Hasbrouck Heights School District
Superintendent's Office
379 Boulevard
Hasbrouck Heights, NJ 07604
201-288-6150
 Modified: January 31, 2008
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Joseph C. Luongo,
Superintendent of Schools

Superintendent's Report
December 20, 2007

High School –
HISTORY DEPARTMENT –

  • Mr. Warren's World History classes began their study of Ancient Rome by comparing and contrasting the types of government Rome implemented during their near 1,000 year old civilization.  This included a dissection of how a Roman republic was structured and who was in charge of making decisions and participating in the government.  The students then viewed the movie "Gladiator" which gave an expansive view on Roman civilian, military, and slave life.  Afterwards, the students were able to choose a unit project that was loosely based on the film.  These included:  filming a movie trailer and writing a script, creating a striking movie poster, making a 3-D model of Roman architecture or weapons, and dressing in Roman costume and bringing a day in the life of a Roman into the classroom.  We ended our journey by exploring the possible reasons why the Roman Empire collapsed and the legacy Rome left in the world.  Following this, students will do a week long study of different world religions by creating a collage to represent different aspects of each religion.  Finally, the students will enter the Middle Ages to see the fallout of the collapse of the Roman Empire and the rise of Christianity.
  • Mrs. Sadiku’s U.S. History I students have been covering Chapters 4 & 5.  They finished up the Revolutionary War and proceeded into the formation of the new nation and creation of the constitution.  The students learned about various battles and analyzed the film The Patriot.  With the film, students were asked to analyze specific scenes on the movie and draw on their previous knowledge and decide whether dramatic license was used and whether the specific scenes could be counted as historically accurate.  They were also asked to analyze the battle scenes and compare them to today’s military tactics.
  • Chapter 5 had them discovering the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution.  In groups they discovered key conflicts and tried to offer solutions to those conflicts.  They also wrote a letter to an Editor where they had to portray themselves as a citizen of the new United States discussing an issue that they personally had with the Articles of Confederation.
  • Lastly they went over the Bill of Rights and did an activity in which if forced to which five amendments they would consider most important.
  • Mrs. Sadiku’s U.S. History II students completed the chapter on WWI and watched the movie “All’s Quiet on the Western Front.”  After the movie, students started Chapter 20, “Politics of the Roaring Twenties.” I n this chapter we learned about Communism and the threat it had on our society after the war.  As a class activity, students reenacted the Sacco & Vanzetti trial in class.  Each class member played a role in the reenactment.  Students will then  learn about Prohibition, the changing role of women and the influence of the Harlem Renaissance
  • Ms. Cassidy’s and Ms. Fueshko’s U.S. History I students completed study of the early colonial period and proceeded to study the American Revolution. Students learned about the key battles that took place during the war, as well as, important figures involved in the Revolution.  Students viewed the movie, “The Patriot,” and answered questions pertaining to the movie.  Students will learn about the challenges the colonists faced after they received their independence from England and understand American beliefs & principles reflected in the U.S. Constitution. 
  • Mrs. McGinty United States History II students will be studying the tumultuous decade of the 1920s when Americans experienced cultural conflicts as customs and values changed. They will discover how rural America clashed with a faster-paced urban culture, how women’s attitudes and roles changed due to the influence of mass media, and how many African Americans joined in the new urban culture. Through the use of primary sources, cooperative activities, biographies, and Internet resources, the students will investigate the key issues associated with the “twenties woman”, education and popular culture, and The Harlem Renaissance.
  • Mrs. McGinty’s Honors class -  Additionally, the honors students will begin research for the unit projects will be completed and presented in January.
  • Mrs. McGinty’s Contemporary World Affairs students continue to examine and analyze current topics in national and world affairs including the 2008 presidential election, the war in Iraq, immigration, AIDS, poverty, and the situation in the Darfur region of Sudan. Through the use of the Internet, magazines, newspapers, and other sources of media, students are able to discuss and develop their ideas and opinions on a variety of topics.
  • Mrs. McGinty’s Sociology students will focus on the concept of social inequality. Students will examine social stratification, including types of stratification systems, theories of stratification, and an analysis of social class and poverty in the United States. They will investigate the access to social rewards and scarce resources as they pertain to race, gender, ethnicity, age, and health. The unit will culminate with a viewing of a PBS documentary entitled “People Like Us” which looks at social class in America.
  • Mrs. Marzi’s Psychology class studied Sleep and States of Consciousness. This study is extremely useful with the number of adolescents who are sleep deprived or may have sleep disorders. We focused on healthy sleep practices, the function and nature of dreams and daydreams, sleep disorders and states on consciousness. In December we will be studying Learning, including a section on learning styles, studying, and test taking.
  • Mrs. Squillace’s Accounting students were able to understand Cash control system.  Students learned to journalize cash control system transactions. They also learned to perform bank reconciliations.  Students will be able to create worksheets, plan adjusting journal entries, and make adjustments to miscellaneous accounts on a worksheet.
  • Mrs. Squillace’s Life Management students learned to reconcile bank statements. Students were able to understand savings accounts and other bank services. Students researched interest rates from three different banks and presented their findings to the class.  Students will be able to recognize the requirements for buying on credit. Obtaining a loan. Understanding charge accounts.
  • Mrs. Squillace’s Word processing 1 & 2 classes reinforced typing techniques by using Word 2003.  Students will create different documents using different applications such as:  Text wrapping, bar graphs, insert different pictures with advanced techniques.
  • Mrs. Marano’s Computer Applications I and II classes have recently been working on creating documents using tabs, leaders, tables and paragraph formatting.
  • Mrs. Mikulka: Library Media Center Among the teachers who scheduled classes into the Library Media Center this month were Mrs. Lewites, Mrs. Meyer, Mr. Pankiewicz, Mrs. Geftic, Mrs. Washburn, Mr. Binazeski, Mr. Warren, Mrs. Schneeweiss, Mrs. McGinty, Ms. Fueshko, Ms. Sadiku, and Mrs. Czekaj.
    On display are scenes of trench warfare created by students in Mrs. McGinty’s U.S. History II classes.

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT –

  • Mr. Smith’s English 9 classes are completing the short story genre by looking at characterization and how to “put yourself in the character’s shoes” to understand motive. After finishing “The Scarlet Ibis”, we will begin our month long study of Steinbeck’s The Pearl.
  • Mr. Smith’s HSPA English 10 class continues to work towards strengthening skills for the HSPA in Language Arts. Most recently, students have been working on identifying characteristics of good writing and using these characteristics in their own writing.
  • Mr. Smith’s Cycle 9 class has completed their research of different cultures for a diversity awareness project. Students are now beginning their second project for which they will research an author that they are studying in English 9. A final product of a powerpoint presentation is the end goal.
  • Mrs. Schneeweiss’ Communications classes are finishing writing and illustrating original children’s stories to deliver to Tomorrow’s Children at Hackensack Hospital as well as writing to celebrity role models to ask that they contribute an 8x10 autographed picture to encourage our elementary students to read.  The classes plan to have a wall of fame that the elementary students will see outside the offices during Read Across America. The communications classes are hoping that all of the celebrities will write back.
  • Mrs. Schneeweiss’ Drama class is also working on children’s stories and is diligently working to finish production of the middle school musical Way Out West in a Dress.
  • Mr. Van Dam’s English 11-Honors classes are completing a formal thesis essay project that requires them to analyze the themes and conclusions developed in John Gardner’s Grendel.  The classes are also completing the epic of Beowulf before embarking on a brief unit on Anglo-Saxon poetry. 
  • Mr. Van Dam’s English 12-Honors class is continuing their study of the archetypal and thematic elements contained within the Sumerian epic of Gilgamesh.  The students will complete a second research task when they analyze various flood myths and link their findings to the flood described in the epic of Gilgamesh.  Following the epic the class will begin their reading of Homer’s The Odyssey.
  • Mr. Van Dam’s English 11 class has completed the Anglo-Saxon poetry unit and is currently studying various contributing stories that are part of the Arthurian Legend. 
    The class will contrast various written and visual interpretations of the legend.
  • Mr. Van Dam’s HSPA English 12 class continues to work on various SRA PATs.
  • Mrs. Meyer’s English 9 class is completing the short story genre by examining characters (people) and why they do the things they do.  Following this unit, the class will carefully read and discuss The Pearl by John Steinbeck.
  • Mrs. Meyer’s English 9 Honors class has completed the short story genre and will spend the next few weeks reading and discussing John Steinbeck’s The Pearl.
  • Mr. Pankiewicz’s English 10 and English 10 Honors classes completed the first part of a Literary Nationalism unit.  Students completed a packet of skills development activities after reading various speeches and letters surrounding the American Revolution.  Currently, students are exploring Romanticism within American Literature- beginning with Washington Irving and the Fireside Poets.  Students will write an original poem utilizing the Romantic trends in addition to a traditional assessment of the unit.
  • Mrs. Geftic’s Journalism students are currently working on the second edition of the Pilot’s Log.  This issue will feature the state football game, the dangers of text messaging while driving, and the senior luncheon.  The Pilot’s Log is pleased to announce that the newspaper was awarded “First Place With Distinction” from American Scholastic Press Association scoring 996 points out of 1000. 
  • Mrs. Geftic’s English 12 students are currently studying the Holocaust and the effects of prejudice and intolerance by reading Night by Elie Wiesel as well as personal diaries and eye-witness accounts of modern incidents of hate. Night is Elie Wiesel’s masterpiece-- a candid, horrific, and deeply poignant autobiographical account of his survival as a teenager in the Nazi death camps.  To enhance the unit students viewed “Triumph of the Spirit.”  In conjunction with this unit, students are writing research papers in MLA format about a specific victim, rescuer or perpetrator of prejudice and intolerance.  The culminating activity of this unit is an assembly on January 14, 2008 featuring one of the Lost Boys of Sudan.
  • Mrs. Czekaj’s English 10 class continues to read The Crucible, acting it out on their feet in front of the class.  They have learned how Miller connected the Salem Witch trials to the injustices of the McCarthy hearings in the 1950s.
  • Mrs. Czekaj’s English 12 class learned from their classmates’ research about discrimination based on race, ethnicity, and gender in Darfur, Rwanda, and Armenia.  They continue to read Gilgamesh, noting the commonalities this ancient epic has with later literary traditions.
  • Mrs. Czekaj’s AP English class has been reading The Odyssey and doing individual reports to the class on specific sections of the epic.  In groups, they are doing archetypal research as preparation for their study of Hamlet.  Three students placed in the VFW “Voice of Democracy” spoken essay contest.  Congratulations to first place winner Jen McClure!
  • Mrs. Czekaj’s Shakespeare classes have begun their study of tragedy with an introduction to Othello.  They have seen that Shakespeare is often retold in contemporary movies and compared She’s the Man to its Shakespearean inspiration, Twelfth Night.
  • Mrs. Fernandes HSPA English 9 class started the persuasive essay section of the HSPA exam.  Students are concentrating on format and organized pre-writing.  The class is using writing prompts as provided by the state.
  • Mrs. Fernandes Advanced Genres classes continue to explore films that have characters who are motivated to make a change either for society or themselves.  We are watching two made for TV miniseries, “The 60’s” and “The 70’s.”  For each film, students are writing a character analysis.
  • Mrs. Fernandes Genres & Critical Issues classes started the genre of comedy.  We began the unit with Young Frankenstein, a film in the parody genre.  Other comedy genres will be explored, such as the mock-umentary, dark comedy, and slapstick.  For each film students are required to write reactions or complete take home extension activities.
  • Mrs. Fernandes HSPA English 11 classes are concentrating on improving their writings with revising and editing.  Students will rewrite their own essays and improve on essays as provided by the HSPA workbooks.
  • Ms. Kos’s English 9 class continue with their biography unit, reading Eli Wiesels’s book about the Holocaust, Night. Students are also doing supplementary vocabulary development activities, as well as HSPA prep assignments.
  • Ms. Kos’s English 10 class is finishing up its study of Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible.” Students are enjoying reading the play aloud in parts and are doing a number of interdisciplinary assignments that take advantage of the close connections between their American Literature course of study and their U.S. I History program. Students also continue to work on the writing tasks for the HSPA.
  • Ms. Kos’s English 11 class has finished William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies,and students are working on their culminating projects. Students will view the movie version of this novel and will write a critical essay in which they compare the movie to the book. HSPA activities that tie into the text are being utilized to supplement this unit.
  • Ms. Kos’s English 12 class is continuing their World Literature-World Change course of study and is currently reading Rachel Carson’s seminal book, Silent Spring. Students continue to do writing projects—both in and out of class—that support their ongoing recycling project.
  • Ms. Kos’s HSPA 11 class continues to work to develop their writing and comprehensions skills for the NJ HSPA to be given this spring.
  • Ms. Monetti’s English 11 classes are currently interpreting Anglo-Saxon poetry.  In addition, to build vocabulary, we are learning Latin roots and words that contain them. 
  • Ms. Monetti’s HSPA 10 class is currently working on the persuasive writing and reading parts of the HSPA.  In addition, students are reading a novel of their choice which they will do a creative project on.
  • Ms. Monetti’s English 10 classes are reading and analyzing Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible.  Students are doing a great job acting out parts in class.  In addition, we are learning Latin and Greek root words to build our vocabulary.
  • Miss Venneman’s HSPA English 9 class is studying various forms of persuasive text to prepare for the HSPA exam.  Students are responding to open-ended questions regarding persuasive text and continue to expand their Latin root vocabulary.

WORLD LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT-

  • Mrs. Cafferty’s Spanish III class is learning how to use the present progressive with pronouns to talk about things people are doing right now. The students have been discussing student rights and the process of protesting against things they feel strongly about.
  • Ms. Torres’ Spanish I class is learning about Mexico. They will be able to describe classes and classroom objects and their location.
  • Mrs. Siddons’ Spanish II class is able to work with the preterite tense in the past while learning health and sporting events vocabulary.
  • Ms. Siddons’ Spanish IV/V class has been reading authentic plays and short stories written in Spanish which allows for greater comprehension and culture.
  • Ms. Siddons’ Spanish I class have been learning how to use AR verbs together with adverbs to say how often they do things. Talking about time, weather, and school related vocabulary was also discussed in class.
  • Mr. Eggmann’s French IV/V classes are preparing for the traditional Fete de Noel with carols and French pastries.
  • Mrs. Washburn’s Italian classes are preparing for the annual Christmas Festivals at Euclid and Lincoln Schools.

MUSIC DEPARTMENT –

  • Mr. Ascolese reports that the concert and jazz bands are rehearsing in the evening for the upcoming holiday concert on December 19.
  • Mr. Ascolese also reports that his Music Theory class is analyzing lead sheets and classical works for form, composition techniques and chord progressions.
  • Mr. Taylor reports that the choral classes have worked on breathing, voice placement, voice production, extending range and power, sol feggio, and intervals in preparation for the holiday concert program.
  • Mr. Taylor has continued practicing the Choir on all material for the upcoming holiday concert on December 19. Choir members are also learning sight reading/singing skills during class periods.

MATHEMATICS DEPARTMENT -

  • Mrs. Boggis' Calculus students will be able to apply rules for definite integrals and find the average value of a function over a closed interval. Students will also be able to understand the relationship between the derivative and the definite integral as expressed in both parts of the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus.
  • Mrs. Boggis' Honors Algebra II students will be able to graph quadratic functions and inequalities written in standard, vertex, or intercept form. They will also be able to factor binomials and trinomials and learn how to solve them through factoring, finding square roots, completing the square, and using the quadratic formula.
  • Mrs. Boggis' HSPA 9 students will be able to collect, organize, represent, analyze, and evaluate data. Students will use statistical measures as well as data displays. They will also look at relationships involving data.
  • Mrs. Boggis' Algebra I students will be able to graph linear equations. Students will also be able to find the slope and y intercept from an equation and use the slope-intercept form to sketch a line and solve problems.
  • Mrs. Healey’s Precalculus classes have completed Section 2, Calculating with Exponents to Base 10.  They will be studying logarithms in great detail for the remainder of the month before learning applications.
  • Mrs. Healey’s Foundations class is in the process of completing a unit on calculating with exponents.  Next they will learn to translate the concepts into log language.
  • Mr. Heller’s Geometry classes have extended their study of the rules for congruent triangles into their applicability to other polygons and inequalities.  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 graphing and probability. 
  • Mr. Heller's Algebra 2 class has extended its study of linear equations and inequalities into a more in-depth review of plotting and graphing these functions.  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 graphing and probability.
  • Ms. Khandhar's AP Calculus students have been learning basic integration techniques after studying the definition of a definite integral as the limit of a Riemann Sum.  They will now be exploring derivatives and antiderivatives for transcendental functions such as logarithmic and exponential functions.  
  • Ms. Khandhar's Honors Precalculus students are finishing a unit on rational functions by reviewing how to solve rational equations and inequalities as well as decomposing rational expressions.  The next unit will focus on functions.  Students will study the definition of a function, domain and range, and finding the inverse of a function.  
  • Ms. Khandhar's Foundations of Advanced Math students have started a unit on exponents.  They will be using interpolation to evaluate exponential expressions and through this process they will review properties of exponents and operations with decimals. 
  • Ms. Khandhar's HSPA 10 students will continue working on transformations -translating, reflecting, rotating, and dilating figures.  They will then analyze figures in terms of reflectional and rotational symmetry.  The following unit will focus on measuring in geometry.  This will involve measuring perimeter, circumference, area, surface area, and volume.  
  • Ms. Khandhar's HSPA 11 Students have completed a thorough review of geometry concepts and skills and are now starting a comprehensive review of probability.
  • Ms. Khandhar's HSPA 12 students will be finishing up the SRA process.
  • Mrs. Marano's HSPA 11 class has completed work on items from Cluster 2, Geometry.  They will next begin work on probability and counting methods. 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 solve systems of linear equations by graphing, substitution, and linear combinations.  They solved problems by using systems of equations, and sketched the graphs of systems of linear inequalities. they also solved HSPA problems involving Cluster 2.
  • Mrs. O’Brien’s Algebra I classes are currently sketching the graph of linear equations.  They will be able to sketch the graph of horizontal and vertical lines as well as lines with both a positive and negative slope.  They will first graph using a table of values and then discover how to sketch a line using the slope and intercepts. 
  • Mrs. O’Brien’s Foundations of Advanced Math class is currently sketching the graph of parabolic functions.  They are in the process of analyzing the given equation to determine how the function is behaving. 

SCIENCE DEPARTMENT –

  • Mr. Binazeski’s Physical Science classes have completed their study of weathering and erosion. Students learned how materials are weathered and how erosion transports that material to a new location. Students also learned about topography and developed a topographic map of their own island utilizing various mapmaking techniques they learned in class.
  • Mr. Binazeski’s Environmental Science   The Environmental Science class has completed the lesson on Populations and Habitats. Students designed a population survey in class that helped them understand how these surveys and their results are developed. Students will begin their study of biomes.
  • Mrs. Hicswa’s  Biology classes have just completed their study of the cell, its parts, and their functions. They completed a lab in which they prepared wet mounts of various types of specimens and stained the specimens in order to be able to easily view the cell parts.  The classes were able to view films describing the history of cell research and study up to and including the studies done today using the electron microscope.
    All students prepared a 3-D model of either the plant or the animal cell. If they choose to they can prepare a second project for extra credit. The extra credit projects are usually done by baking a cake, a pan of brownies, or a large cookie and decorating the item with candy, icing in various colors, etc. to represent the cell parts. Naturally, the students enjoy presenting this project and sharing the baked items with their classmates.
  • Mr. Pignatiello’s CP Chemistry classes have completed topics in stoichiometry dealing with empirical and molecular formulas.  The CP chemistry class will also be starting gas laws this month.  They will see many demonstrations as well as perform a couple of labs to help reinforce the concepts of gases. 
  • Mr. Pignatiello’s Honors Chemistry just completed an advanced topic of limiting reagents along with empirical and molecular formulas.  The Honors chemistry is also starting gas laws this month that includes a large number of demonstrations to go along with the complex math concepts.  The students will gain a great understanding how the state of matter, gas functions.
  • Mr. Pignatiello’s AP Chemistry class has just concluded thermochemistry and will be learning about atomic history and the atom in detail.  The students will work on electron configuration, including a more advanced numerical system.  The students will also perform many calculations dealing with light and wave length.   
  • Mr. Stine’s CP and Honors Physics completed the unit on gravitation and began chapter 8: “work, power, energy”.
  • Mr. Stine’s AP Physics recently took a comprehensive exam (Motion, Newtons Laws, Momentum & Impulse, Circular Motion & Gravitation), and are beginning the study of Work and Power.

ART DEPTARTMENT –

  • Ms. Caputo’s drawing classes are finishing last month with a pen and ink project. They will be starting off this month by learning how to draw portraits. The have three choices for their medium, charcoal, ink, or markers. They will learn how to use a grid for this project.
  • Ms. Caputo’s graphic design class is starting off the month with a new project. They were assigned partners. They have to create a newsletter with the title appearance. They need to come up with a front cover, and inside spread. There are a number of pre set requirement they need to include while creating their layouts.
  • Mrs., Kritzer’s Drawing classes are currently working on perspective.  The students are learning one and two point perspective.  Wooden mannequins are being used to show depth in their drawings.  They will be making ornaments for the Christmas tree set up in the main office.
  • Mrs. Kritzer’s advanced art class will be creating triptychs.  Triptychs are a three part painting, drawing or collage.  They will use skeletons as their source for the art.  It is up to them, creatively, how they want to construct their triptych.
  • Mrs. Kritzer’s High School Art Club have designed and constructed the sets for the middle level play.  The senior members are painting a mural in Mrs. Toy’s science room.  The mural is of a sea turtle.

PYHSICAL EDUCATION DEPT -

  • 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 volleyball, basketball, 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 are reading and reviewing the driver education book preparing for the state test.
  • Ms Gaccione’s 9th grade classes finished up the unit on nutrition and fitness. The students have begun discussing alcohol and drug use, the short term and long term effects on drugs and alcohol and why they are addicting diseases and places to get help for them selves or someone else.
  • Mrs. Miller’s 12th grade Health classes are participating in the infant baby program. The students take the babies and are responsible for them for three days. The purpose of the program is to have the students understand exactly what the responsiblies are in taking care of a baby.

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 to explore shapes.  During this experience, the students will investigate the concept of similar and congruent figures.  After learning about ratios and proportions, the students will learn how to determine if two figures are similar to each other.  Once we have completed that section, the students will begin to look at figures to determine if they are symmetrical.  Through group work, the students will be able to find the different lines of symmetry in several polygons.  After finding the different lines of symmetry, the students will begin to explore circles.  In this section the students will learn about diameter and radius, and use them to find the area and circumferences of circles. 
  • Miss Keller’s 6th grade accelerated Geometry students will begin the month by exploring polygons and quadrilaterals.  The students will learn about what makes each quadrilateral unique.  The students will also explore what characteristics the quadrilaterals have in common.  Next, the students will begin to investigate circles.  In this section the students will learn about the radius and diameter of a circle, and use them to find the circumference and area of the circles.     
  • Miss Mercandino’s 6th grade mainstream Geometry students will start to investigate shapes.  After learning the basic shapes in the previous chapter the students will now compare and contrast whether shapes are similar and congruent.  The students will be able to figure out if shapes are similar or not by learning how to set up ratios and proportions.   After mastering this skill, the students will move on and explore whether shapes are symmetrical.   Students will be able to create and design there own symmetrical shapes.  The final section they will learn about is circles.  They will learn parts of a circle and then continue into more depth to find the area and circumference of circles. 
  • Miss Mercandino’s 6th grade mainstream Algebra class has completed a chapter test on understanding fractions and will begin exploring fractions in further detail. They are being introduced to estimating fractions by rounding to the nearest whole number and to one-half.  The next section will teach them how to add and subtract fractions with like and unlike denominators. Once they have mastered this skill they will move on to learn how to multiply and divide fractions. They will also become familiar with fraction bars and models of fractions to be able to understand more clearly what happens when fractions are divided or multiplied. The fraction bars and models help students understand visually how they are multiplying and dividing.  Students will continue working on their Algebra Gepa Packets.
  • Miss DiPiano’s 6th grade Algebra completed a chapter on understanding fractions and the students are looking forward to working with fractions. They are learning to estimate fractions by rounding to the nearest whole number and to one-half.  They are also learning to add and subtract fractions with like and unlike denominators. 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 working on Cluster IB of the Gepa packets.      
  • Miss DiPiano’s6th grade accelerated Algebra students have also been busy working with fractions.  They are now completing a chapter on integers and equations.  The students were introduced to variable expressions by writing them and using models to solve the expressions. They have become familiar with Algebra Tiles and use they use the tiles to solve simple variable expressions.  The students will also master subtracting, multiplying, and dividing integers using this manipulative.  This hands-on method is giving the students a more positive outlook and attitude towards math.   
  • Mrs. Caputo’s 7th grade mainstream Algebra classes are starting Chapter Three, Integers and Equations.  We will continue to master equations.  We will then continue with Fractions and Number theory, Chapter Four.  The 7th graders are currently preparing to take their first Gepa quiz on Cluster I.
  • Mrs. Caputo’s 7th grade accelerated Algebra class is working with Chapter Three, Equations and Inequalities.  After the chapter test we will continue with Chapter Four, Graphing in the Coordinate Plane.  The 7th graders are currently preparing to take their first Gepa quiz on Cluster I.
  • Mr. Sickels’ 7th grade Geometry mainstream students are currently in the process of completing Chapter One,  Graphing.  We will then continue with Chapter Eight, Geometry and Measurement.  In this chapter we will study area.  The 7th graders are currently working on Gepa cluster II B, which will be collected on December 14. 
  • Mr. Sickels’ 7th grade accelerated Geometry class is currently completing Chapter One on Graphing.  We then continue with Chapter Nine, Geometry and Measurement.  In this chapter the students will learn about three-dimensional figures, surface area, and volume.  The 7th graders are currently working on Gepa Cluster II B, which will be collected on December 14. 
  • Seventh Grade Math All of the classes continue to work with St. Jude’s mathathon to raise money for all the children at St. Jude’s Hospital.  The students of the month for December were Alexandra Seda and Brain Colton.  Congratulations to both of them.
  • Mr. Mastropietro’s 8th grade Geometry classes are working on Chapter 6, Applications of Proportions.  Chapter 9 will address Geometry and Measurement.  The students will finish the Cluster 2 Gepa Packets followed by the Cluster 3 Gepa Packets.
  • Mr. Mastropietro’s 8th grade Honors Topics class class will finish Chapter 12 on Probability.  Next we will be working on Chapter 14, Surface Area and Volume.  The students will finish the Cluster 2 Gepa Packets followed by the Cluster 3 Gepa Packets.
  • Mrs. Dunne’s 8th grade Algebra I class has completed solving linear equations with multiple transformations.  The students continue to solve word problems using verbal models.
  • Mrs. Dunne’s Math 8 classes are adding and subtracting rational numbers.

SCIENCE DEPARTMENT-

  • Mr. Rispoli’s 6th grade science students are preparing for their trip to the Buehler Challenger and Science Center.  After each student was assigned to a team, the teams started their Buehler activities.  The activities include, but are not limited to, plotting coordinates, testing reflexes, finding pulses, learning about the light spectrum, building circuits, collecting and analyzing data, and learning about space flight and space missions.  The field trip to Buehler will be on Dec. 20th and Dec. 21st.
  • Mrs. Toy’s 7th grade science classes have finished their unit on Cells.  They are beginning the Criminal Justice unit by studying DNA, cell division and Genetics.
  • Mr. Cassiere’s 8th grade students are examining the properties of substances and their potentials for change.  They will conduct several experiments illustrating how matter changes and understand the various phases of matter.  These experiments will parallel chapters 8 and 9. 

ART DEPARTMENT-

  • Mrs. Kritzer’s Cycle 8 Art completed self-portrait using symbolism as one half of their portraits.  They will be constructing wire sculptures which will be covered in paper mache strips to make them appear as plaster.
  • Mrs. Kritzer’s 7th grade cycle are making name plates in the style of Henri Matisse.  The style Matisse originated is called drawing with scissors.  They will be “drawing with scissors”.
  • Mrs. Brinker's 6th Grade Cycle Class is current working on creating original Chinese symbol jars.  These jars are on display in the HS Media Center.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION-

  • 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 basketball and volleyball.

HEALTH-

  • Ms. Gaccione’s 8th grades Health class has begun family life and is currently discussing values, responsibilities and dating relationships.
  • Mrs. Kolich’s 7th grade Health finishing up a unit on puberty with the class doing their own family tree to show where they get their characteristics from.

INDUSTRIAL ARTS-

  • Mr. Masucci‘s cycle classes are making cutting boards.

SOCIAL STUDIES-

  • Miss Sigl’s 6th grade students will be working with Chapter 4-Lessons 2 and 3 in the last week of November where they will be able to read/discuss lesson 2 "Assyria Rules the Fertile Crescent." The students will be able to perform in class a play based on the "Hanging Gardens of Babylon" using text book and role playing.
    The students will then proceed with study of Egypt and its civilization.
  • Mrs. Gay’s 7th grade students continue to focus their Geographic studies on the United States and Canada.  The class has been joined by a student teacher, Miss Patricia Sondej, from Rutgers University, whose dynamic lessons have been a welcome addition.  They have just completed group projects on the vegetation zones of North America, which included creating a poster and giving "expert" information on the group's assigned zone to the rest of the class.  They are memorizing the state capitals and state location, and part of that activity will include singing songs and playing states and capitals "Jingo".  They will also be exploring the government, history, and economics and culture of the United States.
  • Mrs. Rucci’s 8th grade students reviewed the most important facts about the American Revolution and the creation of the new government.  We used sentence strips to make a chart on the advantages and disadvantages of each side involved, analyzed the usefulness of the many compromises that were made when the United States was formed, and students made mini-posters in small groups illustrating the main principles of the U.S. Constitution. 
    In the Junior Scholastic magazines, topics included hurricanes, present-day immigrants to the US, the race for the presidency, and trouble in Burma. 
    On Veteran’s Day, we discussed who veterans are and why we need to honor them.  Students found out more about the veterans in their own families and shared some anecdotes with their classmates. 
    Seton Hall University invited five seventh graders and five eighth graders to take part in a Global Issues Seminar on November 16th.  The social studies teachers of each grade accompanied them after many hours of preparation.  The eighth graders represented the Russian Federation (almost like a model United Nations), and then did a fabulous job presenting and discussing real world problems from that perspective.  We’re very proud of them and all of us learned so much!

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT-

  • Mr. Stillman's Literature 8 Honors has just concluded an analysis of the short story "The Lady, or the Tiger?". As part of their study, they compared the internal conflicts faced by the protagonist of the story and the protagonist of the film Casablanca.
  •  Mr. Stillman & Mr. Colangelo's Literature 8 classes have just concluded a study of various short stories and are about to begin an extensive unit on the life and works of Edgar Allan Poe.
  • Mr. Colangelo’s 7th grade Literature classes have begun their reading of The River, a novel by Gary Paulsen.  Brian Robeson, The River’s protagonist, is at it again as he tries to survive in the wilderness for a second time.  The students will be responsible for discussion questions, vocabulary, and literary terms.
  • Mr. Colangelo’s 6th grade Creative Writing class is nearing the end of the cycle.  They have completed lessons on journal writing, autobiographies, stories without endings, a movie review, and news articles.
  • Mr. Colangelo’s 6th grade Study Skills class is nearing the end of the cycle.  The class has learned many tips and strategies from their Study Skills notebook, You Can Take Charge.  Some lessons discussed: Organizing Your Study Space, Resisting Negative Peer Pressure, Solving Problems in a Group, Techniques for Memorizing, etc.   
  • Mrs. Rowland’s 7th grade English class continues to work on show-me sentences using sensory words to enhance writing and incorporating better vocabulary to intensify and add interest to writing. 
  • Ms. Wolf’s 6th grade English classes are continuing to work on the “Parts of Speech” unit.  The students are learning about each part of speech and how to not only identify them in sentences, but use them in their writing to create description and enhance their writing.  The unit is comprised of lessons, exercises, videos, and games.  At the conclusion of the unit, the students will work in groups to create a review game.  This will help to review the material and prepare for the test at the end of the unit.
    This past month, Ms. Wolf’s class had the chance to take part in an essay contest
    sponsored by the local VFW.  Many students chose to write an essay to enter into this contest.  Ms. Wolf was very pleased to find out that Natalie Miller won first place in this contest in the local area out of all sixth, seventh, and eighth graders that were entered from Hasbrouck Heights.  Congratulations go out to Natalie on a very impressive and successful job. In addition to the “Parts of Speech” 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.  All of the skills that the students are learning are being assessed through their use of them in the timed writing.  Every month, more and more is expected of each of the students. The students will also continue to broaden their vocabulary with daily words and bi-weekly spelling units.
  • Mr. Sicilian’s English 8 classes are continuing vocabulary development units with a stronger emphasis on word usage through context clue sentence writing. In addition, all classes are working on a new journal essay that will involve peer evaluation using the holistic scoring rubric.  Classes are continuing the use of the “Weekly Agenda”, a weekly/bi-weekly syllabus of all assignments, projects, quizzes, etc. that allow for students to self-manage their time and work independently on upcoming assignments.
    All classes recently worked on an Internet Web quest in which they were able to access websites containing a variety of Language Arts/Literature games that reinforce many of the concepts and CCCS. Students found a number of vocabulary based games, word building skills, and critical thinking activities that correlate and enrich classroom instruction.
  • Mr. Sicilian’s English 8 Honors class is beginning its web quest into autobiographical writing with an emphasis on “digital storytelling”. Scholastic.com has a tremendous source of student activities that guide students through the narrative and digital aspects of writing their own autobiographies,
    Students are also writing a précis summary of an article released by the National Endowment for the Arts on the decline of leisure reading in the United States. The article is the result of a 4 year study that has tracked reading habits, book sales, and marketing strategies. The 90 plus page report can be accessed through the NEA website.
  • Miss Venneman’s Literature 7 classes have begun a unit featuring Gary Paulsen’s novel The River.  The River is the second installment of Paulsen’s adventure series which begins with Hatchet.  Students will journey with the stories main character, Brian Robeson, as he revisits the Canadian wilderness in order to help others his second time around. 
  • Miss Venneman’s Creative Writing 7 is working collaboratively to write a story that is presented in class.  Students are responsible for writing various components of the narratives in order to create one cohesive story for presenting.  Students have also been expanding various types of writing by adding details that appeal to the senses.
  • Ms. Dolan’s 6th grade literature class, in collaboration with Ms. Sigl’s social studies class, completed a two week unit on Greek mythology.  The students read the myths in class and had a great time discussing the dysfunctional Greek Gods.  They thought it was a riot that Athena was born out of Zeus head after his son Hephaestus cut his head open with an axe.  Using the laptop’s stored in the Middle School Teacher’s Room, the students worked in groups to complete a project to present the myths to the class.  The presentations were made in the form of a newscast. 
  • Ms. Dolan’s students are now completing a unit on the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol.The students are reading this classic story in a play form, taking on parts and reading with English accents.  The students will then watch the version of A Christmas Carol starring Patrick Stewart. 
    Finally, Ms. Dolan’s students are finishing up the “Scholastic Cares” contest.  So far, they have read over 350 books in two months.  For every 100 books that the students read, Scholastic will donate 100 books to a school in need.  The contest ends on December 21, 2007.

TECHNOLOGY-

  • Mrs. Marano’s Computer Cycle 6 has completed a CD cover for a band of their choice or creation and has recently been working on a tri-fold brochure. Students will combine art, research and imagination for their brochures.
  • Mrs. Marano's Computer Cycles 7 and 8 have been working on creating a flyer using Microsoft Word and the drawing tools and on the correct use of tabs, margins, headers and footers.

FOREIGN LANGUAGES-

  • Ms. Torres’ sixth grade Spanish cycle have been learning to put together the vocabulary and phrases they’ve learned in order to write basic dialogs that include questions they ask when they meet someone like name, age, origin, likes and dislikes in Spanish. They also have been practicing useful phrases on a daily basis.
  • Ms. Torres’ seventh grade Spanish cycle are learning the vocabulary to describe what is in their room. Students are also learning about Mexico.
  • Mrs. Cafferty’s eighth grade Spanish cycle are creating brochures on a South American country to persuade their classmates to take their vacations there. In addition, the students have learned the numbers 1-1000, familiar sports, and opposites.

MUSIC DEPARTMENT-

  • Ms. Moroney continues to rehearse the sixth and seventh grade bands (instrumental cycle) for the holiday concert on December 19. They are also doing some sight reading for the pops concert and are working on group sound, blend, and balance. They have added G Concert and D Concert to their list of scales to master this month.
  • Mr. McCarthy’s 7th grade vocal cycle class has completed work on voice production, breathing, voice placement, songs, and carols as well as viewing “Carousel”.
  • Mr. McCarthy’s 7th grade cycle continues work on the Romantic and Modern periods of music.
  • Mr. McCarthy’s 8th grade cycle is working on Dixieland Jazz and Swing and Bop.
  • Mr. Taylor reports that the choir is learning the music for the holiday concert. Students are learning sight reading/singing skills during the beginning of the rehearsal.
Euclid School –
Math-
  • Kindergarten is beginning to learn geometry.  They are identifying shapes and reinforcing measurement skills.
  • Grade One is utilizing the strategy “counting back”.  They are subtracting up to ten and completing word problems that incorporate these skills.
  • Grade Two is working on subtraction strategies.  They are learning how subtraction is related to addition.  They are practicing their facts and performing mental math activities.
  • Grade Three is working with money.  They are identifying various coins and their worth.  They are combining coins to create specific amounts, counting coin values, and completing word problems involving money.
  • Grade Four is focusing on multiplication into the thousands.  They will then do the same for division.  They continue to brush up on their mad minutes and problem solving skills.
  • Grade Five is focusing on the multiplication and division of whole numbers and decimals including estimation.  They are also writing and solving equations. They will concentrate on understanding mean, median, and mode.
Science-
  • Kindergarten continues their study of magnets and magnetism. They are viewing movement and the way things can be pushed or pulled.
  • Grade One is beginning their study of life cycles.  They will learn about the frog and the butterfly.  They will also focus on how plants grow.
  • Grade Two is learning how plants and animals live together.  They are determining ways that they depend on one another for survival.
  • Grade Three continues their study of forces of motion.  They are learning about different stats of matter and various types of energy.
  • Grade Four is concentrating on the water cycle and weather.  They are also completing various activities related to force, energy, and motion.
  • Grade Five has completed their scientific method activities for “Science Happenings”. They will begin a unit on biomes.  Activities such as web quests, charts, posters, and essays will be done for our magazine.
Social Studies-
  • Kindergarten is spending the month of December learning about different holidays celebrated throughout the world.  They are completing multiple activities, reading different stories and poems, and singing many songs.
  • Grade One is learning all about Native Americans.  They are studying history from the perspective of then and now and make comparisons between the two.
  • Grade Two is focusing on the importance of working together. They are defining income and taxes.  They are learning about the goods and services that are part of a community.
  • Grade Three continues their comparison of suburban, urban, and rural communities.  Characteristics are being identified and students are writing descriptive paragraphs about each.
  • Grade Four is working on regions. Students are creating large-scale maps and are identifying key landmarks and landforms within each region.  They are learning about the Lenape Indians, who were the first inhabitants of New Jersey.
  • Grade Five is studying Marco Polo.  They are learning all about Asia and the Silk Road.  They are focusing on European exploration leading into the beginning of Colonial Times.
Language Arts-
  • Kindergarten continues to practice writing their upper and lower case letters.  They are working on their full names.  They are copying complete sentences for modeling.  They continue to learn the sounds of two letters per week and a sight word.  They are completing their silly animal stories and beginning family reading around the table.
  • Grade One continues to practice their sentence writing including subjects and predicates.  They are focusing on capitalization and punctuation.  They are also working with nouns.  They continue to read leveled readers to improve comprehension. 
  • Grade Two is working with proper nouns.  They are identifying different types of genre and focusing on inferential comprehension questions.  They are writing invitations and comparing with Venn Diagrams.  They are completing booklets about the character, setting, problem and solution as a pre strategy to picture prompt writing.
  • Grade Three is working on the reading skill of cause and effect.  Students are creating charts to identify both components.  In addition, students are comparing and contrasting characters and other story elements.  They are writing “How To” essays and focusing on time order words when they write. 
  • Grade Four is working on the narrative elements of a story. They are completing activities related to cause and effect and summarizing.  They are working on their second book report related to historical fiction. They are practicing the inclusion of quotes and dialogue in their narrative writing.
  • Grade Five is completing their book reports.  The are continuing to work on vocabulary and comprehension skills.  They are beginning their second novel, Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell.  Multiple activities will be completed in reference to this novel.  Students are writing “How To” essays and persuasive essays.  They are focusing on editing skills.  In grammar, students are working with compound sentences.
Art –
  • Kindergarten will be painting pine trees.
  • First grade will be painting poinsettias.
  • Second grade will be learning about proportion and painting toy soldiers.
  • Third grade will explore pastels and draw pine branches.
  • Fourth grade will make a clay pine tree.
  • Fifth grade will continue to paint their masks.
Music –
  • Kindergarten through Grade 3 are practicing their holiday songs with movement. They are using tone blocks to practice rhythm. They are completing listening activities and chanting.
  • Grades Four and Five are completing their final preparations for their holiday concert.  A parent and student performance will be enjoyed.
 Physical Education –
  • Kindergarten to Grade 3 is working on the development of the overhand throw and the two handed catch.  Emphasis is being placed on watching the ball go into their hands and using the proper arm swing.  The game is modified for Kindergarten classes.  Grades 4 and 5 are working on football.  Students are preparing for the playoffs and championship game.  They are focusing on learned skills and working as a team. 
World Language-
  • Kindergarten is focusing on colors and classroom objects.
  • Grade One is working on colors, the numbers 1-10, and the spelling of color names.
  • Grade Two is familiarizing themselves with commonly used phrases and mini dialogues.
  • Grade Three is working on naming classroom objects, colors, and reinforcing counting by tens.
  • Grade Four is working on sentences and plural forms of nouns.
  • Grade Five is focusing on familiar classroom commands, and both feminine and masculine nouns.  They are also identifying indefinite articles.

Media Center

  • Kindergarten is transferring a drawing to a document and then printing.  They are working on backgrounds.
  • Grade One is focusing on drawing tools, backgrounds, and stamps.  They are creating a picture, transferring it to a document, typing a name, and printing.
  • Grade Two is typing information into a graphic organizer, labeling and printing.
  • Grade Three is familiarizing themselves with typing and saving a document.  They are typing short poems.
  • Grade Four is defining a computer virus.  They are learning how it spreads and how it can be prevented.
  • Grade Five is discussing e-mail etiquette.  They are defining flaming and spamming for wording.

Lincoln School –

Pre-K Four

  • Curiosity Corner: The children learned about many different celebrations for the holiday season, opposites and properties of shapes.


Mathematics:

  • Kindergarten classes have been very busy learning all about numbers. They have just
    completed Chapter 4 of their textbooks and they are now moving onto numbers over 10. They are also learning how to move about on a number line.
  • Our first graders are working on graphing skills and continuing addition and subtraction skills.
  • The second graders are learning how to add 2-digit numbers, with and without regrouping. In addition they will also be subtracting two digit numbers with and without regrouping.
  • The third graders have explored the use of money, time and basic division. They strengthened their problem solving skills through problem of the week. 
  • Fourth graders have just completed a chapter on algebra using addition and subtraction.  They will be starting a chapter on time early next week.  The students continue to practice their multiplication and division facts weekly.
  • The fifth graders have completed a review of one digit divisors and have begun to divide 4 numbers by 2 digit divisors.  They also have learned prime factorization and have completed a review of prime and composite numbers.

Science:

  • Kindergarteners have been learning about the season of fall. 
  • Our first graders have just completed Chapter 3 “How Plants and Animals Live” and will begin Chapter 4 “Life Cycles”.  
  • The second graders are learning the characteristics of mammals, amphibians, reptiles and birds.  They will be making moveable backbones to see how they bend. This month a special unit on Penguins will be presented.
  • The third graders investigated food chains and webs. They identified ways to stop germs from spreading, as well as ways to stay healthy.
  • The fourth grade students are continuing to reach their goals for the QAAR objective.  They have begun exploring the properties of matter.  Specifically, they are learning about the states and changes of matter.  Soon the students will be studying energy, motion, and force.
  • Our fifth graders have been introduced to chemistry while learning about the Periodic Table of Elements. They are studying twenty of the most common elements and their symbols.  They are learning about the properties of matter, atoms, phase changes and mixtures and solutions.

Social Studies:

  • Our kindergarten students have been extremely busy learning all about the many different ways that people celebrate their holiday seasons.  The students have been learning about Hanukah, Diwali, Ramadan, Christmas, St. Nick’s Day and Kwanzaa. The Kindergarteners had a very successful Thanksgiving Play on November 21st.  Each child enjoyed performing for their parents and family. They also had a wonderful time at their Thanksgiving Feast set up by all our class moms.  They did a fabulous job!!
  • The first grades will complete Chapter 2 “In My Community” and will begin Chapter 3 “Work! Work! Work!”
  • The second graders will be learning about Christmas around the world and the special traditions people share with one another.  Various activities will be done for student understanding.
  • The third graders continue to appreciate different cultures and their customs and traditions. All December holidays are discussed and explored.
  • The fourth graders have just finished learning about the features of the four regions of New Jersey.  They also have researched the history and traditions of several December holidays.

Language Arts:

  • The kindergarteners of Lincoln School have been very busy learning the letter F, and now will be moving onto the letter G.  Each child is continuing to look about for objects that begin with the letter of the week.  The students have also done such things as learn about action words through their Kindergarten Rocks sheets. 
  • Our first graders have just completed Book Two of the Reading series.  They will begin the Third book “Here and There” and complete the holistic test for the second book.
  • The second graders will be writing letters to the gingerbread man telling him where to hide so he does not get eaten.  Proper nouns are being reinforced so students understand that special animals, places and people get capital letters.
  • The third graders have been drawing conclusions, making inferences, and predicting outcomes this month. They continue to practice writing through weekly writing samples. Possessive nouns and abbreviations were used this month.
  • The fourth graders will be starting the book How to Eat Fried Worms.  They will also continue to work with the Reading Series focusing in on characters, setting, and plot. The students have just finished learning about the parts of sentences.  (Simple, complete, and compound subjects and predicates)  They continue to work on their revising and editing skills and their paragraph structure when answering open ended questions.  Currently, they are working on rewriting classic holiday stories by adding their own twists to them.
  • The fifth graders have been practicing for the Jr. Women’s Club Spelling Bee.  They are working on their Historical Fiction Book Report which is due at the end of December.  The students are working in Theme 2 [Team Work] of their Trophies Reading Text. Students have completed Informative Speeches and are now working on persuasive speeches.

Physical Education:

  • K-2nd Grade: Student's in these grade levels have been using scooters and playing, scooter tag games and scooter soccer (using the big yellow ball). These games and skills allow the students an opportunity to experiment with various positions on the scooter and develop leg and arm strength while doing so. It gives the students a sense of balance and spatial awareness while performing these skills on a scooter in physical education classes.
  • 3rd - 5th Grades: Student's have been playing scooter football and scooter soccer games. These games help the students develop balance and core strength. Students are now preparing for the Elk's Hoop Shot contest.

Music: (All Elementary Schools)

  • Students continue to work on concert pitch notes B-flat through F, playing eight measure melodies combining these notes and rhythms of whole notes, half notes and quarter notes and their respective rests.  They are focusing on articulation and breathing.
  • 5th Grade Instrumental Music:
    Students are preparing music for the Winter Concert.  They are rehearsing for balance and dynamics in addition to fine-tuning notation and rhythm.

World Language:

  • K. – Students will be able to recognize shapes and colors in Spanish. Create a holiday tree.
  • 1. – Students will be able to reinforce classroom items. Students will be able to recognize shapes. They will create a holiday tree.
  • 2. - Students will be able to identify the days of the week. They will be able to sing Holiday songs in Spanish.
  • 3. - Students will be able to reinforce classroom items. They will sing a Holiday song in Spanish.
  • 4. - Students will be able to reinforce classroom items. Students will learn about Holiday celebrations in Spanish countries. They will also sing Holiday song in Spanish.
  • 5. - Students will be reinforcing conversational phrases. They will also learn about Holiday celebration in Spanish speaking countries. In addition they will sing a Holiday song in Spanish.

Media Center:

  • Kindergarten classes continue the process of learning to log into and out of the computer system. They do not yet know how to delete and change the username. They are being introduced to aspects of programs that they are ready for.
  • First Grade classes have been learning to use and locate the period(.), the question mark(?) and the exclamation point(!). They are creating sentences from spelling words, typing them and printing the documents.
  • Second and Third Graders have begun the ISafe curriculum this month and will finish before the holiday break.
  • Fourth Graders are working on small projects that teach and review cut, copy, and paste procedures. They are also doing "typing" necessary to complete the jobs.
  • Fifth Graders have worked on decimal tabs and are also reviewing the process and uses for cut, copy and paste. This requires the students to do considerable "typing".
  • Third, Fourth and Fifth Grades have also begun the process of creating and naming different folders for different uses.

Workshops -
High School –

  • Ms. Siddons attended three alternate route classes registered through Montclair State University.
  • Ms. Torres continues working toward her standard N.J. certificate.

           
Middle School- 

  • Ms. Torres continues to work in the mentor program to obtain her standard certificate.
 
Euclid School –

11/26/07- Euclid Staff - RenWeb Workshop on posting homework.
12/4/07 – Progress Report Upload – Super trainers – Lori Cintron and Eileen Drago
12/11/07 – Progress Report Posting – Euclid School Staff

 

Lincoln School -
December 3 & 10- All teachers received in house training on Ren Web e-mail and Microsoft Word. Presented by J. Hrablook, E. LaTorre and S. Forte
                       
General Administration - fire drills

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
  • 11/28/07 @ 1:16 pm
  • 12/7/07 @ 9:47 am

Lockdown:

Elevator Tests:

  • 9/17/07
  • 10/11/07
  • 11/15/07
  • 12/12/07

Middle School-

  • 9/7/07@1:15pm
  • 9/24/07@1:17pm
  • 10/12/07@1:28pm
  • 10/23/07@1:18pm
  • 11/05/07@9:11am
  • 11/28/07 @ 1:16 pm
  • 12/7/07 @ 9:47 am

Lock Down-
              
Elevator Tests:

  • 9/17/07
  • 10/11/07
  • 11/15/07
  • 12/12/07

 
Euclid School –
Fire Drills
9/18/07
10/1/07
10/4/07
10/18/07
11/14/07
11/27/07
Elevator Checks
9/13/07
10/1/07
11/1/07
12/6/07
Lock Down Drill
9/19/07
10/11/07
11/16/07
12/3/07

Lincoln School -
Fire Drills
9/17/07
9/21/07
10/16/07
10/22/07
11/7/07
11/14/07
12/11/07

Lock Down Drill
9/18/07
10/11/07
11/12/07

Elevator Checks
9/20/07
10/11/07
11/12/07
12/11/07

Accomplishments -
High School –

  • Won State Sectional Championship in Football.
  • Ms. Siddons’ Spanish I classes have completed  “MiEspcaio” poster projects in which they describe themselves, their interests, and their friends in Spanish similar to the format in which the actual MySpace website is designed. 
  • Ms. Siddons’ Spanosh IV/V students are still corresponding with their Spanish speaking penpals from various countries throughout Spain and South America.
  • Mrs. Cafferty’s Spanish III class has reviewed how to go shopping in a Spain using clothing,