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The Dragon’s Tale

Weekly School Newsletter February 27, 2018 Volume 4, Issue 29

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NO SCHOOL Friday, March 9th

************* SPRING BREAK

March 19-23

District Improved Communication Process During “Secure the Building” Situations

When community situations arise, as a precautionary measure, law enforcement will direct the District to put a school or schools in “secure the building - outside situation.” Schools may be in “secure the building” for a few minutes or it may be for several hours depending on the situation. The District’s and law enforcement’s highest priority is to ensure the safety of all students. The District’s website page, Student Safety & Parent Notifications provides information regarding what parents can expect regarding communications during a “secure the building - outside situation” event as well as other emergency situations. Specifically for “secure the building - outside situation” events, the District will send a message to parents through an automated call, email and text message as soon as possible. The message will direct parents/guardians to the District’s website for updates. The only instances where this will not occur is in the event the District has removed the school from “secure the building” prior to the message being sent (which may occur if the situation is very brief). In that instance, parents/guardians will receive a message that their children’s school had been in “secure the building.” This may be delivered through the District’s notification system or the school may send a letter home with students (at the elementary level). Parents should be aware that automated phone calls can take time to deliver and the fastest way to receive information is through email or text. The District encourages parents and guardians to “opt in” to receive texts. Learn how at www.gbaps.org/textmessaging. The District also communicates about “secure the building” situations on its social media accounts. Liking the District on Facebook or following on Twitter is also a great way to stay informed.

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Our Mission: Educating world leaders… one child at a time.

Our Vision: Leonardo da Vinci School for Gifted Learners provides the appropriate level of challenge for academically gifted students in a rigorous, student-centered and diverse learning environment that prepares them to be world leaders. We are learners. We are leaders.

February 27 3:00–6:45ConferencesMarch 2 FieldTriptoWildBlueTechnologies(Watson, Griffin/VanStraten)3 PTOSponsoredChessTournament4 2:40MusicalRehearsal5 PopcornOrderDay 2:40MusicalRehearsal6 2:40–3:15BattleoftheBooksCelebration

PopcornDeliveryDay8 3:00–6:45Conferences9 NOSCHOOL 12:00-3:00Conferences10 PiDay5K12 PopcornOrderDay13 PopcornDeliveryDay

6:30PTOMeeting(Gym,EnterDoor3)14 SpringPhotoDay17 SetBuildingSaturdayforMusical19-23 NOSCHOOLSpringBreak30 NOSCHOOL

Calendar Notes

LEARNERS Excel—We excel academically. Altruistic—We are altruistic; we give back to our community. Determined—We are determined to accomplish our goals. Engaged—We are engaged in all that we do. Respectful—We are respectful of our learning, our school community and ourselves. Safe—We put safety first.

2018 Pi Day 5K Walk/Run Saturday, March 10th

8:00 AM Leonardo da Vinci students work with Mrs. Hockers, our Physical Education teacher, to organize a walk/run. This is an important leadership opportunity for our fifth grade planning team, but an ALTRUISTIC opportunity for our entire school community. In the past three years our school community has raised over $44,000 for Habitat for Humanity. We hope you can be a part of this year’s walk/run. Grab your warm gear and join us on the 10th!

Help the Homeless Drive A team of 7th and 8th grade students is planning a drive to help the homeless. The main needs are: toilet paper, diapers, deodorant, toothbrushes, toothpaste, garbage bags, soaps, and paper towels. They will be collecting these items from February 14th to March 7th, 2018. At the end of the collection, the base team with the most points will win a prize. Good Luck!

Spring Photo Day March 14th

All students will have their photos taken on March 14th. Proofs will be sent home with students at a later date and families can choose if they wish to order any photos.

Conferences Conferences begin this evening and continue next week Thursday and Friday. If you did not sign up for conferences when the window was open and still wish to do so, please call the school office for assistance. (448-2135) Conferences for K-5 students are being held with base team teachers. Parents/guardians of 6-8 students can meet with instructors based on available time slots.

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PARENT411–LITERACYLEARNINGTARGETSFROMLASTWEEK

DAVISTERK-1• Use a web to organize facts about a topic • Understand how a contraction is formed • Work with a partner to expand sentences • STAR early literacy monthly monitoring assessment • Use different strategies when confused about a book • Use strong verbs, descriptive attributes, specificity or comparisons when writing • List strategies to use when faced with an unknown word • Reread a piece of writing and fix capitalization, punctuation and key words • Use different strategies to find out the meaning of an unknown word

JOHNSON1-2• Brainstorm a list of things that are not systems• Choose a group of details about an animal and write a

paragraph to go with it• STAR monthly monitoring assessment • Add a definition to a writing piece • Work with peers to create generalizations about different

systems • Add an ending to an informational writing piece and color code

targets in a writing piece • Create a drawing for the unit generalizations • Share writing piece

HANSON1-2• Explore language and different ways to communicate • Explain the importance of rereading a writing piece • Revise and edit written pieces • STAR monthly monitoring assessment • Change the language in a poem • Pick a new writing topic and create a graphic organizer • Understand that words in English come from other languages

KORTH2-3• Publish and share Learner/Leader letters • Read and discuss section five of My America: Our Strange New

Land • STAR monthly monitoring assessment • Spell words with “wh” correctly • Use “their,” “there,” and “they’re,” correctly when writing • Summarize a section of a chapter book and illustrate the plot • Review nouns, descriptive attributes and verbs

FRELICH2-3• Review context clues to understand difficult words• Create Change Generalization project presentations• STAR monthly monitoring assessment • Share generalization projects • Write a literary response identifying context clues as

evidence • Write a nonsense word paragraph providing the reader with

context clues • Determine the different aspects of culture

CARLSEN3-4• Add transitions to an informational draft • Discuss the difference between fact and opinion • STAR monthly monitoring assessment • Complete an informational draft • Embed a definition in draft • Use the hamburger model to organize thinking

BECKER3-4• Plan and draft informational assessment piece• STAR monthly monitoring assessment • Identify how words are used to portray an important message • Draft grade level publication piece • Discuss how to develop a procedural writing piece

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PARENT411LITERACYLEARNINGTARGETSFROMLASTWEEK

DURANT4-5• Identify the five parts of a friendly letter and write a friendly letter

to a family member • Meet with department group for fourth grade novel • Choose an item received as a gift and write a thank you note • STAR monthly monitoring assessment • Understand the parts and content of a business letter • Explore and personalize the characteristics of great thinkers • Continue work on fourth grade manuscript • Research Sonia Sotomayor and complete the greater thinker

note taking sheet

MAYENSCHEIN4-5• Write different types of letters based on the audience • Meet with department to continue work on fourth grade novel • Write a friendly letter and a thank you note • STAR monthly monitoring assessment • Write a business letter to a school official • Discuss chapters 18-20 of The Phantom Tollbooth with my

peers • Draft narrative for grade level publication • Create a “before” and “after” poster showing how Milo has

grown through his journey GRIFFIN5-6

• Write a conclusion for procedural writing • STAR monthly monitoring assessment • Publish procedural writing piece • Share writing with classmates • Study the historical fiction genre • Understand the idea of perspective • Create a list of generalizations for perspective • Discuss a character’s perspective

WATSON5-6• Publish procedural writing piece• Review expectations for novel study of choice• STAR monthly monitoring assessment• Use descriptive attributes in a comparison piece• Read and complete a literature web for “Pattie Frances

Ridley Jones” from Childtimes: A Three-Generational Memoir by Eloise Greenfield

• Use sensory details in comparison writing• Develop analytical and interpretative skills in literature• Reflect upon changes in own life to begin brainstorming for

autobiographyGUSSERT“COURAGE,CONNECTIONSANDREFLECTION”

• Define persuasion • Narrow a topic for research • STAR monthly monitoring assessment • Understand what the word “audience” mean and identify ways to

best reach your audience • Understand what it means to “preach to the choir” and apply that

to knowledge of audience

OLDENBURG“PERSUASION”• Analyze the reasoning used in the Declaration of

Independence• STAR monthly monitoring assessment• Identify the persuasive techniques used in the Gettysburg

Address• Use time effectively to achieve goals set

GUSSERT“THEPURSUITOFJUSTICE”• Work with PSA group to complete project template for teacher

approval and begin gathering information from first source • STAR monthly monitoring assessment • Determine the target audience for a variety of commercials and

identify how/why the creators did what they did • Participate in novel study group for To Kill a Mockingbird

OLDENBURG“1940S–ADECADEOFCHANGE”• Consider the audience for a persuasive writing piece• STAR monthly monitoring assessment• Find the author’s main ideas and evidence in arguments for

and against using nuclear power• Identify places that springboard

GUSSERT“UTOPIA”• Understand the expectations of the group advertisement project • STAR monthly monitoring assessment • Work with group to begin invention design and connect it to the

concept of utopia • Watch a variety of commercials and determine the advertising

strategy used

OLDENBURG“THREADSOFCHANGEIN19THCENTURY”• Explore cause and effect related to crime in the early 20th

century• STAR monthly monitoring assessment• Identify the case of nouns• Read a Latin dictionary entry• Review the text features terminology when comparing maps

of Chicago over time

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PARENT411–MATHLEARNINGTARGETSFROMLASTWEEK

MATH1DAVISTER• STAR monthly monitoring assessment • Identify attributes of rectangles and squares • Identify attributes of triangles and circles • Divide circles and rectangles into two or four equal shares

MATH1-2JOHNSON• STAR monthly monitoring assessment • Complete the end of the year grade 1 math assessment

MATH2HANSON• STAR monthly monitoring assessment • Solve two-step word problems • Review and prepare for unit 4 assessment • Complete unit 5 pre-assessment

MATH3KORTH• STAR monthly monitoring assessment • Reflect upon and analyze unit 3 assessment • Round to find reasonable solutions • Relate addition to subtraction with equations and word

problems MATH3BECKER

• STAR monthly monitoring assessment • Estimate to determine the reasonableness of sum/difference • Write addition/subtraction word problems to show relation to

another problem • Dragon Dash • Review and prepare for unit 4 assessment

MATH3-4CARLSEN• STAR monthly monitoring assessment • Represent 2 digit by 1 digit multiplication using the area model • Use estimation to check work • Use the area model to solve multiplication problems • Solve multiplication problems using the shortcut method

MATH4-5FRELICH• STAR monthly monitoring assessment • Analyze and correct post assessment • Use multiplication strategies with fractions • Dragon Dash

MATH4-5DURANT• STAR monthly monitoring assessment • Complete unit 2 pre-assessment • Read and write decimals and fractions

MATH5MAYENSCHEIN• STAR monthly monitoring assessment • Divide with two decimal numbers • Solve division problems involving whole numbers and decimal

numbers

MATH5WATSON• STAR monthly monitoring assessment • Write a situation and solution equation to solve addition,

subtraction, multiplication and division problems • Write a word problem and determine if the answer is

reasonable MATH5-6FELDHAUSEN

• STAR monthly monitoring assessment • Represent real-world problems involving ratios and rates with

tables and graphs • Apply what has been learned about proportional relationships

to conversions within measurement

MATH6NOVAK• STAR monthly monitoring assessment • Identify and write equivalent expressions

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PARENT411–MATHLEARNINGTARGETSFROMLASTWEEK

MATH6-7VANSTRATEN• STAR monthly monitoring assessment • Review and prepare for module 12 quiz • Complete module quiz

ACCEL7FELDHAUSEN• STAR monthly monitoring assessment • Use exponents to represent numbers • Write the prime factorization of a number • Complete module 9 quiz

MATH8OLDENBURG• STAR monthly monitoring assessment • Review and prepare for module 10 quiz • Complete module 10 quiz

ADVALGEBRAFELDHAUSEN• STAR monthly monitoring assessment • Graph quadratic function using standard form • Graph quadratic functions that don’t have a “c” value

ADVALGEBRAIIFICK• Add, subtract, multiply, divide and graphing rational

expressions and equations • Graph rational functions

GEOMETRYKAROLIUSSEN• STAR monthly monitoring assessment • Learn and apply trigonometric reciprocal functions • Apply inverse trigonometric ratios to find angle measures

PRE-CALCULUSFICK• Describe a continuous function • Apply the three rules of continuity