Principal Green Run Gazette Assistant Principal (Acting)

Dr. Sheila M. Wynn Quarter 1 2018 Charles Grindle

Parent Newsletter

Principal’s Message

I am delighted to report that the start of our new school year has been outstanding! Green Run has the three essential components that make a learning environment successful. The first, students that care about their learning, want to be engaged, and work hard to succeed. Second, teachers that are passionate about what they do and are committed to excellence each and every day. Third and a key component, parents who are focused on the success of all students and want the best for their children. Green Run holds a real sense of community and pride! A school year is a journey that often takes many different turns. However, we are committed to keeping the 5 C’s; communication, creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and citizenship. The 5 C’s take place in a variety of settings, including small group instruction and goal setting with children. Please be sure to follow up with your child's teacher if you have questions about the curriculum and they will be happy to explain what and how they are focusing on the 5 C’s during instruction.

Students thrive in a rich learning environment where they are exposed to opportunities that offer higher level thinking and questioning. Critical thinking increases the ability for children to solve problems, make decisions, and learn new concepts. The use of those cognitive skills and strategies increases the probability of a desirable outcome, seeing both sides of an issue, and being open to new evidence. Green Run has a strong instructional staff and we are transforming our school, making sure children are future ready! We are building on these strengths, making sure we have high expectations for all students and provide a rigorous and engaging educational experience.

I will always work diligently to make certain that the educational experiences our school offers extends far beyond the classroom walls and digital learning tools. I look forward to the school year, working with each of you, and learning more about our

students. Parents are always welcome at Green Run and I truly hope that you will find time to

volunteer and attend the many events we have planned this school year.

Math News

How to Help Your Child with Math at Home Twelve Steps to Increase Your Child’s Math Achievement and Make Math Fun Based on the work of Jo Boaler, Stanford University, CEO: youcubed

Installment 1

Step 1: Never praise children by telling them they are “smart.” This may seem encouraging but it is a fixed mindset and is damaging. When children are told they are smart, they

may feel good at the time, but later when they fail, they will think, “Hmm, I am not so smart.” Instead, praise their

effort, such as “It’s wonderful that you have learned how to add numbers” or “You have worked so hard to learn

how to multiply” When children know that learning and hard work make them achieve at the highest levels, their

achievement takes off!

Step 2: Never share stories of math failure or even dislike. Research has shown that if a mother tells her daughter that she wasn’t good at math, the child’s achievement goes

down. Even if you have to put on your best acting skills, always seem happy, even thrilled, when you see math.

Don’t worry if you cannot do the math homework, have your child explain their work to you. Telling you how to do

the work means they are learning at a much deeper level, and it makes them happy!

Step 3: Always praise mistakes and say that you are really pleased that your child is making

them. Research shows that our brains grow the most when we make mistakes, so celebrate mistakes! Many children, as

well as adults, hate to make mistakes. They think it means they are not good at math. However, making mistakes

in math is the most useful thing we can do! When people make mistakes in math, synapses spark, and there is

activity in the brain that is absent when people get work correct. It is important to both celebrate mistakes and

tell children their brain is growing when they make them.

Literacy Corner Fall is a great time of year to explore the library and find fun books to enjoy as a

family. There are so many questions asked about the autumn season. Have you ever thought about

finding the answer in a book? Fall questions such as, why are the leaves changing colors, why are the

days growing shorter, where are the birds going, or what happens to all the acorns that are falling? Next

time, when a fall question comes up, take the challenge! Find the answer in a piece of text. Happy

reading!

Library News-Mrs. Atkins The Green Run Elementary Library, now

called the Learning Commons, is a busy place. Students come in to select books from many different

genres, find a comfortable place to read, do activities in Makerspace and have a few minutes to connect

with their peers. The 5th grade art club is creating signage for the library, using old books to decorate

letters. The EASY section and the FICTION section signage is completed. Thanks to our art teacher Mrs.

Magee and the fifth grade art club students, this project will be in the library for others to enjoy for

many years. The library is working to instill the love of reading in all of our students!

Counselor’s Corner- Ms. Pierre-Louis

Gallop to Greatness It has been a busy start to the year in the School Counseling Department but I am ready for another great school year of learning! During classroom lessons each month, I'll focus on a Blue Box skill (skills essential for healthy emotional development). This month, we continue lessons on Hopes & Dreams/The Power of Yet. I'll be using the books, Your Fantastic, Elastic Brain!, Jabari Jumps, and The Battle of Rock, Paper, Scissors to remind students how a growth mindset can help their brain grow, which can lead to school success! Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS) joined the Department of Defense, the DoDEA, and the military community to celebrate November as Military Family Appreciation Month! On Friday November 9th we recognized R.E.D. Day - Remember Everyone Deployed Day! by wearing red to show our support for military connected families. Parents of rising 5th grade students, believe it or not, middle school registration will soon begin! Please be on the lookout for information from Green Run Elementary and Larkspur and Landstown Middle Schools in your student’s Tuesday folder. I am excited to once again work with your children and I look forward to making this year one of the best at Green Run Elementary! Please view my web page for additional updates from the School

Counseling Department! https://sites.google.com/vbschools.com/gres-schoolcounseling/home

Clinic-Nurse Fox Another school year has begun and I’ve been enjoying getting to know the students. I see most of the students in the clinic office, but my favorite times are when I get waves in the hallways or hellos while visiting a classroom. Please remember to let me know if there are any changes in your child’s medical needs. Also, remember to let the main office know of any phone number changes so that we may reach you quickly in an emergency or to let you know your child is in the clinic not feeling well.

FLU Talk We are headed into the flu season. The staff here at Green Run Elementary needs your help in keeping our school healthy and students in school, ready to learn. What is influenza? Influenza, also called the flu, is a contagious viral infection of the nose and throat. It is not the same as the “stomach flu”, which is viral infection of the stomach and intestines. How is influenza spread? The flu is spread easily from person to person. The virus is passed through the air when someone sneezes, coughs, or even talks. We can also be infected by an object with the influenza virus on it by touching that object and then our mouth or nose. What are the symptoms of influenza? Influenza can come on very suddenly and usually includes a high fever with fatigue, aches, headache, cough, sore throat, a runny nose, and muscle pain. Children may have additional symptoms such as earaches, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. How can we prevent getting influenza? Talk to your child about washing their hands, coughing or sneezing into the crook of their arm instead of their hands, and keeping hands/fingers away from their mouth and nose. Please keep your child home if they have any symptoms of the flu. The flu vaccine is the best way to prevent the flu. Talk to your health care provider about the annual vaccination. Now is the best time to get your family vaccinated for the influenza. http://www.preventchildhoodinfluenza.org/flu-facts

Music-Ms. Miller Hello, I’m Ms. Miller and I am the music teacher here at Green Run Elementary School. I am so happy to share some of the exciting things we have been working on in music class during this school year. Our kindergarten and first graders have been learning how to play various hand percussion instruments and they are doing an amazing job! They can't wait to showcase their talents in the spring performance! Second and third graders have been doing a lot of work with our xylophones and metallophones. We introduced improvisation on these instruments and I am very impressed with their musicianship and creativity. Fourth and fifth grade are having a blast with their recorders and are gearing up for their winter program on Thursday December 13th. Hope to see you all there!

Art-Mrs. Magee Each grade level is finishing their fall art projects. Fifth grade students have begun Art Club. The first group of students completed a decoupage of letters by gluing old book pages to wooden letters for the library's signage. Coming in December, students will have an opportunity to create art for the Art of Being a Military Child Contest. Finally, the GRES art program has been awarded funds to purchase 3Doodler pens for students. This will allow students to create 3D art with plastic that dispels from the pen. I’m looking forward to a very creative year in art!

Physical Education-Mr. Conger I hope everyone made it safely through this weather-crazy, first nine weeks. We will be continuing to take fitness scores in all grades and work on goal setting. Our classes will spend as much time outdoors as the weather permits. Please remember to send your child with a jacket or sweatshirt on cooler days and as always, appropriate shoes. As the temperatures drop and the weather gets more wintery, we will begin our tumbling and dance units!

Gifted Resource-Ms. Sawyer

I am Dawn Sawyer, the gifted resource teacher at Green Run Elementary. We are off to a great start this school year. Fifth graders were screened for gifted services in October and the results are now in Parent Portal. First graders will be screened on November 15th and those results will be in Parent Portal on December 15th. If you are interested in having your child apply for gifted services for academics, art, and/or dance, please contact me at 648-2560 or email: dawn.sawyer@vbschools.com. I am available to meet with you in person or speak with you on the phone to assist you with the application process. The application deadline for the first general gifted testing for grades 2-5 was November 13, 2018. The deadline for students applying for identification and/or admission to Brickell Academy at Old Donation School is Feb. 1st. Art and Dance applications are also due Feb. 1st. First grade applications are due March 1st. Important Academy Night Information: *Plaza MS Middle Years Program (MYP) for rising 6th graders: November 27 and 28, 2018 *Kemps Landing for rising 6th graders: January 3, 2019 *Old Donation School for rising 2-5 graders: January 8, 2019

Grade Level News

Kindergarten has had a very successful first quarter and the students have already learned a lot! The year started with learning routines, rules, how to be good citizens, and All About the Be’s. In reading, they have been making connections to characters, understanding the setting and events of the stories as well as retelling by sharing the beginning, middle, and endings of the story. The students have learned new words such as author, illustrator, fiction, and nonfiction. Writing in kindergarten starts with drawing pictures then adding labels, words, and sentences. They are learning how to write; starting on the left side of the page, using capitals for our names and at the beginning of a sentence, and putting a period at the end of the sentence. In math, the focus is counting from 0 to 100, backwards from 10 to 0, identifying shapes, sorting, and making patterns. The students have been so very busy and we look forward to the challenges and new concepts that are ahead for us in the 2nd quarter.

Grade 1 is practicing counting by 2’s, 5’s, 10’s, and 1’s. The students are also working on writing and counting numbers to 120 in any order. First graders are reading, reading, reading, and then retelling what they’ve read, making sure to focus on the characters, setting, events, problem, and solution. The students have also been reading nonfiction and identifying the text features that are found in nonfiction books. They have now discovered the glossary, index, table of contents, bold words, headings, captions, and labels in nonfiction books.

Grade 2 has had a great first quarter. The students are used to the daily routine now and know just what to do. We have covered a lot of ground. In science, we have studied weather and each child portrayed a meteorologist. In social studies, we discussed how to be a good citizen, as well as traditions and U.S. symbols. In math, we are doing so much with numbers, from skip counting to writing ordinal numbers. And let’s not forget about reading, which is number one in second grade and we are doing it daily. It's been a great start and we are looking forward to the second quarter and all the exciting things that will come with it.

Grade 3 has had a great start to this school year. We have been working hard on setting high expectations for ourselves, being accountable for our learning, and setting weekly goals with steps to achieve our goals in school. This first quarter, we learned about six-digit place value rounding, adding, and subtracting. The students are also still working hard at using strategies and vocabulary to understand and solve word problems. Students have focused on asking and answering questions about fiction texts and using text features to better understand nonfiction texts. They will be taking quarter 1 tests in the coming weeks to assess all they’ve learned in the first quarter. Looking ahead to beginning the 2nd quarter, our focus will be on making inferences and identifying character traits in reading. In math, students are learning about counting and comparing money, making change, telling time to the nearest minute, and elapsed time. In small groups we will continue to remediate concepts they struggled with, while moving on to more learning and achieving the goals we have set for ourselves. Looking forward to a successful 2nd quarter!

Grade 4 is off to an amazing school year. In language arts, the students have been practicing reading strategies; asking questions, making connections, and summarizing as they read fiction, and utilizing the text features in nonfiction. In writing, the students have been focusing on the writing process by generating ideas, writing drafts, revising, and editing, and then lastly, publishing their hard work. In science, the students have been learning about weather, Earth resources, and all of Virginia’s regions, waterways, and bordering states. At the start of the school year, the students were working on place value, rounding, and comparing numbers. The second half of the nine weeks, the students worked hard on estimating and computing whole numbers using addition, subtraction, multiplication, and now, division. The students have also been working on their multiplication fact fluency which we encourage practicing at home nightly.

Grade 5 has had an awesome start this year, as we’ve been working hard to meet our first quarter goals. During reading time, the students have been working on using text features to help understand nonfiction. In fiction work, the students have been making connections from the texts they’ve read to see how they relate to what they already know. Remember to keep working in Achieve 3000 and to read at home every night for a minimum of 20 minutes! Math has been fun as we have just finished up our unit in geometry. Next they are headed into decimals! In science, fifth graders built roller coasters while discussing kinetic and potential energy, built models of atoms and molecules, and made mixtures and solutions, all while using the Scientific Method. Make sure to ask your student about their roller coaster! For the second quarter, we are looking forward to learning more about Colonial Virginia as we move back into Virginia Studies. Our fifth grade classes are progressing very well so far, and we look forward to the rest of the year with your child!

THANKSGIVING

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 21- ADJUSTED DISMISSAL STUDENT HOURS: 8:40 AM-12:40 PM

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 22 & FRIDAY NOVEMBER 23- ALL SCHOOLS & OFFICES CLOSED

REMINDERS FROM GREEN RUN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

For the safety of all children, students may not be dropped off or enter the building before 8:20 a.m.

Breakfast in the classroom is from 8:20 a.m. - 8:40 a.m.

The student drop-off area at the cafeteria doors closes at 8:40 am. After this time, your student is tardy and you must bring them into the building and sign them in.

Parents, please be sure to keep your contact information up to date with the main office. This includes: address, phone numbers, emergency contacts, and email addresses.

Please remember to call the main office before 9 a.m. at 757-648-2560 to report your student’s absence.

When you must change your child’s dismissal routine, please send a note in with your child for the office. If it occurs during the school day, PLEASE let the office know by 2:30 P.M.

VBCPS REQUIRES THAT ALL VISITORS ENTERING GRES MUST SIGN IN AT THE SECURITY DESK AND PROVIDE A PHOTO I.D.