Measurement skills are also an important life skill! Second-graders, like Joseph Ferara’s ES second-graders, recently went outdoors to apply the estimating and measuring skills they learned in the classroom. Students estimated and measured objects as big as the playground and as small of as a blade of grass. They had to decide if it was more appropriate to use a meter stick, a ruler or a tape measure to measure the outdoor objects. Then, they wrote their measurements and drew pictures of the objects the measured with their partners! What a great outdoor “lab!”
Who knew owl pellets are important learning tools for students? You do, now!
Take a look at Kimberly Jordan’s Living Environment Freshman Biology students recently completed lab work focusing on owl pellets. In high school, owl pellet labs help students to learn about food webs (the complex feeding relationships between organisms in an ecosystem), nutrient cycles, (the processes that move nutrients through the environment, providing organisms with the elements they need to survive) and energetics (how living organisms capture, store, and utilize energy through various chemical reactions within their cells), as well as even how organisms play ecological roles in their environment. And, of course, students also build their scientific literacy through their work!
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It was Fire Safety Day today, Oct. 22, for our Otisville K-3 students! Thank you to our firefighter partners for teaching our students and reminding them about important life-saving information. Ask your student about this!
Kimberly Jordan’s High School Living Environment students have been doing outdoor Lichen exploration as part of their lab work. They’ve been using their knowledge of the Scientific Method to understand the natural world. As part of this, they were tasked with observing part of the high school campus to hypothesize why Lichen grow on some trees more than others. In biology, lichens are a small group of plants of composite nature, consisting of two dissimilar organisms, an alga and a fungus living in a symbiotic association. They're neither plant or animal, but rather they're organisms unlike any other on Earth. While most people may think lichen are a type of moss, they are actually a combination of an algae and a fungus. The fungus provides a structure for the algae to live in, while the algae provides food for the fungus. Also in biology, the study of lichens is called lichenology, which is a branch of mycology (the study of fungi).
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
First-graders, like Erin Chase’s ES first-graders, are learning about digestion as part of their science lessons! They now know that the body’s digestive system helps turn healthy foods into energy and a body’s digestive system includes the mouth, esophagus, stomach, and small and large intestines. Ask them about this!
What a great day! Twenty-one people attended the Transportation Department’s “Test Drive a Bus Day” this past Saturday, and we received many follow-up applications to join our outstanding Transportation team!
“We were thrilled with the opportunity to show prospective drivers how driving a school bus and, more specifically, driving a school bus for Minisink Valley can be rewarding and a great employment opportunity,” said Director of Transportation Dwayne Powers. “I believe we have the best transportation team in Orange County. They’re skilled and dedicated drivers who always put safety first when transporting our students to and from school. We welcome everyone who wants to be part of this great team.”
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!
COOKIE CRISP CEREAL AND DIVISION! Rachel Sebold and Stephanie Gove/Kirsten Reid’s Otisville third-graders have been learning about division in a very delicious way!
“Equal sets” is typically the first division strategy taught, so the teachers used Pat Hutchins’ “The Doorbell Rang,” a story about friendship, sharing and cookies --- and which gives a great introduction to basic math concepts --- as their introduction to equal groups in math.
In the book, the mother makes12 cookies for her son and daughter to share and they are happy because they each get six. Then two more people come and they have to split the cookies by four, then six, and finally 12.
Students used their recording booklets and modeled division using the Cookie Crisp cereal to represent the cookies the children get in the book utilizing the fair share method. What a creative way to have a hands-on math lesson using cookie manipulatives, which were happily eaten once the lesson concluded!
THINK PINK! The district is "going pink" on Thursday, Oct. 24 to support National Breast Cancer Awareness Month efforts!
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!
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.
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.
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!
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.
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!
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
