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November 10, 2015

Volume 3 Algonkian Elementary

20196 Carter Court ▪ Sterling, Virginia 20165

▪ Telephone 571.434.3240 Fax 703.444.1917

▪ Absentee Line 571.434.3241

website: http://www.lcps.org/algonkian

Principal: Mr. Brian Blubaugh Bookkeeper: Mrs. Gayle Cowden

Assistant Principal: Ms. Karen Shields Attendance Secretary: Mrs. Gail Farrar

Principal Update

DEAR ALGONKIAN PARENTS,

We are finished with the first quarter of the year. There are many activities coming up in the second quarter.

American Education Week starts November 16th. On Monday second grade has their AEW activity. On Tuesday first grade has their Thanksgiving musi-cal. On Wednesday third grade has their activity. Thursday will be the Kin-dergarten pow wow and fourth grade Merry Maids activities. We conclude

with Friday’s fifth grade Turkey race.

This month students are demonstrating positive behavior and are challenged

to earn 2,500 bobcat tickets before Thanksgiving break. If students earn 2,500 tickets they will be rewarded with a student vs staff football game at 1:00 on November 24th. We invite parents to Algonkian to watch the game. This is a unique type of football game that requires paper bags on your head while sitting in a rolling chair.

All students receive a pink impact aid card. Parents need to fill out the card and return it to the school. We need to have all cards returned.

I want to thank Ms. Smith and all the volunteers for a special Veterans Day ceremony. The students put on a great performance for our Veterans and

community.

Our Toys for Tots starts November 16th and goes until December 17th. Toys

for Tots is looking for new and unwrapped toys. Boxes will be located at the front of the school.

Reflex is great way for students to learn their math facts. Students should practice math Reflex twice a week for about twenty minutes.

Brian Blubaugh

Principal

UPCOMING DATES

November 16 2nd grade AEW

November 17 Donuts for Dads

November 17 1st grade

Thanksgiving play

November 18 3rd grade AEW

November 19 KG and 4th AEW

November 19 Picture Make-ups

November 20 5th grade AEW

Turkey Race

November 24 PBIS football game

November 25-27 Thanksgiving break

November 30 3rd grade chat n chew

Assistance Notice

If, due to a disability, you need assis-

tance to enable you to participate

meaningfully in any of our school

programs, please contact Ms. Karen

Shields, Assistant Principal, at 571-

434-3240 at least five working days

prior to the activity.

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Professional School Counselors

Help Students Reach Their Potential!

A Recognized ASCA Model Program (RAMP)

Algonkian School Counseling

Join our School Counseling Advisory Committee to find out more about our School Counseling Program

and what it means to have an ASCA Model School Counseling Program!

Our School Counseling Advisory Council is composed of school and community members and is tasked with mak-

ing recommendations regarding student and community needs and advising the school counseling staff as it

strives to meet these needs. Our fall advisory council meeting is rescheduled for Dec 2nd! @ 2:50pm in

Ms. Ryan’s classroom (room 30)

Please email Ms. Ryan at Theresa.Ryan@lcps.org if you are interested in joining this committee! Interested in

finding out more about RAMP? Click on the following link: http://www.ascanationalmodel.org/

Ascanationalmodel/media/ANM-templates/ANMExecSumm.pdf

School Counseling Webpage http://www.lcps.org/page/40388

School Counseling Groups: Groups have begun. If you would like to add your child to a group please fill out a

group form. If you need another copy of the group form, click on the following link: http://lcps.org/

page/40405

Currently in School Counseling Lessons - Unit on Creating A Culture of Community

All classes are currently learning about and practicing group work skills using a project based learning

model. Students are examining real life connections to past group experiences, and connecting the im-

portance of group work skills to lifelong learning & career success. Students will then be able to utilized

these skills in their One To The World grade level projects.

ASCA Mindsets:

3. Sense of belonging in the school environment

6. Positive attitude toward work and learning

ASCA Behaviors: Self-Management & Social Skills

5. Demonstrate ethical decision-making and social responsibility

6. Use effective collaboration and cooperation skills

7. Use leadership and teamwork skills to work effectively in diverse teams

9. Demonstrate social maturity and behaviors appropriate to the situation and environment

Learning Objective(s):

Begin establishing an intellectually safe community of inquiry

Increase student ability to work successfully together in a group format

Connect group work skills to lifelong success in the adult world of work

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Check out PBIS on our webpage: http://lcps.org/domain/13641

When students feel safe, respected, and connected to learning, fun happens

naturally!

(Positive Behavior Intervention and

Support)

Algonkian’s PBIS framework is based on The 4 R’s

Respect, Responsibility, Relationships, and Ready

November Café Incentive is…

Football Toss on November 25th

Parents, please consider signing up to volunteer!

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0f4caaaa23a46

-cafeteria/

Teachers VS Student

Football Game

If students earn 2500 tickets in

November we will have a special

Students vs Teachers Football

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2015-2016 CHESS CLUB

3rd Chess Club Meeting

November 27th

2:45-3:45

** NOW In The Library!

Most of the parent volunteer that have helped in the past have aged out, and I am

desperate for parent help! No chess knowledge required!!

We always need adults that are focused on supervision!

Volunteer Sign Up: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0f4caaaa23a46-20152016/

Chess Club Webpage: http://www.lcps.org/page/40419, for dates and more information!

Chess Club Permission Slip: http://www.lcps.org/page/40421

Remember students need a NEW permission slip for every club date!

Ms. Ryan: 571-434-3242, theresa.ryan@lcps.org

Counselor Detective Game

For Parents & Students!

The 1st week of each month The Lorax will hide in a different page

within our School Counseling Webpages.

The first 5 students that find it & share with Ms. Ryan will get a

treasure from Ms. Ryan’s Treasure Box!

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““There may be people that have more talent than you,

but there’s no excuse for anyone to work harder than you

do.”

– Derek Jeter

Dear Algonkian Parents,

Greetings from the PE department. We are having a lot of fun here at Algonkian Elementary and every-one is working so hard and diligently. We as physical education teachers are so proud at the effort we see day to day in our classes. The younger students are grasping the skills they are being taught and the old-er students are setting good examples and striving to better their scores in the Fitness gram tests. Great job all of you!

Grades 1-3:

- Completed throwing and catching/Bean bag manipulation unit and activities.

- Short Jump Rope Manipulation Unit

- Completed hula hoop skills and manipulation.

Grades 4 and 5:

- Completed throwing, catching, and striking mobile objects.

- Completed Fitness Gram Testing.

- Completed additional Games for Recess Unit.

Currently and in the near future:

Grades 1-3:

- Kicking unit. Striking objects with feet, dribbling, trapping, and ball control.

- Working on Cup Stacking Manipulation and Dexterity.

- Introduction to scooters. (Increasing coordination, aerobic and anaerobic strength).

- Introduce and complete Long Jump Rope Unit.

Grades 4-5:

- Scooter introduction. (Increasing coordination, aerobic

and anaerobic strength)

- Ball skills (manipulation of ball) rolling, dribbling, passing, shooting, and catching.

- Preparation for the Algonkian Basketball league.

Enjoy the month!

Joe Terango and Kristen Barker

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Algonkian ‘s Cavern of Creativity

Hello Again from Ms. Michael! The students in art are making fantastic and cultural master-

pieces inspired by many amazing cultures, artists, movements, and stories. Here is a synopsis

of what each grade has created in art for the month of October:

So far this year the students and I have traveled to 5 continents:

North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania.

-Kindergarten learned about : India for the Global Hands Mural , Treasure Map

Cartography, Paleolithic Era for Cave Drawings, and Guatemala for Guatemalen

Tarantulas.

-First Grade has about: India for the Global Hands Mural, Treasure Map Cartography ,

Paleolithic Era for Cave Drawings and Hawaii for Hawaiian Petroglyphs.

-Second Grade has learned about: India for the Global Hands Mural, Outer Space for

Constellation Sefl-Portraits , and Mexico for Dia de los Muertos Toy Sculptures.

-Third Grade has learned about: India for the Global Hands Mural, Peru for Nazca Line

Carvings, France for French Gargoyles, and New York for Thanksgiving Origami Turkey

Floats.

-Fourth Grade has learned about: India for the Global Hands Mural, Google Earth Cartog-

raphy, and England for Modern Stonehenge.

-Fifth Grade has learned about: India for the Global Hands Mural, Personality Cartog-

raphy, and Peru for Ancient Incan Sundials.

Art Room Donations

First I want to thank everyone for the awesome donations!!! It means the world to me to

have your support. I do want to ask that you stop sending in paper towel and toilot paper rolls

- I am over flowing with them. However we are still in need of:

-Old CD’s -Plastic Bottle Tops -Small children’s toys- like from fast food restaurants -Baby Wipes - Buttons

-Soda Can Tabs -Tape- masking, transparent, and double sided -Bobby Pins

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Follow Algonkian

On Twitter

@ALG_LCPS

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Here is a link to the November menu –

https://www.schoolnutritionandfitness.com/webmenus2/#/view?id=55ccbe02eabc8860768b4567

Web App– Web menu School nutrition and fitness

Our Bobcat Buddies Program is off and running! Thank you to all the parents who are bringing

their students in on Thursday mornings to participate in a truly inclusive program. Up to this

point we have been able to work on communication, sharing and following directions as a small

group led by our 5th Grade Bobcat Buddy Mentors. Thanks you for your participation and support

in this program.

If you have any questions regarding the Bobcat Buddy Program please contact Karen Shields via email at karen.shields@lcps.org

Please join us on January 12th at 6:30pm at Countryside Elementary for dinner and

discussions.

This meeting will discuss strategies for working on behaviors at home. We will have

a make and take session with tools you can bring home and start using immediately.

Childcare will be provided at the school

ALL parents are welcome!

Please RSVP to Karen.shields@lcps.org by January 6th with the number of adults

and students who will be attending

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I have a lot of information to share with you this month and I would like to start by giving a huge THANK YOU to our PTA, Sue King and the delivery volunteers for supporting our Algonkian Food Recovery Program. The stu-dent’s are really embracing the program and learning about sharing what they don’t consume to help others in need. Way to go Bobcats! LINK COAT DRIVE – November 2nd – November 19th – Please help support our local community by do-nating new or gently used coats and gloves. This collection will be donated to LINK for their annual coat distribu-tion on November 21st. Last year LINK provided over 400 coats to local families. Coats can be new or used, just clean and in good condition. All sizes are accepted; infant, youth and adult. Bins for donations are located under the table in the foyer. I would also like to add that I do have new and gently used coats available for distribution to our Bobcat families and students who may have a need. Please contact me by calling the school or through email. All communication is strictly confidential. TOYS FOR TOTS – November 16th – December 17th – Algonkian’s Mentor Program and Equity Committee will be supporting the Loudoun County Marine Corps League by holding a toy drive November 16th the through December 17th. Toys for Tots is requesting new and unwrapped toys with a special effort to cover the newborn to 1 yr. old and teen category. Boxes for donations will be located in the foyer of the school. Anyone wanting to make a money donation can visit the Toys for Tots website at www.loudoun-va.toysfortots.org. ALGONKIAN EQUITY COMMITTEE – Our Equity Committee is here to serve our Bobcat family by ensuring that our instruction and interaction with students, staff and families is equitable. The Committee meets once a month and holds two open meeting dates during the school year. The dates for this school year are December 3rd and February 4, 2016. If you would like to attend or submit concerns or comments please contact either me or Theresa Ryan, School Counselor. LOST & FOUND - Just a reminder to please have your students check the Lost & Found. Items not claimed by Winter Break will be donated to a local charity in early January. The Lost & Found is located across from the Caf-eteria.

ALGONKIAN EQUITY COMMITTEE The Equity Committee is here to serve our Bobcat family by ensuring that our instruction and interaction with students, staff and families is equitable. We monitor activities, programs and projects to make sure they are rele-vant, diverse and support and represent all of our students and staff here at Algonkian Elementary School. The Committee welcomes parental/guardian participation and if you have an interest in attending the next open meeting or have questions, concerns or comments, please contact either Theresa Ryan, Counselor or Susan Smith, Parent Liaison. Open meeting dates will be December 3, 2015 and February 4, 2016.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to all the wonderful volunteers who helped with the book fair! Algonkian

broke a record and sold over $10,000 worth of books! In return we got $2,000 worth of book from Scholastic and

additional money for other library supplies.

Terry Jennings, who has taught writing classes at Algonkian the past couple of years has a new book out, Sounds of the Savannah. Terry has invited all of Algonkian to a book release party at the Reston’s Used Book Shop on

Saturday Nov. 7th from 1 to 5. 1623 Washington Plaza N. Reston VA (on Lake Anne) there will be Readings, Activi-ties and Lion Cookies! If you go be sure to say Hello to Terry!

Ms. Devinney

Algonkian Librarian

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School Improvement

Plan

School Improvement Plan (SIP) has been developed for Algonkian Elementary by staff and our leadership team. Annually, we review and revise our plan based on the data we receive. Our School Improvement Plan is available on our school website: http://www.lcps.org/Page/40302 and in our school office. We continue to have a School Improvement Plan Steering Commit-tee. If you are interested in participating on this committee or participating in the de-velopment of monitoring the School Improvement Plan, please contact

Principal Brian Blub-

augh at 571-434-3240.

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5th Grade

Fifth grader are continuing to prepare for the musical, “Why Mosquitoes

Buzz in People’s Ears”. The musical will take place on Thursday,

December 10, 2015. T-shirts will be sent home in the near future. Also,

this month I will be auditioning students for the 5th Grade All County

Chorus festival.

4th Grade

Fourth grade students are ready to honor our Veterans at the assembly

on November 10. Remember to wear red, white, and/or blue on

November 10!! For the rest of this month we will be reviewing reading

notes on the treble clef in preparation for playing recorder. Please look

out for information about purchasing recorders that will be sent home

fairly soon.

3rd Grade

Third grade students are just beginning to learn about reading note on

the treble clef. Next year they will be playing recorders, so they need to

learn to read the music in preparation. We will be focusing on note read-

ing for most of the month, but will also be doing a few Thanksgiving

related activities.

2nd Grade

Second grade students are ready to honor our Veterans at the assembly

on November 10. Remember to wear red, white, and/or blue on

November 10!! After the assembly, second grade students will be work-

ing on some Thanksgiving activities.

1st Grade

First graders are just about ready for our musical, “The First Thanksgiv-

ing”. The musical will take place on Tues., November 17 at 9:00. After

the musical we will be working on some fun Thanksgiving activities!

Kindergarten

Kindergarten students are ready to honor our Veterans at the assembly

on November 10. Remember to wear red, white, and/or blue on

November 10!! After the assembly, we will be working on some

Thanksgiving activities that continue to reinforce concepts such as steady

beat, vocal explorations, singing, echoing, and movement.

Music Class needs: We have several consumable materials that we

regularly use in music each year that are not included in instructional

budgets. Any donations of the following items are greatly appreciated:

AA batteries, AAA batteries, crayons, tissues, paper towels, iTunes gift-

cards. Students can drop these items either in my mailbox or in the mu-

sic room. Thank you in advance!

5th Grade Musical

“Why Mosquitoes Buzz in Peo-

ple’s Ears”

Thurs., Dec. 10, 2015 @ 1:30pm

& 6:30pm

1st Grade Performance

“The First Thanksgiving”

Tues. , Nov. 17, 2015 at 9am

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Nov. 2015

Technology

Mrs. Pauline Burkett & Mrs. Erin Jackson

Algonkian recycles ink! Yes, we will still take your old printer ink cartridges to recycle! If they are small just put them in a bag and place them in Mrs. Burkett’s or Mrs. Jackson’s mailbox. If they are of the larger variety – please bring them to the Computer Lab and place them near Mrs. Burkett’s desk. Algonkian students have access to some great technology sites. REFLEX is accessible from Grade Level Weblinks for grades 1- 5. Reading Eggs is en-couraged for our K and Grade1 students to access at home. I-ready is the tool students have access to that provides diagnostic data for teachers and leveled instruction for each individual student, as well as offering teachers the oppor-tunity to assign extra lessons for enrichment in a specific subject or learning strand. All are accessible here: http://www.lcps.org/Page/74962 If you come across a broken link on these pages, please let me know so that I may remove the link or find the correct pathway. Thank you and safe

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Although we as a society value the products of creative people, we often don’t know how to recog-

nize it or encourage that creativity in children. In the LCPS SEARCH program, teachers use

Thinking Keys to guide students in using different kinds of thinking for different SEARCH

lessons. Those keys, Perceiving, Connecting, Reasoning, Evaluating, and Creating, align with

Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy: Remembering, Understanding, Applying, Analyzing, Evaluating,

and Creating. Because we all recognize that different tasks require different levels and types of

thinking, we want to give students the opportunity to explore many avenues for successful prob-

lem solving in the classroom.

In SEARCH, we emphasize that creativity is a series of steps that can be practiced and, with

perseverance, can be increased. Many lessons ask students not only to create, but then to go back

and find ways to enhance and elaborate on their work. As they continue to work on projects, their

confidence in their ability to “be creative” increases.

“Traditionally, creativity has been viewed as an easy process, something that people with certain

traits were able to do while others without those traits could not. As our views of creativity have

become more informed, we have come to appreciate the role of hard work and revision in the

process.” Joyce VanTassel-Baska, Ed.D., College of William and Mary, 2004

Paul Torrance, the “Father of Creativity” identified four elements to creativity which he believed

could be used to identify both creative thinkers and creative products: Fluency (the number of

ideas generated), Flexibility (variety of ideas), Originality (uniqueness of ideas), and Elaboration

(details of ideas). Both in school and at home, children can be encouraged to look at tasks from

different perspectives, to continue to work on improving an idea, and to add details and

elaboration.

For further reading: http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/unwrapping_the_gifted/2011/07/

creative_thinking.html?qs=gifted+is+not

Ms. Peterson

Search Teacher Algonkian Elementary

SEARCH NEWSLETTER

CREATIVITY IN SEARCH