... to teach their readers about their topics in chapter form . The students also worked carefully on editing them with
GW Winter Newsletter February 2018
George Washington School
2017-2018
READ ACROSS AMERICA IS COMING TO GW Read Across America will come to GW School this Spring with a focus on increasing students reading and reading comprehension and fun theme days, culminating in GW’s Second Annual Pajama Party on Wednesday night, March 7. Other highlights will include:
*Daily theme days during Dr. Seuss’s birthday week including Wacky Wednesday, Oh the Places You’ll Go! Day, and Cat in the Hat Day *K-2 Raz Kids Reading Challenge—the class who earns the most time and stars on the Raz Kids reading program during the month of March wins fabulous prizes!
Feb 12
Pre-K Lottery Selection
Feb 13
GW School Tour
Feb 15
Dental Hygiene Assembly
Feb 26
Read Across America Starts
Mar 2
Reading Pajama Mar 7 Jam
*GW Night Pajama Party inviting students to come to school at night in their Pajamas to read books, do crafts, and enjoy snacks with their teachers and friends.
GW teachers get esl pd afternoon Instruction for English Language Learners”. Teaching staff throughout Edgewater are exposed to ELLs in various degrees, whether a classroom teacher, specialist, therapist, or general staff member. Dr. Suh shared a variety of strategies for increasing their participation, understanding, and growth, both from an individu-
K-2 Author Visit
Valentine’s Day Feb Parties 14
*A visit from the Cat in the Hat in February to kick things off.
Professional Development for teachers and teaching staff are an integral way of keeping the quality of teaching and instruction great at GW School. Recently, GW was privileged to host Dr. Sora Suh, a professor from Rowan University, who came for an afternoon to speak to all GW and EVG staff in a presentation entitled “Sheltered
Upcoming Important Dates:
al, small group, and whole group setting. She also discussed facts and myths about second language acquisition and the importance of developing a strong base language. With our new bilingual program and increasing number of ESL students, this presentation was important information for GW staff .
Special points of interest:
**Catch up with work on all grade levels **Jump Rope for Heart **Art Enrichment for Upcoming Author Visit **Read Across America comes to GW in March
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George Washington School
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Pre-K 3s Getting into “Shapes” This winter, the Prek 3 classes have been busy exploring shapes and recycling. We learned about basic shapes through art, music, science and math activities. Together with the second grade classes, we constructed gingerbread houses. We collected various types of recyclables then sorted them by material and learned how they could be reused. We worked together with our first grade buddies to create recycling
shapes and patterns to make a favorite theme, Robots and are very excited about using metallic paint on them. First graders discovered many facts about owls as they created awesome owl art. Second graders are just completing their Chinese porcelain vase and lucky bamboo project where they learned the art of print making. February is Black History month and to celebrate, all GW artist will soon be creating art that represents various aspects of African art.
sculptures and ramps! In February, we are looking forward to learning about keeping our bodies healthy and a special Sweetheart Tea Party to celebrate Valentine's Day with our parents!
Artists Staying Busy as We Enter February GW students have been steadily engaged in creating amazing art projects since the start of this school year. Entering our winter season is with no less enthusiasm! Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and to celebrate, preschool students have been learning to draw hearts and creating art inspired by the American artist, Jim Dine. The kindergartners, have been drawing
Pre-K 4 Students Learn About Recycling PreK4 Classrooms have been busy investigating boxes, using their inquiry skills, learning all about the characteristics of 3D shapes, what it means to Reduce and Reuse materials and how important Recycling can be for the earth. We each closed the unit by inviting a first grade class to join us in creating something new using all the recycled materials our families sent in for us to explore. The first graders were such a big
help in the design process. Some of us made robots, while others designed airplanes, castles, houses and so many more awesome pieces. Everyone had so much fun using their imaginations and working with different classes within GW.
First Graders Learning About The Moon During Science, first grade students were learning about the moon. First, they read books about the moons and studied it surface. Next, they conducted an experiment to investigate how craters are formed. They dropped different object from different heights and observed results. This and other units are part of the Pearson Science program that the district is in Year 2 of using. This program is aligned closely with the Next Generation Science Standards. In the picture, you see two students from Mrs. Gigante’s class conducting an experiment and observing results on the craters.
Speech Students Go Traveling
PreK speech students are having fun with the transportation theme. We are busy making books, playing bingo, and decorating the room with different kinds of vehicles. We talked about vehicles that go in the air, on land, and on water. These activities reinforced vocabulary words, matching and sorting skills learned in the classroom. Happy travels!
Pre-K Registration in The Books Registration for George Washington’s 20182019 pre-school classes took place over two days in January. The lottery will be held on February 13 and parents will be notified of their standing soon after. A waiting list will be formed for those not initially selected.
Pictures from Around GW
Second grade students using the Seesaw dictation app to become word experts in Supplemental Reading. “How to” Books Published in Grade One!
First grade students from Ms. Weller’s class read non-fiction books in their book clubs.
Art Enrichment students make designs for the K-2 Author Visit from Marcie Colleen.
The first graders in Ms Berkowitz and Ms Chrisanthopoulos’ class got together to celebrate their published “All About” books. First graders learned how to choose a topic that they’re experts on, include a table of contents , introduction and also how to teach their readers about their topics in chapter form . The students also worked carefully on editing them with lessons learned from the Writer’s Workshop program that is used in all grades K2.
First Graders Study the Presence of Germs Under the direction of School Nurse Mrs. Berliner, students in grade one classes
conducted experiments on the spread of germs and how prevalent they are in many different places in society. Students evaluated various parts of the classroom and use sensitive lights to test these areas for the presence of germs and fingerprints. This lesson is especially timely with the recent rash of illnesses at GW, as well as many Bergen County Schools.
Learning Music!
Kindergarten Update Happy New Year! All of the Kindergarten classes have started the new year eager to learn more! In reader’s workshop, students have learned new strategies to become better readers. Strategies like predicting and sounding out letters have helped our readers gain more confidence. The Kindergarten teachers' favorite strategy to teach is never giving up. With this foundation, our kindergarten readers will develop the love of reading at an early age. All students have been diligently practicing their letter sounds and blending them together to read new words and short stories. Our Kindergarten students are excited to learn new snap words each week. What’s more, is that students are eager to use these new words in writers' workshop to enhance their work. Also in reader's and writer's workshop, all of the kindergarten classes enjoyed sharing and examining the holiday traditions that their families partake in. It was wonderful for all of our students to learn the variety of traditions. Snap cubes, Counters, and Models, Oh My! Our kindergarten mathematicians have learned a wide variety of math skills like counting to 100 and 2D shapes like hexagons! In January, all students learned about the influence of the great leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Students reflected on how Dr. King impacted our country and even shared some of their own dreams. With all of these exciting things happening it's hard to imagine that the best is yet to come! Stay tuned as we prepare to celebrate the 100th day of school and as we continue having fun acquiring new knowledge in Kindergarten!
In second grade music class, student pairs used xylophones to find the note names of the song “Let us Pass the Snowball” that they had previously learned. After they have completed the exercise, they sang songs using correct solfege hand signs. Computer Science Continues in Media
Throughout the month of January, GW students have been busy further developing their computer programming skills. All students in grades K-2 have been steadily working through the Code.org Computer Science Online Curriculum focusing on coding basics such as sequencing, debugging and loops. Students began on these programs during the “Hour of Code” in December. The links are available at Mrs. Gash’s webpage for students to work on at home as well.
Second Grade Poetry
Over the past month, 2nd Grade students have been studying a unit of poetry during Writers Workshop. We began this rewarding experience by listening to poetry by various authors, which gave the students the inspiration and desire to write their own poetry. Each child showed their unique style as they illustrated their poems. It was wonderful to see how proud and excited the children were to share their work. It was a fun and memorable experience for everyone.
Student of the Month Winners for January
Jump Rope for Heart Comes to PE Classes The Phys Ed Department at GW School has had a very busy month of January. Coming right back from holiday break, Mr. Nannas and Ms. DeMaio introduced Jump Rope for Heart to all classes during their PE period. JRFH is a program in which the students learn about maintaining a healthy heart, while learning various ways of jumping. Preschool and Kindergarten have learned six different variations of jumping and the 1st and 2nd graders have learned how to jump rope, hula hoop jump and jump with a jump stick. So far, GW School has proudly fundraised over $13,000 with over 200 student participants and more enthusiastic participation coming!
Each month a different character trait is featured along the “Pillars of Character” and students are nominated by teachers or other adults in the building for the Student of the Month Award. Winners for January were chosen based on exemplifying extra effort, both in their schoolwork and in their work with others. Many of them are pictured below. Congrats boys and girls – we are proud of your effort!
Thanks to the PTO! K-2 Author Visit – Marcie Colleen Monday, February 12
ESL / Bilingual Students Making Great Strides
K-Bilingual Students are working extremely hard learning how to write sequential writing! This time, we wrote about "How to build a snowman."
Supplemental Math Students Doing Great The students enrolled in the Supplemental Math program are progressing nicely this year. Kindergartners made their own rek en reks and are playing the “Look and Go” game before starting their center based learning each week. First Graders have read and answered word problems. They remembered that words needed to be a part of their answer when questions like this are in front of them. They then turned their creativity on and produced their own addition and subtraction word problems. In second grade, the students are counting money. They are even able to find a specific amount in three different ways! We are witnessing brain growth every day! Learning Center Writing Pieces!
First graders in ESL are learning about the life cycle of plants. We planted beans in our cups and we are writing in our Observation Journal everyday using new vocabulary words!
In the Learning Center, students have been busy drafting, editing and revising their How To books. The students were very proud to present their final publications. We are looking forward to starting our next nonfiction writing unit. Stay tuned. Raz Kids Reading Top 5 Classes This Year 1. 1-Jaggi 2. 2-Pollack 3. 1-Gigante 4. 1-Chrisanthopoulos 5. 1-Berkowitz
