The "Lyons' Den!"

Middle School is calling!  I hope you all were able to attend the virtual curriculum fair last Thursday. If you were unable to attend, you can locate information and videos on everything that was shared on the Hungary Creek Middle School website. Beginning Monday, January 16th, families can review and confirm 6th grade core content courses and select 2 electives. To do this families should utilize the parent portal on PowerSchool using the students’ informational packet outlining 6th grade course selections that came home on January 3rd. The window for making selections closes on January 21st. After the window closes, you will no longer have access.

Kindness Week 1/23 – 1/27

Spirit Week ~ The Great Kindness Challenge 2023

Monday 1/23: Kindness Rocks! Be a rock star with your words and actions.

Tuesday 1/24: Peace, Hope, Love, & Kindness Day! Wear some groovy 70’s inspired clothing. Think tie dye and peace signs!

Wednesday 1/25: GAES House Colors Day! Sharing kindness across our GAES Houses!

Thursday 1/26: Positively Kind Saying or Picture Shirt! Wear a shirt with a positive message or happy picture on it!Friday 1/27: Work Out Problems with Kindness! Wear Workout gear!

Math: Last week we worked on adding and subtracting fractions with like and unlike denominators. This was a review of a 4th grade skill, so after some practice the students got the hang of this concept. This week students will be introduced to multiplying fractions – a much easier task! Be sure that your child continues to work on mastery of their multiplication facts as knowing the facts with automaticity is extremely beneficial with this unit on fractions. A quiz on multiplying fractions is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 20.

Reading: We will continue to focus on comparing and contrasting a variety of texts. We will be exploring the topic of mountain climbing in both fiction and nonfiction texts to show how they are alike and different. A quiz on comparing and contrasting is scheduled for Thursday, 1/19.

Our Greek & Latin Vocabulary #21  this week will consist of the roots grad and gres (step) and the prefixes able and ible (can be done). Be sure that your child is completing the daily practice to prepare for the quizzes each Friday.

Social Studies: This week in social studies students will be learning more about the natural resources and significant features of the Southeast. Later this week we will begin a fun in class project to review all that we have learned about the region! On Monday, 1/17, students will be bringing home a Southeast Region Study Guide to complete to prepare for the test on Tuesday, 1/24. Students should complete the study guide using the notes in their social studies notebook. Completion of the study guide is expected and counts toward the social studies homework grade. The study guide is due on Monday, 1/23.

It’s hard to believe, but 5th grade students are already making plans for middle school! Last Tuesday, students had the opportunity to hear from the guidance counselor and principal from Hungary Creek Middle School. Students also brought home an informational packet outlining 6th grade course selections. The 5th grade teachers will be making recommendations for the core classes (English, Math, Social Studies and Science) and PE. Students should be discussing and making decisions about the two electives they would like to enroll in for 6th grade. Parents can go on the PowerSchool Parent Portal beginning January 17th to select electives for their student. 

Hungary Creek Middle School presents “Wonderland of Opportunities” on Wednesday, January 11^th from 6:00 – 8:00.  ⅓ Curriculum Fair, ⅓ Arts at the Creek, ⅓ Innovation fair to support our Cubs as they transition to middle school.

Math: We are returning to our unit on fractions in math this week. Students will be working on adding and subtracting fractions with like and unlike denominators. Be sure that your child continues to work on mastery of their multiplication facts as knowing the facts with automaticity is extremely beneficial with this unit. A quiz on these skills is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 12.

Reading: Our focus this week will be on the skill of comparing and contrasting a variety of texts. We will be exploring the topic of mountain climbing in both fiction and nonfiction texts to show how they are alike and different.

Our Greek & Latin Vocabulary #19  this week will consist of the root dict (say, tell) and the prefixes tele (far) and neo (new). Be sure that your child is completing the daily practice to prepare for the quizzes each Friday. 

Social Studies: The students are loving learning all about the Southeast Region! This week we will learn about the climate, the significant features, and the physical features of the region. We will have a quiz on the 12 states and capitals and their geographic location on Tuesday, Jan. 10 and a quiz on the chapter 6 vocabulary terms on Thursday, Jan. 12. Be sure that your child is using their notebook and the state and capital study cards to review. 

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a relaxing and fun winter break. I am excited to welcome everyone back to school tomorrow and look forward to hearing about all the fun adventures that took place over the break!

 Winter Party Fun!            

Students had a blast at our Winter Party on the Friday before break! The pizza lunch set things off for an afternoon of fun! Thank you for sending in supplies, donations, and a special thank you to our parent volunteers for donating your time to make sure all the games, crafts, and snack stations ran smoothly. This is such a special memory that the students will have of their elementary school!

Hungary Creek Middle School presents “Wonderland of Opportunities” on Wednesday, January 11^th from 6:00 – 8:00.  ⅓ Curriculum Fair, ⅓ Arts at the Creek, ⅓ Innovation fair to support our Cubs as they transition to middle school.

WATCH D.O.G.S. (Dads of great students): If you would like to become a Watch D.O.G, please sign up here. 

Math: This week we will wrap up our review of probability. We will review key terms, tree diagrams, and probability as it relates to factions before testing Friday, 1/6. We will then turn our attention to fractions once again. In the upcoming weeks we will be focusing on computation. Please be sure that your child continues to work on mastery of their multiplication and division skills. 

Reading: We will continue with our unit on text structures that are used in nonfiction text (description, cause and effect, compare and contrast, chronological order and problem and solution). This week we will work on recognizing all 5 text structures in various texts. Understanding the author’s use of text structure helps readers understand the author’s purpose and helps with the development of strong comprehension skills. 

Our Greek & Latin Vocabulary #17  this week will focus on the root therm (heat) and the prefixes hyper, super (above) and hypo, sub (below). Be sure that your child is completing the daily practice to prepare for the quizzes each Friday.

Social Studies: We will begin our geography unit on the Southeast Region. This week we will learn about the 12 states and the capitals of the region as well as some vocabulary terms. A quiz on the 12 states and capitals and their geographic location is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 10. Be sure that your child is using their notebook and the state and capital study cards to review.

HCMS Music Field Trip:

We’re excited about our field trip to Hungary Creek Middle School on Thursday, Dec. 14. Students will have the opportunity to hear the HCMS students’ band and chorus perform.

WATCH D.O.G.S. (Dads of great students): If you would like to become a Watch D.O.G, please sign up here. 

Many of the students were clamoring to do a “Secret Pal” exchange in class before Winter Break. On Friday, I let them know that we would be doing something similar. Each day, students will get to complete a special note that I have started to give to their Secret Pal that they picked on Friday (i.e., a clue about who they are, telling one thing that they admire about their Secret Pal, telling one thing that is unique about their Secret Pal, a gift they would give their Secret Pal if they could, telling their Secret Pal why they are AWESOME). The key to our Secret Pal exchange is that the students cannot go out and purchase anything for their Secret Pal. I did tell them that, with your permission, they could bring in a small trinket of their own from home if they thought it was something their Secret Pal would like (a special eraser, pencil, pen, etc.). I think that this will be the perfect way to get the students into the true meaning of the holiday season.

GAES Night at VCU Basketball – December 17, 4pm: Kick off winter break at the Siegel Center.  If you love basketball or love to cheer on the Rams, join your fellow GAES cubs for the game.  We have a block of discounted tickets ($20 each – normally $25) and GAES PTA gets $10 back from each ticket sold. Our cubs will get to high five the players as they run onto the court for tip off. Click here to buy tickets.

Winter Wonderland Secret Shoppe: December 13th, 14th and 15th

Come check out our secret shop for our cubs this winter season. Students will be able to shop for gifts for family or friends and bring home wrapped gifts to surprise them.

Your children will be safe shopping at the school in the morning before school starts Additionally, the whole process is also very convenient for you and the kids. Cubs will have PTA helpers to help them select gifts for the folks on their list.We also want to make sure all our cubs can participate and we have financial assistance available. Please fill out this form if you are interested in learning more.

Math:

A Fractions and Decimal Unit Test is scheduled for Tuesday, 12/13. We will then take a break from fractions and review probability.

Reading/Language Arts:

We will continue our focus on organizational patterns/text structures. This week we will look at  problem and solution and sequencing, as well as review the three text structures discussed last week. Understanding these organizational patterns assists with the understanding of nonfiction text. We will also be reading Polar Express and work will be done in stations. Friday morning we will watch Polar Express and students will have to compare and contrast the book and movie. 

Our Greek & Latin Vocabulary #16 will focus on the root meter and metr (measure) and the prefixes .pre, fore, ante (before) and post (after).

Science:  We will wrap up our unit on energy transformations and transfers with a test on Wednesday, 12/14. Please be sure that your child is reviewing the Energy study guide and notes in their notebook to prepare for this test.

Cultural Arts Tree Lighting Event/HCMS Music Field Trip:

It was so wonderful seeing some of our talented 5th graders at the Cultural Arts Tree Lighting event on Saturday. Murphy enjoyed meeting some students too! Great job to to the students and Mr. Elston for all their hard work and for helping to put everyone in the holiday spirit!

More fun with music will take place on Thursday, Dec. 14, on the field trip to Hungary Creek Middle School! Students will have the opportunity to hear the HCMS students’ band and chorus perform. 

WATCH D.O.G.S. (Dads of great students): If you would like to become a Watch D.O.G, please sign up here. 

GAES Night at VCU Basketball – December 17, 4pm: Kick off winter break at the Siegel Center.  If you love basketball or love to cheer on the Rams, join your fellow GAES cubs for the game.  We have a block of discounted tickets ($20 each – normally $25) and GAES PTA gets $10 back from each ticket sold. Our cubs will get to high five the players as they run onto the court for tip off. Click here to buy tickets.

Pizza with a Purpose – GAES Spirit Night is tonight – December 5th 11am-10pm: Need to do some holiday shopping?  Grab dinner while you’re out tomorrow, Monday, December 5th at California Pizza Kitchen, mention Glen Allen Elementary when you order and support GAES PTA.  Not fighting the crowds?  GAES gets 20% of online orders from 11am-10pm too when you enter BACK20% at checkout. Glen Allen Elementary 12.5.pdf

Winter Wonderland Secret Shoppe: December 13th, 14th and 15th

Come check out our secret shop for our cubs this winter season. Students will be able to shop for gifts for family or friends and bring home wrapped gifts to surprise them.

Your children will be safe shopping at the school in the morning before school starts Additionally, the whole process is also very convenient for you and the kids. Cubs will have PTA helpers to help them select gifts for the folks on their list.We also want to make sure all our cubs can participate and we have financial assistance available. Please fill out this form if you are interested in learning more.

Math: Fractions will continue to be our focus this week. Students will have a makeup quiz on converting and ordering fractions and decimals from least to greatest and/or greatest to least on Tuesday, 12/6. Mastery of multiplication facts is fundamental to success with this unit. Please continue to practice multiplication facts with your child if they do not have automaticity with facts up to 12.

Reading/Language Arts:

This week we will be introduced to three organizational patterns/text structures: description, cause and effect and compare and contrast. Understanding these organizational patterns assists with the understanding of nonfiction text. 

Our Greek & Latin 14 will focus on the root astr (star) and the prefixes di, bi (two) and tri (three).

Science:  We will continue to look at energy in transformations and transfers in science this week. Please be sure that your child is reviewing the Energy study guide in the back of the purple folder as part of the daily homework. A quiz is scheduled for this Thursday, 12/8 and a test is scheduled for Thursday, 12/14.

I hope you all had a relaxing and enjoyable Thanksgiving Break! I look forward to hearing all about the wonderful times spent with family and friends tomorrow. 

Cultural Arts Tree Lighting/HCMS Music Field Trip:

This Saturday the GAES 5th graders will be participating in the Cultural Arts Tree Lighting event. I can’t wait to hear the wonderful performance that Mr. Elston has been working on with the students! 

More fun with music will take place on Thursday, Dec. 14, on the field trip to Hungary Creek Middle School! Students will have the opportunity to hear the HCMS students’ band and chorus perform. Be sure that your child has turned in the permission slip to take part in this fun experience!

WATCH D.O.G.S. (Dads of great students): If you would like to become a Watch D.O.G, please sign up here. 

GAES Night at VCU Basketball – December 17, 4pm: Kick off winter break at the Siegel Center.  If you love basketball or love to cheer on the Rams, join your fellow GAES cubs for the game.  We have a block of discounted tickets ($20 each – normally $25) and GAES PTA gets $10 back from each ticket sold. Our cubs will get to high five the players as they run onto the court for tip off. Click here to buy tickets.

Pizza with a Purpose – GAES Spirit Night December 5th 11am-10pm: Need to do some holiday shopping?  Grab dinner while you’re out on December 5th at California Pizza Kitchen, mention Glen Allen Elementary when you order and support GAES PTA.  Not fighting the crowds?  GAES gets 20% of online orders from 11am-10pm too when you enter BACK20% at checkout. Glen Allen Elementary 12.5.pdf

Math:

We will continue with our unit on fractions. This week we’ll work on converting fractions to decimals and decimals to fractions and then ordering them from least to greatest and greatest to least. Mastery of multiplication facts is fundamental to success with this unit on fractions. Please continue to practice multiplication facts with your child if they do not have automaticity with facts up to 12. A quiz on these skills is planned for Friday, 12/2.

Reading/Language Arts:

Drawing conclusions and making inferences will continue to be our focus in reading this week. We’ll also continue with our novel study, Among the HIdden. An open note quiz on chapters 1-5 is scheduled for Thursday, 12/1.Our Greek & Latin #11 focuses on the root chron (time) and the arium, orium (place where) and ment (result).

Science:  It’s all about energy in science this week! Students will investigate and compare different types of energy and investigate how energy is transferred and transformed.  Students will  complete a fun activity where they observe how energy can be converted from one form to another!

It’s hard to believe that Thanksgiving is just a few days away! We all have so much to be thankful for. Sending  wishes to you and your family for a very safe and happy Thanksgiving holiday! A reminder that school will be closed November 23 – 25.

Don’t forget to bring in and be ready to share the Tom/Tammy Turkey Writing Project tomorrow, Monday, November 21. I can’t wait to see the great ideas the students come up with!

Thank you for your generous donations of food items to support the Henrico Christmas Mother & Hunton Baptist Thanksgiving Basket. Our school collected over 6.000 items and House Omuhle was the winner for most items donated.

WATCH D.O.G.S. (Dads of great students): If you would like to become a Watch D.O.G, please sign up here. 

GAES Night at VCU Basketball – December 17, 4pm: Kick off winter break at the Siegel Center.  If you love basketball or love to cheer on the Rams, join your fellow GAES cubs for the game.  We have a block of discounted tickets ($20 each – normally $25) and GAES PTA gets $10 back from each ticket sold. Our cubs will get to high five the players as they run onto the court for tip off. Click here to buy tickets.

Pizza with a Purpose – GAES Spirit Night December 5th 11am-10pm: Need to do some holiday shopping?  Grab dinner while you’re out on December 5th at California Pizza Kitchen, mention Glen Allen Elementary when you order and support GAES PTA.  Not fighting the crowds?  GAES gets 20% of online orders from 11am-10pm too when you enter BACK20% at checkout. Glen Allen Elementary 12.5.pdf 

Math:

We will continue with our unit on fractions while also completing some fun Thanksgiving math review activities. Please continue to reinforce your child’s multiplication and division facts as this is so important to their success with fractions and decimals.

Reading/Language Arts:

We will use a variety of comprehension strategies as we complete some Thanksgiving centers. We will take a break from our Greek and Latin vocabulary due to the short week. Our novel study, Among the HIdden, continues this week. The students are loving this captivating page turner!

Social Studies:  In social studies we will wrap up our unit on geography with a test on Tuesday, 11/22. Students are really enjoying working on the RAFT projects! These will help to reinforce the geography vocabulary terms, as well as the 5 themes of geography.

It was so wonderful to celebrate our Veterans on Friday! The 1^st graders’ choral performance was the perfect way to highlight and thank them. 

Friday, November 18^th is the last day to donate canned food items to support the Henrico Christmas Mother & Hunton Baptist Thanksgiving Basket Can Food drive. Cubs will earn 1pt for their house for each item donated. GAES Community Service Q2.jpg.

Parent/Teacher Conferences:

I enjoyed meeting with many of you to discuss your child’s progress at parent-teacher conferences on Thursday evening. Please don’t hesitate to contact me should you have any questions or concerns.

WATCH D.O.G.S. (Dads of great students): If you would like to become a Watch D.O.G, please sign up here. 

Math:

We will continue to work on recognizing and creating equivalent fractions. We will also convert fractions to decimals, recognize the decimal equivalents, and how to compare and order fractions and decimals.

Reading/Language Arts:

Drawing conclusions and inference skills will be the focus in reading this week. This is such an important skill with reading comprehension.

We will continue with our novel study, Among the HIdden, this week! If you’re looking for something your child will gravitate toward in reading, consider getting the next book(s) in this 7 book series once we have finished reading this captivating novel.

Your child should be putting the final touches on their Tom/Tammy Turkey Writing Project that was sent home on November 1. The writing and creative disguises are due on Monday, November 21. I can’t wait to see the great ideas the students come up with!

Social Studies:  In social studies we will continue learning about geography, focusing on the five themes and specific geography vocabulary. Two quizzes are planned for this week. One on the vocabulary terms on Tuesday, 11/15 and another on the five themes of geography on Thursday, 11/16. Please be sure your child is reviewing the notes in their notebook to prepare for these quizzes. An in-school RAFT project will be introduced this week to assist with preparation for the Geography test on Tuesday, 11/22.

Thank you for all of your support of our Multiplication Ice Cream Challenge last Monday! This was such a fun way to reward the students’ hard work on mastering their multiplication facts.

We are excited to have our Veterans back in the building on November 11^th at 8:30 for our Veterans Day Program. Our 1^st grader choral performance will be such a highlight to celebrate them!  Please note all visitors will be required to sign in at our visitors center in the front office. You must bring a photo ID. Due to limited seating, students with special guests will be joining us in the auditorium with our 1^st grade. All other students will remain in their classroom where the program will be streamed to them. We encourage everyone to wear red/white/blue that day!

Glen Allen will be collecting canned goods and Thanksgiving basket items November 9 – 18 for our school wide community service projects. GAES Community Service Q2.jpg

Glen Allen ES Book Fair:

Our Book Fair will take place next week in our school library. Please see time changes for each day!!!

Nov. 8^th ~ 7:00 – 9:00 AM, 4:00 – 6:00 PM

Nov. 9^th ~ 2:30 -3:30

Nov. 10^th ~ 2:30-6:30Nov. 11^th ~ 2:30-3:30

Parent/Teacher Conferences:

End of Quarter 1 is this week. We have scheduled conferences for Thursday, November 10^th (In person) from 2:45 – 5:45 by appointment only. Sign Up Link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/508044BACA62CA13-mrs)

WATCH D.O.G.S. (Dads of great students): If you would like to become a Watch D.O.G, please sign up here. 

Math:

Our focus this week will be on recognizing and creating equivalent fractions. We will also look at decimal equivalents.

Reading/Language Arts:

We will be working on drawing conclusions about various texts we are reading using what we learn as we are reading, as well as what we already know about the topic. Using our inference skills will be key to drawing conclusions.

We will begin a new novel study on the exciting page-turner, Among the HIdden, this week! This is the first book in a 7 book series so be prepared for your child to request the next in the series!

Social Studies:  In social studies we will continue learning about the overall themes of geography. Students will be introduced to various terms to better understand geography. An open note quiz on landform vocabulary terms will be on Thursday, 11/10.

School Spirit Day on Monday, October 31! Wear orange and black to show your school spirit!

Our Multiplication Ice Cream Sundae challenge will take place tomorrow, Monday, 10/31. Thank you so much for assisting with the items for this well deserved treat! If you signed up to bring in any items please send them in to school tomorrow with your child (with the exception of ice cream which should be brought in at 12:30). Parents who volunteered to come in to assist should sign in at the office at 12:45 and then head down to room 19.

Thanks to your active participation in the Papa John’s Pizza Delivery Night, the “Lyons’ Den” was the winner for the 5th grade pizza party! I’ll keep you posted on the date for this as soon as I am made aware.

We had such a blast on our field trip to Richmond Walks on Friday! The students were enthralled with the information shared and had fantastic questions and answers to share with the wonderful site tour guides.

School News:

Glen Allen will be collecting canned goods and Thanksgiving basket items November 8 – 18 for our school wide community service projects.

Glen Allen ES Book Fair:
The Book Fair will take place on November 8^th from 7:00 – 11:00 and 1:00 – 5:00 and November 9^th – 11^th from 2:15 – 3:30 in the Library.

Parent/Teacher Conferences:
End of Quarter 1 is this week. We have scheduled conferences for Thursday, November 10^th (In person) from 2:45 – 5:45 by appointment only. Look for the sign up on Monday, 10/31. Teachers may also have appointments available on Tuesday. November 8^th (Virtual) in between professional development. Since we are a voting precinct we will not be having in person available on Nov. 8^th.

Math:

This week we will wrap up our unit on decimals. We will also spend time reviewing material learned over this first nine weeks. Be sure your child is completing daily homework to get practice with these skills. The Quarter One test will be on Thursday, 11/3 and will include 15 questions on all content learned the first 9 weeks.   

Reading/Language Arts:This week our focus will conclude our unit on context clues. Our vocabulary unit on Greek & Latin 8  will include the root hydr (water) and the suffixes ance, ence (state, quality) and ness (state, condition).

Social Studies:  We will begin learning about geography in social studies.. We will start with the 5 themes of Geography (Movement, Region, Human-Environment Interaction, Location, Place). Students will also be introduced to new vocabulary terms based on landforms. A quiz on these vocabulary terms will be on Friday, 11/4.

Students did a wonderful job on their Henrico Historical Projects! We displayed the projects in a gallery walk and students voted for Anisa and Madison to represent the Lyons Den. Congratulations, girls! This Tuesday, the GAES administration will vote on all of the 5th grade winners and select one representative for our school.  Students also worked on a computer program, Tinkercad, to create their individual representations of a Henrico County seal. One student will be selected to have their seal printed on our 3-D printer!