in hopes that our students will continue to make healthy choices as they get older.
This month in physical education class students will focus their activity time ball handling skills. This could involve basketballs, soccer balls, etc. Our main priority is to boost cardiorespirtatory endurance while disguising exercise with equipment being used. Unplugged coding lessons will also be taught. These lessons will prepare our Roadrunners with the tools needed to be successful in computer science. Specifically, looping will be emphasized. Students will use “looping” task cards that will focus on nutrition and fitness.
Mr. Comins and Mr. Binford
RRD Physical Education Teachers
Counseling Corner
Happy New Year Roadrunner Families! Mrs. Huey and Mrs. Abuasi-Eqab are so excited to continue working with students through different school counseling lessons, small group counseling and individual counseling sessions.
During the month of January, students will be exploring growth mindset. We will be encouraging students to think positively about their feelings and attitudes. The students will work on activities to change negative mindsets into positive ones. For example, instead of saying “this is too hard,” students are encouraged to say “I will try my best!” The students were also taught that their mindset (beliefs, feelings, attitudes) is always changing. Students explored that it is fine to make mistakes, especially if they learn from them.
Family members of fifth grade students, please join us on January 31st to learn more about the transition to Middle School. The family coffee will occur at 8:15 on January 31st in the multipurpose room. We will be joined by faculty at Sterling Middle School.
Mrs. Abuasi-Eqab and Mrs. Huey are available to meet with students for individual and small group counseling. They can help students with a variety of social-emotional issues as well as teach students strategies to be the best person they can be. If you have any questions or concerns, please call us at 571-434-4542 or email at haneen.abuasieqab@lcps.org or morgan.huey@lcps.org.
Let's Talk Tech!
In STEM Lab this month we will be working on helping students develop a their design thinking and engineering skills. Grades 3-5 will be exploring circuits, participating in a LEGO Ice Hockey Challenge, and learning about problem solving, critical thinking, and coding using Cubelets. Grades 1 and 2 will be exploring magnets, the uniqueness of snowflake patterns, and some great unplugged coding activities. If you have any questions or want to know more about design thinking, please reach out with any questions.
For more information or questions about our STEM lab, you can contact us by calling the front office of the school or by email.
Matt Harbert, Instructional Facilitator, Technology
Lakin Williams, STEM Lab Tutor
Music Notes
Happy New Year!
4th and 5th grade students will be working on recorders in January. Students should bring their recorders to school on the days they have music class. If your child does not have a recorder, please contact Ms. Cooper or Mr. Holmes for more information.
Students in all grades will continue with music lessons covering the Virginia Standards of Learning for Music. We will be using pitched and un-pitched percussion instruments in addition to singing and movement.
Please do not hesitate to contact Ms. Cooper (jennifer.a.cooper@lcps.org) or Mr. Holmes (ronald.holmes@lcps.org) with any questions or concerns.
From the Artist's Brush
January 2020
Visual Arts News
Kindergarten students are creating a community collage using geometric shapes. First grade students are creating a winter landscape using mixed media and collage techniques. Second grade students are painting snowmen using the Pointilism painting technique. Third grade students are creating a web optical illusion using patterns and colors. Fourth grade students are creating their room using the one point perspective drawing technique. Fifth grade are creating a winter wonderland using a variety of painting techniques.
Olivia Sanchez
Art Educator
Rolling Ridge ES
Welcome to the Library!
Students in all grades have been participating in the RRD Library Makerspace this month. For Kindergarten, 1st & 2nd Grades, students have been making TEXT TO SELF connections between the Virginia Reader’s Choice Book What If . . . by Samantha Berger and their Lego creations. Our 3rd, 4th & 5th Grade students have been completing Lego challenges as well as working collaboratively to build the K’nex Roller Coaster—please stop by the RRD Library to see the roller coaster in action in mid-January!
Library lessons for January will focus on making JUST RIGHT BOOK choices for all grade levels, as well as Student Ownership And Reflection. In Kindergarten, 1st & 2nd Grades this means students are thinking about things that interest them and then finding books to match. In 3rd, 4th & 5th Grades, students will be reflecting on how reading different genres make them feel—happy, sad, excited or even scared.
By adding new Nonfiction books like Everything Awesome About Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Beasts!, new Blastoff Readers series about Inventions that Changed the World, Animals of the Arctic, Animals of the Rainforest, Rocks & Minerals, Natural Disasters, as well as new biographies in both print and eBook formats, there will be a wide range of subjects for all students to choose from. We are also adding new Fiction books such as Stolen Girl & the I Survived series (Historical Fiction), Wildfire (Adventure Fiction) The Girl in the Locked Room (Horror Fiction), Bad Guys: The Big Bad Wolf & Diary of an Ice Princess series (Fantasy Fiction) as well as new picture books like Attack of the 50-foot Fly Guy, Don’t Call Me Bear, There Was an Old Lady series and Grow Up, David. You can encourage your student’s reading by asking to see the library books that they bring home each week. You can also ask them their favorite characters in a book or their favorite genre to read!
Please remind your students to return their books on time---this is one way that they can show RESPECT in the library! The Rolling Ridge Library is open to students every morning from 7:30 to 7:50 a.m. for both book return and new book checkout. Students may ask their teacher for a pass to the Library before announcements.
If you have any questions about what’s happening in the RRD Library, or would like to volunteer some of your time, please call 571-434-4540 or email Victoria.shea@lcps.org. We look forward to seeing you soon!
Mrs. Shea & Mrs. Boulware