NOVEMBER/DECEMBER BULLETIN
(201)
843-8664
http://saddlebrookschools.org/sbfs/franklin.html
Office of the Principal
October 31, 2008
MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL
At an educational conference that I
attended several years ago, Les Brown, a renowned motivational speaker,
emphatically exclaimed, “You gotta be hungry! Wanting something is not enough.
You must hunger for it. Your motivation must be absolutely compelling. We all
need some form of deeply rooted, powerful motivation. It empowers us to
overcome obstacles so that we can live our dreams. When life knocks you down,
you should always try to land on your back…because if you can look up, you can get
up! I have that hunger within to make something of myself. That hunger is a
motivating force.”
Similarly, just wanting the best for our
children won’t help them realize the best. We must set high, but realistic
expectations for our children (as well as ourselves) and we must motivate our
children (and ourselves) to take the necessary actions to fulfill those
expectations. For example, a student cannot become a doctor without earning a
medical degree and a student cannot even gain admission to a medical school
without first having successfully studied numerous physical and biological
science courses in college. Obviously, admission to an undergraduate college is
itself contingent upon one’s academic success in high school. And how can one
be successful in numerous differentiated high school courses without first
attaining a solid elementary school foundation upon which to build?
I
think we all get the picture. We know what is best for our children and we know
what steps we and our children must take in order for each of our children to
realize his or her maximum potential. To that end, our highlighted asset for
this newsletter is Expectations for
Growth.
While there may be no surefire secret to a child’s
success, research published by the Search
Institute reveals that the difference between troubled teens and
those leading healthy, productive lives is strongly affected by the presence of
what we call “developmental assets,” which are positive experiences,
relationships, opportunities, and personal qualities that young people need to
grow up healthy, caring, and responsible. In effect, developmental assets are building blocks of human development. The more assets that an adolescent
possesses, the greater she or he will be protected from high-risk behaviors and
the more likely will she or he bounce back from a setback (i.e., resiliency, or
in Les Brown’s words, “If you can look up, you can get up!”). In addition, the
more assets that an adolescent possesses, the more likely will she or he
exhibit positive attitudes and behaviors, including holding and striving to
fulfill high expectations.
For
your ready reference I have attached to the end of this newsletter another copy
of the Search Institute’s list of 40
Developmental Assets for Elementary-Age Children. Note that the sources
of all “asset” information contained herein are What Kids Need to Succeed
(by Benson, Galbraith, and Espeland) and What Young Children Need to Succeed
(by Roehlkepartain and Leefert), each of which is published by the Search Institute. To learn more about
developmental assets and the Search Institute, purchase one of these referenced
books or log onto www.search-institute.org.
HIGHLIGHTED ASSET #16- Expectations for
Growth: Parents and teachers encourage
children to do well.
FAMILIES
·
Expect the best
from your kids—each according to her or his unique abilities. When expectations
are high yet still within reach, children will stretch to achieve them. Ask
your children what they expect of themselves and listen to them.
·
Notice when your
children do well. Let them know that you admire their talents, abilities,
manners, friendship skills, intelligence, kindness, or whatever you happen to
observe.
·
Hold children
accountable for their actions, while also allowing them to make mistakes and
learn from mistakes.
·
Routines help
children feel safe, protected, and free to explore. Children who aren’t worried
about when they’ll eat or sleep can concentrate on learning new skills.
·
Teach children
that sometimes things don’t work out as we expect. In such cases ask, “What did
you learn from what happened?”
·
Have children
compare themselves to themselves, not to a sibling, neighbor or anyone else.
How is the child doing now compared to the past? Is he finding new challenges?
Is he improving?
·
Model high expectations
yourself. Tell a child about a goal or dream you’re striving toward and what’s
happened along the way.
YOUTH
·
Tell your parents
your hopes and dreams; tell your teachers what you’d like to accomplish in
their classes. Ask for their support. This encourages them to pay closer
attention to your progress and to set high expectations for you.
·
Set high
expectations for yourself. Many people have succeeded in life with little or no
encouragement from others. Tip: Start a notebook of positive, inspiring quotations
or sayings, and then refer to them whenever you doubt yourself.
SCHOOL
STAFF
·
Hold high expectations for all students. Remember that “high” for
one student may be “low” for another.
·
Talk with parents
(as well as your students) about your expectations. Tell them what you expect
from their children; ask them to share their expectations with you and then
support each other.
·
Design learning
opportunities that challenge students with all types of learning styles and
abilities.
·
Encourage
students to take positive risks and act on their dreams and ideas. Teach the
difference between positive risks and foolish risks.
·
Talk with a child
about things that are difficult for her. Help her figure out how to break a big
task into manageable pieces. For example, help the child create a checklist of
steps she’ll need to take to complete an assignment or reach a goal. The child
can use this to track her progress and decide what to do next.
COMMUNITY
LEADERS
·
Encourage adult
leaders (coaches, choir directors, group leaders, volunteer coordinators, etc.)
to hold high expectations for all
children and youth they work with, not just the stars.
·
Regularly
recognize children and teens who excel in various areas-academics, sports,
performance, service leadership, creativity, courage, etc.
CONGREGATION MEMBERS
·
Give young people
opportunities to try new activities or build new skills. Let them know that you
expect them to succeed.
·
Share inspiring
scriptures about figures who overcame obstacles in their lives and accomplished
great things.
In
closing, I share another of Les Brown’s quotes that also directly relates to
high expectations: “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the
stars.”J
Caucus Meeting
- Monday, November 10 - 7:30 P.M.
Regular Meeting - Wednesday, November 12 - 7:30 P.M.
Caucus Meeting
- Monday, December 8 - 7:30 P.M.
Regular Meeting - Wednesday, December 10 - 7:30 P.M.
The above meetings will be
held in the Board of Education Meeting Room #120,
TASTE OF THE
TOWN
Tickets are still available for the Saddle
Brook Educational Foundation’s Taste of the Town fundraiser on Monday, November
17, 5:30 P.M., at the Excelsior. Tickets
are only $35 and are available through Mr. Alexandrowicz, Director,
SCHOOL CLOSINGS
Schools will be closed on the
following days:
Tuesday, November 4 - Election Day
Thursday
& Friday, November 6 & 7 – Teachers Convention
Thursday & Friday, November 27 & 28 – Thanksgiving Recess
Wed., December 24 through Fri., January 2 -
Winter Recess
After winter recess schools
will re-open on Monday, January 5, 2009.
Wednesday, November 26 – 1 P.M. Dismissal
Monday, December 1 to Friday,
December 5 – 1 P.M. Dismissal
Tuesday, December 23 - 1 P.M. Dismissal
Please arrange to drop off
and pick up your child according to the following revised schedule:
Kindergarten A.M. Session - 8:45 A.M. – l1:25 A.M.
Grades l through 6
- 8:45 A.M. - l:00 P.M.
Note that there is no lunch
program on early dismissal days.
IMPORTANT
ABSENTEE PROCEDURE
Regular attendance is mandated by
A call
should also be made to the absentee line if your child will be more than 15 minutes
late.
A
call to the absentee line must be made in addition to any call reporting
an absence or lateness that you may place with the school secretary, school
nurse or a classroom teacher.
If the school does not receive a call
confirming a child’s absence, you will receive a call at your home number, cell
number, work number and emergency contacts, if necessary, until we reach
someone to provide us with an absentee confirmation.
Upon your child’s return to school, a
parent/guardian’s note or doctor’s note explaining the reason for the absence
is requested. While a parental note does
not qualify an absence as excused, it is, nonetheless, expected in all cases.
Report
cards for the first marking period will be distributed on Wednesday, November 19. The report card will be sent home with your
child. Please review the report card
with your child and offer praise and encouragement. Feel free to contact your child’s teacher(s) via
voice mail or e-mail should you have any questions. Please sign and return one copy of the report
card to your child’s teacher as soon as possible.
PROGRESS REPORTS
Second
marking period progress reports will be distributed to students on Tuesday,
December 16. Please sign and return the
report to your child's teacher as soon as possible.
DATES TO
REMEMBER
Sunday, November 2 - Daylight Savings Time Ends
Tuesday, November 4 - Election Day (School Closed)
Wednesday, November 5 - PTA Executive Meeting 7 P.M.
Friday, November 14 - School Spirit Day
Tuesday & Wednesday, - American Education Week Visits
November 18 & 19 9:30-11 A.M.
and 1:00 – 2 P.M.
Thursday, November 20 - PTA Snack
Friday, November 21 - Sixth Grade Fun Night 6:30 - 9 P.M.
Week of December 1 - Parent/Teacher Conferences
Wednesday, December 3 - PTA Executive Meeting 7 P.M.
Tuesday, December 9 -
PTA General Meeting/Franklin School
Chorus and Band
High School auditorium
Friday, December 12 - School Spirit Day
Thursday, December 18 - PTA Snack
We
extend a very special thank you to everyone involved in our PTA. Your planning, coordinating, fundraising,
time, and personal effort are greatly appreciated! If you have not yet joined the Franklin
School PTA, we encourage you to pay your $5 dues and support this worthy
organization, which graciously underwrites so many student activities and class
field trips.
PTA
BOOK FAIR
The Franklin School PTA held its Scholastic
Book Fair for our students on October 21 and 22. Scholastic Books awards our PTA a $100 bonus
to be used for the purchase of books.
Following an ongoing PTA tradition, our PTA once again offered ten of
our students $10 each to purchase books at the Book Fair. All of our students’ names were placed in a
basket and Mrs. Ardito picked the ten winners.
Congratulations!
Jennifer
Gleason Kindergarten
Alyssa
Matera 2A
Anthony
Szmyhol 4B
Conner
Marlena
Sokolska 5M
Kasper
Wrobel 5M
Anoosha
Ahmed 6C
Jonathan
Bellani 6K
Alexsandra
Dimovska 6K
Brianna
Leider 6K
American
Education Week will be celebrated the days of November 18 and 19. This is a wonderful opportunity to visit our
school. We are very proud of all the
wonderful educational experiences happening at
Please
make time to visit the school on either Tuesday, November 18 or Wednesday,
November 19 from 9:30 A.M. to 11 A.M. or 1 P.M. to 2 P.M. Please limit your visit to 20 minutes. There will be a special sign-in sheet outside
the main office. We look forward to seeing
you. Please make your visit as
unobtrusive as possible, and PLEASE, NO
INFANTS OR TODDLERS.
Parent/Teacher Conferences
will be held during the week of December 1.
We will observe a single session of school every day that week. Confirmation notices of conference dates and
times will be sent home with your children.
GUESS THE WEIGHT OF THE
PUMPKINS
For one of our Halloween activities our
students exercised their power of estimation to guess the total weight of three
large pumpkins on display in our lunchroom.
Guesses varied from 4 pounds to over 5,000 pounds! The total weight of the three pumpkins was
68.2 pounds. The following students
guessed weights coming closest to the total weight of the three pumpkins, and
each student took home one of the three pumpkins for Halloween! Congratulations to all!J
First Place Overall – Devin Davila, KAM (68
pounds)
For the months of November
and December lunch tickets will be sold on the following dates:
Friday, November 14 Friday,
December 5
Friday, November 21 Friday,
December 12
Friday,
December 19
Please ensure that your child
has enough lunch tickets when he/she returns back to school from Winter Recess.
SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM
It
would be appreciated if parents ensure that their child arrives at school in
the morning with lunch or a lunch ticket to purchase lunch at school. This will avoid unnecessary anxiety at
lunchtime when a child realizes that he/she forgot his/her lunch at home and
unnecessary trips to the school by parents to deliver lunch.
PLEASE REFRAIN FROM DELIVERING OUTSIDE
LUNCH (e.g. fast food restaurants) to
school and avoid taking your child out to lunch. School lunch time and recess provide children
excellent opportunities to interact informally with peers and develop and
refine social skills.
HOMEWORK FOR ABSENT STUDENTS
While we strongly encourage parents to
request homework for an absent child, parents should not expect the homework to
be available until 3 PM, as teachers must devote the school day to classroom
instruction. Unless the person
designated to pick up the homework is in the same class as the absent student,
teachers will place homework assignments for absent students on the cart in the
main office by
Please check with your child’s teacher as
to the preferred classroom procedure for requesting homework. (i.e., via voice
mail or e-mail or by written note for a planned absence).
I
thank you for not using our school parking lot to drop off and pick up your
children. Because our parking lot is
always potentially active, I also ask that choral and band students be dropped
off curbside on
For
safety and liability reasons, students may not play on our school field,
basketball courts, jungle gym or any other school grounds immediately after
school, unless a student is under the direct supervision of his or her own parent or guardian. Before school, students may not play on our
school field, basketball courts, jungle gym or any other school grounds at all.
While
parents are welcome to use our school playground and field with their
pre-schoolers after school, our school playground and field are closed to the
public during school hours for safety.
Please
be courteous to our school neighbors, who would appreciate that we refrain from parking/blocking or making
U-turns in their driveways. Thank you
for your cooperation.
Please
discuss with your children the importance of reporting home directly following
their dismissal from school. Of course, you
are welcome to return to the school grounds with your children after they
arrive home to enjoy the basketball courts, baseball field, or playground
equipment. Thank you for your
assistance.
SCHOOL SPIRIT
DAY
School
Spirit Days will be held on Friday, November 14, and Friday, December 12. Once our Student Council selects a theme for each date, we will send
home a notice informing you of the month’s theme.
In
the event that inclement weather necessitates a school closing, a delayed
opening or an early dismissal, parents will be informed via a “Reverse 911”
telephone call from the school district.
Parents may also access school closing information in the following
ways:
Radio Stations: WOR
710 AM, CBS News Radio 880 AM or WVNJ 1160 AM
Television Stations: SBCTV
Channel 77, CBS Channel 2, NBC Channel 4,
Fox 5, ABC Channel 7 or
News 12 NJ
Internet: www.cancellations.com or www.wor710.com
Once
school has been closed or students have been dismissed early, all school
activities are cancelled for that day.
Delayed Opening Time
Schedule
Kindergarten.
A.M. 9:45 A.M. – 11:55 A.M.
Grades
l – 6 9:45 A.M. - 3:05 P.M.
Lunch Hours
Grades 1 – 3 11:43
P.M. - 12:27 P.M.
Grades 4 – 6 12:31
P.M. - 1:15 P.M.
For the third consecutive year, students
are taking positive steps toward becoming a healthier
We completed our first challenge during the
week of September 22-26, when we observed Pack Week (Pack Assorted Colors Kids),
for which the students brought fruits and vegetables for lunch and snack that
matched the color of the day. Students
were very excited each day to show Mrs. Kenny what they brought in and how they
were eating different colors. On
Wednesday, October 8, we completed our second challenge by participating in
National Walk to School Day. Every
student who was able got out and walked to school, instead of being
driven. In addition, we dedicated recess
time to completing several walking laps around the soccer field. Mrs. Kenny led students in arm exercises
added to the walk and inspirational chants such as “Let’s move
All the students in
Last
month each fifth and sixth grader had the opportunity to sign up for up to two
of our school service clubs: Peer Tutors, Student Council, Camera Crew, Stage
Crew, School Store/Snack Sale Crew, and Office Helpers. While some of our
students have been providing service to our school from the first day of
school, all service clubs will formally begin to serve starting in October.
One
day per month
In
a continuing tradition, we sponsored a first grade parent/grandparents lunch on
September 23.
Mrs.
Dacey and Mrs. McNamara report that our kindergartners are off to a great
start. They have quickly adjusted to classroom and school routines, including
daily fun activities such as Calendar Math, singing songs, weather observation,
and more. We were so excited to share our “All About Me” posters and we found
that many of us shared similar interests, such as a favorite food or movie. We
had great fun as we searched the school on a “Gingerbread Hunt” and found him
sitting in Principal Cusmano’s chair! We also worked together as we devised a
set of classroom rules in observance of Constitution Day. We learned how to
form the numerals 1-10 and we also learned one-to-one number relationships. In
anticipation of the Letter People, we
read a lot of alphabet themed books and, to our great surprise, Mr. M decided to visit our classroom!
Learning all about Mr. M’s special
sound, letter, and words has been great fun. We even had our own
In
Mrs. Healy and Miss Murphy’s first grade classes, the children are very eager
to learn how to read. We shared a special story called “The Little Old Man Who
Could Not Read.” Although the students found the story humorous, they realized
that reading is everywhere and they all agreed on the importance of learning
how to read. We also read our first story in reading, Moonbear’s Books, by Frank Asch. We have also learned about
Constitution Day and what it means. We realize the importance of this document
to all of us as American citizens. Upon reading the poem “Marvelous Me,” we
discussed how we are all unique and different, yet similar in many ways. To
illustrate that we are proud of who we are, we then drew pictures of ourselves
and wrote our favorite color, food, sport, and hobby. Check out our work on our
bulletin boards!
Second
graders are off to a super start this school year. As part of our
Character Counts program, Mrs. Astorino and Mrs. Dunn’s second graders learned
about the importance of respect in their every day lives. We
discussed the importance of showing respect at school and at home in order to
have good character. It was helpful to role play different scenarios that
we may encounter at school so that we know how to handle a disagreement
respectfully. What’s in a name? Students used their names to write
acrostic poems! They enjoyed writing about their personalities in
their very own name poems. Second graders then drew beautiful
self-portraits to go with the name poems. They are hanging outside of our
classrooms! In honor of Constitution Day, second graders learned how our
forefathers worked hard to write the laws of our country. We know
that these laws are necessary for people in our country to feel safe and work
well together. In light of this, the children discussed how our classroom
rules are, in a sense, our “constitution,” so that everyone may learn in an
enjoyable environment.
R-E-S-P-E-C-T,
find out what it means to me, (as Aretha Franklin sings!) or just ask a third
grader. A few answers that Mr. Malyso and Mrs. Morris received from their
students were: helping your fellow classmates; don’t enter your brother’s room
without knocking; helping out at home without being asked; holding a door for
someone; saying, “Hello, nice to meet you,” when you meet a new friend; and
many other fabulous answers. If you’d like to know what respect means to your
child, just check the heart displays outside Mr. Malyso and Mrs. Morris’s
rooms. In addition to talking about respect, we read about it in a fiction book
entitled A Day’s Work, by Eve
Bunting, which relates the story of a migrant worker whose grandson lies in
order to get his grandfather hired as a gardener. We came to respect the
grandfather when he learned about the lie and relayed the truth to his
employer, even though it meant doing double the work in the end. Hopefully
these lessons have taught the students the true meaning of respect. In addition
to learning about respect, students gained an understanding of our Constitution
through reading and discussing We the
People, by Peter Spier. After reading and discussing the different sections
of the Preamble to the Constitution, the children completed a teacher assembled
booklet about our government. Third graders now have a newfound respect for our
country and its history.
Mrs.
Byrnes and Mr. Stapleton’s fourth graders have been very busy since the start
of school. Students are studying about plants in science; in fact, they planted
bean seeds in order to observe first hand the life cycle of a bean plant. In
social studies students have been using the “hands on” Nystrom Globes and Maps
to learn about longitude, latitude, the continents, and the oceans. Just ask a
fourth grader to name the seven continents and five oceans! Students have also
been working hard in math, especially when it comes to solving open-ended
problems. Students are working on explaining their answers and showing their
work. We will continue to work on this skill throughout the school year. When
it comes to showing respect, the fourth graders are top-notch. They are
demonstrating respect for their classmates, class animals, property, and their
environment. Look for their respect posters and pictures outside the fourth
grade classrooms!
September
17 was Constitution Day and Mrs. Crowley and Mrs. Maschio’s fifth graders
observed this day by doing some activities involving the Constitution and the
three branches of government. First, they read a book titled, We the Kids: The Preamble to the
Constitution of the United States, by David Catrow, which put the very
complicated preamble into “kid friendly terms,” and provided the students a
better understanding of the U.S. Constitution. Next, the students worked on an
activity dealing with the three branches of government and their functions.
Learning about the Constitution and our government also helped the fifth
graders gain insight into the voting process. This couldn’t come at a better
time, as the fifth graders prepare to host
We’re
off to a great start in math this year! Miss Chappell and Mrs. Kelley’s sixth
graders have been busy exploring the collection, organization, and presentation
of data. Students practiced constructing and interpreting line plots, frequency
tables, pictographs, bar graphs, line graphs, stem-and-leaf plots, and scatter
plots. Additionally, they learned about populations and samples, and they analyzed
samples to determine if they were random or represented biased data. Working on
math open-ended questions has been a focus of our lessons, as well. Students
reviewed the New Jersey Department of Education scoring rubric and focused on
the key elements to include in their responses to these types of mathematical
problems. Writing is an essential part of the learning process and students in Miss
Chappell and Mrs. Kelley’s language arts classes have been putting their skills
to work. After reading an excerpt from the novel Bearstone, by author Will Hobbs, students learned about the Ute
tradition of giving oneself a special name. In response to this reading
selection, each student chose a name for himself/herself based on personality
characteristics, talents, favorite activities, etc. Writing was also the focus
of a recent activity that we completed in observance of Constitution Day,
September 17. Each sixth grade class wrote its own Class Constitution,
documents outlining the qualities the students feel are essential for a
productive and behaviorally appropriate classroom environment. The composing of
the Class Constitutions also stressed the importance of respect, which was the
character education theme for the month of September.
With
the help of Mrs. Licastri, Mrs. Lipari’s classes have been very busy getting
back into the routine of the school day. The second graders have been
learning Touch Math and the Stevenson Reading Series. Third, fourth and
fifth grade math classes have been busy studying place value. Seven
million, three hundred nine thousand, five hundred thirty sure is a big
number to write in standard and expanded form!
“The
happy Union of these States is a wonder; their Constitution a miracle; their
example the hope of
In
conjunction with Citizenship Day, Mrs. Ferrara’s ESL students recently read We The Kids and America - A Patriotic Primer. The Preamble to the Constitution is
put into easy to understand words in We The Kids, where “Domestic Tranquility”
becomes “fair and equal” and “posterity” is our kids!
From
the gym, Mr. Rogers and Mr. Calhoun report that in September the upper grades
started a football unit. Students have been learning to throw, catch, and run
with a football; in addition, they also are learning the rules of flag
football. The lower grades have worked on their locomotor skills (run, hop,
walk, skip, jog, etc.). Students have been learning how to move around the gym
in a safe manner while playing different tag games.
Mr.
Cárdenas (Don Emilio) welcomes and wishes a wonderful school year for all the
students. This month the students started very exciting learning activities.
They discussed the importance of learning a second language in today’s world,
not only for leisure purposes, but as a key factor in the global economy and of
course, for the future of our children it will be a plus in their career.
Mrs.
Sisto’s speech therapy classes are off and running! Speech therapy targets disorders of fluency
(i.e., stuttering), voice (e.g., raspy vocal quality), and most commonly,
articulation (e.g., a lisp). Articulation is the way in which we produce speech
sounds. Some children have difficulty or
are unable to produce certain speech sounds beyond the age at which 90% of
their peers have developed those sounds. These students participate in speech
therapy, which is catered specifically to their individual needs. After we have
identified a child’s misarticulations, he/she gets started with work, which
consists of a verbal drill for oral muscle memory/patterning with occasional
breaks for a reinforcing activity.
Here’s to a great school year!
From
the Computer Room, Mr. Gelenius reports that kindergartners are learning to use
the keyboard as they practice their letters. The first grades are writing about
their senses and learning how to edit their work. Second graders are using Kidspiration to create a word and
picture web all about dinosaurs. The third grades are diving into the exciting
world of PowerPoint, creating
projects all about their “favorites.” The fourth grade has started their trek
into the world of keyboarding, starting with the home row of the keyboard. The
fifth and sixth graders focused their attention on the details of the U.S.
Constitution when they examined it in honor of Constitution Day on September
17. They also polished their skills with a typing test in keyboarding.
Mrs.
Barba’s Reading Tip: Reading Your Textbooks Strategies
Did
you ever find your self reading a chapter in a textbook and not being able to
remember what you read? There is a way to remedy this. It is called SQ3R.
SURVEY: Look at titles, headings, illustrations, captions, words in italics.
QUESTION: Think of questions that you want answered based on
the headings. Think of questions your teacher might ask for a test.
READ: Read each section with your questions in mind. Does the text answer
your questions? Write the answers to your questions.
RECITE: Out loud, recite the questions and answers you found.
REVIEW: Reread the text, expand on your notes, teach another person the
material. Review again in a day or two.
On
the last page of this bulletin you will find four SQ3R bookmarks for your child
to cut out and use.
OCTOBER SCHOOL HAPPENINGS
To
help fill the shelves of our local food pantries, the Franklin School Student
Council last month coordinated our school’s participation in the 16th
annual Action Against Hunger™ Food Drive,
a community service program sponsored by the North Jersey Media Group
Foundation.
In
observation of Fire Safety Week, the Saddle Brook Fire Department visited
Our
students experienced an outstanding Energy
assembly presented by the
Over
the course of October 21 and 22 our PTA sponsored a Book Fair. We are
particularly grateful for PTA sponsorship of our book fairs because the fairs
provide our students opportunities to purchase books at reasonable prices and,
thereby, the fairs and books contribute to student reading development as well
as the simple joy of reading for pleasure.
One
day per month
National Mock Election 2008:
On
October 31 we celebrated our annual Halloween Parade, which was great fun for
all.
Since we
observe School Violence Awareness Week each October, many of the following classroom
happenings relate to character education and the prevention of school violence.
October
certainly has been busy in Kindergarten! Mrs. Dacey and Mrs. McNamara’s
kindergartners began the month by meeting with our fourth grade reading buddies
from Mrs. Byrnes’ class. While working
on a math activity using unifix cubes, the children learned how to be
responsible and how to cooperate. Thanks fourth grade! For Fire Prevention
Week, we discussed ways to stay safe in case of a fire. Fire Marshall
Seitz taught us about fire safety and that firefighters are our friends! The
Kindergartners enjoyed their fall themed field trip to Abma’s farm. They
experienced a working vegetable farm, took a hayride, picked pumpkins in a
pumpkin patch, saw lots of animals and enjoyed delicious homemade donuts and
cider. For School Violence Awareness Week, the students were active listeners
when we read the book, The Berenstain
Bears And The Bully, which helped us learn how to make responsible
choices. We enjoyed meeting Ms. T
(Tall Teeth) and Ms. F (Funny Feet)
from The Land Of The Letter People.
The children are so excited to learn with The
Letter People each day. The children are really learning and
understanding the letters and sounds thanks to these little friends that are
now a part of our Kindergarten!
Mrs.
Healy and Miss Murphy’s first graders went on their first class trip to Sun High
Orchards. They learned that when pumpkins and apples first start growing they
are flowers. Then the children got to pick their own pumpkins. By watching a
video called You Can Ask, reading
books such as, Stop Picking on Me,
and some role-playing, the first graders learned what to do if they were in a
situation involving bullying. In addition, Mrs. Maschio’s fifth graders got
together with the first graders for a cross-grade activity related to
cooperation and bullying. The fifth graders were divided into groups with the
first graders and they presented The
Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle using “Reader’s Theater.” It was a lot of fun
for all of the students.
We
can work it out! As part of our recognition of “Violence Prevention
Month,” Mrs. Astorino and Mrs. Dunn’s second graders have learned how to talk
things out with their peers as a peaceful way to solve problems. We read “The
Tale of Todd” and discussed good and bad decisions that the character in the
story made. Then each student was assigned an every day school scenario for
which they had to brainstorm various ways they could respond to the problem.
Using our words proves to be great for problem solving! It’s pumpkin season and
pumpkins can inspire many math related activities. For example, our second
graders read How Many Seeds are in a
Pumpkin? and learned that the number of lines on a pumpkin actually relates
to the number of seeds inside. Then each student estimated the number of
seeds they thought were in three different sized pumpkins and working in groups
the students counted out the seeds. Together we analyzed our data and
compared the results to our estimates. In addition to this, we used yarn
and rulers to find the circumference and height of the pumpkins. The next
day we enjoyed roasted pumpkin seeds, a
yummy healthy snack!
Are
you a bully? Have you ever been bullied? Mr. Malyso and Mrs. Morris’ third
graders answered these questions and were surprised with the results. After
discussing forms of bullying, we read and discussed five different books,
including The Recess Queen, a book
about bullying on the playground, and The
English Roses, which describes silent bullying. The children also worked
cooperatively to design posters depicting ways to prevent bullying and we took
the “Pledge to Stop Bullying”:
1. I will not bully other students, friends, neighbors
or family
members.
2. I will help others who are being bullied.
3. I will try to be kind to all kids all the time.
We
displayed our finished posters in the halls as our contribution in helping to
make
In
Mrs. Byrnes and Mr. Stapleton’s fourth grade science classes, students have
discovered the many different classifications of animals and they even got to
see some animals up close as they studied classroom animals and conducted a
discovery lab with live earthworms. Students also had a chance to use
microscopes to view body cells and tissues on prepared slides, while also
learning the proper use of a microscope and safety procedures to follow in a
lab setting. With the upcoming elections our fourth graders have been studying
the election process, discovering the difference between the electoral vote and
the popular vote and they also became acquainted with our presidential
candidates before casting their vote in
Mrs.
Crowley and Mrs. Maschio’s fifth graders engaged in several activities related
to bullying. Both fifth grade classes used “Reader’s Theater” to present to the
first graders The Grouchy Ladybug by
Eric Carle. After discussing how the ladybug was being a bully, the older
students helped the younger students prepare a ladybug puppet, with a clock in
back, which the first graders could then use to retell the story at home. In
addition to our cross grade activities, the fifth graders learned about
bullying at a “higher level”. The students of 5C watched the movie Radio, which is about a teenage boy who
is bullied in and out of school because of his disabilities. Throughout the
movie, students had to stop and reflect in the writing journals. Mrs. Maschio also
read the book, The Hundred Dresses,
by Eleanor Estes to her class. This book leant itself to lively discussion
about subtle bullying, and the children will never forget the story.
In
observance of School Violence Awareness Week, Mrs. Kelley and Miss Chappell’s
sixth graders read the novel Crash,
by award-winning author Jerry Spinelli. It is the story of John “Crash” Coogan,
a seventh grade football star and school bully. Reading this novel helped the
students to explore school bullying, from the perspectives of both the bully
and the victim. Class discussions during and after the reading of the novel
revealed interesting information and observations. For example, students
discovered that many school bullies are often the victims of bullying in other
environments (home, sports teams, neighborhood). Also, it is not uncommon for a
bully at school to feel insecure about himself/herself, so this person turns to
bullying to prevent others from discovering these issues of self-doubt. Sadly,
most school bullies do not stop their behaviors once they have completed
school--the bullying continues as the person enters adulthood, targeting new
victims. Students were surprised to learn that some victims of school bullying
will go on to become bullies themselves. Also, the effects of school bullying
are long-lasting and harmful to an individual’s self-esteem and ability to form
healthy relationships with others.
Wow! September flew, by and now so did October. Mrs. Lipari’s language arts class has been so busy learning about all the great things that are a part of this great month. We read books about how to prevent fires in our home and how to get out quickly if one did start. During school violence week we read and discussed why we