Karen Ruoti's ES kindergarten students are chaining letters to make, blend and read words as part of their ELA work! Her young students are building words with letter cards. This technique improves phonemic awareness as well as decoding (reading) and encoding (writing) skills.
Kindergarten word chaining is a reading practice that helps students learn to decode words with specific spelling patterns. It involves creating a series of words that differ by one phoneme, or sound, at a time. For example, a word chain might start with "bat" and then continue with "cat", "can", "man", and so on.
A huge game is coming up for the Varsity Volleyball team this week! On Thursday, Nov. 7, the team hosts Washingtonville in the Section IX Class AA semi-final game! Our team is the #1 seed! The game starts at 5 p.m. in the Middle School gym…don’t miss out on this game. Come out and cheer on the team! Let’s do this!
This game’s winner plays the winner of the FDR vs. Valley Central match-up in the Section IX championship on Saturday, Nov. 9 at Mount Saint Mary College at 12:30 p.m.
Maureen Cardinale’s ES first-graders are enjoying partner reading, sitting “elbow to elbow, knee to knee” as they perfect their reading proficiency!
Partner reading is a cooperative learning strategy where two students work together to read a text, take turns reading, and provide feedback to each other. It's often used in first grade to help students improve their reading fluency and build confidence!
Instrument lessons are an important part of a student musician's success! (But! They also need to practice at home!) Take a peek at Maria Fenfert’s Otisville “trumpeters” having their instrument-specific music lessons!
The trumpet is a versatile instrument that plays a central role in many types of music, including jazz, pop, and classical. It's often the lead instrument in a band or orchestra, carrying the melody. Trumpets are also known for their loud, bright sound and ability to project over long distances! The trumpet has a long history, dating back to 1,500 B.C. It was originally used as a signaling tool in wars, and later for entertainment. The trumpet has also been associated with royalty and celebrations, such as announcing the arrival of royalty.
Intermediate School students, faculty and staff may have noticed that IS/ES School Security Aide Kevin Murphy had a very able assistant helping him make rounds in recent days! IS third-grader Kinsley Starkey won a recent IS PTO contest which allowed her to go on patrol with Mr. Murphy. She was presented with a special badge which allowed her to accompany Mr. Murphy and provide her valuable assistance, observations and counsel! That also included a stop by Superintendent Monahan’s office, where she shared some of her suggestions!
Ilana Kaufman’s ES first and second-grade art students have been studying Austrian artist Gustav Klimt’s “The Tree of Life.” They identified his unique use of the color gold and spiral lines. Inspired by his work, her student artists experimented with gold paint to create their own beautiful spiral line trees with repeated shape and line designs.
Gustav Klimt was an Austrian painter and a prominent figure in the Vienna Secession movement. He is known for his symbolic and decorative paintings that often include hidden meanings. His painting The Tree of Life is a masterpiece that exemplifies his artistic style and is considered a symbol of the complex nature of life.
Kara Welsh's Otisville third-grade art students are learning about "Surrealism," studying the work of surrealist artists Salvador Dali, Frida Kahlo, and Rene Magritte.
They were challenged to create a surrealist work, where the objects are drawn realistically, but what's happening is dream-like or irrational. Students were able to choose what art material best suited the completion of their work- paint sticks, colored pencil, marker, or oil pastel. Most used a combination of materials!
Surrealism is an artistic, literary, and philosophical movement that originated in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s. Surrealism is a style in art and literature in which ideas, images, and objects are combined in a strange way, like in a dream.
The High School's Key Club focuses on upcoming volunteer opportunities and small events that help a big cause. Club members are always looking for ways to support or school and community. If there’s a project you think the Key Club may be able to assist with, please reach out to advisor Amy Colella at acolella@minisink.com
Take a look at the club’s recently created bulletin board, detailing what students feel makes the High School strong!
BREAKING FRIDAY NIGHT NEWS! It's a huge Homecoming win!
Minisink Valley beats Warwick in a 34-7 victory which assures the Section IX Class A semi-finals come to Minisink Valley! (Warwick will play Cornwall in the other semi-final match at Cornwall). This is a big deal!
This great night was also SENIOR NIGHT for the football players, cheerleaders and scorekeepers! (Photos are coming soon!)
At tonight's game, Charlie Olsen was crowned Homecoming King; and Sara Delmar was crowned Homecoming Queen! They were members of the Homecoming Court which also included Addision Cole, Patrick Cherry, Emma Kostic, Shawn Crowe, Audrey Guido, Michael Hughson!
Support the Class of 2025 and add to your collection of outstanding Minisink Valley attire! The selections are great to wear for any occasion and for any event in any building!
Leyla Johnson’s IS fourth-grade physical education students are learning the basics about controlling a soccer ball as they begin their soccer unit. Maybe here’s some future World Cup players in this group!
Tiffany Guareno/Stephanie Ewanciw’s ES kindergarteners recently completed their Knowledge Unit on the five senses. Students created a book of things they like to see, hear, touch, smell and taste. Part of their learning experience was to take advantage of the beautiful weather to take a nature walk to find some leaves to observe using their five senses!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
The Middle School’s annual Library Halloween Writing Contest was a success! Students were asked to write an “ode to the season” or create a Halloween themed character and write about it. All students, faculty and staff were invited to vote for their favorites in three categories. The winners are:
• Most Halloween Spirit: Molly Yourman, sixth-grade
• Best Artistic Design: Isabella Kaminski, eighth-grade
• Funniest: Sophia Tropiano, sixth-grade
The High School’s Youth in Government Club hosted the recent and annual Platform Convention, with over 200 students from 12 Orange and Ulster County schools participating. Students prepared mock legislation for debate in committee.
Aside from hosting the convention and providing a stellar rendition of the National Anthem, the Minisink delegation won the convention by passing the most pieces of legislation in both committee and floor votes. Congratulations and well-done! The Youth-in-Government program has a long history in Orange County dating back to 1944 and has many current government officials and employees who are alumni.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Briana Barrett’s and Nicole VanderDrift's IS fifth-graders are masters at completing the Candy Corn Tower STEM Challenge...on National Candy Corn Day! First, students had to brainstorm and sketch their candy corn tower design with their group. Then, they had 20 minutes to use 25 toothpicks and 25 candy corn pieces to build their design. The highest tower reached 7.75 inches tall! Well-done!
It’s not over yet, Yankee fans! Think positive….and as part of that positivity, Otisville Elementary and Intermediate School presented students with their Aaron Judge ALL RISE Summer Reading Programs certificate received earlier in the week!
Congratulations and well-done to Otisville students Adam Weber and Aria Basso and IS students Callan D'Antono, Nico Santiago, Rehan Usman and Mariah Carrion Castenada! (Aaron Judge did personally sign their certificates, BTW!)
The Aaron Judge ALL RISE Foundation, founder of this group and the Yankees’ captain, is a nonprofit that aims to inspire children and youth to become responsible citizens. Its summer reading program is a literacy initiative that encourages children and youth to read. This past summer, Minisink Valley invited all students to participate in this summer reading initiative, organized by Physical Education Teacher Theresa Uhelsky.
Elizabeth Hagerty’s Otisville fifth-graders, like all district fifth-graders, have been spending quality time during ELA lessons working on reading and writing personal narratives.
For her class, this recent lesson was near the end of the unit where students are writing a personal narrative about a time they were “surprised.” Students used organizers to make sure their stories were in a logical sequence. They were tasked with adding sensory details as well as similes and metaphors to give their readers a clearer mental image and to make their writing more interesting. Some of their topics included being surprised with a new pet, having a birthday surprise, a surprise snow day, and a surprise trip!
REMINDER: Tomorrow, Oct. 31, Otisville Elementary and the Elementary School will hold their annual Halloween parades! 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!
Kindergarten work is always impressive! Take a peek at Carmela Sill’s ES kindergarteners, who are working in their fine motor letter centers and using their Amplify reading software on their Chromebooks! Her little students have been sharpening their ELA skills via Amplify and working on their fine motor skills through the use of manipulatives and dot markers.
Manipulative materials are objects that students interact with to help in the learning process. They can be used to make learning more fun and engaging, and can help children understand different concepts, often times in math.
REMINDER: A friendly reminder to previous emails sent to juniors and their families: Junior Parking is suspended tomorrow, Oct. 31 because of the expected large crowds visiting the Slate Hall campus for the Elementary School's Halloween Parade.
