Third grade math classes have been very busy for the holiday season. They made Christmas ornaments with addition and subtraction facts using regrouping. Afterward, they worked in groups to design beautiful Christmas trees to display the ornaments. Dreidels were also made to show their knowledge of addition and subtraction. Finally, the students used the skill of perimeter to create presents for under the trees.

Math classes will start the new year by studying shapes. The students will be designing snowflakes and animals. Different shapes will produce different crafts. We can't wait to see them.

Students in our 4th Grade Mathematics classes have been transitioning over to a Guided Mathematics classroom structure. Students are seated in small to medium-sized groups and will begin with a whole-class mini-lesson/instruction on the day’s concept or skill. Students then engage in independent math stations with varying forms of materials and manipulatives to aid each student learn mathematics based on their unique learning style. The following pictures show our students completing mathematics work in an independent work, online Reflex Math and two whiteboard activity stations.

Happy New Year!! The students have been working on their Early America unit for the month of December. The 5th grade compared and contrasted cultural aspects of several Native American tribes in the United States. They delved into their way of life, including which region of the United States they hailed from, and taught their fellow classmates about the tribe they chose. The students then researched and explored early explorers that traveled to the United States and the interactions they had with the Native Americans. The students continue to work with early America and the formation of our beautiful country. We continue to pull resources from Achieve3000 and the New Jersey Amistad Commission to reinforce key historical events and non-fiction reading!

Have you ever wondered what life is like in another country? How is its culture different from ours? Well, the sixth grade ELA and art classes have jumped across the Pacific Ocean and landed in Japan. Observing Japanese art prints and reading and listening to the wonderful poetry of the culture, the students are learning about two different styles: haiku and tanka. A haiku is a three line 17 syllable poem dealing mainly with nature.It has a structure which is built on syllables [5-7-5]. A tanka , a five line poem, is more sophisticated and requires 31 syllables [5-7-5-7-7].The students formed a renga, which is a poet’s group, where everyone writes a line of poetry and then adds to someone else’s poem. It is a round robin effect. In the end, many haiku were written and displayed in an art/poetry gallery. For those who find trouble writing poetry or for just some fun, the students used their Chromebooks to write haiku from a poetry generator. Lastly, Lola Ojamaa, a sixth grader, who recently visited Japan, spoke with some classes about her experiences in Japan. Learning about traditional Japanese culture, the sixth graders will be able to incorporate their experiences in creating more poetry and in their art unit this month.

The third graders learned their way around coding basics this month. To get into the holiday spirit, students created their own holiday emojis using the coding program from Made With Code! They learned how to manipulate their coding blocks to create emojis to celebrate Winter, Christmas, or the New Year. They were excited to save their emojis, and some were even planning on using their personalized emojis as their profile pictures for school. It was a fun and successful lesson!

Let's take this opportunity to welcome new staff member Ms. Jacqueline Murray to the fourth grade team. A recent New Jersey transplant, Ms. Murray comes to us from Missouri with a Master of Arts Degree and eight years of teaching experience. She will be teaching Math to our fourth graders beginning in January. We wish Mr. Carino well in his new position.

I am excited to let you know that the arrival of my baby will be sooner than expected and my leave will begin today. While I am sad that I will be missing a few months at Roosevelt School, I am confident that all the students will be in good hands under the direction of Mr. Al Orecchio who will be covering for me until July 2019. Beginning in January 2019, please direct all questions and concerns to Mr. Orecchio. You may also call the office at 201-422-6140.

I wish you all a wonderful and safe holiday season and I hope you have a great new year. See you next year!

Best Regards,

Mrs. Mera

2: Staff and students return from Winter Recess

3: Picture Retake Day

9: PTA Meeting 7PM

14: Ice Cream Social for Grades 3 and 4

18: Grade 5 Science Fair

21: School closed in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.

25: Grade 3 Science Fair