As part of their work, students worked in groups, focusing on their chosen tribe, and created a slide presentation and diorama to show their knowledge about their research work. The details each group presented include the tribe’s location, the area’s climate, types of homes, transportation, food, clothing art, government as well as the role of men and women.
Studying the Erie, Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk, Mohican, and Lenape is important for New York fourth-graders because these nations are a central part of the New York’s history, geography, and cultural identity. These tribes lived in what is now New York long before European settlers arrived. Learning about them helps students understand who was here first and how the land and resources were used and cared for.
Two important byproducts of Mrs. Eichwald’s students recent work were they worked in groups – so there were opportunities to share ideas, listen to others, compromise, respect different opinions and solve problems together—skills they will need in school and future jobs. Presenting their work to their peers allowed students to gain more experience in sharing ideas clearly and presenting their information to others while building confidence. WELL-DONE, everyone!
HOW FUN! Half-days are great for PJs, milk and cookies!
BOCES Otisville Satellite Principal Pilar Rocha and Acting Assistant Principal Terry Reynolds read wonderful books to all Otisville and BOCES satellite students during Otisville’s “Milk and Cookies” gathering, held this past half-day on Friday, Dec. 5, an annual event where the Otisville and BOCES PTOs supply the refreshments.
This year's book selections were:
•Michael Rashad’s “Everything for Christmas”
•Adam Wallace’s and Andy Elkerton’s “How to Catch a Gingerbread Man”
•Jennifer Jones’ “Gingerbread on Strike”
•Matt Taveras’ “Dasher Can't Wait for Christmas”
•Erin Guendelsberger’s “Little Red Sleigh”
Otisville and the BOCES Otisville Satellite Program have a wonderful partnership, and events like this reinforce this special relationship. Thank you, Mrs. Rocha and Mrs. Reynolds!
Yes, we know teams can’t “redshirt” themselves.... but we did it anyway for the 2025 Special Olympics New York Polar Bear Plunge. Next year, we will be back!
We’re grateful to officials from Special Olympics New York’s Hudson Valley chapter who visited us this past Friday, Dec. 5, to present us with the 2024 Cool School Challenge Trophy (we raised $4,022) and brought celebratory pizza for anyone from the 2024 team who was able to attend. They gratefully recognized the efforts of the 2024 team and are completely energized to work with us to get an awesome team in place for 2026.
However, the trophy didn’t stay in our possession very long. It’s now in the safekeeping of our friends at the nearby Chester School District, the Cool School Challenge winner for the 2025 plunge at The Rez in Highland Mills. Congratulations, Chester, but you better watch out: We’re coming after you in 2026 to reclaim our title!
K-5 FAMILIES: Be part of the fun and merriment for a great cause! Pull out your student's finest Grinchy (or green) attire and sign up to attend a special fundraiser showing of “The Grinch” on Friday, Dec. 12, beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the ES/IS Auditorium! The evening runs until 8:30 p.m. so you’ll even have a chance to grab a bite to eat or do some holiday shopping while your student is having a great time!
The ES PTO and High School’s Youth Against Cancer (YAC) Club are hosting this fun “Kids Night Out” evening! Cost is $10 per student, with snacks, a souvenir and a very special visit from the Grinch himself! Don’t miss out!
All proceeds will benefit the good work of the ES PTO and the YAC Club. Sign-up via this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfsKNmEfJdvoBl6ZMtFJi6pvYE6LSWbf23qvUHGJbIG78tuUQ/viewform
Do you remember what the associative property in math is? We’ll help: The associative property in math is a rule about how you group numbers when adding or multiplying. It says that the way numbers are grouped doesn’t change the result. The associative property is all about grouping (parentheses), not about the order of the numbers. And as these (and ALL) third-graders know, you always solve what’s in the parentheses first!
In math, properties are rules or characteristics that remain true for numbers and operations, providing a consistent and reliable framework for solving problems. These fundamental rules, like the commutative, associative, and distributive properties, allow for the rearrangement of equations without changing the outcome, and they apply across various mathematical fields.
Book swaps are an additional way of keeping students excited about reading and are a fun social event, too! Students had the opportunity to feel pride in swapping out a book they enjoyed so someone else can have the experience of knowing that story. They also were able to recommend a book title to their peers, too! PLUS: Choosing a new book to read during the swap can give students a feeling of positive empowerment --- they’ve chosen that book to read and enjoy versus reading an assigned book. Everyone gets something new to read!
Thank you to the Otisville PTO for organizing this wonderful literacy event!
Tara Frawley’s and Kelly Manganiello’s Otisville fifth-graders learned this in a personal finance and budgeting lesson tasking them with shopping for Thanksgiving dinner food items and spending no more than $300.
They used a local grocery store circular to determine the cost of appetizers, drinks, turkey, side dishes and desserts. Working in pairs, created a list of all items needed, their price, the total cost per part of the meal and finalized the budget when they were done! It’s a lot! To conclude the assignment, students had to balance their budget and see if they stayed within or busted the budget!
In ELA, chaining is a teaching method that connects words with similar spelling or sound patterns to help students decode and spell complex words. It's a structured literacy technique where students are guided to see how changing one letter or sound in a word creates a new word, reinforcing the relationship between letters and sounds.
Letters were marked on the “feathers” for the turkeys students created so each gobbler featured a special chained word!
Otisville's PBIS-STAR program focuses on creating and sustaining a positive school environment which embraces educationally sound methods that foster student character, safety, academic excellence and individual citizenship.
Equivalent fractions are fractions that may look different but represent the same amount. For example: 1/2 = 2/4 = 3/6. Learning equivalent fractions helps students know how fractions work (fractions describe part of a whole); allows them to compare and order (which is bigger) fractions; add and subtract with unlike denominators; build number sense; and positions them for higher level math like algebra.
Tara Frawley’s and Kelly Manganiello’s Otisville fifth-graders learned this in a personal finance and budgeting lesson tasking them with shopping for Thanksgiving dinner food items and spending no more than $300.
They used a local grocery store circular to determine the cost of appetizers, drinks, turkey, side dishes and desserts. Working in pairs, created a list of all items needed, their price, the total cost per part of the meal and finalized the budget when they were done! It’s a lot! To conclude the assignment, students had to balance their budget and see if they stayed within or busted the budget!
Lillian Preziosi"s Otisville fifth-graders are also disguising turkeys to save them from their intended fate! There's also a civics lesson component to their art projects, too, as everyone was asked to vote on which they feel is the best!
The results:
1: Cat meme
2: Santa
3: TIE: The Lorax and Stanley Cup
And, a wonderful finishing touch to their studies was the school’s first ever First-Grade Thanksgiving Balloon Parade, held yesterday, Nov. 24. The entire school took a break from their work to watch these little ones happily show their personal balloon creations and march through the hallways! Take a look!
The energy, cheers and reactions from the school community gave their parade an even more special meaning and was another opportunity for the Otisville school community to come together to make this a shared school event...this time to celebrate the Thanksgiving season and to emulate a very cool parade!
Did you know the very first Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade featured marionette puppets? Live animals from the Central Park Zoo were added but the roaring and growling scared small children. Puppeteer Tony Sarg decided to make large balloons that looked like the zoo animals and moved like his marionette puppets. Students learned the history of the parade as well as how the giant balloons are made. They studied old balloons in previous parades as well as the line up for this year's parade before deciding on what type of balloon they wanted to add to their parade. What a fun, season-appropriate activity!
See more photos on the district's Facebook page!
First, everyone talked about what gratitude is and things they are grateful for. Then, Mrs. Guifre tasked them with creating a “Gratitude Wreath.” The object was for teams to work together to create a unique gratitude wreath.
On the start signal, one student from each team rolled the die. The entire team performed the activity determined by the number rolled/exercise identified on the activity card.
The team’s movement “earned” them one item to add to their gratitude wreath. One student from the team went to the center of the activity area and brought one item (bean bag, scarf, deck ring, yarn ball, etc.) back to add to the team’s wreath and says something he/she is grateful for. Every student had a chance roll the die and choose (and place) the item added to the wreath.
Students continued this process until wreaths are complete or until they heard the stop signal. What a creative class combining seasonality and physical fitness!
First, students brainstormed about the many people and things they’re thankful for in their lives. Next, they chose the top three things most important to them. Students listed all of the reasons why they’re thankful for each onto an organizer.
Then they created first drafts of their essays, remembering to include an introduction, paragraphs about each topic, and a conclusion. Finally, students edited their work, typed their essays, colored a cover picture, and published them to hang on their lockers for everyone to see and enjoy! Well-done, everyone!
The Expository Essay Format is a very useful writing model for students because it helps them organize their ideas clearly. Understanding how information is organized can help students analyze texts and express ideas more effectively. It’s also thought to be a foundational format for essay students will write as they advance in their academic careers. Standardized writing assessments often require expository essays, so knowing the format increases confidence and performance.
SEASONALITY TIED TO LEARNING!
Take a peek at Jeni Galligan's Otisville transitional kindergarteners busy at work at their Thanksgiving stations!
Their recent station work had a very fun Thanksgiving theme with these little cuties working on their math, ELA and fine motor skills! They found pictures around the room and wrote the number that matched the amount; did color sorting; played the "I Spy" game using fall pictures while working on fine motor skills; rolled and wrote numbers; and even created Play-Doh turkeys, complete with colorful feathers! How fun!
"Stations" (also called centers) are designated areas in a classroom where students work independently or in small groups on specific, teacher-directed activities that reinforce skills taught in the classroom. These stations allow students to practice what they've learned through hands-on, engaging tasks, and they also give the teacher time to provide one-on-one instruction to small groups.
SIGN-UP! The High School’s Step Dance Team is hosting its first ever "Just Dance" Kids Night Out for K-5 students on Friday, Dec. 5 from 5 to 7:30 p.m. in the High School’s cafeteria. It’s going to be a fun and instructive evening out for students, who will learn some great dance steps from talented Step Dance club members! PLUS: You can have a chance to get some holiday shopping done, or even grab a bite to eat! Cost is $20 per student, paid by cash at the door, but registration is required! (See the QR code) Sign up early, as registration is limited to 40 students!
The distributive property is a math rule that helps simplify multiplication by showing that multiplying a number by a sum is the same as multiplying the number by each part of the sum separately and then adding the products.
