Brandt's Weekly Newsletter
4.1.2021
Inside this Edition
- Principal's Message
- Kindness Referrals
- Grade Level Updates
- Counselor's Corner
- Specials Updates
- Nurse's Nook
Principal's Message
Congratulations on making it to Spring Break during this most unprecedented of school years. I hope you are able to relax and find some time to rest before we begin the final push during the home stretch.
Below you can take a look into our grade levels and subject areas. As you will see, despite the fact that we are all looking forward to a respite, we continued to work hard in our classrooms on our way to break.
I am very excited to announce that our qualifying teams will be making their virtual STEAM Tank Regional competition presentations on Tuesday, April 27th. More information for participants is forthcoming.
Please click on the following links to support our Best Buddies groups from HMS and HHS. Best Buddies is an international organization dedicated to ending the isolation of people
with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The Best Buddies students at Hoboken Middle and Hoboken High School are walking to raise awareness and funds for Best Buddies International.
Best Buddies Flyer:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1et_2ilLMSQGKQnIxLupKJhAi73MNDKFw/view?usp=sharing
Best Buddies Fundraising Website:
https://www.bestbuddiesfriendshipwalk.org/newjersey/supporting/#Hoboken
A few things to keep in mind for after Spring Break:
1 - The week of April 12th - 16th is a remote week for all staff and students.
2 - In order for students to return onsite, they will have to show a negative COVID test result dated from April 17th or 18th, the weekend before onsite learning resumes.
3 - If your child tested positive for COVID within the last three months, they do not need to take a test the weekend before returning.
4 - If you are switching from remote to onsite, you will remain with your current remote section during the remote week after break. Information about an onsite class assignment will be sent to all families who are returning for the 4th Marking Period the week of April 12th.
Please know that your patience and understanding continue to be noted and appreciated. While we have encountered our share of challenges this year, we've been able to stick together as a community and meet them as one.
As a reminder, we have scheduled school pictures for May 4th and May 6th. Due to current COVID restrictions, the company will shoot portraits only, and no class photos will be taken. More details will follow as the date approaches.
Stay safe, keep caring for one another, practice patience and empathy, and have a great weekend!
- Mr. Bartlett
It's Cool to be Kind
Noah Flynn spent extra time helping a classmate who was confused on an activity. He did this without being asked to do so.
Mason Strougo helped some friends read directions and locate workbook pages.
Xaviera Barbara-Guraieb helped a classmate who was having a hard time reading directions on a workbook page.
Aiden Oakley taught other students who do not know how to open Google Documents to do it from an iPad. He is always helpful with his questions.
Moni Yamooka-Johnson is very kind and helpful to all of her classmates. She often pushes in chairs when students forget and is usually the first to help a student clean up when they drop something.
Ryder Steinfeld helped open a friend's Thermos at lunch.
Nora Knowles is constantly sticking up for her friends, but most importantly for what is right. She goes out of her way to help her teacher or any friend, regardless of what the task is. She has an incredibly kind heart.
Zoe Genarelli always likes to make sure that everyone has what they need. During language arts she made sure that each friend had a highlighter.
Our custodian, Ms. Zitani, helped wipe down the slides before recess right after it rained so the students could go outside.
Mrs. High, of the security team, helped another colleague when they tripped in the lobby.
Kindergarten
In ELA, we are learning the letters Vv and Xx along with reviewing sight words. We are also discussing the habitats of different animals.
In Math, we are working on counting and representing quantities, as well as solving addition and subtraction problems.
In Social Studies we are continuing to learn about influential women’s in history.
In Science, we are observing and discussing the different types of weather.
First Grade
Our first graders continue to be busy as we finally head into spring.
This week we are reviewing long vowel spelling patterns as well as practicing our comprehension strategies. These strategies include retelling, comparing/contrasting, and identifying story elements such as main characters, setting, and plot. The students have been working very hard on mastering their writing pieces with several “how to write” assignments and activities.
In math, the students have been working on determining the missing numbers in an equation while also solving story problems about unknown change. This is to ensure their understanding of the operations being asked in the word problems by recognizing and identifying key vocabulary, and then applying their skills to ultimately solve the problem.
Second Grade
It was another exciting week in Second Grade! Here are a few of the things we learned:
Reading: Students are working on their fluency by engaging in a readers theater performance! They will use strategies to work on their accuracy, rate, and expression before performing. Students will also be working on reinforcing skills learned such as, key details, non-fiction text features, and answering questions about main idea and details.
Writing: Students have presented their Realistic Fiction stories as a published piece to share with their classmates. Students have also been working on comic strips and how the detail to settings and dialogue drive a story as well in graphic novels.
Math: Students practiced adding 10 or 100 to and subtracting 10 or 100 from a given number, and describing what part of the number changes. They also practiced using knowledge of place value to find pairs of 2-digit numbers that add to 100 or a number close to 100.
Science: Students began the week reading about and exploring the forces and causes of erosion. The week concluded with a final look into Women's History Month by learning about Ada Lovelace's contributions to science and getting "hands on" with a coding activity.
Social Studies: This week in Social Studies we are continuing our celebration of Women's History Month by learning about influential historical female figures like Helen Keller, Amelia Earheart, and Harriet Tubman.
Third Grade
Social Studies:
As we conclude Women’s History Month Third Graders reflected on the amazing journey we all went on learning about World, National, and Local Women in History who inspire us all everyday.
Science:
Third Graders continued to practice and master their STEAM Tank presentations while patiently awaiting Round 2 of the STEAM Tank Competition.
Math and ELA:
This week we are excited to focus on our learning with the support of IXL. IXL’s comprehensive curriculum includes skills in math and English language arts. As students learn on IXL, they build a strong understanding of how concepts connect across these different subjects. In IXL Math, students gain fluency and confidence! In IXL ELA, students practice skills from phonics and reading comprehension, to writing strategies and more. IXL helps learners develop the communication skills needed for success.
Here are a few reviews about the learning platform from some of our awesome learners:
Alex Z.- “What I love about IXl is that there is a challenge zone when you have ten points to finish. It gets a bit challenging and I love that.”
Natalie P.- “ I love how IXL can be challenging, but is fun to learn with. I also love how it has a challenge zone, encouraging you to make more and more progress. It is fun, interactive, and a challenging resource.”
Steven C.- “ In IXL I like the trophies they give, the fact that they time you, and how most questions are challenging”.
Charlotte P. -”IXL ELA is really fun and I get to learn about subheadings and I am learning how to give the Main Idea of a text.”
Clara C.- “I think IXL Math gives me a challenge and I like the challenge.”
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Violet B.- "I like how they have challenge questions."
Arabella L.- "It makes math fun."
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Giuliana O.- I" like seeing when I get things correct because it lets me know that I am getting better."
Fourth Grade
Social Studies: This week the 4th Grade community has been working hard to wrap up March Madness, and Women in History Month. Ms. Waag's class finalized their March Madness door contest, and the winner was Lillian! Congratulations to Lilllian! Mrs. Farooq, Ms. Waag and Miss Abrantes are continuing to highlight various powerful women who have achieved greatness throughout their careers and lifetimes to make this month as meaningful as possible. Ms. Waag's class has been reading and analyzing "I Dissent", a story about Ruth Bader Ginsberg, while Mrs. Gavin's class has proudly presented their Women in History virtual museums, and have invited parents to join in the fun. Ms. Lucignano's class not only focused their discussion on champion tennis player Naomi Osaka, but on one of her famous quotes, "Everytime I have a dream, somehow I accomplish it." They not only discussed who female champions are, but what it takes to become one. They wrote personal reflections on the topic of Women in History.
Science: In Mrs. Farooq's Science class, students are wrapping up Unit 5. They have investigated how receptors work in their body and which parts of the human body are most sensitive to touch and pressure. Students used paper clips, and tested their partners hands, shoulders, calves and forearms to collect data to answer their questions related to skin receptors. Students compared their data with another group to identify the similarities and differences and created claims supported by evidence. Moving forward, and continuing on with Unit 6, Lesson 1 (How Does Water Shape Earth's Surface) and Lesson 2 (Away it Goes), we will continue to present intriguing information to our students as they conduct research on how floods damage roads, and how coastal storms erode and change the Earth's surface. Ms. Waag's class is studying maps, and how they can help us learn about the Earth's surface, and are looking forward to learning what patterns on maps can show us about the world we live in.
Cross Curricular: Science/Social Studies/Writing
Ms. Lucignano's class has been engaged in a writing project on the topic of biomes. They are focusing on targeted instruction, interpreting information presented visually and orally, and explaining how the information contributes to the understanding of the text in which it appears. These eager and cooperative students are exploring the climate, animals, and plants of the rainforests of the world through Reading A-Z text, and the use of web-based visual aids. As a result of their research on the biome of New Jersey, they have learned a great deal about the place in which they live. Students are using graphic organizers to plan, and then write five paragraph essays, comparing and contrasting the elements of these biomes to demonstrate understanding. Peer conferencing has been a big part of their writing experience.
ELA: Our core novel study of Jim and Me by Dan Gutman continues. Skills covered so far have focused on the author's point of view, and on characters, and on how their actions and words help us to understand them. Students continue analyzing and synthesizing information from the text while working on comprehension questions to assure understanding. Targeted intervention continues to be the focus this week. Miss Abrantes' class, for example, is practicing multiple skills by playing reasoning games where they defend their choices for ELA Linkit-style questions. Literary Analysis Tasks have also been conducted to assure student's abilities to recognize and identify themes in literature. When writing, students have been focusing on how to revise and edit their work, in order to create interesting and proficient final products.
Math: In Math we have shifted to a new focus of targeted instruction in Math involving fractions and decimals. Students are putting their best foot forward as they master benchmark goals including, but not limited to, identifying equivalent fractions and explaining why they are equivalent, comparing fractions with like and unlike denominators, adding and subtracting mixed numbers, and multiplying fractions by whole numbers.
As was the case last week, students continue to work on the IXL.com platform to measure their levels of readiness in Math and Language Arts. As a personalized program, students are now learning about their own strengths and weaknesses, and are taking great pride in the strides they are making. They have achieved a number of certificates of excellence including having mastered 50 fourth grade skills, 50 fifth grade skills, and having answered over 10,000 questions! Way to go!
Fifth Grade
Greetings from the 5th Grade!
To wrap up Women’s History Month, 5th Graders chose influential women to research, and created Instagram profiled based on their findings. Students learned about powerful political leaders, talented actresses, brilliant scientists, persuasive activists, and groundbreaking athletes. Each presentation included information about the famous woman's childhood, education, family life, as well as her major life accomplishments. We learned a lot of fun facts and gained a deeper appreciation for these women as well as all of the amazing women in our lives! We are all looking forward to our next project which will be based on the American Civil War and our current core novel, Chasing Lincoln's Killer.
In ELA, we have begun an in depth study of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States. Through the information presented in Chasing Lincoln's Killer, documentaries, informational articles, and primary source documents, our fifth grade team will have the opportunity to "take part" in the famous investigation that shook an entire nation. Beginning activities include analyzing Lincoln's inauguration speech, taking part in an escape room activity and comparing and contrasting the mood and tone of the opening chapters. Students are already hooked on this novel and we are super excited to see how the investigation unfolds.
The 5th Grade mathematicians are finishing up their study of graphs, ordered pairs, tables, and symbolic notation. Students worked very hard as they used these methods to analyze and compare mathematical patterns and relationships. We have introduced a new tool in our math classes this month. The IXL platform is designed to help students engage in meaningful practice that uses real world problems and situations to reinforce main mathematical ideas. Teachers receive feedback in real time and students get the help they need as soon as they need it.
In Science, scholars studied women scientists and read all about their contributions and the lasting impact that these women had on modern society. Reading about Marie Curie, Katherine Johnson, and Mae Jeminson was a fun and educational way to connect STEM education with reading and writing.
The Counselor's Corner
And we're down to the Final 4!
What an exciting month this has been for our Brandt Bears. Our final four teams from the classes of Ms. Abrantes, Mrs. Dickerson, Ms. James and Mrs. Brunt are ready to cheer on their teams this weekend.
Additionally, We are excited to announce the winners of the door decorating contest!
Receiving honorable mentions are the following classrooms:
Ms. Rodriguez's 3rd grade class, Ms. Petrone's 1st grade class, Ms. Muccigrosso's 1st grade class and Ms. Abrantes 4th grade class.
In 3rd place we have a tie. Congratulations to both Mrs. Brunt's 1st grade and Ms. Mount-Campbell's 1st grade.
In 2nd place we have Ms. Lucignano's 4th grade class.
And our winner of the inaugural March Madness Door Decorating contest is Ms. Grauso's Kindergarten class!
We can't wait to have the classrooms celebrate all their hard work. For our first time rolling out this program, our staff and students deserve a huge round of applause. They surpassed all expectations and had a lot of fun learning about post-secondary education. Thank you to everyone who has supported us during the program, I hope everyone has a wonderful spring break!
Email: jhosbach@hoboken.k12.nj.us
2nd Place - Ms. Lucignano, HR 301
1st Place - Ms. Grauso, HR 208
Physical Education
Mandarin
Kindergarten did a great job telling what colors they like in Chinese. First graders are doing an amazing job presenting their fruit basket to tell their favorite fruit. Second to fifth graders have been doing a fantastic job making and presenting their books “The Very Hungry ...”
Spanish
¡Hola!
As part of the celebration for Women’s History Month students have been doing a research about powerful Latinas. The students learned about the legacy and impact of Latinas like Pura Belpré, Gabriela Mistral, Rigoberta Menchú, among others.
Each Latina was selected to demonstrate the diversity of the community and the influence on diverse areas, such as: music, education, and poetry.
Art
This week in art, we did magic watercolor painting with white crayons! We painted what we see during a rainstorm and watched how the wax resists the paint on the paper.
2nd and 3rd graders are finishing up some pretty spectacular comic books! These stories are super creative and awesome to look at!
Our 4th and 5th graders began sketching their compositions for our Beyond the Border projects! We will begin watercolor painting upon our return from spring break.
Music
This week in music, our younger students have been learning all about percussion!
We have learned how we can have socially distant drum circles using our musical ears and eyes, and how to make a classroom "street band" using found sounds with only materials we have on us at all times. Clapping, patting, stomping and all sorts of arrangements of pencils and crayon boxes showed how resourceful our students can be!
For our older students, we are growing with our class playlists and beginning to talk about the music we like to listen to on a normal basis. The more knowledge we can apply to music that is familiar to us, the easier it is to understand new music!
These students have been sharing, writing, and conversing about their favorite pieces of music and this has been such a boost to our genre lessons!
Stay musical Brandt Elementary!
Nurse's Nook
Week Four: Consult a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist
Ask your doctor for a referral to a RDN
Receive personalized nutrition advice that meet your goals
Thrive through the transformative power of health and nutrition
The Personalize Your Plate campaign focus is that “there is no one-size-fits-all approach to nutrition and health. We are all unique with different bodies, goals, backgrounds and tastes! And a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist can tailor a healthful eating plan that is as special as you are.”
We discussed last week to start trying new culturally different practices and foods in your homes. This is not only a way to try out new foods, cooking styles, or habits but also to introduce you to new things that you want to adopt, to be more culturally sensitive, and may be overall healthier for you.
This week, the program promotes contacting a registered dietitian to make personalized positive lifestyle changes. Some of us may need a lot of help from a professional while others may just need some inspiration of how to make effective small changes. You can either research a private dietitian, get a referral from your doctor or take advantage of the free services offered by our local Shoprite. Watch the video below to get a little more information.
How a Shoprite Dietitian Can Help You
Shoprite has been providing their customers with free services by a registered dietitian since 2006. These include one-on-one consultations, supermarket tours, assistance with how to effectively shop, kids and adult cooking classes, weight management classes and support groups. Most importantly, they are there for any and all of your questions and needs.
We are lucky to have a Shoprite in town. I ask you to reach out to Nathalia or stop in to see her. You will be surprised with how much she can transform your shopping experience, decrease food prep time, offer new ideas and assist you with maintaining or achieving your goals.
Nathalia DeFigueiredo
Graduated from Montclair State University with a Bachelors in 2017 and Rhode Island University with a Masters in 2018, and completed her dietetic internship at Sodexo New York Campus, NY, NY. She has been a dietitian at the Shoprite of Hoboken since 2018.
Dietitian Email:Nathalia.DeFigueiredo@wakefern.com
Dietitian Phone:(201) 466-0445
As we close out March’s National Nutrition Month, take a few minutes to review the linked quick tips sheets from the Personalize Your Plate campaign.
Smart tips to Power up with Breakfast
Smart Tips for Successful Meals
20 Ways to enjoy more Fruits and Vegetables
Smart Tips for Getting Nutrients that May be Lacking
Smart Tips For Personalizing your Plate
I hope you all have a wonderful Spring Break!
Nicole DeMatteo
Brandt Elementary School Nurse
Email: ndematteo@hoboken.k12.nj.us
Website: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/if-you-are-sick/steps-when-sick.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Fabout%2Fsteps-whe