Lovettsville Connection
December 2023
Dear Families,
November was a month filled with wonderful opportunities for learning and sharing with each other and the community. A highlight this month was our Veterans Day Assembly. Under the leadership of Mr. Ford, we celebrated over 75 veterans from our community who represented all branches of the military. Our 4th and 5th grade chorus also participated in the Town of Lovettsville Veterans Day Ceremony the following day which was a special celebration of the many veterans who live in our community and beyond. We appreciate all the time people spent preparing our Wall of Heroes which created such a warm welcome for our veterans and guests. We also appreciate our amazing LOV PTO for organizing the coffee and delicious treats for our veterans to enjoy prior to the ceremony.
The PTO Brainiacs Spirit Night was another wonderful opportunity for parents to enjoy a fun night and support the PTO at the same time and we are excited for the upcoming Glow Dodge Ball event on December 1st.
We were treated to another wonderful PTO spirit day for the staff and had a special delivery of Thanksgiving pies. We cannot thank them enough for all they do for the school and the community. If you have not already joined the PTO, please consider doing so and join us at all their amazing events.
We look forward to a busy December as we wrap up 2023 and prepare for all the fun 2024 will bring.
Best wishes to everyone for a happy and healthy holiday season!
Respectfully,
Linda Textoris
Principal
Hello LOV Families,
I hope you all love your Art to Remember gifts. Thank you for supporting our fall art fundraiser… It was our most successful fundraiser in years! I’m so thankful for all of our LOV families and your continued support of our art department and your child’s creativity!
Here is what our busy LOV artists have been up to during this crazy holiday season…
Kindergarten: We are working with clay! Yay!!! I won’t give away any holiday surprises, so I will just say, they are absolutely loving working with clay. : )
1st Grade: 1st graders are working on a special snowman art project based on the story, “Snowmen at Night”. They are learning about adding value and shade to their artwork.
2nd Grade: 2nd graders are busy glazing their Native American inspired pinch pots and learning how to draw in 3D. Please ask them to show you how to draw a 3D coffee cup.
3rd Grade: We coordinated with the 3rd grade team and are working on our own Balloon’s Over Broadway art project! It’s been a blast seeing their creativity come to life! Next, we are working on a mixed media polar bear art project.
4th Grade: 4th graders are working on special winter art projects and diving deeper into learning more about the elements of art. I’m overwhelmed with the talent in this grade!
5th Grade: 5th graders will be glazing their clay projects (not giving away any surprises!) and starting a beautiful winter landscape drawing.
*** Grades K, 2, and 5 will be bringing home pottery in the next few weeks. We wrap up the pottery to keep it safe to take home and love any recycled newspapers and plastic grocery bags donations!
Sending my warmest holiday wishes to you all! Looking forward to the amazing things we will do in 2024!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Rancourt
LOV Art Teacher
Hello Lovettsville Families,
We will be wrapping up Lesson #4 from Second Step Bullying Prevention Curriculum in the first part of December. This lesson will focus on bystanders and upstanders (K-3) and cyberbullying (4 -5). The school and home partnership is a vital component of successful bullying prevention. As always please feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns.
Please click HERE for the Second Step Bullying Prevention Follow Up Home Links for the classroom lessons being taught in each grade level. Thank you!
Good Digital Citizenship
The holiday season often brings new technology into many households. We encourage you to take a few minutes to visit https://www.commonsensemedia.org/ and check out the Parents Need to Know section. You will find current information on social media, gaming, security and privacy, and reviews of current media.
As we have experienced in the last few years more than ever, technology is here to stay both in and out of school! It continues to be extremely important for parents and educators to work together to ensure we are teaching children how to appropriately navigate the digital world.
LCPS Attendance Resources
The 2023-24 school year has fostered lots of awareness and discussions regarding LCPS School Attendance policies and initiatives. Please check out the LCPS Attendance Resource page for helpful information. If you have questions regarding chronic absenteeism please take a look at the LCPS Frequently Asked Questions about Chronic Absenteeism . The Lovettsville UMHT is committed to working with families to address attendance concerns. If you child is experiencing school refusal, school worries, or there are extenuating circumstances impacting attendance please reach out to us! We are here to help 😀
CONTACT INFORMATION
Katie Routzahn: Monday - Friday
Supporting K, 2nd, 4th
Stephanie Kersten: Monday - Friday
Supporting 1st, 3rd, 5th
540-751-2470
Our School Counseling Webpage: https://www.lcps.org/domain/29416
Students have been busy in library!
Grades K-2 continued to work on making predictions and connections with stories that were read aloud. Students in K-1 also had the opportunity to get creative with LEGOS, Keva Planks, Duplo Blocks, and MagnaForms. Students in second and third grade learned about what information needs to be kept private when going online.
Third grade students explored animals from Antarctica using the online resources in LCPSGO.
Fourth grade completed a WebQuest on space using World book online. 5th grade completed a break out on the Rock Cycle.
Kindergarten and first grade students worked on retelling a story using the beginning, middle, and end. Students in grades 2, 4, and 5 are currently working on fiction vs nonfiction and the different genres of fiction. We will continue this throughout the year.
Please remind your student that they can return library books any day. They do not need to keep them until it is their scheduled library day. If your child forgot their books on our scheduled day please bring them in the next day to return and get new books.
Be on the look out for a winter reading challenge to complete over the holidays!
Happy reading!
Students have been singing, playing, dancing, and composing to music. In the month of December, students in Kindergarten and First grade continue to find their voice through vocal exploration activities and singing games. Second grade students are engaging in singing and rhythm games to reinforce new rhythm concepts in music. Students will also start to learn the joys of solfege! Third, Fourth, and Fifth grade students will be learning about the treble clef staff. Students will also compose complex rhythms for unpitched percussion instruments.
ANNOUNCEMENT: Winter Chorus Concert
Please join us on Thursday, Dec. 14th at 6 pm for our Winter Chorus Concert. The concert will be held in the Cafetorium and will feature our 4th and 5th Grade Chorus.
Mr. Ford thanks all parents for your support of our music program! Please feel free to contact him anytime through email at antonio.ford@lcps.org !
In PE, we have introduced a fun way to give student choices. For daily warmups exercises and activities, students are given a choice from 8 different ways to exercise. They can choose any 5 and do them by themselves or with friends. It is a simple example of Personalized Learning in PE.
Next on our activity calendar is basketball related skills and some fun seasonal games with teamwork.
Please contact Hugh.Brockway@lcps.org if you have any questions or concerns.
Gifts That Keep on Giving!
Many parents have experienced the phenomenon of watching their child toss aside a gift that has only kept him or her engaged for a brief time. As the holidays approach, perhaps selecting gifts that focus on a child’s strengths will result in continued interest throughout the long winter days.
Consider the following gifts that may enhance the various strengths of children. Verbal learners will likely appreciate magazine subscriptions, journals with a variety of writing tools, or word games. Visual learners may enjoy art supplies, a trip to a museum, or scrapbooking materials. Musical children may be interested in concert tickets or a new instrument to learn. Mathematical thinkers will benefit from logic-based games and activity books, puzzles, a toy cash register, or a watch. Kinesthetic learners should make good use of sports equipment, interactive video games, or building materials. Nature lovers might be inspired by maps of nearby trails, camping gear, or gardening tools.
Many toys and games on the market promote thinking skill development in addition to providing entertainment. LOV students have been introduced to some of these games during our lessons and have expressed an interest in playing them at home with family and friends. Qwirkle, Blokus, Gravity Maze, Rush Hour, Q-Bitz, SET, IZZI, Kanoodle, Math Dice, In a Pickle, Pickles to Penguins, and Dominoes are just a few!
Whatever your child’s strengths and interests, the perfect gift may simply be the gift of time. Take a family hike, prepare a favorite meal together, or settle into a comfortable chair to enjoy an interesting book. As we know, sharing an activity with your child is the best gift of all!
If you’re looking for an additional challenge for your child this December try out these Brainfood Activities:
Computer Science Week has been celebrated around the globe since December 2009. The main goals of this week are to inspire students in grades K-12 to learn about computer science, celebrate the contributions of students, teachers and experts, and to advocate for equity in the computer science field. The week’s finale is the Hour of Code, which is an initiative that creates a fun and creative way for students to be introduced to the ideas and concepts of computer science.
While the worldwide CS Week will be celebrated from December 4-10 this year, the Computer Science Office has put together activities to extend into the following week as well. Students at Lovettsville will be participating in a variety of computer science activities during this time. Some classes will be using our Lego Spike kits to build and code. Others will be using our Blue Bot coding robots to practice content being learned. Some students will be getting an introduction to Scratch and following lessons from CS First, which is Google’s coding platform. 2nd grade students will be using CS First and Makey Makeys to present information from their Native American unit. Some classes will get an introduction to coding and complete an “unplugged” coding activity. These coding activities will allow students to use critical thinking skills while creating, collaborating, and communicating with their peers.
Check out the choice boards below or links in my Schoology Technology Help course to help encourage your students to continue learning about coding outside of school. Happy coding!
Hello Lovettsville Elementary Families! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and I cannot believe winter break is only a few weeks away!
Culture Corner is a go! I am blown away with how many forms I have received from students so far, and our schedule for December presenters is full. As we move into our holiday season, I have been thrilled to see students sharing their unique traditions, foods, and games they play with you and your extended families. I am most excited to see how their peers are enjoying learning about these different ways to celebrate these and other holidays.
If you would like your child to share a unique tradition, food or custom your family enjoys this time of year or any other celebration, I have attached below two links you can use. One is a hard copy link you can print out and have your child complete, and the other is a Google form.
Time is still causing challenges in meeting with our kindness ambassadors, but I hope to meet with them soon. We will brainstorm ideas to make our school kinder and more inclusive.
As always, If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email meat rhorton@lcps.org.
Looking forward to touching base again soon!
Lovettsville Elementary
Email: linda.textoris@lcps.org
Website: lcps.org/lovettsville
Location: 49 S Loudoun St, Lovettsville, VA, USA
Phone: 540-751-2470
Twitter: @LovettsvilleES