Superintendent's Office

Superintendent's Report
November 29, 2007

Curriculum and Instruction
High School –
HISTORY DEPARTMENT –

Mr. Warren's World History classes have just wrapped up their visit to Ancient Greece. During their studies they discussed Greek culture and how its unique geography affected their daily life. The students then analyzed the differences in cultural values, education, women's rights, & governments of Athens and Sparta. The Honors class produced a television/newspaper editorial about these differences. The students were introduced to Pericles, a great Athenian leader who transformed Athens and brought a golden age to Greece. Students analyzed Greek art and deciphered the four main types of government, monarchy, aristocracy, oligarchy, & democracy. The students’ geography skills were stretched when we mapped the Peloponnesian War and its combatants. To culminate the chapter, the students viewed "Clash of the Titans" and had to write a movie review based on their reactions. In November, the World History classes will begin their trip to Ancient Rome.
Ms. Cassidy’s/Ms. Fueshko’s U.S. History I students learned about colonization and the development of the southern and northern economies including the beginnings of slavery in the colonies and the increase in importation. Spiritual and ideological movements such as The Great Awakening and the Enlightenment were also covered. The students participated in an activity which allowed them to experience a “witch” trial. Current events were discussed as well focusing on the current issues in Iraq. Discussion took place on the American Revolution and the students worked in groups as well as separately in relation to concepts about the Declaration of Independence and the beginnings of the War. The students also created their own pamphlet in which they chose a side (patriot or loyalist) and attempted to bring others to their side of the cause. Currently, the students are learning of the people and battles in the War for Independence. Utilizing a cd-rom from the New Jersey Historical Commission, New Jersey history has been covered in battle scenarios in which the students decide what the Americans should do in particular battle situations.
Ms. Sadiku’s U.S. History I classes will begin discussion and study of the Revolutionary War. The students will dissect the Declaration of Independence in groups and explain each section. Students will create a political pamphlet either opposing or supporting the Loyalist or Patriotic cause.
Mrs. Sadiku’s U. S. History II classes have completed discussion on World War I and will be tested on the material. The students will conclude the study of WWI by having the students view “All's Quiet on the Western Front." They will then write a movie review. After the movie, we will start chapter 20 and learn about the politics of the roaring twenties. Students will learn about Sacco and Vanzetti.
Mrs. McGinty’s U.S. History II students began the study of the vast changes that touched the United States from 1920 to 1940, a people felt a clash between the values of a traditional, rural society and those for a growing urban culture. Underlying economic problems were obscured by apparent prosperity until a long, deep, economic slowdown causes widespread suffering. Students will explore how President Roosevelt experiments with various approaches to rebuild the economy.
Mrs. McGinty’s Honors students continue to develop their historical analyzing skills through political cartoons, primary source documents, and DBQ tests.
Mrs. McGinty’s Contemporary World Affairs students continue to examine and analyze world and national events through discussion and debate. Topics include the presidential election of 2008, war and conflict zones throughout the world, environmental crises and health issues.
Mrs. McGinty’s Sociology students are learning about socialization. By month’s end, they will have examined socialization of the individual, the adolescent in society, and the adult in society. Through the examination of case studies, both written and visual, students gain valuable insight into this key component of sociology.
Mrs. Marzi’s Psychology class completed our study of sensation and perception. The students created a project showing the various visual principles involved in visual perception. We also studied smell, hearing, touch, pain, taste, motion and the structures relating to each of these senses. We will begin the study of states of consciousness focusing on the nature of sleep and sleep disorders, dreams, and daydreaming.
Mrs. Squillace’s accounting students learned to journalize transactions using journals, source documents and recording journal entries in a journal. The students will also be able to understand Cash control system.
Mrs. Squillace’s Life Management students learned to prepare corresponding employment forms and complete tax return (form 1040). Also students will be able to understand the function of checking accounts. (Check cashing, bank reconciliation, etc.) A speaker from Bank of America spoke regarding banking procedures.
Mrs. Marano’s Computer Applications I and II classes are working on creating various documents using a combination of tools from Microsoft Office. They will be working on Forms using tables and formulas.
Mrs. Mikulka-Library Media CenterAmong the teachers who brought students to use the Library Media Center this month were Mrs. Khandhar, Mrs. McGinty, Mrs. Czekaj, Mrs. Geftic, Mr. Binazeski, Mr. Pankiewicz, Mr. Van Dam, Ms. Cassidy with her student teacher Ms. Fueshko, Mrs. Lewites, Mrs. Cafferty, Mr. Warren, Mrs. Shannon, Ms. Monetti, Mrs. Washburn, Mr. Schimel, and Mrs. Meyer.
We have art displays of pizza boxes decorated with renditions of the planets, and clay pots created by 6th grade art cycle classes.
The LMC was used as a test site for the PSAT administered in October.

WORLD LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT –

Ms. Siddons’ Spanish II classes are beginning to work the preterit tense and are thus able to express simple actions completed in the past while continuing to work with travel vocabulary to discuss trips and vacations.
Ms. Siddons’ Spanish IV and V class are using the future tense to discuss their plans after high school while also using the conditional tense to describe what they would do in hypothetical situations.
Mrs. Cafferty’s Spanish III classes researched the “Day of the Dead” and explored vocabulary for going to a concert and an art museum and shopping in a mall.
Mr. Eggmann’s French IV/V class is completing research work on Moliere’s plays and will write a French term report.
Mrs. Washburn’s students are using the Internet to research various Italians who came to this country and how they are grateful to be celebrating Thanksgiving. In addition, Mrs. Washburn’s students will be honoring the veterans from past wars especially those from the year 1943 and later because it was in that year that the Italians switched to the US side in the Second World War.
Ms. Siddons’ Spanish I class is now able to conjugate verbs SER and GUSTAR to describe people and interests while beginning to understand the concept of article-noun-adjective agreement in Spanish.
Ms. Torres’ Spanish I students will be working in Chapter 2 “Mexico”. Her students will learn to talk about their daily activities using the verb tener as well as asking for time, saying what you have to do and how often you do it. Expressions of frequency along with classroom object descriptions are also being learned.

MUSIC DEPARTMENT -

Mr. Ascolese is preparing the marching band with holiday music for the parade and holiday concert.
Mr. Taylor is working on breathing, voice placement, tone production for the holiday concert as well as to get the choir to sing their parts a capella in order to have each individual know their part better than they normally would.

MATHEMATICS DEPARTMENT -

Mrs. Boggis' Calculus students will work with applications of the derivative. They will be able to determine extreme values of functions, find intervals on which a function is increasing or decreasing, and determine concavity of a function.
Mrs. Boggis' Honors Algebra II students will be able to evaluate determinants of matrices and apply Cramer’s Rule. Students will also be able to solve linear systems using inverse matrices.
Mrs. Boggis' HSPA 9 students will be able to apply the principles of measurement and geometry to solve problems involving direct and indirect measurement.
Mrs. Boggis' Algebra I students will be able to solve literal equations, especially formulas, for a specified variable.
Mrs. Healey’s Precalculus classes have completed the section on Relations and Functions. Using the LCD and the computer, the students were shown a graphing calculator available to them on the web. Using this calculator the students are able to explore equations and inequalities and the effect changes impact the graph. The classes have begun an extensive study of exponents to Base 10 that will extend through the month of November.
Mrs. Healey’s Foundations class has completed the section on Relations and Functions. Using the LCD and the computer, the students were shown a graphing calculator available to them on the web. Using this calculator the students are able to explore equations and inequalities and the effect changes impact the graph. The classes have begun an extensive study of exponents to Base 10 that will extend through the month of November. We will continue to study advanced topics while taking the time to address basic skills as necessary.
Mr. Heller’s Geometry classes have extended their study of lines and angles into their relationships within triangles. Students have been learning and proving a variety of theorems and formulas associated with these relationships. Classroom exercises have included group discussions in problem solving and developing proofs. Students have become familiar with this material through a combination of textbook reading, classroom discussion and in-class and take-home practice assignments. Students have also had a variety of practice problems and in-class discussion on HSPA-related material, particularly on geometric and trigonometric calculations.
Mr. Heller's Algebra 2 class has extended its study of linear equations and inequalities into a more in-depth review of linear functions and their properties, including graphing and calculations of slope. Students have become familiar with this material through a combination of textbook reading, classroom discussion and in-class and take-home practice assignments. Students have also had a variety of practice problems and in-class discussion on HSPA-related material, particularly on geometric and trigonometric calculations.
Ms. Khandhar's AP Calculus students have been working with derivatives to analyze graphs with regards to extrema, concavity, points of inflection, and limits at infinity. They have also been using derivatives to optimize functions and find tangent line differentials. This month, the focus will shift from derivatives and their applications to antiderivatives and integration. Students will learn basic integration rules and use integration to find the area under a curve.
Ms. Khandhar's Honors Precalculus students have just finished a unit on polynomials, including both an algebraic and a geometric analysis, as well as applications. This month they will begin a unit on rational functions. Students will graph increasingly complex rational functions using symmetry, asymptotes, intercepts, and tables. They will then work on simplifying rational expressions as well as solving rational equations.
Ms. Khandhar's Foundations of Advanced Math students have been working with quadratic equations, connecting information found in the two different forms of a quadratic to the graph of the equation. This month, students will continue graphing, with a focus on graphing circles, absolute value equations, and square root curves. Students will analyze how the graph relates to the equation, and how different translations affect the equation of the graph.
Ms. Khandhar's HSPA 10 students have been working on geometric concepts, including angle relationships, triangle relationships, and basic properties of quadrilaterals and circles. This month they will move on to coordinate geometry, analyzing such topics as distance, midpoint, slope, and the equation of a line both geometrically and algebraically.
Ms. Khandhar's HSPA 11 students have been and will continue reviewing topics in geometry. Topics of review include area, volume, perimeter, surface area, Pythagorean Theorem, and coordinate geometry. Students will then move on to review basic trigonometry concepts.
Ms. Khandhar's HSPA 12 students are reviewing concepts that will allow them to be successful on SRA Performance Assessment Tasks (PATs). Currently, these concepts include number relationships, percents, ratios, and proportions. Students have also started the SRA process and will continue this process by completing a several PATs this month.
Mrs. Marano's HSPA 11 class has been working on items from cluster 2, Geometry. Students complete daily worksheets and frequent quizzes to prepare for the March administration of the HSPA.
Mrs. Michaeli’s Algebra 2 classes learned how to sketch the graphs of linear equations with two variables, and how to find and interpret the slope of a line. They sketched the graphs of linear inequalities and equations that contain absolute value. They also solved HSPA problems involving Cluster 2.
Mrs. O’Brien’s Algebra I students are busy solving linear equations and solving real world problems that fit linear models. As well students are learning how to solve literal equations, especially formulas, for a specified variable. We look forward to sketching the graph of a linear equation as well.
Mrs. O’Brien’s Foundations of Advanced Math class is currently finding the distance between two points in two ways: dropping a perpendicular, creating a right triangle, and then using the Pythagorean Theorem as well as by the distance formula. We look forward to starting our section on solving quadratic equations. We will be solving by factoring, by completing the square, as well as by the quadratic formula. All students will be able to sketch the graph of a quadratic as well.

SCIENCE DEPARTMENT –

Mr. Binazeski’s Physical Science classes worked on an Identification of Rocks Lab as well as learned about renewable energy resources. The class is currently working on map making techniques.
Mr. Binazeski’s Environmental Science class presented a PowerPoint presentation on various Environmental Legislation. The students have been learning about ecosystems and biodiversity.
Mrs. Hicswa’s Biology CP and Honors classes have completed a unit of study on general chemistry and are now exploring organic chemistry. One of the many activities undertaken- students used a molecular model kit and were able to construct models of carbohydrates, etc. and visualize the processes of hydrolysis and dehydration synthesis. They will be testing various common foods for the presence of sugar, starches, lipids, and proteins. The Honors class students have submitted their Environmental/Biodiversity projects. Each student had to select a country and a state in the USA for their topics. They then were allowed to use a Power Point presentation or some other visual to present their topics. Topics covered concerned the natural resources present, environmental/ecological problems, geological and geographic features, how these factors affect the international and historical significance of the country/state, etc.
Mr. Pignatiello’s CP and Honors Chemistry will be working on types of reactions. The students will be doing some hands on experiments dealing with identification of reactions. The students will learn rules for balancing and Honors will work in depth on the various kinds of exceptions to the rules on predicting types of reactions. The students will then utilize their knowledge of types of reactions on handling stoichiometric calculations.
Mr. Pignatiello’s AP Chemistry have just completed their work on electrochemistry and are now going to start working on gas laws. The students will work on mathematical problems dealing with Boyle’s Law, Charles’s Law, etc.
Mr. Stine’s CP and Honors Physics classes have completed the units on Impulse and Momentum, and will begin the study of circular motion and Gravitation. In addition, labs dealing with Hooke's Law (force of a spring) and Torque will be performed during this month.
Mr. Stine’s AP Physics class has completed about one third of the curriculum (Motion, Newtons Laws, and Momentum). The study of Universal Gravitation will begin in November.

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT -

Mr. Smith’s English 9 classes are currently working through a comprehensive unit on short stories. Most recently, time and attention has been given to reading “The Birds.” Our particular current focus is on making predictions as we read.
Mr. Smith’s Cycle 9 class has concluded the cycle by completing an I-search in which students research a topic of their choice and then prepare a paper with in text citations.
Mr. Smith’s HSPA English 10 class continues to use various resources for practice including the Bergen Record, Currents in Literature workbook, etc. Most recently, particular attention has been given to building students’ vocabulary.
Mr. Smith reports that the yearbook is off to a decent start! Our first major deadline of color pages will be November 14th. The seniors have been particularly active lately in selling advertisements to defray the cost of the book.
Mrs. Geftic’s English 12 classes have completed a unit on Chinese poetry. During this unit, students analyzed poems created around 700 A.D. by such poets as Li Po and Chu Chien. As a culminating activity, students created their own sonnets using a picture prompt of a scene from China. Currently, students are examining the theme of intolerance through such literary pieces as Jesus Colon’s “Little Things Are Big,” “What’s in a Name,” and “A Matter of Obedience.” Throughout the unit they will be reading Night by Elie Wiesel, a candid, horrific, and deeply poignant autobiographical account of Wiesel’s survival as a teenager in the Nazi death camps.
Mrs. Geftic’s Journalism classes have completed the first issue of the Pilot’s Log. Currently, they are preparing articles for the second issue. On October 29, 2007, fifteen students attended the annual Garden State Scholastic Press Conference. They attended workshops on writing techniques, layout and design, and photography. One workshop featured Tom Franklin, the photographer who photographed the three firemen raising the flag at the World Trade Center after 9/11.
Miss Venneman’s HSPA English 9 class is identifying and applying Latin-root vocabulary in order to prepare for the HSPA exam. Students are also focusing on identifying reading strategies such as audience, purpose and task, and applying them to various excerpts read in class.
Mrs. Fernandes HSPA English 9 students are focusing on new vocabulary, grammar, and reading comprehension. Students are also creating written responses to short stories. Our class continues to utilize HSPA specific workbooks and literary texts.
Mrs. Fernandes HSPA English 11 students are concentrating on the persuasive essay section of the HSPA exam. Students are concentrating on the elements needed for a successful persuasive essay, state rubric parameters, and peer review. The class continues to use HSPA specific workbooks and newspaper articles.
Mrs. Fernandes Genres & Critical Issues students are moving from fictional horror to horrors in reality. The class has recently completed Bowling for Columbine and the issues of gun control and school violence. For our next film, When the Levees Broke, we will explore the tragedy in New Orleans proceeding Hurricane Katrina. The Genres & Critical Issues class was the lucky recipient of a free copy and study materials for this film as prepared by Teachers College at Columbia University.
Mrs. Fernandes Advanced Genres students are exploring specific moments in political history through film. Students recently completed V for Vendetta, which exemplified the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 in a post-modern setting. Following this film, students will explore the life of Malcolm X and the various political climates of the 1960’s.
Mr. Van Dam’s English 11-British Literature class has completed their study of the Anglo-Saxon epic of Beowulf. The class will embark on a mini-unit of poetry by studying selected poems and elegies taken from the Exeter Book. As part of this unit the students will create original poems that mirror the content and literary styles used by early Anglo-Saxon poets.
Mr. Van Dam’s English 11-Honors classes have initiated their study of the epic of Beowulf and simultaneously are reading and creating analytical presentations covering the twelve chapters of John Gardner’s Grendel. The classes will focus on the two divergent thematic treatments of heroism and attaining success within society.
Mr. Van Dam’s English 12-Honors class have completed their creation myths unit and research projects and are beginning to read and analyze the Sumerian epic of Gilgamesh. The class will contrast the depiction of the hero and the values he represents with the hero and values demonstrated in the English epic of Beowulf.
Mr. Van Dam’s SRA 12 class continues to work on completing the state assigned PAT tasks.
Mrs. Meyer’s English 9 – Honors class continues to read and analyze various short stories. They are concentrating on Edgar Allan Poe and the recent Nobel Prize winner for literature, Doris Lessing. They continue to expand their vocabulary.
Mrs. Meyer’s English 9 class continues to read and analyze various short stories. The authors they will be reading are Edgar Allan Poe, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, James Hurst, and Guy de Maupassant among others. They continue to expand their vocabulary.
Ms. Kos’s English 9 students are continuing their biography unit with the study of Eli Wiesel’s important book about the Holocaust, Night. Students are reading the novel in class and will view a number of films about the Holocaust upon its completion. Ongoing HSPA assignments will also be a part of their course of study.
Ms. Kos’s English 10 students continue their work on Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible. Students are reading the play aloud in parts and are doing a number of writing and vocabulary assignments to reinforce their understanding of this historical era. Students also continue to work on developing and honing on tasks necessary to pass the language arts portion of the HSPA.
Ms. Kos’s English 11 class continues to read William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies as part of its British Literature course of study. Students are enjoying this novel and are currently doing a group project in which they explore various elements of humanity and society. Reading comprehension tasks and writing prompts which take advantage of the rich nature of this text are being employed to ready students for the HSPA.
Ms. Kos’s English 12 (World Literature-World Change) class is currently beginning the 2nd phase of their environmental project. Now that recycling is completely under way in this building (all cans/bottles, recyclable paper and cardboard are currently being recycled) students in this class are reading a number of environmental articles and essays, as well as seeing current relevant films. They are using their expanding understanding of this issue to initiate a broad public information campaign in our district and in the community. Projects like a web site, articles for the local newspapers, bulletin boards, public service announcements and reports chronicling different aspects of this project are currently under way.
Ms. Kos’s HSPA 11 class is currently working to improve their reading comprehension and writing skills so that they will be proficient on the NJ HSPA to be given this spring.
Mrs. Czekaj’s English 10 class concluded their unit on Early American Literature by comparing some modern writers and personages with those of Colonial America. They have begun reading Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, a drama about the Salem Witch Trials, which relates well to their studies of the time period in US History.
Mrs. Czekaj’s English 12 class finished its study of Night by doing independent research on different aspects of discrimination in the world today. They will teach a lesson to the class based on that research. In class, they are beginning to read Gilgamesh, one of the earliest recorded epics.
Mrs. Czekaj’s English 12 AP class wrote speeches for the annual “Voice of Democracy” essay contest, and recorded them for judging consideration. They read Sophocles’ Antigone, and discussed the moral imperatives for civil disobedience. In class they have practiced two different types of essay found on the AP test.
Mrs. Czekaj’s Shakespeare classes are reading a comedy, Twelfth Night. They have viewed excerpts from two different interpretations of the play, but find acting it out in class to be the best version. Through weekly reaction papers, they reveal their engagement with the text.
Ms. Monetti's English 11 classes have read and analyzed part one of The Epic of Beowulf. Students have been working hard to identify and explain the main ideas of this epic in an effort to analyze the characterization and leadership presented through the character of Beowulf. Students will be tested on the first part of the epic in the near future. In addition, they will also be involved in completing at least two alternative assessments before finishing The Epic of Beowulf. One of the assessments is a creative project and one is in the format of a HSPA writing task. Both assessments will help the students to further comprehend the epic and/or analyze its various.
Ms. Monetti's HSPA 10 class is currently working on building skills to improve standardized test scores. We are working on practicing the different parts of the HSPA, as well as building vocabulary. In addition, students are reading a self selected novel for enjoyment and to improve reading comprehension.
Ms. Monetti's English 10 students have completed a persuasive essay as an alternative assessment of some of the themes and ideas expressed by the early American writers in unit one. We are currently moving on to unit two and have begun reading and acting out Act I of Arthur Miller's, The Crucible.
Mr. Pankiewicz’s English 10 and 10 Honors classes completed their study of The Crucible by presenting group projects on various topics within the play: authority, suspense, irony, setting/atmosphere, and dynamic vs. flat characters. These group presentations also served as review for an objective and open-ended assessment on the play. During the last month, the play was acted out in class; short film version clips were shown to supplement student understanding. Students also completed essays on independent reading projects.
Mrs. Schneeweiss’ Drama class is beginning production work on both the Middle School and High School musicals. Tasks include set design, program, flyers, rehearsal help etc.
Mrs. Schneeweiss’ Communication classes are working on original children’s stories, I Am poems, and collages and television spoofs.

ART DEPARTMENT

Ms. Caputo’s drawing classes are starting off the month with a new medium; oil pastels. Students are to select a painting by Georgia O’Keefe and reproduce the image. Students are also introduced to a new term; monochromatic. Students are to choose only two colors. Using the monochromatic concept students will create different tints and shades of those two colors to create their work. When finished students will paint turpentine over their drawings so it looks like an oil painting.
Ms. Caputo’s graphic design class is just finishing a CD Cover Layout on Photoshop. Students drew their designs for the front cover and we scanned them into Photoshop. Students are to do everything else on the computer.
Mrs. Brinker's Senior Leadership Class is also working on directing the Annual Senior Luncheon to be held at the Landmark on December 19th 2007. Popularity Poll ballots will be distributed next week and the results will be announced at the Luncheon.
Mrs. Brinker's Digital Photography classes are working on Power Point files called "My Virtual Gallery" where they are creating slides containing all the digital photography pieces they created during marking period one.
Mrs. Brinker's Altered Books classes are creating a new layout for their books reflecting the theme of friendship. Individual ideas and concepts are encouraged and applied in this class.
Mrs.Kritzer’s drawing classes are starting their color units. The students started by observing artwork from artist Peter max. They spent two days drawing the figure from models who volunteered their services. The figures were then collaged together for a complete composition and will be colored using colored pencils in the cosmic style of Peter Max.
Mrs. Kritzer’s Advanced Art Class completed a personal quilt of symbolism. They designed sixteen small squares with symbols that best described themselves. Look for these interesting projects in our media center. They will be on display until December.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION DEPARTMENT -

The 10, 11 and 12 grade students are participating in physical fitness twice a week which includes running and fitness stations. The other three days the students are participating in hockey, soccer, and fitness room. The 9th grade is participating in physical fitness three times per week and activities twice a week.

HEALTH DEPARTMENT -

Mr. Delcalzo’s and Mr.Tessaro’s Driver Education classes have started a new class discussing the highway transportation and how it works with local, state and federal governments and who makes the driving laws for each jurisdiction.
Ms Gaccione’s 9th grade classes are discussing how to use nutrition and fitness for life.
Mrs. Miller’s 12th grade Health classes are talking about birth control and the different methods.

INDUSTRIAL ARTS DEPARTMENT -

Mr. Masucci’s high school classes are working on making different types of lamps.

MIDDLE SCHOOL-
MATHEMATICS DEPARTMENT-

Miss Keller’s 6th grade mainstream Geometry classes will begin the month learning about triangles. Throughout the section the students will learn how to classify triangles by their sides and their angle measures by working with manipulatives to gain a better understanding of each type of triangle. Next the students will explore polygons. They will understand how to determine if a figure is a polygon, and whether or not the polygon is convex. Towards the end of the month the students will begin to learn how to classify quadrilaterals by investigating the different characteristics of rectangles, parallelograms, trapezoids and other geometric shapes. Throughout these sections of the textbook the students will be working closely with hands on materials in order for them to fully grasp the ideas and concepts being taught.
Miss Keller’s 6th grade Honors Geometry classes will be using tables to solve word problems. They will begin to understand how tables can be used to organize information. The students will then begin to look at patterns. During this section the students will learn to identify and continue patterns. Once they have gained an understanding of patterns, the students will be asked to create their own to present to the class. Later in the month, the students will begin exploring angles. They will learn to classify and measure angles, as well as construct their own using a protractor. Once the students are comfortable with classifying, measuring and drawing angles, they will learn how to construct bisectors. Throughout these activities the students will have the opportunity to work in pairs and groups in order to complete in-class assignments.
Miss Mercandino’s 6th grade mainstream Geometry class will be learning about triangles. The students will learn how to classify triangles by their sides and their angle measures. The students will classify the triangles using different learning techniques. After they learn about triangles the class will move on to learn about polygons. They will learn how to classify whether a polygon is convex or not. After learning about all the different polygons, students will focus on the different types of quadrilaterals. They will investigate the different characteristics or rectangles, parallelograms, trapezoids and other geometric shapes. Students will use their knowledge of polygons to identify different shapes in our every day environment.
Miss Mercandino’s 6th grade mainstream Algebra class has begun to explore fractions. Before the students learn all about fractions they are learning divisibility rules and prime factorization. After mastering these skills, they are using their prior knowledge to find the greatest common factor, the least common multiple and to simplify fractions. They are taught to use different techniques, such as factor trees and subsequent division, to see what methods suit their learning styles. They will become familiar with fraction bars and models of fractions to be able to understand more clearly what happens when fractions are divided or multiplied. Students are also solving word problems by completing their Gepa packets.
Miss DiPiano’s 6th grade Algebra classes have been busy investigating fractions. They are learning divisibility rules and prime factorization and are using these to find the greatest common factor, the least common multiple and to simplify fractions. The students are learning that there are many ways to approach these problems. They are encouraged daily to use different methods, such as factor trees and subsequent division, to see what methods suit their learning styles. The students are looking forward to learning how to multiply and divide fractions. They will become familiar with fraction bars and models of fractions to be able to understand more clearly what happens when fractions are divided or multiplied. Students are also solving word problems by working backwards as well as completing their Gepa packets.
Miss DiPiano’s6th grade Honors Algebra classes are just finishing up Chapter 4. They have mastered divisibility rules and prime factorization. They are able to use subsequent division to find the least common multiple, greatest common factor, and prime factorization of a number. They also feel comfortable using this method to reduce fractions to their lowest terms. We have just started Chapter 5 and the students are looking forward to doing more work with fractions. They will be able to add, subtract, multiply and divide fraction and mixed numbers by the end of the month.
Miss DiPiano: The students in all of my classes enjoyed completing a “Special Number Project” this month. Each student chose a number between 10 and 100. The students spent two weeks researching the number, finding mathematical facts and things that relate the number to their world. The students then created posters and power points and presented their finding to the class. The students enjoyed each minute of it.
Mrs. Caputo’s 7th grade Algebra students completed their chapter two test. We started our next chapter four on fractions. They are working hard on this chapter with some review and some new concepts. Our test is early November and than we will move to chapter five.
Mrs. Caputo’s 7th grade Honors Algebra classes just had a mid chapter test on chapter 5 entitled Rational Numbers. The students are working on adding and subtracting rational numbers. We will continue with this chapter until we have a chapter five test sometime end of November.
Mrs. Caputo: All of the students received Cluster IC gepa packet for homework and classwork review. We are in the process of completing these packets and will check them together at end of November. Mrs. Caputo’s extra help sessions have steady visitors and they are encouraged to continue. Pull out support is going very well. The students are excited about the continuous debate about out HW pass chance project, math is everywhere in all jobs. This is an engaging way of showing the students that math is everywhere and what they are doing is for a purpose.
Mr. Sickels’ 7th grade Geometry class is currently working on Chapter One, Interpreting data and Statistic in Geometry. We will continue to working on this chapter throughout this month.
Mr. Sickels’ 7th grade Geometry Honors classes are currently working on Chapter One, Drawing Conclusions from statistical data Geometry. We will continue to working on this chapter throughout this month.
Mr. Sickels: As we continue in November we are on schedule with the GEPA assignments, currently completing pack II B. I look forward to getting to speak with parents again during conferences. Students of the month for October were Sam Sproviero and Ray Espinosa.
Mr. Mastropietro’s 8th grade Geometry classes are currently working trigonometry unit will then move up to work on mastery skills with probability. Main stream classes finished chapter 8, Patterns in geometry. Students will then move onto transformations ( translations, reflections, and rotations).
Mrs. Dunne’s 8th grade Algebra I class completed Chapter 2, Real Numbers. Chapter 3, Solving Linear Equations was begun with the review of the Transformations used in solving equations.
Mrs. Dunne’s Math 8 classes have completed properties of exponents and Chapter 2. Chapter 5 which covers rational numbers, opened with divisibility tests, prime and composite numbers, and factors.

SCIENCE DEPARTMENT-

Mr. Rispoli’s 6th grade science classes the students having been learning about work and mechanical advantage. They identified when work was being done. The classes also calculated how much work was done when given examples. Mechanical advantage was applied to simple machines.
Mrs. Toy’s 7th grade science classes are exploring the 5 Kingdoms of Living organisms. The students will learn the characteristics of Living Organisms by using microscopes and researching them. They will then identify and learn the parts and functions of the plant and animal cell.
Mr. Cassiere’s 8th grade students will be investigating phases of matter, composition of matter, and the behavior of matter under various conditions. In addition to content material, the students will complete a very challenging lab by distilling wood. This process will illustrate and isolate the fundamental building blocks of a common material such as wood. Students will be assessed through two chapter tests and lab procedure quizzes.

ART DEPARTMENT-

Mrs. Kritzer’s Cycle 8 Art designing name plates using distorted lettering. The students are learning about patterning, line and color in these amazing circle artworks.
Mrs.Kritzer’s Cycle 7 art recently studied artist Vincent VanGogh. They painted dramatic trees using watercolors. The students had to use the painting “Starry Night” as an influence in color usage and rhythm.
Mrs. Brinker's 6th Grade Cycle Class is current working on creating original reed baskets out of natural reeds. Students have soaked the reeds in water and learned how to weave these reeds to create baskets of all shapes and sizes.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION DEPARTMENT-

6th, 7th and 8th grade PE classes are all participating in a fitness unit three times per week. This unit includes a period of a run/walk outside and stations inside. The stations are: sit ups, push ups, jump roping, and step ups. They will be playing soccer indoors.

HEALTH-

Ms. Gaccione’s 8th grades Health are finishing up the unit on CPR.
Mrs. Kolich’s 7th grade Health is working on drug and alcohol unit discussing terminology and the class is doing informational work sheets.
Mr.Scuilla 6th grade Health class is doing character development interviewing students in there class.

INDUSTRIAL ARTS-

Mr. Masucci‘s cycle classes are going over different tools and how they are used.

SOCIAL STUDIES-

Ms. Sigl’s 6th grade Social Studies students will complete Chapter 3, "Mesopotamia" with a Chapter 3 Test on Friday, November 2, 2007. The learners will complete a project the week of November 5th that will extend Chapter 3 and preview Chapter 4. The project will focus on the "Hanging Gardens of Babylon." On Tuesday and Wed., the learners will be able to create a brochure for people to visit the "Hanging Gardens of Babylon."
On Monday, November 12, 2007 the learners will complete a lesson to honor Veteran's Day. Tuesday, the students will then begin Chapter 4, "Early Empires." This week the focus will be on "Mesopotamian Empires," which will include a short project on Hammurabi's Code.
Mrs. Gay's 7th grade Social Studies students are now focusing their geographic studies on the United States and Canada. Topics will include the physical and human characteristics, history, economics, government, and culture of both countries. In current events, they have just concluded a series of lessons on the illegal Mexican immigration problem, based on information provided in Junior Scholastic magazine. A team of 5 students will be attending the Global Issues Seminar at Seton Hall University on November 16. These 7th graders will be representing the nation of Canada in this mock United Nations simulation.
Mrs. Rucci’s 8th grade Social Studies students learned about the economic activities of the colonists, locations in the New World settled by various nationalities, religious influence on early government here, distinctive roles of men/women, boys/girls, and some important individuals and incidents that shaped American identity. They analyzed how the French and Indian War led to the American Revolution. In the Junior Scholastic magazines, we read about Mexico and Russia, and then practiced map skills. The students are already showing improvement in answering the questions more carefully. We finished the first marking period with a grade on their news stories that were done so far this year and we discussed the California wildfires and some modern-day boycotts.

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT-

Mrs. Rowland’s 7th grade English class wrote a Halloween story using chronological order, incorporating better vocabulary, and varied sentence structure. To enhance writing students were required to use an ironic ending.
Miss Venneman’s & Mr. Colangelo’s 7th grade Literature classes are completing the epic unit featuring The Adventures of Ulysses. Students are completing a movie viewing guide as they view The Odyssey, which they will then use to show further comprehension by comparing the movie adaptation with the book read in class.
Miss Venneman’s 7th grade Creative Writing class is identifying plot elements in preparation to write an effective narrative essay. Students will also be identifying elements of chivalry present in The Princess Bride and applying these to a medieval picture prompt essay.
Mr. Stillman’s & Mr. Colangelo’s 8th grade Literature classes have begun reading Daniel Keyes’ Flowers for Algernon. The classes will be asked to identify various literary terms, especially elements of foreshadowing. The classes will also be responsible for any vocabulary covered in the story. At the conclusion of the story, the students will view Flowers for Algernon (ABC Movie Special) for further comprehension by comparing the movie to the story.
Mr. Colangelo’s 6th grade Study Skills class is in transition. The new cycle class has been introduced to the concepts and ideas of the course. The students have received their Study Skills workbooks You Can Take Charge. There will be a heavy emphasis on the students’ ability to take notes.
Mr. Colangelo’s 6th grade Creative Writing class is in transition. The new cycle class has been introduced to the concepts and ideas of the course. They will be responsible for a variety of writing assignments which include journal writing, autobiographies, completing stories without endings, a movie review, and newspaper articles.
Mr. Sicilian’s English 8 classes have finished a vocabulary unit with emphasis on prefix/suffix usage. All classes are working on a skill set of activities concentrating on sentence writing—variety of sentences, complex, compound, and syntax. Students have completed two essays, one descriptive and one narrative, which are part of individual writing portfolios. Essays are currently teacher assesses, but we will begin to move into self-assessing and peer evaluation activities.
Mr. Sicilian’s Honors 8 English class recently completed essays for the Annual VFW Patriot’s Pen essay contest, as well as completing a descriptive and autobiographical essay. The Honors class will begin work on a communications project with a public speaking component titled “Monologues”, whereby they will present in a variety of media, a monologue from a movie, TV show, play, novel, etc. November will also begin the formal work on the year long Autobiography Project.
Ms. Wolf’s English classes are busy beginning their unit on “Parts of Speech”. During this unit, the students will understand all of the parts of the sentence through class instruction, group work, movies, and activities. In addition to this section, the students will continue enhancing their writing skills with bi-weekly writing assignments. All of the writing assignments will follow the format of the NJ standardized tests. The writing will be based on pictures or scenarios for writing tasks. The students will also continue to broaden their vocabulary with daily words and bi-weekly spelling units. Ms. Wolf is excited to build upon their already existing skills and introduce them to more advanced information in writing, grammar, and spelling in the months to come.
Ms. Dolan’s sixth grade literature class will read Greek mythology in the month of November. This is being done in collaboration with the sixth grade social studies classes. The students will explore the different themes of each myth and the purpose that the Greeks had for these stories. Additionally, Ms. Dolan’s sixth grade literature classes will begin reading A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens at the end of November into December. This will be read in a play form and is a great way of introducing the students to classic literature. Finally, Ms. Dolan’s sixth grade literature classes have been participating in reading fundraiser sponsored by Scholastic. The students have been reading “like crazy” and Scholastic will donate 100 books to needy schools for every 100 books read by Ms. Dolan’s students. As of November 7, 2007, the students have read more than 200 books. This worthy endeavor will continue until December 21, 2007. Many of the non-reading students have even begun reading to be part of this activity.

FORGEIN LANGUAGES-

Mrs. Cafferty’s eighth grade cycle class created “Day of the Dead” posters and reviewed familiar vocabulary from previous cycle classes in Spanish.
Ms. Torres’ seventh grade cycle class acquired knowledge about important reasons to study Spanish, use cognates to understand dialogs and school supplies.
Ms. Torres’ sixth grade cycle class have been learning about differences between Spanish and English alphabets, the use of cognate words to understand general ideas as well as commands that the students will hear and say in the classroom. Students will be completing projects related to likes and dislikes and where their family is from.

MUSIC DEPARTMENT-

Middle School- Mr. McCarthy reports that the seventh grade general music cycle is studying the baroque period with Bach and Handel while the eighth grade cycle is studying jazz, Dixieland, swing, and Stephen Foster too.
Mr. McCarthy‘s seventh grade vocal music cycle is working on breathing, voice placement, scales, arpeggios, sol feggio, and starting “The Sound of Music.”
Ms. Moroney reports that the first cycle has ended and the students learned about advanced rhythm studies plus the holiday concert music was practiced. Ms. Moroney reports that the second cycle for the sixth and seventh grade bands has started with students who have complete two years of instrumental music and continue by reviewing scales as well as new music in various key/time signatures. The class is focusing on rhythm studies in the keys of B-flat Concert, and F Concert and working toward mastery of the F-Concert, B-flat Concert, E-flat Concert and Chromatic Scales, one octave. All this practice is geared for the music to be performed for the Winter Concert.
Mr. Taylor has picked songs for the winter concert since the choir will be singing “Christmas Time Is Here,” “Here Comes Santa Claus,” and “The Candlelight Canon.” Rehearsals are once a week after school.

Computer Applications 6, 7, 8 & 9 Cycles

Mrs. Marano's Computer Applications Class Cycle 6 has completed PowerPoint presentations about themselves and are currently working on drawings using Word.
Mrs. Marano's Computer Cycles 7 and 8 have just begun a new cycle. The students are working on a one-page advertising flyer using Microsoft Word and the drawing tools. They will work on the correct use of tabs next.

EUCLID SCHOOL
Math-

Kindergarten continues working with their numbers 0-10. They are completing various activities related to numbers and counting, one to one correspondence, and matching number words with numbers. They are also working on their QAAR objective for measuring.
Grade One continues to work on their basic addition and subtraction facts to 12. For reinforcement, they play Popcorn Man, which is a lot of fun.
Grade Two just finished chapter 5 on addition strategies. Some strategies are counting up, look for a double, doubles plus one and making a ten. We also wrote our own word problems!
Grade Three is working on addition and subtraction across zeroes. Also, we are rounding and estimating to solve problems. We are also continuing to practice our multiplication skills, as well as problem solving skills.
Grade Four is multiplying two, three, and four digit numbers by a single digit. They are multiplying with zeroes and solving problems by using the strategy, “Write and Equation”.
Grade Five is working on decimals, multiplication, and division. They are focusing on word problems that require estimating and working backward.

Science-

Kindergarten is working on the concept of movement. They are participating in activities related to pushing and pulling, magnets, and sounds.
Grade One is embarking on traveling to different habitats. They completed a fun project by making flipbooks that will help to reinforce the concepts.
Grade Two is finishing Chapter 2 on how animals adapt. We learned which groups of animals have backbones, how some animals use camouflage, and animals without backbones.
Grade Three is continuing to learn about adaptations of animals and how fossils are created.
Grade Four is learning about matter and energy. They are characterizing thermal energy and determining why matter has energy. They are identifying types of heat energy and working with the water cycle.
Grade Five has begun production on our Science magazine for this year. "Science Happenings" will be focusing on the units of the Scientific Method, Biomes, and the Water Cycle. Our magazine will be developed throughout the year with the students and teachers during Science class. All fifth grade students will complete experiments, Internet research, and activities.

Social Studies-

Kindergarten is learning all about the Pilgrims and Native Americans. They are practicing songs, poems, and skits for their Thanksgiving Play.
Grade One is learning all about Thanksgiving. They are learning about the lives of the Native Americans and Pilgrims. They are learning about the customs and traditions of their culture. They are preparing a Thanksgiving Pow-Wow.
Grade Two talked about how to stay safe for Violence Awareness Week, and learned how to deal with a bully.
Grade Three is differentiating between different types of communities, such as which are rural, suburban, or urban.
Grade Four continues to learn all about New Jersey. They are learning about its symbols and motto. They are working on main idea and detail as they read about New Jersey’s interesting facts.
Grade Five has been learning about ancient civilizations.

Language Arts-

Kindergarten is working with the sounds of N and D. They continue to review the sounds of p, m, and t. They are working on rhyming and syllables. They are reading silly animal stories and working with the sight words we and go. They are writing sentences that end with a period. They are practicing their spacing between words, the alphabet and their first names.
Grade One is reading new books each week. They are writing creative sentences and informative stories. They continue to practice their phonemes and build their sight word knowledge.
Grade Two has been learning about nouns and how to make a noun plural. We have been writing a lot of paragraphs including one on helping out and Thanksgiving. They learned about the /ear/ sound as in search. We had a review week and we have been working on our Essential Reading skills book and Scoring High books. We have been working on our QAAR mini-lessons.
Grade Three is working on journal writing, as well as learning how to revise our work and use time order words. We are reading novels. Mrs. Hagert's class is completing "Chocolate Fever"; Miss DeFilippis and Mrs. Doyle's class is reading "The Flunking of Joshua T. Bates"; and Mrs. Gant's class is reading mystery books. Some skills we are continuing to work on are narrative elements, sequence, analyzing vocabulary, and author's purpose.
Grade Four is working with figurative language. They are writing simple and compound sentences. They are working with clauses and writing friendly letters. They are identifying the narrative elements of a story and completing comprehension questions.
Grade Five has studied writing prompts in Language Arts and started their first class novel in reading.

Art –

Kindergarten classes are making scarecrows and learning about collage.
First grade is making Indian corn and learning about mosaics.
Second grades are learning about Still Life, using a Cornucopia as a subject.
Third grades just did a watercolor using adjacent colors, and are now learning about monochromatic colors.
Fourth grades just finished their 3-D collages of spooky houses.
Fifth grades have just finished their string art and are now planning the design for painting a mask.

Music –

The lower grades (pre-k -2nd) will develop vocal and instrumental units using holiday music. The song Over the River and Through The Woods will be presented through literature. Using rhythm instruments will further develop the song.
Third grade students will learn an Orff ensemble that will be used with Thanksgiving material. The fourth grade students will compose letters about their concert experience. Letters will be selected and send to the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. The fifth grade students are working to perfect drumming ensembles that can be used for the winter concert.

Physical Education –

Kindergarten through Grade Two is playing Guard the Pin. Students are developing their skills for accuracy. Emphasis is being placed upon proper mechanics. They are developing their motor skills through various activities like hoops, scooters, balls, and ropes.
Third through Fifth Grade is demonstrating how to throw and catch a Nerf football. Emphasis is being placed on the proper technique. Students will gain a basic understanding of simple rubs, terminology, and strategies of a one hand touch game.

World Language-

Pre-K- Students are learning the names of familiar foods that they saw on their visit to Path Mark on Nov.2, 2007. The children also practiced their hello-goodbye songs and reviewed their numbers and colors.
Kindergarten- Students are learning how to count to ten and the ten colors on our poster.
A Spanish number book was made by all students to practice at home. A pretty skeleton picture was colored to celebrate the day of the dead.
1st grade- Students are learning short number and color sentences. They played a game using their new vocabulary. A day of the dead skeleton number line was colored and cut out.
2nd grade- Students are learning how to say hello, good-bye, how are you, what is your name and how old are you. Students completed a Spanish crossword puzzle using this new vocabulary. Students colored and cut out day of the dead skeleton figurines.
3rd grade- Students are learning familiar vocabulary of greetings and leave takings. A game was played to review these new phrases. Day of the dead masks were decorated.
4th grade- Students are practicing mini-dialogues to present to the class using all their new vocabulary. A review game was played. Pictures of skeletons were colored and hung up in the hallways.
5th grade- Students made calendars for Oct. and Nov. and colored pictures to celebrate the day of the dead.

Library/Computers –

Kindergarten is learning to log on and off of the computer. They are learning to open a computer program and utilize Max Write.
Grade One is listening and reacting to a story about the First Thanksgiving.
Grades Two and Three are typing information into graphic organizers with the use of Kidspiration
Grade Four is defining the Internet as a cyber community and identifying appropriate web sites. They are also learning how to react to an inappropriate web site.
Grade Five is taking the online I-Safe Pre Assessment test.

LINCOLN SCHOOL
Mathematics:

Kindergarten students have been working on recognizing equal groups, groups with more and groups with less. They have been identifying numbers from 0 to 5.
Our first graders are working on addition and subtraction strategies as well as problem solving using addition and subtraction.
The second graders will be learning many types of addition strategies that the children can utilize to add numbers. It is also a good idea to practice the flashcards that were given at the beginning of the year. Our goal is to have the children memorize basic addition and subtraction facts.
The third graders are currently adding and subtracting 3-and 4- digit numbers with and without regrouping.
Fourth graders reviewed Place Value. Students are currently subtracting numbers with 0 and regrouping. Problem Solving Skills and Mad Minutes are reviewed/taught weekly.
The fifth graders have completed a unit on adding and subtracting whole numbers and decimals. They are currently learning how to multiply decimals.

Science:

Kindergarten children enjoyed “The Rocky Raccoon Recycling” program sponsored by the BCUA. They learned about the Life Cycle of a Pumpkin.
Our first graders are finishing up “How Plants and Animals Live” and will be starting the “Life Cycles” chapter.
The second graders will be learning how reptiles, amphibians, fish, birds and mammals adapt to their environment. They will be able to classify animals with and without backbones and discuss the significance of a backbone.
The third graders are currently finishing ecosystems and will be testing next week. We will then start plants and animals living together.
Our fifth graders are presenting their biome projects to the classes. They are currently learning about energy in ecosystems.

Social Studies:

Our kindergarten classes discussed Election Day and Veterans Day. All three classes are busy practicing for their Thanksgiving Celebration. They are learning about the first Thanksgiving. They listened to a story, got library cards, and were able to check out a book.
The first grades are finishing up “In My Community” and will be starting “Work, Work, Work!”
The second graders learned about different types of landforms and where they can be found in the United States. The students will then create clay model landforms of their choice. Along with the clay project a flip book will be incorporated which will have definitions and illustrations for each landforms.
The third graders are working on ethnic and cultural celebrations.
The fourth graders are working on learning the 21 counties of New Jersey. They will also be exploring the 4 regions of New Jersey and what is special about each of them.
The fifth graders have completed Chapter 3, Life in the Eastern Hemisphere.

Language Arts:

The kindergarteners worked on letters C, P, and A. They enjoyed wearing their pajamas and eating popcorn and pretzels during “P” week. New sight words “I, like” were introduced.
Our first graders are continuing to work on short vowel sounds as well as blends. The reading stories they have read include: Dan’s Pet, Boots for Beth, Space Pup, and Where Do Frogs Come From?
The second graders will be learning and reading about the Pilgrims. We will be putting on a Thanksgiving play in the classroom for the first grade teachers and students to watch. This will enhance the children’s knowledge on what life was like as a pilgrim in Plymouth. As the year goes on the spelling words will become harder, so it is imperative to practice the sounds and spellings of the words all week long. We are currently learning common abbreviations. The students will be introduced to the r-controlled vowel sound. They will have to interpret the many sounds it makes and what letters the r controls. The students will try to think of r-controlled vowel words independently and chart them in their notebook for reinforcement. Nouns are very important for children to use and recognize in their reading and writing. We will be creating a collage of people, places, things and animals using magazines. This will help the children distinguish the four types of nouns.
The third graders are in the second theme of the first reader, fantasy section. In our writing folders we are working on the author’s purpose. (QAAR) Grammar- We reviewed subject (complete and simple), predicates (simple and complete), and nouns. We are currently working on possessive nouns.
The fourth graders will be taking their first Holistic Assessment. The students will also be choosing a new novel for the 2nd Marking Period. We will also be working on cause and effect and homophones. The students are learning about the parts of sentences. They are discussing Complete and simple subjects and predicates. They practiced their revising and editing skills each day. They are continuing to work on paragraph structure when answering open ended questions. They are also developing their narrative writing skills.
The fifth graders are finishing Unit Two on nouns. They are beginning to work on informative speeches. The students have completed their 1st book report on a Realistic Fiction. They have begun reading From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg.

Physical Education:

K-2nd Grade Class Levels- Students have been working on hand eye coordination through ball and bean bag games. Students are also developing a sense of team work through the bean bag toss drills and the circle ball pass games. Strength and flexibility exercises are being stressed in our warm up activities this month.
3rd - 5th Grade Class Levels- Students have been concentrating on their physical fitness testing. The test takes in all aspects of conditioning such as flexibility, strength, stamina and cardiovascular conditioning. Students are tested on shuttle runs, pushups, sit ups, v-sit, broad jump and vertical leap.

Music: (All Elementary Schools)

Instrumental Music Grade 4: All students are working on whole notes, half notes, quarter notes and their respective rests using notes Concert pitch B-flat, C, D, E-flat and F. They are playing eight measure songs using a variety of rhythm and note combinations.
Instrumental Music Grade 5: All students are preparing for the Winter Concert. They are focusing on syncopated rhythms.

World Languages:

Pre-K- Students are learning the names of familiar foods that they saw on their visit to Pathmark on Nov.2, 2007. The children also practiced their hello-goodbye songs and reviewed their numbers and colors.
Kindergarten- Students are learning how to count to ten and the ten colors on our poster.A Spanish number book was made by all students to practice at home. A pretty skeleton picture was colored to celebrate the day of the dead.
1st grade- Students are learning short number and color sentences. They played a game using their new vocabulary. A day of the dead skeleton numberline was colored and cut out.
2nd grade- Students are learning how to say hello, goodbye, how are you, what is your name and how old are you. Students completed a Spanish crossword puzzle using this new vocabulary. Students colored and cut out day of the dead skeleton figurines.
3rd grade- Students are learning familiar vocabulary of greetings and leave takings. A game was played to review these new phrases. Day of the dead masks were decorated.
4th grade- Students are practicing mini-dialogues to present to the class using all their new vocabulary. A review game was played. Pictures of skeletons were colored and hung up in the hallways.
5th grade- Students made calendars for Oct. and Nov. and colored pictures to celebrate the day of the dead.

Media Center:

Kindergartners have begun working on mouse skills, opening and quitting specific programs. They are learning the process of logging onto the computers.
First Graders are developing word processing skills: enter, shift, and correct spacing. We will begin to locate and use the period. They are using the weekly spelling words to practice.
Second and Third Graders are being taught to use Kidsperation to create webs of varying difficulty.
Third, Fourth and Fifth Graders are all starting to create folders for the various kinds of work on their computers.
Fourth Graders have done copy, cut and paste activities, practiced saving to a specific folder and naming files properly. They are also learning to use Kidsperation.
Fifth Graders have begun to use left tab settings and will also be introduced to decimal tab usage.

Workshops -
High School –

Ms. Torres will be working toward her standard New Jersey certificate. Ms. Siddons attended four alternate route classes during the month of October at Montclair State University.
Mr. Taylor attended the workshop “The Show Must Go On” on Monday, October 8. He is progressing through the Alternate Route program and worked as a monitor at the Bergen County Choir auditions on October 25.

Middle School-

Ms. Torres is working in the mentor program to get her standard certificate.Mr. McCarthy attended the RenWeb workshops.
Mr. Rispoli attended a workshop this month on using Smartboards in the classroom.

Euclid School –
November 1, 2007 - Ren Web meeting with super trainers - Mrs. Simmons
November 6, 2007 - All staff are receiving training for Ren Web
November 7, 2007 - Safety Committee Meeting - Mrs. Simmons
November 20, 2007 - PTA Meeting - Ren Web Update / Grant Update / Mrs. Simmons

Lincoln School – Nothing to report
11/6/07- Entire staff workshop on Ren Web

General Administration - fire drills, day, date and time - from beginning of school year

High School –

Successful fire drills were held on:
9/7/07 @ 1:15pm
9/24/07 @ 1:17 pm
10/11/07 @ 1:28 pm
10/23/07 @ 1:18 pm
11/5/07 @ 9:11 am

Lockdown:
None to report

Elevator Tests:

9/17/07
10/11/07
11/15/07

Middle School-
Successful fire drills were held on:

9/7/07@1:15pm
9/24/07@1:17pm
10/11/07@1:28pm
10/23/07@1:18pm
11/05/07@9:11am