The Monthly Snapshot
An Electronic Newsletter for LES and NPLiberty HS
Important Announcements:
- The end of the second quarter for students in grades 3 to 12 was Wednesday, January 17, and report cards will be distributed to students the following week.
- The second trimester for students in grades K to 2 does not end until Monday, March 5.
- The staff at LES is planning a family engagement night that will occur in the coming weeks. It will occur at the high school on a Friday evening to be announced and involve physical activities in the gym, board games in the cafeteria, and a movie in the auditorium. Please look for advertisements!
Students perform inside, outside of school
By Mrs. Feaster
Students at LES have had several opportunities this fall and winter to share music with others.
Classes shared music and poems to honor our Veterans at our annual Veteran’s Assembly. On December 20, the grades 5 and 6 band and chorus performed both an assembly for the school and an evening concert for their families and community. The concert featured solos, ensembles, and group pieces. On the last day before the holiday break, the students of LES celebrated the season with a carol sing featuring each grade level and recognizing students for following our school-wide positive behavior goals of being respectful, responsible, and safe.
Students have also had the opportunity to audition for the Hamilton-Gibson winter theater production of “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” After only 9 practices, the students gave four great performances this weekend.
Featured in the show (and pictured above) are Thomas and Arianna (Oompa-Loompas), Tierney (Grandmother Josephina), and Linda (Phineous Trout).
Also performing in the show from NPL were Kelli Waltz (grade 7), Sky Dayton (grade 8) as Grandmother Georgina, Levi Dayton (grade 7), Gabriella Gregory (grade 7) and Amy Feaster (grade 7) as Mrs. Gloop.
We are pleased to be able to offer these performance opportunities for students to share what they are learning in the music classroom!
Kindergarten, grade 1 students embed text features in writing
By Mrs. Kutz
January has been an adventurous and engaging month for our primary students! With all this cold weather, we have been trying to stay warm by working hard in the classroom!
In kindergarten and first grade, students have been growing their writing stamina during our writer’s workshop. Our informational writing unit has been a class favorite. We have been exploring the craft of writing with mentor authors and texts such as National Geographic Kids. We are also identifying and using all the different types of text features that we find in nonfiction books. Many of our young writers are even now beginning to use these text features in their very own informational books!
It is encouraging to see the excitement and confidence on their faces as they grow throughout the writing process. We are all looking forward to seeing what these young mighty authors come up with next.
Looking ahead, we are very excited to celebrate the 100th Day of School on January 29. It will be a fun filled day with many engaging activities!
Grade 3 students "venture" to the Amazon
To beat the freezing temperatures outside, grade 3 students have ventured on an expedition to the tropical rainforest! Through a variety of interactive activities incorporating reading, writing, science, math, and social studies, students have been actively engaged in experiencing the beauty and uniqueness of this fascinating ecosystem. Our classroom library corner has been transformed into a rainforest complete with travel guides, trees, vines, and lots of animals, including a giant anaconda! Did you know that the average anaconda is about 17 feet long? Some can even grow to be over 29 feet!
Students began their expedition by planning the supplies they would need for their trip to the rainforest. They have made graphs of the average rainfall in the Amazon and mapped the location of rainforests throughout the world. We have read books, articles, and poetry about the rainforest and have encountered countless amazing animals along the way, each with unique traits and adaptations that help them to survive in their environment.
Our grade 3 scientists have been working to classify these animals according to their location, class, and the layer of the rainforest in which they live. Student authors will be applying their recently learned skills in informational writing as they document what they have learned along their journey.
Grade 5 students investigate aquaponics system
By Mrs. Alexander
Many of the older students at LES have had the opportunity to learn about plant growth by spending time in the garden between the school and the greenhouse. Now we have been provided with an additional opportunity to learn about plant growth and ecosystems.
Just before the holiday break, we were provided with an aquaponics cart. Aquaponics is growing plants without soil using the water from an aquarium with fish in it to supply the nutrients that the plants need for proper growth. As the water from the fish tank circulates through the system, the plants get the water and nutrients they need in order to grow.
The grade 5 science students will begin taking a closer look at the aquaponics system by asking questions and then investigating. We will also learn by taking a closer look at any issues we are having with the system and how we can correct them. Once the grade 5 students have learned more about the system, we will be sharing the system and our knowledge about the system with other classes at our school.
Students explore active, passive listening skills
Grade 7 students in Miss Wojcik’s class recently learned about active and passive listening skills. During the lessons, students learned that active listening is when the listener is fully engaged and reacts to the ideas presented by the speaker. In contrast, passive listening happens when the listener does not react to the ideas of the speaker, but merely listens.
In a class discussion, students identified experiences when they used each type of listening skill. They confirmed that they used active listening during their classes at school because the teacher is sharing valuable information with them. They also felt that active listening skills were used when people attend a meeting, receive directions, and have conversation with others.
While discussing passive listening skills, students were surprised to learn that they use passive listening skills each time they listen to music, do homework, or read an assignment. They felt that they also use passive listening when watching television or a movie.
The students practiced using their active listening skills during a draw-what-you-hear activity. Students paired and sat back-to-back. One partner was the speaker and the other was the active listener. The speaker had to describe for the active listener an abstract drawing (common geometrical shapes joined up together) to be reproduced by following the given directions. After the speaker gave directions, the pair compared the drawings. They were then allowed to discuss why there may have been a difference in the drawings.
Novel sparks conversations, writing, projects in grade 8
Grade 8 students can be found with their noses in a book! Most recently, they have been reading Lois Lowry’s award-winning novel, The Giver. The story follows young protagonist, Jonas, on a journey of self-discovery and search for a better way of life for his controlling society.
The topics embedded in this rich story have opened the door for intellectual conversations that bridge the literary world with their own. Those discussions have led to some amazing creations in the form of text dependent analyses in English class and symbolism scrapbooks in reading class. Both of these learner-focused projects encouraged creativity and collaboration.
Soon, we will be comparing The Giver to The Wizard of Oz and working on some awesome mash-up assignments and analyses. The Giver was generally loved by students in all classes, and it led to some really fun activities and unique learning opportunities.
Below, in the middle photo, Catie S. creates a page for her book on symbolism.
An update on current activities from Mrs. Barnes
- Spanish classes - The students in Spanish classes are working hard on a variety of different vocabulary units depending on their level of study, from body vocabulary to clothing and medical terminology. All students are also learning about verbs and sentence structure, with Spanish 1 beginning in the present tense, Spanish 2 learning past tense, and Spanish 3 and 4 learning the future and conditional tenses. Reading, writing, listening, and speaking Spanish is happening every single day, and I am so proud of the progress these students have made so far this year!
- English classes - In Mrs. Barnes' English classes, students have been reading and writing regularly as well. Some of the reading includes Day of Tears by Julius Lester, which focuses on a two-day slave auction set in 1859, and Lorraine Hansberry’s drama A Raisin in the Sun, which discusses social and familial problems of a poor family in the Southside of Chicago in the 1950s. More reading includes The Crucible, selections by Shakespeare, and various other short stories. Writing has been happening on a daily basis, including research, informational essays, text dependent analysis prompts, and creative journaling.
- Culture Club news - In November, the Culture Club, along with the advisor and chaperones Dr. Brion and Mrs. Rossell, visited New York City for a multicultural excursion. They visited the Museum of Natural History and the Ventral Park Zoo. They walked through Central Park and saw Strawberry Fields, watched a marathon taking place, saw horses and carriages giving rides, walked through downtown, and experienced Times Square. They finished the day with dinner at Bubba Gump's. It was a wonderful trip with lots of new memories made! Pictured above, you can see photos of Radio City Music Hall, the John Lennon Memorial, and Times Square from the Culture Club field trip to New York City.
- Battle of the Books - Battle of the Books is again underway for this year. Twelve students are reading and memorizing their novels to be ready for competition on April 7 at Williamson High School.
Students explore math at Corning Community College
Four students from Mr. Kefover’s ACE Calculus class traveled to Corning Community College on October 13, 2017 to explore different careers and applications involving mathematics. Pictured above are Sarah A., Jonathan N., Luke A., and Abby W.
While there, these students had an opportunity to attend a variety of presentations offered by mathematicians, scientists, and engineers from around the region. This year’s presentations, by professionals from organizations including Corning Incorporated, Cornell University NanoScale Facility, Hunt Engineers, the National Weather Service, and Corning Community College were offered on topics ranging from zero energy buildings and automobile racing to meteorology and actuarial science.
The students in the ACE calculus class learned a lot from this field trip. Listening to professionals who use mathematics on the job increased our students’ enthusiasm and passion for mathematics. Their understanding of the importance of Calculus has increased and these students continue to perform well as we continue to explore Calculus I.
Southern Tioga FFA attends 102nd PA Farm Show
On January 8, 2018 members of the Southern Tioga FFA took their annual trip to the Pennsylvania Farm Show. The students had the opportunity to explore all the wonderful educational exhibits, innovative products, and Pennsylvania foods that the 102nd annual Farm Show had to offer.
While at the Farm Show, the members attended the Pennsylvania FFA Mid-Winter Convention. As part of the convention, our students had the privilege of hearing the Pennsylvania Secretary of The Department of Agriculture, Russell C. Redding, and the Pennsylvania Secretary of The Department of Education, Pedro Rivera, speak about the importance of the agricultural industry to our state and the many opportunities available to the students through agricultural education and the FFA. The highlight of the Mid-Winter Convention was the conferring of Keystone Degrees to qualifying senior FFA members.
To earn a Keystone Degree, students have to meet very strict requirements of participation in FFA activities, supervised agricultural experience success, and community service as set by the Pennsylvania FFA Association. Senior Sarah Alexander was the Southern Tioga FFA’s sole recipient of the Keystone Degree this year. I am extremely proud of her accomplishments, and I wish her all the best in her future as a leader in the agricultural industry and as a community-minded individual.
In the picture above, Sarah got to meet Mr. Rivera and Mr. Redding.
Background Credit
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Liberty Elementary School
Email: jeglesia@southerntioga.org
Website: http://www.southerntioga.org/?page_id=249
Location: 8622 Route 414, Liberty, PA, United States
Phone: 570-324-2521
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LES16930/
Twitter: @Lbrty_Principal
North Penn - Liberty Jr./Sr. High School
Email: jeglesia@southerntioga.org
Website: http://www.southerntioga.org/?page_id=193
Location: 8675 Route 414, Liberty, PA, United States
Phone: 570-324-2071
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NPLiberty
Twitter: @Lbrty_Principal