Save the Dates
Jan. 10: Venable Electives higlight at School Board meeting, 5pm
Jan. 11: K-4 Student of the Week Assembly, 8:30am-9:00am Jan. 16: Parent Discussion at Johnson Elementary, 6:30-7:30pm--How To Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk Jan. 17: Ms. Goyea's class to the fire station, 9:00am; End of 2nd Quarter Jan. 18: Teacher workday; no school for students Jan. 21: Martin Luther King holiday. No school. Jan. 23: National Handwriting Day. Some classes will be participating in "Mail to the Chief," sending handwritten letters of advice to Mr. Obama for his second term. 4th graders to MLK for el Spectaculo dress rehearsal. Jan. 24: Mrs. Minor's class to the fire station, 9:00am Jan. 25: College Spirit day. Bingo Night, 5:30pm in the gym Jan. 28: Clubs resume Jan. 29: PTO Meeting, 5:30pm in the library Jan. 29-31: CogAT testing in 1st grade Jan. 31: Mrs. Payne's class to the fire station, 9:00am; Golden Apple Award Nominations due to Mrs. Kershner; Report Cards go home in Thursday folders Feb. 1: K-2 Student of the Week Assembly, 8:30am-9:00am Feb. 7: Mrs. Shook's class to the fire station, 9:00am Misprint on Thursday FoldersThe Thursday folders indicate that Thursday, January 24 is a teacher workday. This is a misprint. We are in school that day!
Please also note that the PTO meeting date for January has been changed to Tuesday, Jan. 29. Bingo Night is Around the CornerDon't miss one of the favorite Venable events of the year--Bingo Night! Come to the gym ready for some fun and prizes. More information will be coming home soon in the Thursday folders.
el Espectáculo
On January 23 at 7pm, Charlottesville City Schools will present its first ever el Espectáculo at the Martin Luther King Performing Arts Center at Charlottesville High School. The program will highlight the achievements of kindergarten through fifth grade students in our Foreign Language in the Elementary School (FLES) program.
Venable All-Star Fitness ChallengeMark your calendars for this joint venture between Charlottesville Parks & Recreation and Venable Elementary. What a better way to burn off extra energy from the Spring Carnival (on Friday, March 22) with a Family Fitness Challenge the next morning, Saturday, March 23! For more information about the course, registration and how you can be a part of this fun event, please visit the Fitness Challenge website. You can also stay updated about the Challenge on Facebook.
Golden Apple Award NominationsIf you would like to nominate your child's teacher for the annual Golden Apple Award, please do so by January 31. A paper copy of the nomination form went home in Thursday folders in October. If you would like an additional copy, you may contact the office or download the form here.
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New Morning News Program LaunchedOn Friday, December 21, our first group of 4th grade newscasters broadcast on Venable TV a happy holidays message to our school. Beginning January 7, the students will be producing a live morning news program, to take the place of our morning announcements over the intercom. Every two weeks a different group of fourth graders will be working with Ms. Kohstall and Ms. Schrank to deliver the daily announcements to the school.
New Art BlogMs. Wolf, our art teacher, has created a blog to keep you updated on the projects students are doing and the skills they are learning in art. Take a look at her first blog installment here. There are some great pictures of Venable student art as well as an updated list of needs for the art room.
Club Sponsors NeededDo you have a hobby or passion you'd like to share with students? We are in need of some volunteer club sponsors for the upcoming after school club sessions. Clubs in the past have included Lego Club, Comics Club, Geocaching Club, Creative Writing Club, Photography Club...Clubs will meet Mondays, Tuesdays, or Thursdays from 3-4:15. If you are interested please let Traci Martin know ASAP. The Session Dates are listed below.
Session 2: January 28-March 4 Session 3: March 11-April 15 Mid-Year Formal Testing ScheduleJanuary marks the mid-point of the year, making it an important time to get a formal assessment of student mastery of learning objectives thus far. Venable is participating in district term testing in reading and math in grades 2-4, as well as science and social studies in grade 3. Term tests are designed to imitate SOL tests and are taken on the computers, giving teachers immediate feedback about how their classes are doing as a whole and on individual student performance. This makes them useful tools for adjusting instruction and providing necessary intervention and enrichment.
The schedule for these tests is subject to change, but currently set for the following dates: Jan. 9: Grade 3 Science Jan. 10: Grade 2 Reading Jan. 11: Grade 3 Reading Jan. 15: Grades 2 & 3 Math Jan. 16: Grade 4 Reading & Grade 3 MAP Math Jan. 17: Grade 4 Math All first graders will also be participating in the Cognitive Abilities Test. This test is given to all first graders in the division each year. The CogAT is a group-administered test designed to assess students' abilities in reasoning and problem solving. Unlike the tests our 2nd-4th graders are taking, the questions are not content-specific. Instead, they measure broad verbal, quantitative and nonverbal skills. The three portions of the test will be given Jan 29-31, with a practice test on Jan. 24. A letter to parents will come home on the 24th with the practice test. Math Exemplars Information Coming HomeIn this week's Thursday folders you are receiving a flyer with information about math problem solving procedures we've been teaching through Math Exemplars. Each student at Venable (and CCS) practices several Exemplar problems over the course of the quarter and then does one independently at the end of the quarter. Student responses are assessed on a rubric that looks at problem-solving strategies and the student's ability to communicate both the strategy/strategies and the solution to the problem. These tasks involve real-world problems and allow for differentiation by modifying the core problem with more accessible or more challenging mathematics. We hope that you find this flyer helpful as you work with your children on math problem solving homework at home.
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