Galway Chronicle The Galway Pledge : We pledge to respect one another, to be trustworthy and fair. We will care about each other, and be good citizens. Above all else, I will take responsibility for my actions, in a quest to build a better you…and a better me. Volume 7 Issue 3 October 1, 2016 Dorothea Fuller, Principal Nichola Wallen, Assistant Principal Our Vision: Galway Elementary School will empower students to be valued, productive members of a global society. Principally Speaking: Thoughts on “Opportunity ” You often hear me use the word opportunity when I speak about our school. The definition of opportunity is an advantageous chance or favorable conditions. The staff and I believe that students must have every opportunity to excel and experi- ence success in school and we have a responsibility to provide a school environment that is ripe with opportunity. I would like to share two examples of the opportunity belief demonstrated at Galway Elementary. I believe Galway students are the bright leaders of the future. The fifth grade team, other staff members and I are purposefully developing leadership opportunities for our fifth and fourth grade students. One of my core beliefs is that high expectations must be partnered with opportunity. If indeed we want students to demonstrate leadership, then we must explicitly teach them what leadership looks like and provide a vehicle to demonstrate those skills. This year at Galway, students will produce the school television show, publish a school newspaper, peer mediate for younger stu- dents, design HardWork Café luncheons, make Student Government (SGA) decisions, recycle with the Green Team and keep students safe as patrols. They will assist in the media center, represent the school as ambassadors, read to younger students and advertise events. The SGA organizes the two major service projects at the school, the Can Food Drive and the Pennies for Patients. This is not an exhaustive list, but the beauty of these opportunities is that our entire school community will benefit from their experiences. I am forever thankful for all of the staff members who volunteer their time to sponsor these opportunities. The current research states that student involvement and decision-making at school improves academic performance. Both third and fifth graders have an opportunity to apply to the county magnet pro- grams during October. MCPS will send home letters to all 3rd and 5th grade parents. Ms. Curtis, the school counselor, will visit every fifth grade classroom in the next few weeks to discuss programs available for middle school. A special parent meeting will be scheduled at Galway to answer parent questions. I want to encourage parents to get the information, talk with your children and apply before the deadline of Novem- ber 4. I will contact many of you in the next few weeks to discuss this opportunity. “Success is where preparation and opportunity meet” Bobby Unser Galway Chronicle 3 UPCOMING EVENTS October 3 No School for Students & Staff October 7 Progress Reports Distributed Family Food Market 6:00-7:00 pm Clothes Drive 5:30-8:00 pm October 10 Open House 9:30-11:00 am Volunteer Training 11:15-12:30 October 12 No School for Students & Staff October 14 PTA Sock Hop October 18 Kindergarten FT-Spicknall Farm October 20 1st Grade FT –Butler’s Orchard October 25 Hard Work Café October 26 5th Grade FT-Strathmore October 28 Fall Festival 2:45-3:30 pm PTA Scholastic Book Fair
Transcript
Galway Chronicle
The Galway Pledge : We pledge to respect one
another, to be trustworthy and fair. We will care about each other, and be good citizens. Above all else, I will take responsibility for my actions, in a quest to build a better you…and a better me.
Volume 7 Issue 3 October 1, 2016
Dorothea Fuller, Principal
Nichola Wallen, Assistant Principal
Our Vision: Galway Elementary School will empower students
to be valued, productive members of a global society.
Principally Speaking: Thoughts on “Opportunity ”
You often hear me use the word opportunity when I speak about our school. The
definition of opportunity is an advantageous chance or favorable conditions. The
staff and I believe that students must have every opportunity to excel and experi-
ence success in school and we have a responsibility to provide a school environment
that is ripe with opportunity. I would like to share two examples of the opportunity
belief demonstrated at Galway Elementary.
I believe Galway students are the bright leaders of the future. The fifth grade team,
other staff members and I are purposefully developing leadership opportunities for
our fifth and fourth grade students. One of my core beliefs is that high expectations
must be partnered with opportunity. If indeed we want students to demonstrate
leadership, then we must explicitly teach them what leadership looks like and provide
a vehicle to demonstrate those skills. This year at Galway, students will produce the
school television show, publish a school newspaper, peer mediate for younger stu-
dents, design HardWork Café luncheons, make Student Government (SGA) decisions,
recycle with the Green Team and keep students safe as patrols. They will assist in the
media center, represent the school as ambassadors, read to younger students and
advertise events. The SGA organizes the two major service projects at the school, the
Can Food Drive and the Pennies for Patients. This is not an exhaustive list, but the
beauty of these opportunities is that our entire school community will benefit from
their experiences. I am forever thankful for all of the staff members who volunteer
their time to sponsor these opportunities. The current research states that student
involvement and decision-making at school improves academic performance.
Both third and fifth graders have an opportunity to apply to the county magnet pro-
grams during October. MCPS will send home letters to all 3rd and 5th grade parents.
Ms. Curtis, the school counselor, will visit every fifth grade classroom in the next few
weeks to discuss programs available for middle school. A special parent meeting will
be scheduled at Galway to answer parent questions. I want to encourage parents to
get the information, talk with your children and apply before the deadline of Novem-
ber 4. I will contact many of you in the next few weeks to discuss this opportunity.
“Success is where preparation and opportunity meet” Bobby Unser
UPCOMING EVENTS
Galway Chronicle 3
UPCOMING EVENTS
October 3
No School for Students & Staff
October 7
Progress Reports Distributed
Family Food Market 6:00-7:00 pm
Clothes Drive 5:30-8:00 pm
October 10
Open House 9:30-11:00 am
Volunteer Training 11:15-12:30
October 12
No School for Students & Staff
October 14
PTA Sock Hop
October 18
Kindergarten FT-Spicknall Farm
October 20
1st Grade FT –Butler’s Orchard
October 25
Hard Work Café
October 26
5th Grade FT-Strathmore
October 28
Fall Festival 2:45-3:30 pm
PTA Scholastic Book Fair
JOIN US FOR OPEN HOUSE AND
PARENT VISITATION DAY
Monday, October 10th is a special day where we welcome all
parents to visit our class-rooms and to see student learning in
action! The Columbus Day holiday for many parents is a “no
work” day and we welcome you to Galway Elementary. Stu-
dents should come to school on time and enter the building by
9:25 am, as on a typical school day. Parents are invited to sign
in at the APR and have coffee until 9:30 am. This gives visitors a
chance to sign our visitor log and get a visitor sticker before the
visitation begins. After teachers take attendance, complete the
lunch count and get the children focused for learning, parents
will join students in the classrooms. Recess begins at 11:00 am,
and we will announce the end of our official visiting hours at
that time. We hope that you will be able to join us anytime be-
tween 9:30am and 11:00 am on Monday, October 10, 2016 for
a visit. Unfortunately, due to space restrictions, we do not have
room for parents to join their child for lunch in our lunchroom.
Please remember that Open House is a day for parents to visit
the classrooms; other arrangements should be made for the
care of younger siblings and extended family members to pro-
tect the integrity of instruction.
Volunteer Training
Immediately following Open House, all parents interested in
becoming volunteers can attend Volunteer Training at 11:15-
12:30 pm. If you are unable to attend this training, evening
training will be offered at a later date. All volunteers in the
classroom must attend volunteer training at Galway. You only
need one training. Parents may take the Child Abuse and Ne-
glect Training in the computer Lab immediately after the Vol-
unteer Training. All field trip volunteers must take the Child
Abuse & Neglect online module before participating on a field
trip. Proof of completing the online module must be given to
the school. You may forward the email you receive confirming
the course or bring the proof to the office yourself. Do not give
the proof to your child to avoid it being misplaced.
FREE AND REDUCED MEALS
Applications for this school year must be submitted by
October 1 in order for this service not to be interrupted.
Parents and guardians will need to submit just one appli-
cation that lists all the children in their household who
attend Montgomery County Public Schools. YOU MUST
REAPPLY EVERY YEAR. FAILURE TO REAPPLY CAN RE-
SULT IN DISRUPTIONS OR NO MEAL SERVICE TO YOUR
CHILDREN. If you need assistance with completing the
application, please stop by the office and someone will
help you complete it and submit the new application.
COMIDAS GRATIS Y REDUCIDAS
Aplicaciones para este año escolar se enviarán antes del
1 de octubre en para este servicio no pueda ser inter-
rumpido. Los padres y tutores tendrá que presentar una
aplicación que muestra a todos los niños en su hogar que
asisten a las escuelas públicas del Condado de Montgom-
ery. DEBE VOLVER A APLICAR CADA AÑO. VOLVER A AP-
LICAR PUEDEN FALLAR EN INTERRUPCIONES O NO HAY
SERVICIO DE COMIDA A SUS HIJOS. Si usted necesita
ayuda con llenar la solicitud, favor de pasar por la oficina
y alguien le ayudará a completar y presentar la solicitud.
SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT TEAM (SIT)
We are always looking for parents to join our team. We
meet to review our progress towards improving student
achievement. We welcome the valuable input we receive
from the parents who participate on the SIT. Please call
our office or send a note if you are interested.
ACTIVITY BUS
The activity bus is one of the benefits Galway
students experience due to the fundraising ef-
forts of the PTA. Activities at Galway are sched-
uled from 4:15-5:15 pm due to school dismissal times.
Kindergarten students should not ride the bus during the
first semester unless they have an older sibling on the bus
due to safety concerns. Kindergarteners often become
confused with the frequent stops and different routes
taken by the activity bus and are unable to tell the bus
driver where they live.
Students riding the activity bus will not get home in the
same amount of time as the regular bus route because the
activity bus makes numerous stops dropping off all stu-
dents riding the bus. Unfortunately, during this season,
some students may get home when it is dark. Please feel
free to pick your child up from the activity at 5:15pm if you
are uncomfortable with the long ride or the time of night.
Second Grade Newsletter
October 2016 Ms. Akindana • Ms. McKnew • Ms. Amaya • Ms. Kunk • Mr. Aaronson
Mr. Samson • Ms. Ogden • Ms. Schaefer • Mr. Morina
Celebrations
● We are off to a great start in second
grade! Students are very excited
about the new school year.
● Thank you for purchasing and
donating supplies!
Spotlight on Academics
Reading: Students will ask and answer questions about key details in a text. They will know and use various text features to locate key facts in text efficiently. Students will also determine and clarify meaning of unknown words and phrases in fiction and nonfiction and participate in collaborative conversations Writing: Students will continue to develop their narratives by investigating mentor texts to identify craft moves authors use to improve their writing. The students will use these craft moves to improve their own writing. Students will also participate in peer conferencing for revisions and editing purposes. We will start research so we can write about leadership and also to state an opinion about the qualities of a leader. Math: Students will mentally determine 10 more/less and 100 more/less than a number within 1000. Students will organize, represent, and interpret data with up to four categories. Students will draw picture graphs and bar graphs to represent data and solve problems using information from the graphs. Students will solve addition and subtraction word problems within 100. Science: Students will investigate Earth’s atmosphere to identify its components and make connections to the water cycle. Students will examine how humans use technology to both pollute and clean Earth’s water and air. Students will identify and describe natural features found locally in Maryland and on the ocean floor. Social Studies: Students will identify and explore leadership positions and organizations that help to maintain safety and order in the community. Students will determine democratic skills and attitudes associated with being a responsible citizen. Students will examine how choices affect self, family, school, and society.
HOME EXTENSIONS: Little Bird Tales is a storytelling and e-learning tool that can be implemented in hundreds of ways, and is great for kids of all ages, even for children who can't read and write! Follow the link by clicking on the Media Center link on Galway’s webpage http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/galwayes/
SPOTLIGHT ON ACADEMICS Our Thinking and Academic Success Skills (TASS) for Marking Period 1 (MP1) are Collaboration and Synthesis READING: Students will identify and examine how an author or speaker uses reasons and evidence to support particular points and explain their ideas, opinions and inferences during collaborative discussions. Students will make inferences to identify the main idea of a text. WRITING: Students will continue to create believable characters. They will work to create a story using various writing strategies. To build background before writing an original historical fiction piece, students examined how characters impact the outcome of a story. SCIENCE: Students applied the engineering design process as they constructed terraria and aquaria to model both a land and a water ecosystem. Throughout this marking period students will use these models to explore the concepts of living things, their basic needs, and the relationships between living organisms to each other and to the non-living components of an ecosystem. MATH: Students extend and apply grade 3 understandings to fluently add and subtract multi-digit numbers using the standard algorithms (traditional method). Students are also expected to use place value understanding and properties of operations to explain computation with the standard algorithms. It is expected that Grade 4 students who are fluent with their understanding of addition and subtraction are flexible in their choice of strategies and can justify the efficiency of their choice. They will also work collaboratively to solve and explain problems that require higher level thinking. SOCIAL STUDIES: Students will learn how Native Americans adapted to the environment of Maryland and how the cultures of these eastern woodlands tribes were derived from the environment. Students explore and gather information about how needs for food, clothing, and shelter were satisfied.
October 2016
Fifth Grade
We are off to a great start this year! The children
have settled right into learning.
In reading, we will be moving into reading and analyzing informational texts. We will continue to
learn reading strategies that support us when
reading different types of texts.
Students will continue to strengthen their story writing skills in the month of October. Towards
the end of the month, we will also begin to
research and write about energy sources to tie
writing in with science.
In math, we are wrapping up volume of
rectangular prisms and moving on to studying
decimals and place value. The understanding that
a digit in one place represents ten times what it represents in the place to its right and a digit in
one place represents one-tenth of the place to its
left is crucial for the students to have for this
unit.
*Please continue to support students in studying multiplication facts at home!
How do you know something has moved? Ask
your child! In science, we are studying force,
energy, and motion, with a focus in friction and gravity. We will also be learning about different
