Connors School Scoop
January 20, 2023
Dear Connors Families,
We had such an exciting week at Connors. Please make sure to review all of our exciting upcoming events in the Connors School Scoop!
Great Kindness Challenge
The week of January 23rd-27th is the Great Kindness Challenge! Here is a list of Great Kindness Challenge Kind Acts as well as Kind Acts Junior Ed. Each day of the Great Kindness Challenge will focus on one of our 6 Pillars of Character, Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring and Citizenship. In addition, our students will participate in a Community Service Project by making Valentines Day Cards for our Seniors throughout the week. The Great Kindness Challenge Kickoff Video. There are also daily dress-up themes, so please be sure to view the Great Kindness Challenge Daily Themes
Spelling Bee
Congratulations to the homeroom spelling bee winners....Eleanor Zucker, Logan Morrissey, Moses Espiritu, Romy Ron-Kushnick, Oliver Kondili, Serena Bufano, Sydnee Margolis, Lucas Appell, Aanika Gupte, and Sohum Dixit. We still have two more homerooms that still have to finish competing on Monday. The winners from each homeroom will compete for the Connors School Spelling Bee Champion on Thursday, January 26th! The Connors School champion will be invited to the Hudson County Spelling Bee to compete on Saturday, February 4th. Please reach out to your child's homeroom teachers or Mr. Hamlin if you have any questions about the spelling bee. Links to the Spelling Bee lists are below.
Spelling Bee Word List with Pronunciations
Scripps offers an interactive app available on Google Play and the App Store. This year, the Bee's premier study tool is completely free for your students. Parents can download the app and allow students to learn their study words through spelling games and quizzes. Click HERE to learn more.
PTO CORNER
Questions? Ideas? Want to help? Email us any time! ConnorsPTO@gmail.com
PTO MEETINGS
This Week’s Meeting: Meeting Slides and Minutes Minutes including link to Dr. Johnson’s presentation. Dr. Johnson's District Updates Thank you to all who attended; turnout was great!
Future Meetings: All future PTO meetings will be IN PERSON AT CONNORS at 8:30am. Mark your calendars for Feb 7th and then 3/14, 4/18, 5/9, 6/6. Please use this Google Meet link if you can’t make it but still want to join.
FAMILY BINGO NIGHT – Tuesday, February 7th @ 6:00pm (Connors Gym)
Fun, food, games, prizes and special guests at this PTO fundraiser! More info here.
$5 per family entrance fee includes 1 bingo card per person in your group.
MUST RSVP here and please spread the word!
Venmo @Connors-PTO, Zelle ConnorsPTO@gmail.com, or pay at door.
Want to help at the event or donate food/drinks/prizes? Sign up here.
Have unopened holiday/birthday gifts (games, toys, crafts, books) to donate as prizes? Know a business that can donate prizes, food, gift certificates? Please sign up or email Connors PTO if you prefer to remain anonymous.
Yearbook Photo Submissions – Now Open!
Submit your photos for the annual yearbook via email using these instructions. Our goal is to include a wide array of memories and photos of as many students as possible – group photos are appreciated.
Helpful PTO Links + Information
Live PTO Calendar (have all Connors events automatically in your calendar)
Supporting the PTO (Teacher’s Lounge, AmazonSmile, BoxTops, Venmo, etc.)
STEAM Tank Regionals...Here We Come!!
Congratulations to the following students who are going to the STEAM Tank Regional Competition!
- Siya Patel, Maya Nizgoda, Jayla Ruggiero - Basket Driver
- Emily Jala-DiCesare, Sydney Mckeown, Khloe Bautista - New Presentation
- Madelyn Kreuser, Sydnee Margolis, Kayla Havens - Presentation
- Ethan Torres, Alonzo Jeffries, Leonardo Garcia, Jayceon Huggins - Mr. Clean
- Badr Toujami, Miles Dell'Armi, Finn Melia - Seed Blaster
- Felicity Wright, Krystah Flores, Alaina Flores, Journey Goodwin - Ocean Net Cleaner
- Ava Goloborodko, Zaara Lalani, Janyvah Hernandez- Vacuum Backpack
- Audrey Bishop, Mina Kin-Tomcek, Mia Lopez, Adelina Gonzalez- Smell Good Compost
- Anika Konde, Ava Labombarda, Sophia Zhong, Stone Duskin - Glow Seatbelt
- Nick Atanasoff, Aaron Falcao-Petruskevich, Benjamin Kunz - EFS Bags
Pop-Up Library at Connors Elementary School
The Librarians from the Hoboken Public Library are so excited to bring the Pop-Up Library to Connors. The goal of the visit it to give access to books and how students everything they can do with their own library card. If you already have a library card, please bring it to the pop-up library. If you need a library card, please fill out this google form. Connors Pop Up Library w/ the Hoboken Public Library Google Form. Please email questions about the pop up libary to valerie.coughlin@hoboken.bccls.org
Valentines Day-February 14th
We are going to have our Valentine's Day Friendship Bear Exchange to celebrate how much we all care for each other! Children will be able to give and receive a Friendship Bear with a caring card with one of their classmates. Please do not send in any food or treats for Valentine's day. It is completely optional if you would like to send in Valentine's Day cards, but if you choose to send in cards, please make sure that you send in enough for the whole class.
Hudson County Historical Coloring Contest:
Color All through the Winter and chase the winter blues away!
- Choose a Page.
- Color it.
- Take a picture of your finished work.
- Tag us on Instagram and/or Facebook.
- Use @visithudsonnj and #hccolorfulhistory
Enter to win a swag bag of Hudson County Tourism Merchandise and a chance to be a featured part of the Hudson County History & Heritage Month this May!
All entries are due by March 31, 2023.
Click here to find out how to enter or go to https://www.visithudson.org/hudson-county-historical-coloring-contest/.
LUNCH
Please ensure that you check with your child regarding what they would like to eat when you place your child's lunch order on the lunch order form. Oftentimes, children may want to choose different items than what their parents order for them which causes many students to feel upset. Here is the 1/23-1/27 Lunch Order Form. Here is the detailed lunch and breakfast menu from Chartwells, which has all of the nutritional information. https://hoboken.nutrislice.com/menus-eula.
Attendance
If your child will be absent from school, please email connorsattendance@hoboken.k12.nj.us along w/ your child’s homeroom teacher with the following information:
Child’s Name
Reason for absence
Date of expected return
Any documentation for your child’s absence (i.e. doctor’s note, court note, etc.)
School begins at 8:15 am. Please ensure that your child arrives on time to school and enters the building with their homeroom class.
Early Pick-Up
If you are picking up your child early from school, please Email connorsattendance@hoboken.k12.nj.us along w/ your child’s homeroom teacher with the following information by 10:00 am.
Time that you will be picking up your child
Who will be picking up your child. Make sure that whoever is picking up your child is listed on your child’s approved pick-up list. Connors Parent/Student Information Form 2022-2023
Parents will not be able to sign children out between 2:30 and 3:00 PM. After 2:30 PM, you must wait until regular dismissal time.
Important Upcoming Dates and Events
- January 23rd-27th-The Great Kindness Challenge
- January 26th-Laser School Assembly-Bullying Prevention Program
- January 26th-Grades 2-5 School Spelling Bee Competition
- January Coffee and Connect Meeting-Date will be Forthcoming; Topic-Technology in the Classroom Coffee and Connect Educational Technology in the Classroom Parent Questions
- January 27th-Theater Showcase Grades 2 and 3 @ 9:00 am
February-Black History Month
February 1st-Connors Pop Up Libary Grades 3-5
February 2nd-Connors Pop Up Library Grades K-2
February 4th-County Spelling Bee Competition
February 7th-Family Bingo Night and Pizza Party @ 6:00 pm-PTO Fundraiser Please note the change in date
Additional helpful sites/links
Hoboken Public School District Calendar 2022-2023
Connors Calendar of Events 2022-2023
T.G Connors School Directory 2022-2023
Who should I contact for assistance?
Connors Family Manual, FAQ's Connors Elementary School 2022-2023.
2022-2023 District Assessment Calendar and Information to Parents
I wish all of our Connors families that are celebrating the Chinese New Year a Happy New Year!
Have a wonderful weekend!
All the best,
Juliana Addi, Connors School Principal
Spelling Bee
The Great Kindness Challenge
Great Kindness Challenge
The week of January 23rd-27th is the Great Kindness Challenge! Here is a list of Great Kindness Challenge Kind Acts as well as Kind Acts Junior Ed. Each day of the Great Kindness Challenge will focus on one of our 6 Pillars of Character, Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring and Citizenship. In addition, our students will participate in a Community Service Project by making Valentines Day Cards for our Seniors throughout the week.
HOPES Community Programs COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Clinic
Family Bingo Night-Connors PTO Fundraiser
The Pop-Up Library is Coming to Connors Elementary School!
SEPAG Event
Valentine's Day Friendship Bear Exchange
Middle School Play
The Hoboken Middle School production of I Hate Valentine's Day is a self-love journey through the eyes of young teens in school on Valentine's Day. The show incorporates the different viewpoints and perspectives that students face in school on Valentine's Day that ultimately becomes a journey to loving yourself before loving others. The cast and crew of the Hoboken Middle School Theatre Department hopes that you will join them.
Show dates:
February 10th at 7pm
February 11th at 2pm
February 12th at 2pm
To purchase tickets visit hhsnj.booktix.com and for questions you can email pbenson@hoboken.k12.nj.us
Mock Audition Fundraiser
Grades K-8 registration link here: Mock Audition Form
District Show Information
link to district show letter: https://drive.google.com/file/d/19B0qbQEkzGI3NOldmxpAVo9VDC4wRH8N/view?usp=sharing
The Kennedy Dancers Scholarship
Kennedy Dancers, a non-profit dance studio in Jersey City, would like to welcome your students to take dance classes at our studio. We've add several new classes for Children 2+, Teens, Adults, and Seniors. Thanks to generous grants we've received, we'd like to share with you and your students our Winter Full Dance Scholarship (details below), the deadline to apply is January 26th.
Winter Scholarship Information:
- Students Ages 9+
- Unlimited classes (ballet class required)
- Must be Resident of Hudson County City (proof of residency required)
- Scholarship application deadline is January 26th
- Students must call us directly to enroll
We also have partial scholarships and discounted dance classes for any students and others who do not qualify for the scholarship but would still like to take dance classes with us!
If you have any questions please feel free to reach out: kennedydancers@aol.com
Connors Class Learning Activities
Kindergarten
Ms. Fleischer, Ms. Watson, Mrs. Schain, Ms. Bartolotti, Mrs. White, Ms. Romanowski and Ms. DePascale
Math: BRRRR! It is cold outside. Kindergartners warmed by making addition hot chocolate! Also, kindergartners reviewed for their linkit assessment by solving story problems and various ways to make a sum using red and yellow counters. During math workshop, students played Build It Change It, One More One Less, IXL, Racing Bears and Double Compare.
Readers Workshop: This week in Kindergarten Reader's Workshop, we had a review week! Student's were able to review the letters Cc, Dd, Ii, Nn, & Oo and the sounds associated with the letters. Students also review their sight words: do, you, go, and, & too. Kindergarteners also read the stories RoadWork, I Can You Can, & The Bundle of Sticks. Our focus this week was details: time order and text features. Kindergarteners did an amazing job completing their centers and rocked their spelling test! We are looking forward to another wonderful week of learning next week.
Social Studies: Students continued to learn about Martin Luther King Jr this week. Students created their own ‘I Have a Dream’ cloud to explain a hope they have for their classroom, the world, or for them personally. We learned the importance of being kind to everyone and how Martin Luther King Jr wanted everyone to join hands as one. Students made friendship flowers by tracing their own hand, as well as their classmates' hands. Students listened to a read aloud about what it means to be a good friend.
Science: This week in science, kindergarten classes continued to learn about the seasons and observing weather patterns. Students also learned about different types of weather and shared activities that they enjoy doing during each type of weather. Classes began a project, building a shelter which can protect an animal from the sun.
1st Grade
Ms. Sheridan, Ms. Klag, Ms. Vayda, Ms. White and Ms. Stinson
Math: This week in math, first graders took time to practice for our Mid-year Winter Link It Assessment which will be given next week. Students reviewed concepts such as solving an equation with the missing addend, solving word problems, and place value. Students had fun playing Jeopardy where each team answered questions after choosing from the following categories: Addition, Subtraction, Place Value, Measurement/Data, and Word Problems. Everyone was a winner in the end for showing amazing team effort! We will be sure to let families know how your child performed on the Link it assessments in the near future.
ELA: This week our essential question was, "How do plants change as they grow?" We started the week by listening to a story called, "Mystery Vine." We listened to a story about a family that finds a mysterious vine growing in their garden. We practiced making and confirming predictions. Students used text features, such as illustrations, to predict what will happen next. Students also did a great job brainstorming their own vocabulary words related to this question. Our phonics skill this week was long i_e. Our high frequency words for the week were: green, should, water, pretty, together, grow. Students used their decodable books to search and record long i words. This week our genre focus was on drama/play. We read "Time to Plant." Students learned a play is a story intended to be performed and has dialogue spoken by each character. After reading, we used our graphic organizers to retell the events in a story by using- first, next, then, and last. This was good practice by using their own words to retell what they read. In grammar, we focused on plurals with CVCe words. We are still administering our Winter DRA assessments. During ELA, we also reviewed some skills for the winter Linkit assessment. Students finished their first fantasy fiction stories! They were so creative and fun to read. Now that we went through the writing process, we will begin new fantasy stories next week.
Social Studies: This week in Social Studies we have been working on chapter four in our Young Citizens textbook. This chapter is called “What Makes a Town". The students read a comic in our textbook talking about what towns can build. The children then completed a worksheet writing what they would want to be built in their town and why. First graders shared some great ideas! We also learned the definition of two words which were town and government. Then, we discussed what laws were and why they were important to have. The children completed a worksheet where they matched the laws with the correct picture. We also have continued doing Article- a- Day. This week we have been reading and writing about famous dancers and types of dances.
2nd Grade
Ms. Garcia, Ms. Rinaldi, Ms. Pokorny, Ms. Criqui and Ms. Romanowski
ELA: This week our sparkling second graders began to learn about character’s perspectives (point of view) and sequencing while reading fiction stories. They were able to identify the character’s perspective while reading “Starry Night”. The phonics focus this week was long o. Students practiced their phonics by doing their daily red words book, sand trays, and phonics routine. On Thursday, students participated in a Super Bowl themed ELA Linkit! review game! They had such a great time going around the room finding passages and the matching questions while listening to the NFL theme song! On Friday, students participated in their classroom spelling bees, everyone worked so hard! In writing, students continued to work on their personal narratives.
Math: This week in math second graders learned to add with two 2-digit numbers. They were able to solve story problems with the Read, Draw, Write strategy to provide a 3 part answer to the problem. Students were introduced to the standard algorithm with regrouping as another strategy to check their work. They played fun math games, like Close to 20, and Get to 100. Students also practiced for the Linkit! Assessment which they will take next week. We’re looking forward to another great week of learning!
Social Studies: This week in social studies we continued our Chapter 2 project. Students were able to make a cost/benefit chart for their School Improvement Plan. We really enjoyed working collaboratively to make posters about the issue we would like to fix at our school. Next week we will continue writing and perfecting our opinion writing in preparation for our presentation to administration.
Science: This week in science, second grade classes used the Google Earth app to locate and explore places all around Earth. Working in pairs, students labeled the continents and oceans of the world on a map. Next, classes compared and contrasted different forms of water including oceans, lakes, rivers, and ponds.
Special Celebrations
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.On Tuesday, we were able to learn about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in social studies class. We read and answered questions about Martin Luther King, Jr. We also created our own "I Have a Dream" mobile. We also completed a Martin Luther King, Jr. Flipbook during ELA. These projects have been hanging outside our classroom this week.
Super Bowl LinkIt! Review
On Thursday, we completed our Super Bowl LinkIt! Review! Next week, we will be taking our LinkIt Assessment, so we thought it would be a great idea to have a themed review game. Students were able to answer questions around the room independently and with partners in order to prepare for LinkIt. Afterwards, we went over each question as a class and reviewed test taking strategies. We had such a blast!
Homeroom Spelling Bee
On Friday, we completed our Homeroom Spelling Bees. Our 2nd Grade Homeroom winners were Sohum Dixit, Lucas Appell, and Aanika Gupte. Congratulations!
3rd Grade
Ms. Januse, Ms. Hall, Ms. Schmidt, Ms.Criqui, Ms. Layson, Ms. Goodwin, Ms. White
and Ms. Stinson
Math: Third graders started working on Unit 4: Perimeter, Area and Polygons this week. On Tuesday, students reviewed the length of units of measure (inch, yard, centimeter, and meter) in order to establish measurement benchmarks. Students worked to discover the difference between perimeter and area and solved perimeter problems. Students learned to identify the missing side length of a shape given the perimeter of the shape.
ELA: This week, students read chapters 9-12 of Charlotte's Web by E.B. White. They analyzed story elements in order to ask and answer text-based questions, compare and contrast characters, and make inferences. Students explored themes across various texts, and used this understanding to make predictions. Finally, students compared and contrasted fiction texts to continue preparing for the Literary Analysis Writing Task.
Social Studies: This week students continued to learn about immigration, cultures, traditions, and generations of families. Students explored why Europeans wanted to explore land in North America. Students began to learn about the westward journey that many took when searching for more land and resources. Students channeled their creativity and narrative writing skills to write a story about a family's journey while traveling west. Students explored various challenges, such as searching for natural resources, encountering European settlers or American Indian tribes, having to leave home, and much more!
Third Grade Thrills: This week third graders became masters at measuring! Students compared the different lengths of various units of measure, including centimeters, inches, and yards/meters. Students utilized rulers, yard sticks, and meter sticks to measure various objects around the room. These marvelous measurers then built upon their skills by adding the sides of their objects to find the perimeter.
4th Grade
Ms. Rodriguez, Ms. Schulz, Ms. Goodwin, Ms. Layson and Ms. DePascale
ELA: 4th Grade Authors created Literary Analysis essays during this week's Writer's Workshop. They read a fable and a poem, analyzed the texts for themes, and then drafted their essays. After completing their drafts, students worked with a partner for peer revisions and editing. Their published pieces are now exemplars of strong essay writing, and students will apply these skills to their Monthly District Writing Task Post Assessment in a few weeks.
Math: The phenomenal 4th grade mathematicians started their study of fractions this week. Students reviewed the basics of fractions and applied their skills to an activity where they plotted their name and answered questions in the form of fractions. The class worked very well together!
Magical Moment: After learning about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and studying the quote, "In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends," students participated in the Move This World activity "Bully Be Gone." The activity concluded with students making commitments of things they can do or say the next time they witness bullying.
5th Grade
Ms. Ortiz, Ms. Schultes, Ms. Pokorny, Ms. Layson and Ms. Hirniak
Math: This week in 5th grade we continued Unit 4. In unit 4 students continued working on multiplication strategies. We also began the division portion where we learned various division strategies. This week students had the opportunity to work on multi-part real world word problems involving multiplication and division. We continued working on the strategy of comprehending what is being asked of us so that depending on how the question is worded, the answer is different.
Social Studies: This week we learned about the labor unions of the industrial revolution. Students learned about how workers were subjected to awful working conditions and the benefits of labor unions. Students also learned why each trade tends to have their own labor union.. We also finished learning about Martin Luther King Jr. students, listened to the Read aloud " My daddy, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr" and then read an article and answered questions. Students learned that Dr. Martin Luther King made incredible sacrifices with his own family in order to fight for the rights of others. We also discussed how Dr. King's dream has partly come true in its basic form, but the reality is, America is still working on creating equality across all races, religions, and genders.
Science: This week in 5th grade science students observed and analyzed the patterns of both our sun and moon within our sky. As a class, we concluded that the reason why the sun appears to be moving across our sky was actually because of our rotation here on Earth. Students then were able to practice their skill by working in small groups to complete the lesson activities associated with the content.
ARCIERO AND SIVO'S ALL STARS
This week seemed to fly by as we worked extremely hard! In ELA we continued to learn about amazing women in What Would She Do?, this week we focused on Malala Yousafazai and the importance of education for all! We also practiced for our spelling bee! We worked on using our words in sentences and rainbow writing, we also noticed patterns that we have been learning so far this year in all the words! In both ELA and math we continued to practice for Linkit! In math we also continued with our math journals and worked through division and fact fluency. Finally, in MiniPGP Ms. Barsukova came in to read another mock trial with us, we are getting excited to create our own cases! It was a great week!
Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth
On Mondays - Wednesdays during the Individualized Learning Pathway (ILP) period, students who have qualified to participate in the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY) programming engage in a wide array of math course offerings that address their specific strengths and interests. Johns Hopkins CTY believes in researching and advancing ways to identify and nurture academically talented learners. CTY furthers research, guides educators and families and inspires students from diverse communities and backgrounds to pursue their intellectual passions and create the world of tomorrow. This week, we would like to highlight one of the CTY courses offered to our Hoboken students this winter:
Johns Hopkins CTY Cryptology: Math and Codes
At the beginning of every unit, CTY Mathematicians get to complete an exciting virtual Scavenger Hunt Adventure that introduces them to the new unit. They need to crack the code to solve the mystery! Only by collecting the ciphers, CTY students are able to unlock the mystery and proceed to the following steps. It is a big challenge, but fear not because there are many clues along the way. Finally, when all the clues are at hand, students are able to use the ciphers to uncover the code and solve the mystery at the end of the unit. In addition, while being on the lookout for the clues, CTY Mathematicians work on the required assignments to fully complete the unit activities.
Mini PGP
GK
Penguin Awareness Day
Explorers in Kindergarten have 'visited' the habitats of penguins and have become aware that these absolutely adorable flightless seabirds are in danger of extinction due to the current climate change that puts their habitats in great danger. Due to the warming temperatures that penguins which live in the colder areas such as Antarctica are experiencing iceberg melting and sea level rises that have an impact on penguins’ lives. Explorers are celebrating a National Penguin Awareness Day to learn more about how important it is to take care of the planet in order to keep the penguins out of the danger zone. Not only Explorers are learning about the penguins but they also become more aware of how daily activities affect others including the animals. After learning about penguins, explorers will write one fact that they learned about the animal and create a Penguin Craft together! Explorers had lots of fun learning about Penguins’ special holidays!
G1
Penguin Awareness Day
Travelers in First Grade have “visited” the habitats of penguins and have become aware that these absolutely adorable flightless seabirds are in danger of extinction due to the current climate change that puts their habitats in great danger. Due to the warming temperatures that penguins which live in the colder areas such as Antarctica are experiencing iceberg melting and sea level rises that have an impact on penguins’ lives. Explorers are celebrating a National Penguin Awareness Day to learn more about how important it is to take care of the planet in order to keep the penguins out of the danger zone. Not only Explorers are learning about the penguins but they also become more aware of how daily activities affect others including the animals. After learning about penguins, explorers will write more than one fact that they learned about the animal and create a Penguin Craft together! Explorers had lots of fun learning about Penguins’ special holidays!
G2
Write, Create, and Act - Writing Original Plays
Artists in Second Grade are continuing to work enthusiastically and collaboratively on writing their own scripts for the fable and this week they are putting Google Slides presentations together as well as finalizing their script. Using the Script Template and Google Slides, artists are showing their creativity with the storyline as well as the character development and the moral of the fable. Artists are making progress and are enjoying the collaborative process when working on the script and presentations! The finale is fast forthcoming so artists are approaching a time of finalization and completion of their own original plays! Woohoo!
G3
STEAM Tank Challenge and Engineering Design Projects
Students who have advanced into the Regionals have been working on improving their presentations by conducting research and adding more details and explanations to their presentations. In addition, they will converse with the STEAM Tank mentors virtually this week and the following week to seek professional assistance to improve their presentations!
Future Engineers in Third Grade are working on a variety of Engineering Design projects. Some groups are preparing for the STEAM Tank Regionals by improving their presentations, conducting deeper research, and creating a prototype. Other groups are either improving their STEAM tank presentations as a practice or focusing on creating a Sports Team Proposal and Managing a Sports Team Project. A lot of engineering and designing is happening at the moment!
G4
Young Lawyers in Fourth Grade have voted on the best choice for their cases. After the results have been announced, young lawyers have started creating their own original cases using the examples provided by the Law Fair and the template to keep them informed as well as organized as they are putting the sample of the case together in order to later submit the work to the Law Fair Competition. Your lawyers are excited to be working on the official court case of their own!
G5
Future Environmentalists and Sustainable Development Leaders are on their way of crafting the draft of their TED Talk using the research process strategies, checklists, and Brainstorming Graphic Organizer to organize their ideas and create an inspirational speech about an idea that they strongly want the audience to know and convince to support. In addition, they are putting Google Slides together with simple images and text that speak for itself to compliment their speech. To have a better understanding of the slides, students looked at the 5th grade students’ presentations from last year to get an idea and inspiration for their own slides!
Music with Mr. Azzarto
Hello Connors families,
The week of January 16th was a fun week for all of our students. The 5th grade learned about ledger lines, the 4th grade played the ukuleles and the other grades were busy singing and learning some new music theory.
In Ms. Sheridan’s class the 1st grade began learning about the bass clef. Not all instruments use the treble clef to read music. Many instruments use the bass clef when reading music. All of the low pitched instruments use the bass clef. The tuba, the double bass, the bassoon, and the trombone are just a few. Here is Jose having some fun learning how to hold the trombone. Not easy, but she did it!
In Ms. Bartolotti’s class we had a surprise guest accordion player. In music education, it is important to empower students to improvise on many different instruments. Usually at the kindergarten level, the students use percussion instruments to improvise and play along to songs that I play on the guitar, but this week we had a guest accordion player. Tripp brought in his accordion. He played various notes along with our warm up songs and even the “Months of the Year” song. You rock Tripp!!
Mandarin with Ms. Jia
Chinese New Year is around the corner. This week in Mandarin classes we reviewed some of the traditions of the Chinese New Year and started a project for all grades. Grade k and 1 students created a holiday card with the greeting, “Xin Nian Kuai Le”(Happy New Year). Grade 2 students worked on an origami project of bunny’s head. Grade 3 to 5 students did a rabbit paper cutting with bunnies hand in hand. All projects have rabbits in design because rabbit represents the New Year 2023.
Thomas G. Connors Elementary School
Email: juliana.addi@hoboken.k12.nj.us
Website: http://www.hoboken.k12.nj.us
Location: 201 Monroe Street, Hoboken, NJ, USA
Phone: 201-356-3684