CSA’S Corner: A Message from Dr. Maranzano February 16, 2017
LEBANON BOROUGH SCHOOL
Classroom News
PRE-SCHOOL:
This week in Pre-School….
In preschool we are continuing our community helpers theme by talking about a different community helper each day. We talked about the holidays Groundhog day and Valentine’s Day as well. We have learned the letters O, P, and Q.
In the early birds we talked about police officers, doctors, sanitation workers, mail carriers and dentists. We had a visit from a dentist and hygienist, which was our first assembly. They did great sitting the entire time and remembering to raise their hands. For the sanitation worker day we made garbage trucks out of foam shapes. We’ve been talking about the shapes circles, squares and hearts. We’ve done a smartboard sorting activity for each shape. We’re continuing to work on our counting skills by completing a doctor tools counting book and a color word and counting heart mini book. While talking about hearts we made heart cards by cutting pieces of paper and gluing it to a big heart as a Valentine’s Day card for our families. This also helped with our scissor skills!
In the late birds we have talked about police, teachers, doctors, sanitation worker, EMT’s, grocers, dentist and mail carrier. We have been writing in our journals, completing our interactive alphabet notebooks, practicing our rhyming with matching and go fish games. During police day we took our own fingerprints and had a visit from Trooper Walsh. During EMT day we made an ambulance craft and had a visit from the Clinton EMS. We have been doing a lot of sorting (letters, doctor materials, colors, shapes), and practicing our lacing. We made a model of our mouth with marshmallow teeth, each student wrote a letter to themselves and mailed it home!
Ms. Anderson & Ms. Snedeker
KINDERGARTEN:
This week in Kindergarten...
We received all 24 Valentines from our pen pals. It was great to compare and contrast our day to our pen pals from around the United States.
We are now focused on writing at least two sentences when we are writing. We learned that a group of sentences is called a paragraph. This is a skill that we will continue to work on to prepare for 1st grade.
In math we are wrapping up our 3D figure chapter. Now we are able to identify many 2D shapes and 3D figures and compare them. We noticed that 2D shapes and 3D figures are ALL around us!
Mrs. Baldoni
FIRST GRADE:
For the last two weeks, first grade has been taking a break from our Reading Street stories and engaging in a book study, Frog and Toad are Friends. For anyone not familiar with these books, they are short chapter books with funny stories that first graders love! We have been reading the stories as a class, and talking about parts of a story, such as characters, setting, problem and solution. We have also been working on parts of a book, such as using a table of contents and learning about the publisher and dedication pages. We have completed some fun activities in conjunction with the book. For example, we made “Frog’s button coat” that Toad makes for him in the chapter titles “The Lost Button.” For our culminating project, the students are writing their own Frog and Toad “chapter” which will be displayed in a Frog or Toad cover that the kids had a great time making!
Mrs. Petty
SECOND GRADE:
This week in second grade…
This week in second grade, we learned about many ways to communicate. Our weekly story, Dear Juno, told us about a young boy who corresponded by mail with his grandma in Seoul. In math we are continuing to practice regrouping of hundreds to tens and tens to ones when subtracting 3-digit numbers. Our new Science unit on rocks intrigued the students as they took part in a hands-on activity with various kinds of rocks. As we finish our foldables on landforms, we will continue our Social Studies unit by learning the difference between climate and weather. They have brought home their directions and materials to begin working on their 3D map projects. Thank you for your help with this assignment.
We enjoyed our 100th day of school. We did many small group activities throughout the day with the number 100 including counting and measuring 100 different coins and making projects. We also read a story and wrote a 100 poem. The class also enjoyed their Valentine’s Day activities and snacks!
~Mrs. Adamaitis~
THIRD GRADE:
In third grade….
3rd Graders are officially 100 days stronger and wiser! We celebrated the 100th Day of School last week with multiple activities including writing with 100 dollars in mind, having 100 thoughts, and measuring 100 seconds for a multitude of activities! We also wrote Valentine’s Day poems and hung them on winter trees with cardinal bird accents. In math we are completing our Understanding Fractions chapter and are moving on to deeper learning with fraction comparisons. We also visited the senior center last week and performed our theatrical poem that we memorized. We made beautiful birch tree art with them and read to them about artic animals. In science we are learning about behavioral adaptations, and in social studies we are identifying exact location versus relative location.
~Mrs. Corradi~
FOURTH GRADE:
This week in fourth grade….
Fourth grade is totally immersed in fractions! We have learned to find equivalent fractions, simplify or reduce fractions and find common denominators to get a new pair of fractions. Today we held our FRACTION FEST. Fourth grade is so much fun!!
In ELA, we have been totally all things Wonder. This is a marvelous book that teaches great character education, acceptance, forgiveness, empathy, to name a few. We have been studying character traits, point of view, analyzing quotes, and reflecting on our own lives and experiences. It has been quite a ride.
In Social Studies, we have arrived at Colonial New Jersey. We learned how England gained control over West and East Jersey from the Netherlands, and why people from Europe and Africa arrived here during this time period. Next week we will have a wonderful study of ....taxes...... as we learn of the events that built up to the Revolutionary War.
I hope you all have a wonderful long weekend!
Mrs. Lawn
FIFTH GRADE:
This week in fifth grade….
Fifth grade has wrapped up chapter 6, which focused on adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers. We have now moved on to multiplying fractions. Most students find that much easier, so I’m hoping for smooth sailing through Chapter 7! We finished our Reading unit 3 which was about artists and inventors, and worked on the Unit assessment. We also began our fourth class novel of the year, Indian in the Cupboard. So far the students are really enjoying the humor and fantasy of the story, and soon we will delve into the heartwarming themes of the novel as well. These themes include doing the right thing, the challenges of friendships, and accepting cultural differences. There are quite a few challenging new vocabulary words to encounter in the novel as well! In Social Studies, we painted pictures of the Nile River along with the fertile area alongside it, and labeled the first four cataracts (waterfalls). Look for these to come next week. We enjoyed many Valentine treats yesterday! Thank you very much to all who provided snacks for our classroom celebration! Happy Presidents Day weekend!
~Mrs. Gamberzky~
SIXTH GRADE:
Hello,
In Reading, students read the story, Into The Ice. The story is about surviving in the Arctic. In Math, students just finished up learning how to convert percentages to decimals and fractions. In Science, students just started a new unit about cells and cell structure. We started talking about Science Fair projects and guidelines on how to have an awesome presentation at the Science Fair. Our tentative date is April 25th. We are working on posters to present at our next assembly on Fairness.
~Mrs. Gibbs
SPECIAL AREA TEACHER UPDATE(S)
SUPPLEMENTAL SUPPORT SERVICES-
Students have been so busy using logical thinking, problem-solving, and team-working skills in Enrichment, Technology, and A.T.!
In Enrichment, grades K-2 have been using robots to practice coding in a hands-on way. We are using Robot Mouse, Bee Bot, and DASH from Wonder Workshop. DASH is programmed via apps on the iPad, which is so much fun to program! All the students, even the kindergarteners, are becoming super-coders!! Grades 3-6 have been working on a slide presentation on the ecosystem they learned about, using facts and photos learned from the video. PreK used the apps Bugs & Buttons, Quick Math Jr. and Native Numbers to practice preschool math and language skills.
In Technology, K-2 practiced math skills using Patterns, Measure This, and Fast Facts apps. Grades 2-3 practiced alphabetizing with the app ABC Order. They also learned about grids and practiced with coordinates with the app Co-ordinates. Fourth grade used the app Kidspiration to make a graphic organizer about the ecosystem they did a report on in class. Fifth grade has been working on a slide presentation about a U.S. state they chose, after working with USA maps for a couple weeks. Sixth grade used the app Timeline 3D to make a timeline of the top 10 most popular US National Parks, in order of their establishment dates, including photos. We want to visit them all!!
In A.T., grades 5-6 began working with electronics, using kits to complete projects. They’ve created projects with sounds, lights, and movements, learning how to complete circuits.
Grades 3-4 are using various new STEM activities I purchased for this year. Some are board games, and some use the iPad along with physical blocks. We rotate in groups so each student has a chance to experience all the activities. It’s fun to figure these out together…so much logical thinking, following directions, and most of all, problem-solving! We’ve also been using
Apps and headsets to experience Virtual Reality – an activity loved by all! We can walk on the moon, jump out of an airplane, or rock climb in Yosemite!
Sue Ellen Turner
HEALTH & PHYSICAL EDUCATION
February is Heart month, students have learned about the American Heart Association and are participating in the Jump Rope for Heart. Donations are due March by 10th. In PhysEd students are engaged in their jump rope unit. Completeing jump rope challenges and heart healthy activities. In Health all grades are learning about dental health. Reminder Intramurals startsFebruary 27th. Grades 3-6 will beMonday's3pm-4pmandThursday7:30am-8:15am. Grades K-2 will be Tuesdays3pm-4pm. If you have any questionsreguarding Intramurals please email me.
Thank you,
Mrs.Zanet
MUSIC
ART
SUCH TALENT at LBS….!
This past weekend 25 of our students were recognized by the Hunterdon Art Museum for their artwork. If you can get over there in the next two weeks, it is worth the visit.3rdgrader Raquel Jimenez’s work was chosen by the Cultural and Heritage Commission to be hung in the courthouse in Flemington in June. This is indeed an honor as only 4 from each exhibition of more than 100 pieces are selected to go on. (photo attached)
Kindergartendid some great work with shape and primary colors. They mirrored the Master Piet Mondrian.1stgradesuccessfully created some washed watercolor work. They then had to ‘see’ hearts in the work they created. Learning to ‘see’ is so important in challenging their minds. 2ndgradesuccessfully created some complicated compositions in the style of Burton Morris who is a pop artist. Burton uses paint and they used paper to mirror his work.3rdgradehas completed Frank Stella. He is a geometric abstractionist and his work is amazing.4thgradebeautifully worked through a technique called pulled paint. They used torn corrugated cardboard as brushes. All of this work was hung in the auditorium for the St Valentine Dance.5thgradewill begin printing this week. They will conceptualize, design and carve in soft block and print on paper.6thgradewill begin their project for the school this week. They are skilled at textile work – ALL OF THEM – and so we will develop some woven tapestry panels for Health /PE classroom.
Attachments area
~Mrs. Koop~