There’s A LOT that takes place during district elementary music classes! Take a peek at Cliff Loretto’s ES first-graders, who are getting an opportunity to play the bass resonator bar while singing the rhythmic “Peep Squirrel” as part of their class lessons!
"Peep squirrel, peep squirrel,
"Do da diddle-um, do da, diddle-um,
"Peep squirrel, peep squirrel,
"Do da diddle-um dee."
National Fire Prevention Month is celebrated every October to raise awareness about the importance of fire safety. The month-long event promotes life-saving practices and home fire safety education. As part of their fire safety lessons, Jess Paglia's ES first-graders created their own special posters noting their personal fire safety rule!
Pumpkins! Hayrides! Games! Cider and donuts! Otisville Elementary's Fall Festival continues today!
It's Fire Safety Day at the Elementary School! Our students are learning so much from our area firefighters!
Knowledge about how to function in a kitchen is an important life skill! Victoria Ingrassia’s sixth-grade FACS students are being introduced to important measuring, cutting and mixing skills in class while recently learning how to make “Baked Apple Brown Betty.”
A Brown Betty is a traditional American dessert made from fruit, usually apple, but also berries or pears and sweetened crumbs. Similar to a cobbler or apple crisp, the fruit is baked, and, in this case, the sweetened crumbs are placed in layers between the fruit.
Plus, guess what these students are also learning about: The importance of cleaning up in the kitchen when you’ve finished cooking! (Yes, moms, they can do this!)
Joseph Ferara's ES second-graders have been working on adding two-digit numbers using a number line. Number lines are visual representations that aid students' number sense for conceptual understanding of the magnitude of numbers and add to students' mental math for addition and subtraction.
Can you do this? Two-digit addition is a simple form of addition in which numbers are placed according to their place value of ones and tens and then added. Students start adding from right to left, that is, starting from the ones column and move on to the tens column. Once both the columns are added, they obtain the final sum.
Bailey Riley’s seventh-grade science students recently completed an online lab simulation in order to determine the density of certain objects seen every day. They were able to manipulate the sizes of them to see how they would change. They were also given a few "mystery" objects and had to do calculations to determine what these mystery items were based on their densities
Thank you to our colleagues at ACT Through Music in Glen Spey for their recent donation of 100 kits to the High Sc hool's Counseling Center! These kits are filled with mental health resources and goodies that our counselors will be able to use throughout the year.
These unique “ACT Kits” include stress balls, journals/pens, and words of encouragement that focus on mental health. We appreciate your kindness! To learn more, visit: https://www.actthroughmusic.com/
Thank you to the Otisville PTO for purchasing these wonderful playthings for students to use at recess! Take a look at these second-graders having a great time outdoors with their friends!
District fourth-graders, like Kim Marasco’s IS fourth-graders, are working on place value up to the millions place. After finding the value of each digit, students learned how to write the numbers in different forms such as expanded form, word form and unit form.
The expanded form splits the number, and it represents the number in units, tens, hundreds and thousands form….for fourth-graders, this extends to the millions place! Word form is the number name written in words, just like you'd read it. Unit form is writing the digit in each place with the name of the place. Numbers in unit form are written with a comma between each place.
Apple picking! Donuts and cider! Playing with friends! Enjoying the beautiful fall weather! What more could an Otisville kindergartener want?
Take a peek at the recent kindergarten class trip to Kendler Farms in Kerhonkson! Thank you to everyone who made the day so much fun and memorable for our youngest students!
MARK YOUR CALENDAR! ONE WEEK FROM TONIGHT! 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. To learn more, contact the High School's Guidance/Counseling Department at 845-355-5161.
JOIN US!
Danielle Zamorski's high school health classes have been working on building their stress management skills. Students have been learning different techniques such as guided imagery, sticker painting, progressive muscle relaxation, time management, adult coloring, journaling, meditation, and other calming activities to help them practice and prioritize self-care.
Stress management is important because it can help you maintain your mental and physical health and even improve your quality of life:
•Prevent health problems: Chronic stress can lead to serious health issues like diabetes and heart disease. Stress management can help you prevent or ease stress-induced symptoms.
•Improve mood: Stress management can help you feel better and get along better with others.
•Improve sleep: Stress management can help you sleep better and rebalance your emotions.
•Improve concentration: Stress management can help you improve your concentration.
•Improve resilience: Stress management can help your mind and body adapt to stress, so you're not always on high alert.
Sally Mankoo's ES kindergarteners are working on fine motor and social/emotional learning skills using Play-Doh!
Students "found" a face they wanted to decorate with Play-Doh and used their fingers to make lines, shapes to put onto their face to show they are feeling that day! Plus, who doesn't love playing with Play-Doh?
District third-graders, like Holly Pason’s Otisville third-graders, often use a technique called “repeated reading” to help them further develop reading fluency. Repeated reading can also help students improve their comprehension and understanding of what they read. It’s also is helpful in building vocabulary and learning to read aloud with expression.
In-school instrument lessons are in full swing in all our buildings! They are important role in increasing skills and aptitude in the playing of a particular instrument. Take a peek these Intermediate School fifth-grade trombonists, who, under the guidance of band teacher Andrew Hulle, are using software called MusicFirst. Mr. Hulle uses this all-inclusive music platform with all instruments.
In this instance, students were working with the PracticeFirst tool. It allows students to play along with sheet music and the program listens to them and assigns them scores based on their performance. They are scored on pitch accuracy and rhythmic accuracy. The better they score the more stars they receive and students are holding a friendly competition to see who can collect the most stars!
Friday is Pizza Day in our elementary buildings! Take a peek at these adorable, little Otisville Elementary students, who are showing their preference for pepperoni. But! There's other nutritious options to choose from if students prefer something else. Remember breakfasts and lunches are free to all students!
Leyla Johnson’s ES K-2 physical education classes have been working on practicing locomotor movements, which involve moving the body through space from one location to another in different ways. Take a look!
Some locomotor movements include walking, skipping, galloping, sliding, running, jumping, leaping and hopping. Students have also been working on learning different pathways, which are the paths that people take as they move from one place to another A pathway can be “straight,” “curved,” “zigzag” or a combination of these.
As part of their physical education class, students get to take turns “following the leader” to music! They get to choose the locomotor movement and the pathway while the rest of the class follows along. Not only are they learning, they’re having a chance to be creative and silly!
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