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Phone: 973-6405 Fax: 973-9751

April 3rd, 2015

Dear Stony Point Families, This year’s March will be remembered for the early morning phone calls from Dean Tisdadt informing us that schools are closed. I know that I will remember it as the month of the canceled Mid-Year Review. Our school’s Mid-Year Review, a time when teachers come together to look at student achievement data and modify instructional plans, was postponed on three consecutive Thursdays because of school closings. It was good to finally see March 20th, the Vernal Equinox and First Day of Spring arrive. Despite the cloudy days, the Arts at Stony Point had opportunity to shine. Students in all grade levels had an opportunity to display their amazing artwork at the Fashion Square Mall from March 1st through March 15th. As usual, our incredible art instructor, Mary Lou Lundgren, has been doing a fantastic job at working with teachers to integrate the visual arts into lessons and inspiring students to communicate and express themselves through artistic media. She had the difficult job of selecting student work that would represent our school, and had many fine examples to choose from. Stony Point was well represented and stood out above the crowd, from self-portraits to mobiles that explore principles of balance and movement. On March 25th fifth grader representatives from all elementary schools in the county gathered together to participate in the annual Fifth Grade Honors Choir at Monticello High School. I was proud of those who represented us at the event; not only because of their excellent voices, but also because of the way they so naturally demonstrated a cooperative attitude and discipline for learning. Thanks to Erin Owney, our amazing performing arts teacher for leading them. Nina Kaplan and Kristen Martel, Co-Chairs, headed up our annual auction, and many others on our PTO joined in with the hard work and dedication it took to make our Stony Point School’s 79th annual auction a great success. We had a phenomenal evening that was lots of fun with great food, but also raised over $9,700 to support our classrooms and students. The funds are used for a variety of needs including special programs, instructional support, scholarships, and class trips. The evening even included a performance by the UVA Pride Lion Dancers. It is evident that the members of our PTO highly value the education that their children get at Stony Point School, if you haven’t been able to participate as an active member in the past, please consider doing so in the future however you are able. In closing, congratulations to Ms. Whitney Bullock, Z95.1 Teacher of the Month and Ms. Julia Trammell-McGill, our Golden Apple Award winner for the 2014-2015 school year. Whitney and Julia are great representatives of the heartfelt dedication that the teachers at Stony Point bring to our students. Have a happy, relaxing, and safe Spring Break! Andy Johnson

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Spring Pictures Wear your favorite shirt and your best smile for our annual spring pictures on Tuesday, April 21st. This is a reschedule from April 1st. Remember that pictures are pre-paid by parents and payment should be sent in on or before picture day. Fifth Grade News Despite all of the weather delays and closures, fifth-graders have worked hard in all academic subjects. We were treated to a guest teacher, Mr. Minot Clements, sharing his expertise in the field of light and sound energy. Students participated in small group investigations with Mr. Clements. Students have participated in many different types of maker projects, including making sound instruments. In language arts, fifth-graders have completed non-fiction research projects and are now beginning to write persuasive essays. If you’d like to see fifth-grade classes come alive, watch as they discuss and write about persuasive

topics such as whether or not TV is good for you or if school uniforms should be required! We will visit middle schools on Friday, April 17, and we will visit Chancellorsville Battlefield sometime later in April to coincide with our study of the Civil War in Virginia. Art News You may have seen some requests for plastic. We’ve begun to think about an all-school project. Using Dale Chihuly, a famous glass-blowing artist as inspiration, we’ll be making colorful sculptures. We’ll need #6 recyclable clear plastic and clear water/soda bottles. I’m excited to see what we’re inspired to make. www.chihuly.com

The Pride, UVA Lion Dancers at Stony Point School’s 79

th Annual Auction.

Mobiles on display at the

ACPS Art Show at Fashion

Square Mall.

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Fourth Grade News In Fourth Grade, students are deep into their Jamestown history studies, and beginning science work on plant life. Fourth graders are the proud caretakers of some newly-sprouted plants! Work will include several experiments with what a plant’s primary needs are, and examining plants in various stages of their life cycle. In math, students have been working with fractions and decimals, and exploring their real-life application (including cooking and measurement). In language arts, students are finishing their Jamestown book and writing a historic fiction letter from the perspective of a Jamestown character. The entire grade level enjoyed a special field trip to hear award-winning author Kate DiCamillo!

PE News Spring is around the corner and that means the Virginia Wellness test for all fourth and fifth graders. March has been a great month as we had Super Kicks Martial Arts Karate hosted a two day hands-on workshop. The instructors were awesome as they led all students thru A JUNGLE RUN and then engaged them in a great game of SNAKE. They stressed respect and discipline from a family values vision. We also engaged and finished Stony Point’s version of Jump Rope for Heart. Each child jumped during their P.E. time. We had 40 students jump to raise money for the American Heart Association reaching a total of over $1,200. Enjoy your spring and good luck to each and every student involved in a spring activity. Thanks, Mr. Flint and Tee Jones Third Grade News Third grade has been extremely busy! We wrapped up our study of ancient Mali by visiting the Frontier Culture Museum and skyping with someone who has lived in Mali, Africa. We had so many questions for him!

Coin designs for a new colony

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We’ve now started our investigation of ancient Greece. We’re wondering so much about their culture, architecture, and mythology. As the weeks go by, we’ll do the work of historians – asking questions, finding answers, and asking more questions. Also we spent a day at the Greek agora trading goods in order to get the ingredients to bake homemade bread. We enjoyed sharing it with our families! In the art studio, we’ll be working with Ms. Mary Lou to begin planning for the Grecian urns we’ll be creating. In math, we have been working on multiplication strategies – skip counting, repeated addition, arrays, making or drawing groups, and using the algorithm – for solving 2-digit by 1-digit multiplication problems. We are also starting new book groups in reading. Along with reading and discussing a group text with quality conversation, we have taken on the new responsibilities of Discussion Director, Summarizer, Illustrator and Passage Picker. We’re looking forward to the exciting conversations we will have together about our new books.

Music News Fourth and fifth grade students have been working hard at the recorders! We are so excited that each grade level will be featured playing a recorder piece for the spring concert. Our concert will be April 28. We will be singing and playing in this concert! Second and Third grades are learning all about folk music! We have learned how to play chords C and G on the ukuleles to the song “Lil Liza Jane” and “Old Joe Clark.” Coming this spring students will be building lap dulcimers. Dulcimers are a stringed instrument perfect for playing and singing folk music. Kindergarten and First grade are pleased to announce they will be performing their first musical called “Too Much Noise!” Please look for information coming in Friday folders soon! Second Grade News We have begun our study of Ancient Egypt. The highlight of our unit will be “mummifying” our chickens. As we wrap up the school year, culminating activities will include comparing and contrasting three very unique cultures- Ancient Egypt, Ancient China, and Native Americans.

Student work on display at the ACPS Art Show

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Second grade teachers would like to meet with parents before the year ends. Look for more information about dates and times. We are looking forward to our field trip to the Safari Park and Natural Bridge in May. Look for more information about dates and cost.

Library News We had a very successful spring book fair. Special thanks go to the volunteers who came to set up, pack up and contribute their time as well as all the families who came to support this fundraiser. Third and fourth grade students were given a very special gift from the Festival of the Book, Candlewick Press and Kate DiCamillo, 60 copies of Kate DiCamillo’s Newbury Award winning book, Flora and Ulysses. Each 4th grade student was given a personal copy and a set was kept for the bookroom. We also went to hear a very motivating talk given by Ms. DiCamillo who is the 2014 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. I am certain there were many students who were inspired! First Grade News First graders are looking forward to observing the changes that spring brings! We will begin working on

autobiography and timeline projects that help us to understand past, present and future. We continue to learn strategies to help with addition and subtraction facts and are investigating place value and fractions. Lastly, we are beginning to investigate states of matter by looking at how solids and liquids interact with each other Salon News National Geographic Explorer’s article on wolves fascinated everyone! The Lone Wolf? article asked us to discover how living in a group helps wolves survive. We discussed the Sawtooth pack that Jim and Jamie Dutcher lived with for many years. www.livingwithwolves.org is a great resource that explains why wolves are important to our ecosystem.

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Kindergarten News In March we celebrated Read Across America day and the birthday of this month’s author study—Dr. Seuss. His trademarks of rhyming text and outlandish creatures have kept the students intrigued. Kindergartners have also been learning about good dental health and healthy food choices. The students enjoyed reading Dr. Rabbit and the Tooth Defenders and getting their own toothbrushes to take home. Pre-k News The current focus in preschool has been on moving, making, and doing! The preschoolers have been busy exploring different types of vehicles, tools, and construction sites. Our sand table has been filled with construction vehicles that preschoolers have been busy building roads with and moving sand with dump trucks to build towns. Our block area has turned into a workshop where the preschoolers have been having a blast building with styrofoam pieces that they have held together with golf tees as nails. The preschoolers even got to do their own wood-working project and build their own trucks!

Mark your calendars June 1st – Gallery Walk June 2nd – QuestFest June 5th – Field Day June 8th – Promotion Ceremony Thank you….. Stony Point Artists Sea creatures – 5th grade Self-portraits – 1st grade Animals – 1st grade Coin designs for a New Colony – 4th grade Grecian urns – 3rd grade

5th Grade Honor’s Choir at Monticello High School

Stony Point is a publication of Albemarle County

Public Schools. It is published monthly and

distributed to all Stony Point families.