Kindergarten As we start another school year the children and teachers began kin-dergarten with equal en-thusiasm using a tool for learning that has sur-vived the passage of time. Blocks bring up strong, solid and pleas-ant memories for many adults and children. The reason for that is stated clearly by the National Association for Educa-tion of Young Children: "Engrossed in building with blocks, the child is a

mathematician, scientist, architect, stage de-signer, and storyteller. And as children build together, they stretch and grow as problem solvers and collabora-tors.”

First Grade First grade is off to a FANTASTIC start! Everyone is so excited about the beginning of the school year and all of the wonderful things we will be learning. Our first grad-ers are already reading! Each child has their own inde-pendent reading books that are a “Good Fit” for them. Everyone is participating in a reading workshop and writing workshop when the students get to practice new reading and writing strategies while the teachers conference with students individually. We are also learn-

ing about the season of autumn, the changing colors of the leaves, apples and pumpkins. We will be going to White Post Farms in October to celebrate this beautiful season. Our first graders have also become fantastic pattern makers and have explored the many different patterns around us. The first graders would like to thank the PTA for the awesome Searingtown hats we received for Spirit Week! We are looking forward to a great year ahead!

Kindergarten chil-dren have had a fun and successful be-ginning to this

Here’s What’s Happening @Searingtown!

I n s i d e t h i s i s s u e :

Second Grade

2

Third Grade 2

Fourth Grade 2

Fifth Grade 3

Library 3

ESL 3

Music 4

Art 4

September Happenings

O c t o b e r 1 , 2 0 1 0 S e a r i n g t o w n

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Band

Orchestra Art Studio Herricks Virtual Li-brary

2nd Grade

P a g e 2 S e a r i n g t o w n h a p p e n i n g s ~ i s s u e 1

Searingtown’s Second Graders are off to a spec-tacular start as they have been extremely busy learn-

ing, socializing, and adjusting to the routines of their new classes during the first month of school. Fundations, Co-

lumbia University Teachers College Reading and Writing Workshops, Math, Science, Health, and Social Studies have filled their days with knowledge and fun. Celebrat-ing the end of summer and the beginning of autumn together was awesome. Meeting and greeting all the parents at “Meet the Teacher” night was marvelous. Wearing crazy hair, team jerseys, pajamas, and dress up clothes really showed their school spirit. The phenomenal Pep Rally was

even more incredible when everyone wore their sensational Searingtown

School tee shirts and fabu-lous Searing-town caps that were generously donated by our wonderful PTA. How fabulous was it to get

dressed up and bring a smile to school on Picture Day? The best is yet to come!

exploring data through graphs and charts. Scientifi-cally speaking, students ap-plied the scientific method by constructing hypotheses to answer real world ques-tions. September also in-cluded Spirit Week. Stu-dents participated in Crazy Hair Day, Pajama Day, Dress Up Day, and Team Uniform Day. The grand finale was a

Our new fourth graders are off to a great start! Students are learning to zoom into a small moment writing per-sonal narratives, and they are exploring their first genre of literature: realistic fic-tion. They are also using maps and globes as tools to investigate the world around them. As budding mathema-ticians, fourth graders are

Pep Rally on School Spirit Day with the fourth grade proudly wearing the school col-ors. We're off and running!

addition to academics, we re-viewed bus safety rules with a bus drill, and enjoyed a fun-filled school spirit week! We all enjoyed dressing up each day and our amazing pep rally. Thank you to the PTA, Ms. Pasateri and Mr. Lavey for a great week!

It is simply amazing to look at

all we accomplished already this school year. We are looking for-

ward to many more ex-citing times in 3rd grade!

The 3rd Grade is off to a pro-ductive start! We began our adventures by exploring con-tinents, oceans, maps, hemi-spheres and much more within our Geography Unit. We are recording our lives in our Writers Notebooks and learning which book fits us best. In Math, our units of Place Value and Graphing are off to an exciting start. In

3rd Grade

4th Grade

5th Grade

P a g e 3 S e a r i n g t o w n h a p p e n i n g s ~ i s s u e 1

The 5th graders started off the year with great enthu-siasm. Each class started the Mileage Club and we’re so excited about ex-ercising each day. The

5th graders also took on a special role in the Pep Rally, performing cheers and leading Sear-ingtown with

spirit. In the classroom, we all have begun devel-oping our writer's note-books. We have been en-joying thinking about, writ-

ing about, and sharing our favorite memories. We even used treasured ob-jects to help us spark a memory. Is it soluble or insoluble? 5th graders ask themselves this ques-tion while they study their new science unit called Mystery Matters!!! We are all looking forward to a fabulous school year!

so that we may work in and out of the mainstream class-rooms. Our lesson plans are aligned with the appropriate grade level curriculum in an effort to support each student and enrich his or her learn-ing.

The ESL Department begins each new year welcoming former students as well as newcomers. Newcomers in-clude kindergarteners and students from other schools - both near and far away. It is an exciting time! We coordinate our schedules

have just begun our online unit, Flying High With Library Skills, where they will “earn their pilot wings” after complet-ing a series of “checkpoints”. Excitement was in the air when we used netbooks to explore DestinyQuest, our online cata-log.

Our autumn 4th grade research classes are presently working through a series of modules focused on navigating the Her-ricks Virtual Library Media Center , DestinyQuest, Internet Safety, Reference Resources, Note-taking, and the Big6 Re-

search Method.

5th graders have been using the netbooks to team up with Professor Garfield on Internet Safety, Cyberbullying and Web Evalua-tion. These modules support the AASL 21st Century Learner Standards.

New books are flying off the shelf in our media center! Speaking of new, we have a new Library Assistant, Mrs. Sheila Con-dron. Searingtown students have made her feel right at home!

September found kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grades enjoying various stories about libraries and book care, including Mr. Wiggle’s Book, We’re Going on a Book Hunt, L Is For Library, What Happened to Marion’s Book?, and Curious George Visits the Library. Students be-came well-versed in the “Five Finger Rule” for selecting a just right book.

In 3rd grade, students began the year with a library scavenger hunt, designed to help them remember the different sections of the library media center. We

5th Grade’s got spirit!

Library

ESL

Mrs. DeMarco’s class get comfortable on our beanbags on Pajama Day!

erful “not an” designs or crea-tive collages when you come across your child’s journal! We are so enjoying the student teacher, Jenna Caputo who has been planning and expe-diting lessons, with us. She is as thrilled to be working with all of us at Searingtown as we are to have her here! Check out the Fresh Art fro the Studio Blog! There is information about a recycling art contest from the Town of North Hempstead You can find the link at the Searingtown Art Studio site or here is the link: http://

We are all (K-5) making our art portfo-lios for the year in the Searingtown Art Studio! All of our work is stored inside with a written list on the outside. Each child makes his own from large watercolor paper, folded almost in half. Colorful construction paper fans transform this folder into an expandable storage place for a year’s worth of work! In a brand new development, students in grades 3 - 5 have been organizing AND decorating their journals before they begin assignments! Be on the lookout for sensitive watercolors, pow

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As your son or daughter progresses in the Herricks Instrumental Music Program, there are a number of ways in which you, as parents can assist in his/her success. These tactics are especially helpful after the novelty of a new instrument has worn off.

A t h o m e : • Show an interest in the music study of your child, encourage him/her through the technical frustrations, praise

your child's efforts and achievements • Arrange a regular time for daily practice and help him/her to maintain it • Provide a quiet place in which to practice • Provide a folding music stand for the practice area • Help your child with practice as much as possible • Help your child keep a daily record of practice • Provide a safe place in which to keep your child's instru-

ment. • Keep the instrument in good repair • Help your child to be punctual for rehearsals and lessons • Make faithful attendance at all activities important • Encourage your child to perform for others when the opportunities arise • Play recordings of master artists of your child's instrument • Take your child to live concerts of musical quality as often as possible (there are many wonderful local con-

certs, and New York is only 20 miles away) • Encourage your child to hear concerts, radio broadcasts, or television shows of musical quality whenever pos-

sible A t s c h o o l : • See that your child takes his/her instrument and music on the day of lessons and rehearsals • Discuss with the music teacher anything which will help the teacher better understand your child

Band and Orchestra: How Parents Can Help A Child

Student Art Journals

Art Studio