Quarter 2 2017 Brownsville Elementary School

“Reading is a basic tool in the living of a good life.” By Mortimer Adler

Brownsville BEEline is published quarterly and distributed to all Brownsville Elementary School families.

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Kindergarten News

Third quarter will be filled with many new skills and experiences for our kindergartners. Some of the topics we will explore are: shadows and how they are made, telling time, maps, and money. We can’t wait to celebrate the 100th Day of School with a variety of activities! The grand finale to our unit on community helpers will be our amazing Community Day! Thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers!

Your Kindergarten Team

1st Grade

First grade is looking forward to a busy third quarter. We welcome the halfway point of the school year with festive 90th Day activi-ties emphasizing the fraction one-half. On March 2nd, we will celebrate Read Across America Day by bringing in favorite books to share with our friends in honor of Dr. Seuss’ birthday. First graders will investigate the accomplishments and contributions of Chief Powhatan, Pocahontas, Christopher Newport, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Maggie Walker and Arthur Ashe.

2nd Grade

We have been busy, busy BEEs in Second Grade this quarter and can’t wait to keep up the momentum in our third quarter! In math, we will begin to really dig into place value, estimation and rounding, continuing to work on addition/subtraction and our problem solving skills. In science, we will cover the ever popular Weather Unit! In social studies, we will wrap up the Native Americans unit that concentrates on the Powhatan, Lakota and Pueblo cultures. After that we will dive into economics and a fun study of our continents and oceans. We continue to work hard in language arts during our reading, word study and writing times. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with your teacher if you have any questions about your student! Here’s to a great third quarter!

The Second Grade Team

Ms. Carew, Mrs. Hunter, Mrs. Hyde, Mrs. Livermon, Mrs. McCreight and Mrs. Palmer

3rd Grade

Third graders will be hands-on in the third quarter! Students are excited to be learning multiplication. We began with arrays, drawings and models, and will move on to problem solving and division. Soon, groups will be designing and creating a multipli-cation garden! We also will enjoy science lessons this quarter, starting with some cool experiments using the scientific method.

4th Grade

Fourth grade has landed on the shores of North America as we have started exploring the founding of the first permanent Eng-lish settlement: Jamestown. In science we will be researching native Virginian animals and their habitats while we learn about ecosystems and their places in the world. We will unlock the mysteries of geometry and expand our knowledge of fractions and decimals to begin using them in computation. In our reading time we will examine the differences between history and fic-tion in historical fiction. Finally we will continue expanding our vocabularies with word study while putting our newfound words to use in a personal narrative that truly expresses who we are as students.

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5th Grade

Fifth grade's focus for the third quarter is continuation in building a strong reading foundation, breaking down each reading strategy of reading comprehension. Math during the third quarter is a fun time, as fifth graders will explore infor-mation that is mostly new—geometry, measurement, and statistics. The final stretch in preparation for middle is in full swing

Library

This nine weeks in the BES Library, all grades participated in the global event, Hour of Code! Learning to code develops problem-solving skills in even our youngest students. Favorite coding apps and websites this year were The Foos (app), and Code Combat (website). To explore coding resources, click on the library tab of the BES website. Be sure to follow @anneojames on Twitter for a glimpse of library happenings!

Art Beeline

Check out what we are creating in

Art at Brownsville

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Blog

http://thebesartblog.blogspot.com

Music

Our students have had a wonderful year in music classes so far, and we look forward to another semester full of creativi-

ty. Bravo once again to 4th and 5th grade for the hard work and ingenuity in December! The 2nd and 3rd grade level per-formances will likely be confirmed for the month of April, and kindergarten and 1st grade in May. These precise dates and times will be published soon! Thank you all for supporting the arts at Brownsville Elementary.

Destination Imagination: We currently have seven Brownsville teams. They will be meeting after school almost every day of the week. Get ready to cheer them on for their competition at Western Albemarle High School on Satur-day February 25, 2017. Everyone is welcome to attend the competition. If you are interested in DI for your child next year this is a great opportunity for you to see what the excitement is all about!

Counselor’s Corner

Warm winter greetings, Brownsville parents ! We have been “busy as bees” in the guidance department during the second quarter. A major focus of classroom guidance is showing kind-ness with our words and actions, and appreciating each oth-er’s differences. During our lessons, stories called “Each Kind-ness” and “The Three Questions” were read and discussed. Students also brainstormed ways to be kind at home, school and in their community. K-2 students also created a “Kindness Heart Bulletin Board” by drawing or writing ways to be kind to others inside paper hearts, which were used to create a giant heart mosaic to remind our students to “bee kind” during the holidays. In addition, students have been learning about the difference between the concept of jobs versus career, explor-ing careers based on individual interests, as well as creating “career me” figures, and sharing them with their classmates. We wrapped the quarter up with discussing the importance of taking responsibility for our mistakes, being honest (even when it’s hard to do), and learning a special acronym (S.T.A.—Stop, Think, and Act) to use when we want to have self-control.

Lunch bunches, social skill groups, and individual counseling for various issues have been conducted through-out the second quarter. We have also been lucky to have two career speakers visit us for our monthly “Career Café”, where students can learn about different careers during their lunch time. Our winter/spring group of safety patrols have been assigned their posts throughout the school to ensure safe be-havior in the hallways, and so far have been doing a fantastic job! As we approach the third quarter, the Brownsville school counselors will be exploring new ways to continue our “kindness” focus, and encourage a caring, empathic school community.

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Counselor’s Corner

We have had a busy 2nd quarter in grades 3 – 5 ! Third graders worked on bully prevention, learning skills, empathy and ca-reer awareness. Our third graders made posters addressing how to stand up to a bully and be a support for a friend or classmate who they feel is being bullied by another student.

Fourth graders continued to work on the Too Good For Drugs curriculum as well as career awareness, empathy for others and mindfulness training. We watched several great videos addressing anxiety and how to control it. The series is titled Go Zen. Video clips are short in duration but do a great job of showing how deep breathing, picturing a peaceful spot and exercise can all help us combat anxiety and be in control of our emotions.

Fifth graders worked on bully prevention, learning about em-

pathy for others and career exploration. Currently, fifth graders

are in the middle of their career unit. Each student has chosen

a career to research and explore. After 6 weeks , students will

present their chosen career to the class. The kids love this unit

because they feel some ownership of their chosen career.

Check out the great web site they are using for their research

(Va Career View).

Destination Imagination:

We currently have seven Brownsville teams. They will be meeting after school almost every day of the week. Get ready to cheer them on for their competition at Western Albemarle High School on Saturday February 28, 2017. Eve-ryone is welcome to attend the competition. If you are inter-ested in DI for your child next year this is a great opportuni-ty for you to see what the excitement is all about!

Physical Education

Students in PE continue to work hard and have fun in a wide variety of activities ranging from physical and cardiovascular con-ditioning to building athletic skills and sportsmanship through practice and cooperative games.

K-2 students have worked on building their physical, loco motor, and non-locomotor skills such as skipping, galloping, sliding, running, underhand roll and toss, while moving in space, changing speeds, and working together in groups. In addition, they have also been introduced to basketball skills such as dribbling, shooting, and the bounce and chest pass. They also participat-ed in a volleyball unit, where they learned about the underhand serve, bump pass, and set.

Also K-2 students participated in a gymnastics unit where they learned about balance, body control, and various rolls and sup-ports. Students continue to learn body parts and this grading period, they began learning some of the body's main bones and muscles. K-2 also began a dance unit, where they learned about rhythmic movement and learning patterns to various age ap-propriate dances.

3-5 students began learning about the bodies major bones and muscles and finalized that unit with a test of their knowledge. Students also participated in a gymnastics unit where they learned about balance, body control, and various rolls and supports. This unit ended with students completing a group gymnastics routine using the movements they learned. 3-5 students also began a basketball unit, concentrating on dribbling, proper shooting form, the bounce and chest pass and a volleyball unit con-centrating on the underhand serve, bump pass, and set. Students also participated in a dance unit, where they learned patterns to various dances and rhythmic movement.

Finally, all students have been enjoying their favorite PE games such as Hideout, Queenball, Partner Fitness, and games related to basketball and volleyball.

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BROWNSVILLE CALENDAR

February 10 Hive Jive 6:30-8:30 pm

15 PTO meeting 6:00 pm

20 School in Session. Snow make-up day.

23 Digital Learning Day

27 Spring BEE Program registration begins

28 Jump Rope for Heart

March 2 Variety Show 6:30 pm

3 Variety show in-school performance- time TBD

10 Families in Motion

14 PTO meeting 6:00 pm

14 3rd Grade Field Trip to VA. Museum of Fine Arts (Balnave, Simounet, Chernauska, Henry)

15 3rd Grade Field Trip to VA. Museum of Fine Arts (Robinson, Crotteau)

Kindergarten Registration for 2017-2018 School Year (on line)

16 BES Hive Night (formerly STEAM Night) 5:30-7:30 pm

22 5th Grade Field Trip: Festival of the Book. St. Anne’s Belfield 9:45 am-12:15 pm

31 School in Session. Snow make-up day.

April 3-7 No school- Spring Break

11 PTO meeting

12 4th Grade Field Trip to Jamestown

14 Individual and Classroom Pictures

17-21 Scholastic Book Fair

17 Spring BEE classes begin

19 5th Graders visit Henley for Orientation/Tour 9:45-11:20 am

21 Fun Fair

26 Mad Science Assembly

May 1-5 Teacher Appreciation Week

May 8 thru June 8 SOL Test Window in grades 3rd-5th

9 PTO meeting

Cans of Caring Food Drive - TBD

29 Schools and offices will be closed in observance of Memorial Day Holiday - No school for students

June 2 5th Grade trip to Lake Monacan Rain Date: June 5

6 PTO meeting

7 Field Day (no make-up if cancelled)

8 MUD: Moving Up Day 9:30 am.

9 Last day of school. Dismissal at 11:30 am.

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Art