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Godley Station School Newsletter
1/21/2014
Happy Birthday Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr
....I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will
not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
....I have a dream that one day....little black boys and black girls will be able to join
hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
Thank you, Dr. King, for giving us the dream and allowing us to experience the reality.
Thank you for paving the way for our school, where individuals are judged by content of
their character.
Student Success
As if Godley Station School’s domination at the Student Success Expo competitions was
not enough, Clifford, a Godley 8th grade student recently won the Region 3 (All
Counties in Southeast Georgia) Public Speaking Contest. His medal was awarded last
Wednesday at Savannah Arts Academy before hundreds of people. Clifford also came
in 3rd place for Public Speaking at the Student Success Expo. Next moth Clifford will
travel to Perry Georgia and compete for the FBLA State Championship for Public
Speaking. Join us in wishing him luck! Another 8th grade Godley Station School student
student, Justin, came in 4th place for Creed Extemporaneous Speaking. Godley Station
School’s FBLA was awarded another certificate for maintaining the largest FBLA
chapter in the state.
Additionally, once again this year, Godley Station School will add more students to its
GEP (Gifted Education Program) than any other school in our county as of today.
Honor Assemblies
Honor Assemblies will be held this week (January 21st and 23rd) as scheduled. Students
who are receiving an award brought home an invitation last Wednesday. We hope
you are able to attend. If so, please:
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Plan to enter by the gym.
Please plan to leave your child in school until the conclusion of the school day.
Please do not bring balloons.
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Please do not park in a way that will block traffic along the carpool loop.
Additional parking is available in the field area just inside the carpool loop along
Spring Lake Drive.
Student Safety
Please be sure to check your child’s pockets and book bag each day before he or she
heads to school. Sometimes students accidentally leave items in their pockets that
could lead to extreme consequences. We reminded all students last week of our
amnesty box located by the media center. Any child may drop any item in the box
with no consequence. Such items are not returned.
January Testing
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Our kindergarten and first grade students will take their 2nd benchmark
assessments of the year this month in math (mCLASS:math) and reading (Dibels).
Based on the progress monitoring the teachers have conducted, we expect
phenomenal results.
Our 2nd through 8th grade students will take their 2nd benchmark assessments of
the year this month in math (MAP) and reading (SRI). Remember, students in
grades 2, 4, and 7 must meet the gateway requirement for these two tests in
order to be considered for promotion. Expectations are below.
January SRI scores will be sent home with 2nd – 8th grade students in this
Wednesday’s communication folder.
PTA NEWS
Friday, February 7th, Family Valentine’s Day Dance at the West Chatham YMCA 7:00
p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Safety
Please do not stop to drop your child off from Benton Boulevard or Spring Lake Drive.
Doing so creates major, life-threatening risks to you, your children, and other drivers.
Please use our carpool line and allow us to keep our students safe.
KAP Campaign
KAP works with the American Diabetes Association in order to educate the public about diabetes and to
help find a cure. Every year, Godley Station School holds several fundraising events to make this a
success. We began our first fundraiser of gift baskets in October. In December we sold ADA bracelets.
Thank you for helping us make the first two first Kiss A Pig fundraiser successful. The next KAP event will
be help on February 13th, 2014. Students may dress down on February 13th, 2014 for $2.00. All
proceeds will go to the American Diabetes Association.
Changes To The District’s Promotion Regulation
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The Savannah-Chatham County Public School System is working to
increase the literacy and numeracy of all students to ensure their future
academic success.
Students in grades 2, 4, and 7 must demonstrate their competency in
Reading and Mathematics to be eligible for promotion to the next
grade. The requirements will increase each year.
Current Lexile and RIT scores were noted on the report card this year.
The required Reading and Mathematics proficiency levels are as follows:
Lexile & RIT Gateway Requirements
Grade
Level
School Year
Lexile
RIT
2nd
Grade
2013-2014
300
181
4th Grade
2013-2014
605
201
7th Grade
2013-2014
855
216
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Lexile – A common metric to evaluate reading ability as measured by the
Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI), a research-based, computer-adaptive
reading comprehension assessment.
RIT – An equal interval curriculum scale used by the District to evaluate
mathematics proficiency as measured by the Northwest Evaluation
Association (NWEA) Measures of Academic Progress (MAP), a
computerized adaptive assessment.
Reading
There is no better way to improve a child’s ability to read than by simply reading a lot.
Student Arrival
Please help us keep our students safe and remember students should not arrive on
campus before 8:00, unless they are enrolled in a tutorial program. Students may not
enter the building until 8:00 and no supervision is provided until that time. Tutorial begins
at 7:15. Please be certain your child makes it safely in the front door before leaving him
or her for tutorial.
Vehicles on Campus and “Walker” Students
We must put the safety of our students first. All walkers are expected to depart from
campus by foot. Any vehicle driven onto campus to pick a child up from school must
use the carpool line and carpool process in the front of the school. Thank you for
working with us to keep our students safe.
Battle of the Books
Stevi B's has the Ultimate Reading Challenge. Read 10 books and receive one free kid's
buffet. Also, for every book you read you will get 3 tokens. The class that turns in the
most bookmarks by the end of February will receive a pizza party. If you need
more bookmarks let the PTA know or stop by Stevi B's.
Online Textbooks for K-5
Access your K-5 textbooks online at home from your computer.
Directions:
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Go to the website: www.eduplace.com
Find e-services for Houghton Mifflin on the bottom of the page.
Click on e-services.
Enter username and password:
User Names:
chathamstudent5 (for 5th grade)
chathamstudent4 (for 4th grade)
chathamstudent3 (for 3rd grade)
chathamstudent2 (for 2nd grade)
chathamstudent1 (for 1st grade)
chathamstudentK (for Kindergarten)
Password: password
Yearbooks
Yearbooks are on sale for $30.00. Please make your check payable to Jostens and
send to 1st Grade teacher Sarah Jones.
Twitter
Want to be the first to know what is going on at your child’s school? Please follow us
at: https://twitter.com/GSSPrincipal
Practice for the CRCT and other Tests
The GaDOE recommends using OAS for CRCT prep. While teachers and students have
individual logins, there are generic logins so students can practice questions at home
parents can see the types of questions. Access OAS: www.georgiaoas.org
Gifted Education Program (GEP) and Specials News
Stay connected with connections. Check out our websites located under Godley
Station School’s
Webpage http://internet.savannah.chatham.k12.ga.us/schools/gss/default.aspx
On the left hand side, under the Gifted section is Specials. Click on Specials and you will
find information about Art, Band, Music, P.E. Spanish, and Technology. Check us out!
What is Your Child Doing in Spanish Classes?
Please check our websites for up to date information. Students taking Spanish in
elementary will continue learning simple vocabulary words based on first semester or
second semester Spanish and grade level. Students taking Spanish as a Middle School
connection will be introduced to the expectations and syllabus for connection Spanish
this week. A parent letter was sent home to communicate important information. HS 7th
grade will continue working on grammar structure. If you are not receiving Ms.
Castañeda-Leal’s emails for 7th grade HS credit Spanish, please send her an e-mail at
[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. Please check
out Señor Jones’ website for all assignments and information concerning 8th grade H.S.
Spanish. www.hablaespanol.webs.com<http://www.hablaespanol.webs.com>.
Art Department News -- Mrs. Sims' Art Classes
Seventh Grade - Mrs. Karfakis's and Mr. Thomas' Classes
A new year, and new art students!! We are preparing for the LINKS New Beginnings
Youth Art Exhibit at the SPACE Gallery in early February. This annual exhibit showcases
area talent to create works of art which commemorate the experiences, successes and
struggles of African Americans, both locally and throughout the nation. Students will
create works of art based upon the artwork by famous African American artists such as
Faith Ringgold, Charles Alston, Romare Bearden, Aaron Douglas, Emma Amos, and
many others. The students may choose to do paintings, collage, pencil drawings, pastel
paintings or colored pencil drawings.
We took our SLO Pre-Assessment this week (SLO means "Student Learning Objectives")
which assesses their understanding of particular seventh grade art concepts and skills.
At the end of the semester, we will again assess their growth in understanding of these
same concepts and skills with a SLO Post-Assessment.
Sixth Grade - Mr. Bell's Class
This is a new group of art students, also. These students are preparing works for the LINKS
New Beginnings Youth Art Exhibit. Their works will be based on the works by the artists
named above. And, like the seventh grade classes, the students may choose to do
paintings, collage, pencil drawings, pastel paintings or colored pencil drawings.
Fourth Grade - Mrs. Eason's, Mrs. L. Howard's, Mrs. Abbott's, and Mrs. Ross' Classes
These fourth grade classes are all launching into a fun unit learning about the Egyptian
Cartouche. They will learn what the various hieroglyphs mean and make a "message",
which their classmates can decipher. There are various fun activities which accompany
this unit which will further their understanding of Egyptian culture and the astounding
discoveries which were made in the 1920's with the locating and unearthing of
Tutankhamen's Tomb. We'll talk about the mysteries and tragedies which occurred with
this endeavor. They will really learn a lot!!!
Third Grade - Mrs. Martin's, Mrs. Povie's, Mrs. Reynold's, Mrs. Evans’ and Ms. Harris'
Classes
Our newest project will be learning about collage. Based upon Shel Silverstein’s funny
poem, “Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out,” these classes will
look through magazines and cut out a large assortment of pictures of food items. They
may include a couple of surprising additions which one might find in the garbage: a
tennis shoe, a dirty shirt, an old sock, etc., but our focus will be on things one would
usually find in the kitchen garbage can. We’ll read the poem first, of course, and make
a list of all the things the author notes about the trash. We also have an excellent
opportunity to list the adverbs and adjectives he uses, many of them onomatopoetic
words. Third graders just LOVE these! Related activities involve a worksheet on recycling,
composting, and actual non-recyclable materials, plus a word search puzzle. They will
have a great time in this unit!
Second Grade – Ms. K. Howard’s, Ms. Wallace’s, Mrs. Powell’s, Mrs. Solomon’s and Mrs.
Hudgins’ Classes
The second graders are launching into a project called, “Enchanted Villages.” We will
look at the architecture of St. Basil’s Cathedral in Russia, the folk-style homes in the
Slavic regions on Eastern Europe and Russia, view Persia and Arabic architecture, the
Taj Mahal in India, and some of the Buddhist temples of China. We will draw upon our
knowledge of various shapes to create our villages, then decorate our village houses
with the nine types of line we learned about previously. We will color these in either
crayon or oil pastels, and finish them with a coat of water paints. These turn out so very
colorful and are quite delightful to view!
First Grade – Mrs. Jones’ and Mrs. Bethune’s Classes
How would you like to learn how fabric is designed and printed for clothing? That is just
what these first grade art classes are learning. We have watched a video about how
artists design the patterns, make a color chart for the designs, then send these to the
fabric printers to create a “strike off.” The “strike off” (something like a “proof”) goes
back to the designers to approve, and then back to the fabric printers to print the
designs onto the fabric. The students really enjoyed seeing how this process occurs. We
are making our own “fabric” (on manila paper) for a project called, “My Cool, New
Tee-Shirt.” Students will utilize the nine types of line they have already learned, and use
their Sumo Wrestler crayon lines to make beautiful patterns for their “fabric”. In between
their Sumo Wrestler lines they will use Whisper coloring to set off their bold line patterns.
(Ask your son or daughter if they can describe for you what Sumo Wrestler Crayon lines
are and what is Whisper coloring – they will enjoy telling you what they’ve learned!)
Once our “fabric” is completed, we will cut out the pattern drawn on the back and put
our “Cool, New Tee-Shirts” together. When finished, they will write a little story about
their tee shirts and draw a picture of them wearing it!
Kindergarten – Mrs. Fresenburg’s, Mrs. Henle’s, Mrs. Corbett’s, Mrs. Goss’ and Mrs.
Owsley’s Classes
Don’t be fooled by the small size of these students. They can do some really big stuff!
Our new project is called “My Magic Carpet.” We talk about having a magic flying
carpet and how we could fly anywhere in the world. Then we utilize the nine types of
line we learned previously and, together, as a class, draw our lines, very big, all the way
across our paper to create a beautiful magic carpet. We will go over our pencil lines
with Sumo Wrestler crayon lines in bright colors. (Ask your Kindergartner what Sumo
Wrestler Crayon lines are. They will enjoy telling you about them!) Once we have
finished our beautiful line designs on our “carpets”, we will go over our entire paper with
thin black tempera paint. The heavy, bright colors really pop through the black paint.
When our paints are dry, we will cut white paper fringe to glue on the two ends of our
magic carpets. These look so pretty hanging in the hallways!
Gifted Education
Twitter
Want to be the first to know what is going on in gifted education at our school? Follow
Ms. Key-Smith at : https://twitter.com/joykey-smith
80 is the minimum grade gifted students should make in any class. If your child has an
average below an 80, please schedule a conference with your child’s classroom
teacher. You may do so by calling (912)395-6000.
Mrs. Barnes and Ms. Key-Smith have Edmodo accounts; parents are welcome to join.
Ms. Key-Smith’s has resources for gifted parents and students. Mrs. Barnes has helpful
information related to her advanced content math classes. If you would like to join the
Edmodo group accounts, please e-mail them for their group code at:
[email protected]
[email protected]
Jennifer Nash, an archaeologist from Georgia Southern, kicked off our 3rd grade
Archaeology Unit on Thursday, January 9th. She brought a wealth of information as well
authentic tools used in the field of archaeology. The students were able to observe and
handle artifacts found in our area. On Friday, the third grade gifted classes will travel to
Wormsloe to participate in a simulated archaeology dig activity. Next month, they will
be traveling to Massie to learn about local archaeology in Georgia’s history. Finally, we
will visit the Archeobus, a traveling kid friendly bus at Armstrong Atlantic at the end of
February to participate in many hands-on archaeology activities.
Governor Deal has proclaimed January, Gifted Education Month. Our students are
celebrating all month by attending various field trips, competitions, and enjoying a
variety of hands on enriching activities. We would also like to allow our students to be
able to enjoy some hot chocolate during our gifted resource classes this month. If you
are able, we would greatly appreciate parents donating Styrofoam cups, instant hot
chocolate mix, and marshmallows. We are very thankful for our gifted students and this
time to celebrate their giftedness!
Community Events
Free Tutoring
What a find! Public Libraries are now providing FREE online tutoring through tutor.com
for students in grades K-12 every day from 3 PM - 10 PM!!! Students simply need to have
access to a public library card, internet access, and a computer, Smartphone, or
tablet.
FREE VIDEO STREAMING!
Live Oak Public Libraries card holders can now stream or download movies, television
shows, and audiobooks, all available for mobile and online access through Hoopla
digital – all you need is your library card!
Go to: http://www.liveoakpl.org/services/hoopla.php
Digital Literacy Rally at Garrison School of Performing Arts Tuesday, January 21,
2014 from 6:00-7:30 P.M.
Please join us as we offer an exciting evening designed to create awareness for parents
of the many technology rich learning opportunities that exist throughout SavannahChatham Public Schools. Interactive booths and prize giveaways (provided by our
business partner Comcast) will add to an exciting event that will help parents
understand and get excited about the many benefits of technology in education!