Parent Pow-Wow Arrowhead Elementary School November 8, 2016 First Grade Mission Statement Arrowhead Elementary School, in partnership with family and community, will provide students with engaging and diverse learning opportunities in a safe and nurturing environment, enabling them to become life-long learners. Principal s Message Arrowhead Families, The 1 st quarter of school has come to an end! I think you will agree with me when I say that our year has already been filled with many great events. As is our tradition, our staff and families have shown a tremendous amount of school spirit. We began by sharing our HOPES for the school year. We welcomed new staff and students into our Arrowhead Family and started working on building strong communities of learners in our classrooms. While working hard and learning is always our first priority we also find time for some fun. Our PTA Halloween Bingo night was fun and a huge success our highest turnout yet! We also had our first PTA performance of the year where first graders impressed us with their songs and poetry. As we move into quarter 2, we will continue to work hard, learn new things, be good citizens, and have fun together. Be sure to check the calendar below and plan to attend the Book Fair Family Night and our annual Santa s Breakfast. As always, parents, my door is open and I welcome you to stop by anytime. Sincerely, Ben Gillikin, Principal Assistant Principal s Message Dear Arrowhead Families, The second nine-weeks of the 2016-17 school year is beginning and students are in full swing with learning at Arrowhead. As you review your child s report card, I want to remind you the rationale behind standardsbased grading. The purpose of standards based grading is to communicate students performance on specific grade level objectives using levels of proficiency as indicators to communicate progress. Below is a reminder of the different levels of proficiency and what they mean. Remember, these levels are not equivalent to the traditional A-E grading scale that the middle and high school students receive. Level of Proficiency AP = Advanced Proficient P = Proficient DP = Developing Proficiency N = Novice Descriptor Consistently demonstrates proficiency by grasping, applying, and extending key concepts, processes and skills. Regularly grasps and applies key concepts, processes and skills with limited errors Beginning to grasp and apply key concepts, processes, and skills Not making expected progress toward proficiency If you have any questions about the proficiency scores that your child is earning, feel free to reach out to your First child s Grade teacher for further explanation. Thank you for all of your support! Alison Reddy
Quarter 2 Grade Level Content Kindergarten Retell familiar stories using beginning, middle, and end. Identify simple facts and information relevant to a nonfiction selection. Write in a variety of forms, including writing to inform/explain, to offer an opinion and to narrate an experience (personal narrative). Math - Students will begin the quarter with geometry. Here students will compare and contrast shapes while classifying objects according to their attributes, position and location (orientation in space). Students will also build upon quarter one s instruction by extending past numbers through ten by studying numbers through 20. Students will count sets and identify corresponding numerals. In addition, students will compare sets using one-to-one correspondence. Science/Social Studies Students should investigate natural resources including properties of water and recycling. Students should also demonstrate an understanding of economic choices and how different jobs serve the community. First Grade Retell stories and events using beginning, middle, and end, including key details. Ask and answer who, what, when, where, why, and how questions about what is read. Retell nonfiction texts, identifying the main idea and important details. Gather and generate ideas in writing. Focus on one topic when writing. Revise by adding descriptive words when writing about people, places, things and events. Write in a variety of forms. Mathematics Students will continue their exploration of numeration in quarter two. Here students will practice skip counting and will begin representing and comparing numbers using Base-10 manipulatives. This exploration will help students as they move into computation and estimation where they will study magnitude as an introduction to estimation and will develop strategies for addition and subtraction. Science/Social Studies Students should investigate characteristics of animals, including life needs and adaptations. Students should also identify characteristics of an economic system and explain the role of money in an economy. Second Grade Ask and answer questions about what is read in order to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text in fiction and nonfiction. Locate information to answer questions in fiction and nonfiction. Summarize stories and important events with beginning, middle and end in the correct sequence in fiction and nonfiction. Describe characters, setting and important events in fiction and poetry. Identify the theme or main idea in fiction and nonfiction. Explain the author s purpose in fiction. Write in a variety of forms, including writing to inform/explain, to offer an opinion and to narrate an experience (personal narrative). Revise writing for clarity. Mathematics - The study of geometry will kick off the quarter. Here students will explore the similarities and differences between plane and solid geometric figures. The majority of the quarter will be spent analyzing the operations of addition and subtraction while using Base-10 manipulatives.
Science - Students should investigate basic types and patterns of weather and their impact on natural systems. Social Studies Students should describe the culture and beliefs of the American Indians groups and describe how the American Indians used their environment to meet their needs. Third Grade Literacy: - The following priority objectives will be the areas of focus for this quarter: The following priority objectives will be the areas of focus for this quarter: Identify the main idea or theme and the major events and details that support the main idea or theme in fiction and nonfiction. Describe character development and compare and contrast settings, characters, and events. Summarize both fiction and nonfiction text with an emphasis on including key details. Determine important information to support main idea, opinions and conclusions in nonfiction texts. Draw conclusions and make inferences based on nonfiction text. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to the task, purpose and audience. Use an inquiry process to write a short report. Mathematics - Students will continue to explore computation with whole numbers while grappling with single-step problem solving. The study of money, time and temperature will also formally begin within this quarter in the first measurement unit of the year. The quarter will end with students studying multiplication and division. Students will be exposed to multiple strategies to help develop a conceptual understanding of the operations. These will include number lines, set models and area models. Students will use these models to explore the inverse relationships between multiplication and division. Science - Students should investigate life processes of plants and animals, including relationships in living systems. Social Studies - Students should demonstrate knowledge and understanding of life in ancient Greece and continue the study of famous Americans and holidays. Fourth Grade Literacy - The following priority objectives will be the focus for this quarter: The following priority objectives will be the focus for the first quarter: Draw conclusions and make inferences about text. Ask and answer questions about what is read. Explain the author s purpose. Describe character development. Identify the main idea or theme and the major events and details that support the main idea or theme. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to the task, purpose, and audience. Use a variety of prewriting strategies. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar, usage and mechanics. Collect and integrate information from multiple resources including online, print and media, in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably. Mathematics - Students will explore geometry before moving into rational number numeration during this quarter. Students will explore polygons and define them by their characteristics. In addition, students will explore points, lines, line segments, rays and angles. Recognition of geometric transformations will be used to increase understanding of congruency. The majority of the quarter will be spent constructing meaning with numeration of rational numbers. Students will learn about factors and multiples, explore the different meanings of fractions, represent fractions and compare and order fractions. Similar work will be done with decimals. At the close of the quarter, students will explore the connection between fractions and decimals. Science/Social Studies Students should investigate important natural resources on Earth and in Virginia, as well as the interactions of plants, animals and nonliving components in a land and ocean ecosystem.
Fifth Grade Literacy - The following priority objectives will be focus for this quarter: Draw conclusions and make inferences from text, including inferences about character and theme. Identify the main idea or theme and major events and details that support the main idea. Draw conclusions and make inferences from text, including inferences about main idea. Ask and answer questions about what is read. Explain the author s purpose. Write personal narratives and write fiction. Organize writing to convey a central idea. Include supporting details that elaborate the main idea in writing. Revise writing for clarity of content and publish a writing piece to share with an audience of peers. Use precise and descriptive vocabulary to create tone and voice. Mathematics - During this quarter, students will explore numeration and computation with rational numbers. Instruction will focus on fractions, including improper fractions and mixed numbers, and decimals. Students will grapple with solving real-world problems, both single and multi-step, with fractions and decimals. This is a great place to encourage the use of Math Congress to increase the amount of communication in the problem-solving process. Science - Students should investigate the basic concepts of force, motion, energy, electricity and sound. Social Studies - Students should demonstrate knowledge and understanding of life in colonial Virginia and life in Virginia during the American Revolution. Online Application for Gifted Services in Virginia Beach City Public Schools For all VBCPS students, the online application for Gifted Services is located at http://www.vbschools.com/curriculum/gifted/. This site is a valuable resource for information regarding dates, application, and other information essential to the gifted application process.
Looking Ahead. November 10 Make-up Picture Day 11 Veteran s Day SCHOOL CLOSED 14-18 Book Fair Week 15 Report Cards Issued Family Book Fair Night 4 PM 6:45 PM School Planning Council Meeting 5:30 PM PTA Board Meeting 6:15 PM PTA Meeting (Grade 1 to perform) 7:00 PM 16 Educational Support Professionals Day 17 Family Book Fair Night 7:00 PM 8:00 PM 18 Citizen of the Month Breakfast 7:30 AM 23 Adjusted Dismissal Grades Pre K, 1-5 8:10 AM - 12:10 PM Morning Kindergarten 8:10 AM 10:10 AM Afternoon Kindergarten 10:10 AM 12:10 PM 24-25 Thanksgiving Holiday - SCHOOL CLOSED December 3 PTA Santa Breakfast 9:00 AM 11:00 AM 15 Progress Reports Issued 16 Citizen of the Month Breakfast 7:30 AM 20 PTA Board Meeting 6:15 PM PTA Meeting (Strings, Chorus, Gr 5 to perform) 7:00 PM 21 SCA Pajama Day 22 Adjusted Dismissal Grades Pre K, 1-5 8:10 AM - 12:10 PM Morning Kindergarten 8:10 AM 10:10 AM Afternoon Kindergarten 10:10 AM 12:10 PM 23 Winter Break Begins: SCHOOL CLOSED 12/23/16 1/2/17 January 3 School Reopens after Winter Break