Curriculum Matters
MTSD / Volume 3 / Issue 3 / November 2016
MTSD Office of Instructional Services
Deborah Sarmir—Assistant Superintendent
Fiona Borland—Director Instructional Technology
Corie Gaylord—Director Academic Counseling Services
Damian Pappa—Director Assessment/Data/Accountability
Ron Zalika —Director Curriculum
Lucianne Smith—Executive Assistant
MTSD Content Area Supervisors
Jessica Glover—OHES/VES Mathematics & Science
Naoma Green—MHS Physical Education & Health
Christopher Herte—LMS/UMS Mathematics & Science
Melissa Hodgson—MHS Social Studies
Amy Monaco—OHES/VES Language Arts & Social Studies
Alma Reyes—World Languages & ESL
Jennifer Riddell—MHS Mathematics
Lisa Romano—LMS/UMS Language Arts & Social Studies
Karen Stalowski—MHS Language Arts
Jason Sullivan—MHS Science
Adam Warshafsky—Visual & Performing Arts
Website: http://www.mtsd.k12.nj.us/domain/25
Phone: (609) 466-7600
From the Office of Instructional Services
The MTSD Curriculum Matters newsletter communicates our curricular happenings and instructional activities across grade levels and content areas to educators, parents and students. It also provides a closer look at the some of the unique learning experiences and outcomes that our students undertake. Please browse through these updates provided by our talented team of educational professionals.
MTSD Curriculum - Guaranteed & Viable
MTSD has a never-ending commitment to creating and maintaining a guaranteed and viable curriculum that will ensure our students' academic success. We invite you to access all of our curriculum guides through THIS LINK. Doing so will give you the opportunity to view our collaboratively written curricula, which is based on the adopted learning standards for the state of New Jersey.
MTSD World Language & ESL
This year, National French week was celebrated from November 4th-10th. Montgomery UMS and MHS marked the occasion with Eric Vincent, a renowned French performer, in late October together with students from Princeton Charter School and Cranbury.
Monsieur Vincent appeared on the MPAC stage. He sang in French at the rate of 500 words per minute and explained his songs in an English colored by a thick French accent. His ballads were in the tradition of classical French rock. The themes were eclectic, varying from the myth of Sisyphus (where students had to repeat “Pousse la pierre” with a smile), global warming (“il n’y a plus de crocodiles a Cocody”, a region in the Abidjan area in Africa), genocide in Rwanda (Faut-il encore deux mille ans?), poverty, joy and beauty in Haiti, and characters and iconic sites from the French art scene during La Belle Époque (Apollinaire, Alfred Jarry, la Closerie des Lilas). The learning experience was concert-like as students chanted with Monsieur Vincent “J’aime ça!” and waived cell phones in the air. The last song was about a very quotidian theme: “Je suis fatigué de ne rien faire, je voudrais bien travailler!” sung on the waves of a creole rhythm.
After the concert, Eric Vincent signed autographs and students were able to take pictures and briefly converse with him in French. Many students thanked him for his performance.
OHES/VES Language Arts
Third and fourth grade students have been working to strengthen their skills as nonfiction readers. Third graders are working to determine importance in expository texts by previewing nonfiction books, pausing to summarize important information as they read, and identifying the main idea and supporting details of sections of texts. Students will also work to lift the level of their thinking about expository texts by monitoring for significance, distinguishing their own opinion from the author’s, and thinking about the qualities of narrative nonfiction texts. Finally, readers will synthesize and grow ideas in narrative nonfiction by identifying the type of structure a nonfiction text follows, recognizing the important details that contribute to the overarching storyline of narrative nonfiction, monitoring their comprehension of unfamiliar vocabulary and seeking the unifying ideas behind the texts they read.
Fourth grade students are focusing on a specific topic for this nonfiction unit: Extreme Weather. Students will meet in clubs to read texts on hurricanes, storms, tornadoes and other types of extreme weather and natural disasters. In this unit, students will work to learn information from their nonfiction book by reading with intensity, previewing texts by surveying the parts of a text and activating prior knowledge to anticipate how the text might go, and studying text structures that accentuate what matters. They will also work to conduct a research project by synthesizing information, reading various types of texts and utilizing writing to grow research ideas. Finally, students will tackle additional research projects with agency and power by comparing and contrasting across two topics, seeking out patterns and relationships, and conducting new research which ignites new inquiries and investigation, as well as evaluating sources from which they gather information.
MHS Social Studies
World Studies and US History classes spent time in September and October learning about presidential elections. The election activities culminated in a mock election held the first week in November. Class activities included assessing the candidates’ stances on issues, polling classmates, studying past campaigns, and holding mock debates. Throughout the marking period, students could be seen in the hallways and classrooms producing mock campaign videos and interviews with the candidates. The students learned about the issues that directly affected their lives and the importance of becoming civically-engaged in their community.
OHES/VES Mathematics & Science
On November 9th, in a district professional development spanning Orchard and Village Elementary Schools, teachers experienced Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) first hand. From questioning techniques to explanations with evidence, our K-4 teachers are gathering tools to foster the learning of our Next Generation.
In both schools, teachers began with the foundations of NGSS by uncovering the Disciplinary Core Ideas and Practices pertaining to their age range. With this knowledge teachers were given a question building activity built off of the practices of the Right Question Institute. Teachers discovered innovative ways to develop deeper questions as well as ways to foster thought-out questions from their students.
At Orchard Elementary, teachers investigated the properties of sand generating an investigation that proved if sand, which has many properties of a liquid, was indeed a solid. In Village Elementary, teachers hopped around a few ideas about the Eastern Cottontails’ ecosystem. Here participants used the I2 Technique to Investigate and Interpret complex data, an activity that can be transferred to both science and math teaching.
Overall, teachers are excited for all that our "Next Generation" is going to discover!
MHS Mathematics
Using the American Statistical Association’s Prediction 2016 contest, current MHS Statistics students took part in an election activity where they cast their vote using summary statistics from the contest and many other media statistics sites. Students studied the data offered through the various sources and voiced their predictions, through Google forms, based on statistical measures. There was constant conversation, analysis and scrutiny around released media data with the polls and trends that were offered in all the stat classes. Students worked with statistical measures and regression equations from the media sources to form arguments, make predictions and rationalize results. November 2016 proved to be entertaining for the statistics students. Join the class in 4 years to see for yourself – Popular vote verse Electoral College vote – does one matter more than the other?
***Please know that every student has a Brightstorm account that gives them access to math tutorials (and other subjects) at home. If a student needs help with their account,
please reach out to his/her mathematics teacher.***
LMS/UMS Language Arts & Social Studies
In the months of December and January, LMS and UMS are buzzing with Bees. During December, both schools will host the Preliminary Rounds for their Spelling and Geography Bees. The Preliminary Rounds for the Bees are open to ALL students. Final School Rounds for each Bee will be held in January, 2017.
LMS Preliminary Spelling Bee
When: 12/13, after school
Where: LMS Cafeteria
For Whom: All Interested Students
UMS Preliminary Spelling Bee
When: 12/15, after school
Where: UMS Media Center
For Whom: All Interested Students
LMS Final School Spelling Bee:
When: 1/25/17, after school
Where: LMS Media Center
For Whom: Top Ten Finalists
UMS Final School Spelling Bee:
When: 1/26/17, after school
Where: UMS Media Center
For Whom: Top Ten Finalists
The first and second place winners from each school Spelling Bee competition will advance to the Second Annual SCLSNJ Bee Spectacular to be held on March 11, 2017 at 2:00pm in the auditorium at the Somerset County Vo-Tech located at 14 Vogt Drive, Bridgewater, NJ. THE WINNER OF THIS COMPETITION WILL ADVANCE TO THE SCRIPPS NATIONAL SPELLING BEE IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
LMS Preliminary Geography Bee
When: 12/20
Where: In School, Morning Meeting
For Whom: All Students
UMS Preliminary Geography Bee
When: 12/21 & 12/22
Where: In School, SS Class
For Whom: All Students
LMS Final School Geography Bee
When: 1/17/17
Where: LMS Media Center
For Whom: Top Ten Finalists
UMS Final School Geography Bee
When: 1/19/17
Where: UMS, Room C-104
For Whom: Top Ten Finalists
The School Winner from each school is eligible to take the online State Qualifying Test. The Top 100 students from the State Qualifying Round will advance to the State Bee to be held on March 31, 2017.
MHS Science
On November 16th the MHS School Community was treated to a talk given by MHS 11th grade student Priyanka Dilip. Priyanka shared the research she work on during the summer of 2016 on Fabricating High Efficiency Organic Transistors Using Graphene Electrodes and Rubrene Semiconductors. If this sounds interesting or you just wish to be impressed by the awesome work our students are doing, please join us for upcoming lectures in December.
Upcoming talks include:
- Wednesday, December 14th 3:00PM for MHS Graduate Bina Ramesh's presentation about TCNJ's STEM Program
- Wednesday, December 21st 2:40PM for MHS Junior Cristina Castro's student presentation on her summer research.
The MHS iSTEM course is starting its 3rd year and running better than ever. Lead instructors, Mr. Craig Buszka and Mr. Chris Resch, combine their expertise in electronics and biotechnology respectively to guide students through a variety of research opportunities. Students complete projects and electronics puzzles as whole class activities and also conduct separate independent projects through the course of the school year. Projects range from writing computer code that simulates artificial intelligence, analyzing the effects of antidepressants on teenage brains, engineering aquatic speaker, and developing a polymer that mimics the strength and versatility of a spider web. The final projects will be on display during the MHS Science Expo planned for late May or early June 2017. Stay tuned for details and opportunities to participate or come view the fabulous work our students are doing.
MTSD Mission and Vision Statements
Our mission as a forward-thinking community is to ensure that all students grow into confident, compassionate, successful, and self-directed learners a multi-cultural and socio-economically diverse society by providing engaging and challenging real world educational experiences in a student-centered environment.
Vision Statement
We envision a district on the forefront of public education. We focus on the needs of every child, dedicating ourselves to their present and future success. Success means that all students possess a passion for learning, develop a deep understanding of rigorous content, demonstrate cultural competence, and exhibit ethical conduct, while cultivating social skills and healthy habits that will empower them to achieve their goals and aspirations. Achieving this vision requires that the district become a learning community that continually reflects and challenges itself to effect transformational teaching and learning. We prepare our students to take responsibility for their own educational accomplishments in our global society while nurturing them in a community where each student is known and valued. We believe by embracing frontier spirit, we can create a unique organization that is recognized as a forerunner in public education.