Fire safety lessons can be fun!
Rosamaria Acevedo’s ES first-graders discovered and identified fire safety items during a recent scavenger hunt around the school! Before beginning the activity, students discussed the different items on their provided sheet. What does each item do? Where might they see these items? Armed with clipboard and pencil, students walked around the school and were on the lookout for items from the list. As students found an item, they stopped to make a tally mark in the box. Once they returned to the classroom they discussed the findings and their importance!
THINK PINK! The district is "going pink" on Thursday, Oct. 24 to support National Breast Cancer Awareness Month efforts!
REMINDER! We invite you to attend the Transportation Department's "Test Drive a Bus" and Bus Rodeo Day TOMORROW, Oct. 19 beginning at 8 a.m.
Like all district second-graders, Nicole Martinez’s Otisville second-graders are continuing their ELA work learning about folktales, which are stories or legends that are passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth. They are often about common people and a fight between good and evil.
Her students have been reading the Indian folktale “The Tiger, the Brahman, and the Jackal.” It’s a perfect cross-curricular reading choice because it ties into their social studies lessons about early Asian civilizations.
In this folktale, students read about a trickster Jackal, who tricks the Tiger into getting back into a cage after a kind Brahman lets him out. This folktale can highlight how one’s mind/brain can be more powerful than strength.
Be part of the district's KINDNESS movement!
Support the good work of the Middle School's "Minisink Motivates" Club and by getting yourself some great KINDNESS apparel! The club will earn $6 from every order and will use it to spread kindness around the district!
AND...THAT'S A WRAP! Official school photo season concludes with Photo Day at Otisville Elementary today, Oct. 17. We saw so many gorgeous bows and handsome ties, too! Here's another peek at how keepsake school photos are created!
Otisville Elementary's and the Elementary School's annual Halloween parades are two weeks away! And you're invited to view the parades! It's one of our most memorable days of the year for our elementary students!
CALL FOR PHOTOS: Share a photo of your student's parade costume for a Halloween photo gallery!
District first-graders are getting really good at identifying the finite set of two-part expressions! Jess Paglia’s ES first-graders have recently identified the finite set of two-part expressions that totals 6 through a guided, systematic approach using counter chips. Plus, they had fun playing a game to develop fluency facts that total 6!
A gorgeous, collaborative mural has been installed in the Intermediate School, thanks to IS art teacher Joan Giardina and her creative art students!
All Grade 3- 5 students were tasked with creating a piece of art following the four key characteristics pf Bauhaus Design: Geometric shapes, primary colors, clean lines and balanced asymmetry. Bauhaus is a minimalist, functional and modern design style that originated in Germany in the early 20th century. The Bauhaus style has had a profound impact on modern design, inspiring architecture, furniture, and fashion.
Meghan Donohue's ES first-graders have recently completed an "apple-lutely fantastic" apple investigation!
Students used all five senses to observe, understand, and record information on various types of apples. They learned about where apples come from and their lifecycle, how apples are used, and how delicious they can be! To complete a great lesson, they used apples to make their own apple orchard paintings!
District fourth-graders, like Jen Kemmerer and Cheryl Wilson’s IS fourth-graders, are working on their personal narratives as part of the ELA work. A personal narrative is a true story about a person's life, and is a common writing assignment for fourth graders.
Their students are now focusing on the use of transition words in their writing and were reminded they can pick words from their “transition word bank” to use as they continue with their assignment of writing details about their personal topic of choice in chronological order.
Deanna Feuerbach’s IS fifth-grade music students have been studying the “science of sound” in a very creative way!
Sound is vibration that is measured in waves. All instruments create sound through vibrations. Students can sort the way instruments vibrate to make sound into five sound families:
•Aerophones are instruments that vibrate when air is blown into them.
•Chordophones are instruments that vibrate when strings are plucked.
• Membranophones are instruments that vibrate when a stretched surface is hit (all drums).
•Idiophones are instruments that vibrate themselves (rain sticks, maracas, jingle bells, shakers, etc.).
•Electrophones are instruments that vibrate through electricity.
As part of this lesson, five-graders were tasked with creating their own instrument made out of recycled materials. They identified which sound family their instrument belongs to and what recycled materials were used when they presented their instrument project to the class. Take a peek at a sampling of their creative work! Well done to all! This
This is how we do it!
School photo season continues! It's Photo Day at the Middle School today, Oct. 15. Here's another peek at how keepsake school photos are created!
Interested High School families: A reminder that tonight, Oct. 15, the High School will hold a College Fair and Financial Aid night on Tuesday, Oct. 15. The financial aid presentation will begin at 6 p.m. Participating colleges and universities are listed below. Don't miss out if interested! To learn more, contact the High School's Guidance/Counseling Department at 845-355-5161.
Kimberly McDermott's ES second-graders have been learning about red wiggler worms that are are involved in vermicomposting. The students contribute items to the bin for the worms to eat!
Vermicompost is a nutrient-rich, organic fertilizer and soil conditioner made from the excreta of worms. The process of making vermicompost is called vermicomposting, and the worms used in this process are called earthworms, red wigglers, or white worms.
Mia McLean's ES kindergarten library students are reading a perfect book which aligns with Hispanic Heritage Month: Roseanne Thong's "Round is a Tortilla." The book introduces these young students to some Spanish language words while reinforcing many shapes found in every child’s day! For example, rectangles are ice-cream carts and stone metates, while triangles are slices of watermelon and quesadillas!
Registration is open for the Intermediate School PTO’s Halloween-themed "Fun Run" which will take place Saturday, Oct. 26 beginning at 12 noon. PLEASE SHARE!
The “Monster Dash” is open to all district students. The course measures just over a mile and will flow along the fields below the Slate Hill campus’ tennis courts. Runners, who are invited to run in costume, will “dash” from station to station through the course collecting prizes in their supplied tote bags.
The registration fee is $15 per runner and includes a “Minisink Valley Monster Dash” reusable tote bag.
Following the run’s conclusion, a “Trunk or Treat” will be held in the tennis court parking lot.
To register, donate to a participating student or become a local business sponsor, visit: visit myfunrun.com/monsterdash.
The PTO will use all proceeds to fiancé school assemblies, fifth-grade “Class of 2032” t-shirts and “Minisink Valley spirit t-shirts” for third and fourth-grade students.
To learn more, email to: chair.is@minisinkvalleypto.com
We invite you to attend the Transportation Department's "Test Drive a Bus" and Bus Rodeo Day on Saturday, Oct. 19 beginning at 8 a.m.
Another example of great inter-school collaboration and creativity!
The Eighth-Grade Band was invited to play with the High School Marching Band during last evening's varsity football game!
The eighth-graders had the opportunity to experience what awaits them in high school; and marching band members were great mentors and hosts! Thank you to all for making this memorable experience possible! It was a great evening, which included a BIG varsity win!
SOUP’S ON! Victoria Ingrassia’s FACS students are now soup makers! They recently learned how to make homemade chicken noodle, broccoli cheddar, French onion and minestrone soup! Delicious! They’re perfecting important cooking skills as part of their work, including prepping, following a recipe and cleaning! What’s even nicer is the entire middle school faculty was invited to stop by for a bowl of soup! A wonderful act of kindness!
