Congratulations to the Boys Varsity Indoor Track team, which won the OCIAA Division II title this past Saturday at West Point!
“The boys track team put in a lot of hard work leading up to the division championships,” said Varsity Coach James Beck. “They stepped out of their comfort zones, competing in events they don't typically participate in, and chasing every possible point. Their efforts paid off as they brought home the win.”
Athletic Director Tim Bult added: “We’re so proud of our track program, as both the boys and girls teams have been building each season to become a perennial powerhouse across the OCIAA, Section IX and beyond.”
Gemma Lyon’s ES second-graders are not only making a creative fashion statement, they’re also having a lot of phonics fun as part of the ELA work by wearing letter vests!
Students incorporated movement and letter sounds as they reviewed beginning, middle and ending sounds, forming real and nonsense words! What a fun and interactive way to reinforce important language skills!
Beginning, middle, and ending sounds" refer to the first sound you hear when saying a word (beginning), the sound in the middle of the word (middle), and the last sound you hear when saying a word (ending); or the different sound positions within a word.
For example, using the word “cat”:
•Beginning sound: This is the initial phoneme (sound) of a word, like the "c" sound in "cat."
•Middle sound: This is the vowel sound usually found in the middle of a word, like the "a" sound in "cat."
•Ending sound: This is the final phoneme (sound) of a word, like the "t" sound in "cat."
The ability to discriminate between the beginning, middle, and ending sounds helps students progress faster in phonics skills.
Otisville Music Teacher Maria Fenfert is combining the study of the blues music genre with boomwhacker fun for her fifth-grade students!
“The Blues” is a musical genre that originated in the American Deep South in the 1860s following the end American Civil War, though that's not fully clear. The rhythmic, call-and-response style of music arose from African-Americans and black communities in the Deep South with music and lyrics describing one's hardships, and heartbreaks.
Students used boomwhackers, which are percussion instruments, to play the songs “St. Louis Blues” and “Boomwhacker Blues.” These lightweight, color-coded plastic tubes are tuned to different musical pitches. Students were given a different colored pitch, and must wait their turn to play their note when it appears on the screen to create the songs’ ensemble sounds!
Boomwhackers are a popular instrument in elementary music classrooms because they’re a fun and engaging way to teach music concepts such as rhythm and pitch, harmony and melody as well as timing, focus and concentration, teamwork, collaboration and hand-eye coordination.
Craig Ramsell invented the instrument in 1994 while cutting down a cardboard gift-wrap tube for recycling. He noticed the different tones produced by the two pieces of the tube and realized he could tune them to play music. Ramsell experimented with different plastics, eventually settling on plastic mailing tubes. He and his wife created the first plastic model in 1995.
Germination! It’s a big word!
But district second-graders, like Kelly Bernice’s second-graders, understand this big word and are learning about this process during their studies about plants and flowers.
In second-grade, learning about germination provides a foundational understanding of how plants grow, introducing key concepts about the life cycle of plants, the role of seeds, and the necessary conditions for growth (like water, light, and air). These are essential concepts for young students to grasp as they learn about the natural world around them in addition to fostering curiosity and elementary scientific thinking skills.
More lessons tied to and awareness of the life and legacy of The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. are visible in the middle school, via these school displays!
In the library, a display created by teacher Kelsey Doller and her students following their viewing of a slideshow about Dr. King and his six principles of nonviolence features small paper cutouts to look like themselves and reflect their individuality.
The other display was created using artwork that Corinne Yanis' Skills classes, Stephanie Gage's English classes and several sixth-grade students created after viewing a slideshow about those same principles. The portrait of Dr. King was drawn by eighth- grader Isabella Kaminski.
Ilana Kaufman’s ES second-grade art students are exploring how to use value and texture, two elements of art, to paint teddy bears. In this lesson, students experimented with different types of brushes and painting techniques to create fluffy, soft, and fuzzy textures.
In art, "value" means how light or dark a color is, like the difference between a bright yellow and a dark shadow. "Texture" refers to how something feels when you touch it, like the smooth surface of a ball or the rough bark on a tree. This includes how a surface appears to feel to the touch.
Ian Walker’s ES second-graders, like all district second-graders, are beginning their studies on animals. As a prelude to their work, they recently discussed what are “living” and “non-living” things. Clearly, animals are living things! Pencils and books are not! Take a peek!
Studying animals in second-grade helps young students develop a basic understanding of living things, their habitats, and how they adapt to their environment. It’s also intended to foster curiosity about the natural world, teaching them about basic needs like food and shelter, and introducing the concept of animal classification, all while laying the foundation for more complex ecological concepts later on in their academic careers.
Today, Jan. 15, is the birthday of The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The third Monday in January is the federal holiday which commemorates the nation's remembrance of Dr. King and his steadfast commitment to fighting for freedom, civil rights and equality for all people. In recent days, district students, in age-appropriate lessons, have been spending talking about Dr. King and his teachings.
That includes Meghan Donahue’s ES first-graders, who are in the process of completing a project focusing on the importance of one’s character. Their projects will soon be on display in the school’s hallway along with other similar projects completed by their peers!
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to visit Neptune, Mars or the Moon?
With imaginations and Internet-based resources, Vincent Napolitano’s High School Earth Science students recently produced advertising campaigns and acted as solar system tour guides to entice their peers --- aka “space tourists” ---- to want to visit these paired planetary places:
• Mercury and Venus: The “Hot, Hot, Hot! Interior Planets”
• Moon and Mars: “Marvelous Missions Unraveling Mysteries”
• Jupiter and Saturn: The “Gorgeous Gas Giants”
• Uranus & Neptune – “Paradise Planets Beyond our Vision”
• Pluto and Dwarf planets: “Wonders at the edge of the Solar System”
• Asteroids and Comets: “Good Things in Small Packages”
• Exoplanets Beyond our Solar System: “Newly Discovered Worlds”
• Moons of Other Planets: “Wonderful Worlds around other Planets”
Their “campaigns” were creative and filled with scientific facts and figures! We’re not certain how many tours were booked, but students learned a lot and had some fun!
Studying the solar system in Earth Science provides students with the context for understanding Earth's complex systems and phenomena, including its unique characteristics, forces that shape it and conditions that allow life to exist.
Basketball is always a fun physical education activity! Check out these eighth-graders perfecting their shooting skills. Maybe there's some future NBA/WNBA players in this group!
We don’t have any significant amounts of snow on the ground, but that’s not stopping Otisville physical education teacher Stephanie Giufre from making sure her students are ready for the time-honored tradition of snowball fights!
Students are provided with snowballs (ok...yarn balls) and are practicing throwing, looking to “hit” their classmates. If they’re “hit with a snowball,” they have to go over to the snow pile (mats) and perform a given exercise, such as jumping jacks, push-ups, sit-ups and more …the exercise changes every few minutes!
More importantly, students are working on throwing, chasing, fleeing, dodging and cardiovascular endurance while having fun! It's an extremely creative way to refine these useful and important skills!
Chasing, fleeing and dodging skills are movement concepts that young students should learn in order to better problem-solve how their bodies should move during certain activities and situations. Movement concepts provide critical foundations for learning how to move in novel situations, such as playing a new sport.
Throwing and catching also helps students to: develop fine motor skills by controlling the small muscles in the hand and fingers needed for specific movement; understand practice helps them progress with their throwing and catching skills; further develop gross motor skills through the use of various parts of the body at the same time; and further develop sensory skills by observing the ball flying through the air.
“We're all in this together!”
The Middle School Drama Club has been working hard in rehearsals to be ready for its March 6 and 7 production of Disney's High School Musical Jr!
Thank you to High School students Audrey Guido and Makayla Collins, who are are working with Middle School students to learn choreography! We appreciate you! Watch for more information soon!
Jennifer Carroll’s IS fifth-graders, like other fifth-grade classes, continue to be involved in partner reading, using materials they’ve been discussing and studying in social studies.
Partner reading allows students to practice reading aloud in a low-pressure environment, build fluency, improve comprehension, develop vocabulary, and gain confidence by supporting each other while reading, while giving teachers an opportunity to monitor individual progress and provide targeted support.
Anthony Pascarelli’s ES physical education students are having a fun time playing "Rock-- Paper-- Scissors Tag" in class!
First, students play the rock—paper—scissors game. The winner must tag their partner before reaching the safe zone. Then, the student who didn’t chooses an exercise from the poster. The student who won will roll a dice to determine how many repetitions or seconds they will do the exercise!
Rock-- paper-- scissors is a hand game where players simultaneously form one of three shapes with their hands to determine a winner:
• Rock: A closed fist
• Paper: A flat hand with the palm facing down
• Scissors: A fist with the index and middle fingers extended to form a V
The rules of the game are:
• Rock beats scissors: A rock can break scissors
• Scissors beats paper: Scissors can cut paper
• Paper beats rock: Paper can cover a rock
• Tie: If both players choose the same shape, the game is tied
The game is often played in a best-two-out-of-three format. It can be used to help develop conflict resolution skills and improve communication and critical thinking.
What's better than hot soup on a cold, cold day?
Victoria Ingrassia's Middle School FACS students have spent this first week back at school prepping ingredients to make four different types of fresh, homemade soups. Today, Jan. 10, was their Soup Day, where students had a chance to enjoy what they prepared during class!
PLUS: Ms. Ingrassia invited the Middle School faculty to stop by for a delicious cup or bowl of the soup of their choice! Simply delicious! Well-done to all the students, who are learning important life skills --- you have to be able to cook!
Brrr…baby, it’s COLD outside! And that means it’s indoor recess in our elementary buildings!
Take a peek at these Otisville kindergarteners, who are spending some time during their indoor recess period working their way around the school’s sensory path in the main lobby! Too cute! These little students are engaged in different kinds of physical movement activities as they saunter around the pathway. Before returning to their classrooms to play with toys before lessons resume, they conclude with a fun freeze dance!
A "sensory path"is a designated area or pathway designed to provide children with physical movement activities that stimulate different senses like sight, touch, and balance. It's often used as a "brain break" to help kids regulate their energy and focus by engaging their bodies through various movements like hopping, crawling, or balancing along a marked route. It can be set up indoors or outdoors using visual cues like colored tape, textures, or different floor surfaces.
See more photos on the district's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MinisinkValleyCSD
WATCH FOR THESE FANCY PANTS!
Joan Giardina’s IS art students recently submitted their best drawings which showed her the concepts they learned in art class, which included the concepts of detail, value, shading and more!
Winning drawings were chosen and those winning students continue to be in the process of adding their artwork to Mrs. Giardina’s JEANS, which she will proudly wear at the spring District Art Show (and beforehand as well!)
Students visited her art room during extra art time at the end of the day to work on the jeans. WHAT A COOL PROJECT!
But! This is just the beginning, as the contest was open to all students and there’s a wide range of winners in each grade. More drawings will continue to be added until the jeans are completely filled with wonderful art! What a wonderful example of wearable art! Wearable art is pushes the boundaries of creativity, offering the wearer an opportunity to embody art and make a personal statement.
Detail, value, and shading in art are crucial because they collectively create the illusion of depth, form, and realism in a piece by accurately depicting how light interacts with objects, allowing the viewer to perceive three-dimensional shapes and understand the spatial relationships within a scene. See more photos on the district's Facebook page:https://www.facebook.com/MinisinkValleyCSD
Cliff Loretto’s ES kindergarten music students are having a grand time pretending they're snowflakes while singing the song, “Five Little Snowflakes.”"Five Little Snowflakes" is a song about snowflakes falling from the sky, dancing in the wind, landing on the ground, melting in the sun, and finally going back in the sky.
But! There’s more to this singing session than just being pretend snowflakes: Students are getting practice with a song that has repetitive lyrics, a narrow vocal range, and a melody that moves with step-wise motion!
Reminder! Minisink Valley has partnered with Paper, an online tutoring service, to provide students in Grades 6 through 12 with the ability to access live tutors seven days a week, 24 hours a day. High School students and family members have unlimited access to trained tutors so every student can ask questions, work through problems and grow their confidence at no cost to families. Learn more: https://www.minisink.com/page/paper-online-tutoring-for-grades-6-12
Jessica Dickman’s and Katie Blydenburgh’s seventh-grade ELA students recently watched a TED Talk by Salva Dut, which was the inspiration to, and what half Sue Park’s “A Long Walk to Water” novel is focused on. Students read her book in class.
Students worked partners to identify advantages of watching Dut’s motivational speech focusing on perseverance, hope and faith along with his mantra “keep walking” no matter how difficult the challenges are in one’s life. These are important life lessons for everyone!
A TED Talk is a short, recorded presentation that aims to educate and inform audiences on a wide range of topics. TED stands for “Technology, Entertainment, and Design” and TED talks are presented by a variety of experts.
The main theme of Sue Park's "A Long Walk to Water" is the power of resilience and survival in the face of extreme hardship, particularly highlighting the struggle for access to clean water and the impact of war on individuals and communities, particularly though the stories of Salva and Nya, who live in the Sudan.
