The Elementary School's Oct. 24 Fall Fest was spectacular! Pumpkins! Tractor rides! Games! Cider and donuts! And, lots of fun with friends on a beautiful and brisk sunny fall day! Thank you to the ES PTO for all their work to make this a memorable day for our youngest students!
This gorgeous weather means outdoor recess is even more fun! Shawne Demberg's ES kindergarteners are loving some extra time to be outside and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine!
It’s always wonderful when alumni return to the district to visit and share what’s going in their lives! That’s what happened yesterday, Oct. 23, when Coast Guard Seaman E3 Luke Greiner, a Class of 2024 alumnus, visited Jennifer DiSimone’s ES first-graders!
Luke is currently on serving 15 days of “Hometown Recruiting,” where he will be visiting local high schools (including Minisink Valley) to talk about the Coast Guard and what a Coast Guard career entails. After that, he will report back to his unit at Small Boat Station Wrightsville Beach, N.C. Luke is working toward specific qualifications before he goes to his A-School to study ME-Maritime Enforcement.
While visiting these little students, Luke talked about his work, answering a wide range of questions from students. Did you know that Luke has never saved a baby whale, or fallen overboard?
Luke brought John Fitzgerald’s “U. S. Coast Guard A B Seas” to class and challenged students to pick the Coast Guard word used in the book which aligns with an alphabet letter. Students did pretty good with their guesses!
After that, Luke wanted them to experience what every active-duty service member does in all service branches: MARCHING! Luke spoke to them about the importance of marching as a unit, because marching teaches the important lessons of. discipline, professionalism, teamwork, good posture, and pride. Thanks for visiting, Luke, and thank you for your service!
Otisville Elementary's and the Elementary School's annual Halloween parades is just one week 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!
Nora Fitzgerald and Erin McCawley’s ES first-graders are using their recently read story, “The Trip Back,” as part of their ELA work which will include rereading the story using buddy reading. Buddy reading builds reading fluency, comprehension and vocabulary.
Anthony Licata's ES physical education students are learning about verbal (talking) communication, nonverbal (silent) communication, and teamwork. They recently played a game a game called "Birds Nest," where communication and teamwork to swap nests with the other birds in the class.
For verbal communication, a student starts out in a nest (hula-hoop) and call out to another bird (classmate) and ask them to switch with them. For nonverbal, a student would try to get a bird’s attention without speaking, and using different hand signals and get them to switch with him/her without speaking or making noise.
Students would then switch up the movements they would do to each nest by rolling a dice, and doing the movement based on whatever number the dice landed on (Example: If the dice lands on 1 the students would walk, 2 run, etc.)
For the final round, students would add "hawks" to the game. The hawks would not have a nest, and if a bird left the nest to switch with somebody, the hawks could occupy the empty nest, becoming a bird. The bird who lost its nest would then become a hawk! What a creative way of learning verbal/ nonverbal communication and teamwork skills to use in the game.
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.
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!
SO SWEET! Jessica Paglia's first-graders and Joseph Ferara's second- graders are showing their admiration to Kevin Murphy, School Security Aide/Intramural Assistant , who was recently honored by the Mid-Hudson School Study Council (MHSSC) with its Award of Excellence in Staff Support!
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!”
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!
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!
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!
Fire safety cuteness!
Carmela Sill's ES kindergarteners made adorable dalmatian puppy projects as part of their important lessons on fire safety and awareness. 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.
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!
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.
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."
Fire safety lessons can be fun!
Rosamaria Acevedo’s ES first-graders discovered and identified ire 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!
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!
