News from the Hill
March 17, 2017
Principals Message
With this last blast of winter, it is hard to believe that spring is right around the corner as are our New York state assessments. Our schools will administer the NYS Grade 3-8 assessments in English Language Arts on March 28th-30th (Make-ups April 3rd-5th) and Math on May 2nd-4th (Make-ups May 8th-10th).
We will administer the NYS Grade 4 Science Performance Test during the testing window of May 24th-June2nd. Since classes will be scheduled at different dates/time for the Science assessment, more specific information will be sent home as those assessments approach.
Student test participation provides us with information to improve education for all students. The assessment data identifies areas of strength and weakness to help teachers guide their instruction which in turn will improve student learning. It is also used in making decisions about strengthening our instructional programs, providing additional resources and determining what supports your child may need.
Please know that we respect that individual families may make choices for their children to not take the tests. If you choose to not have your child take the state tests, please submit a letter to me indicating your decision by Wednesday, March 22nd. Please include your child's name, grade level, teacher, and the assessment(s) in which they will not be participating. This process must be completed on an annual basis. Therefore, prior requests will not apply to this current school year. This will assist in our organization of an alternate location for your child to work independently (read, write, draw, etc.)
The spring 2017 assessments will not have any significant changes but will retain the significant changes made last year to the 2016 assessments based on consistent recommendations from educators throughout the state. Those changes included:
- reduced the lengths of the tests so they contained fewer test questions;
- allowed students as much time as needed to complete the tests to provide students further opportunity to demonstrate what they know and can do by allowing them to work at their own pace;
- released more test questions than ever before (75%) and earlier than ever before
- transformed the parent score reports to be more user-friendly and useful to parents.
Our teachers have worked diligently to ensure that your child has received a stellar education at Hillside and is well-prepared for the assessment. Additionally, testing sessions will be scheduled in the morning when students are fresh. We ask for your partnership in ensuring that your child gets a good night's sleep and eats a healthy breakfast on the mornings of the assessments. This will allow him/her to be the best he/she can be.
If you have any questions regarding this year's state assessments, please do not hesitate to contact Mr. Johnson or me. I thank you for your continued support in your child's educational success.
Warm regards,
Amy Cazes
Principal
STEAM Fair
Hillside’s STEAM Fair will be held on Wednesday, April 19th and is open to all students in grades K-4. Please click the link below for information:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ssCrVqPFBRmkL8F1rljjs-3m3Lg-9cCy5iTZQjAVsQE/edit?usp=sharing
Please use the link below to sign up:
Classroom News
Kindergarten
Kindergarten classes have been busy preparing our mini and large castles for the Kings and Queens unit. Parents will have the opportunity to view these amazing castles at the Royal Ball! We are also gearing up to learn the Waltz. The Royal Ball will be held on Wednesday, April 5th from 9:00-9:45 a.m. Kindergarten parents, please plan to wear your finest attire and dancing shoes for this royal event!
We are finishing up our Writing From the Heart unit. We are busy editing and revising our memoir stories. In doing so, the children are exposed to the stages of the writing process before their stories are fully published.
The children have made wonderful progress as readers in Kindergarten. We want to thank all of the parents for supporting their efforts by reading at home and by practicing sight words.
First Grade
First graders are out of this world! We have started our new content unit, Astronomy. Students are intrigued with learning about our solar system. Currently, we have explored the sun, the moon, the stars, constellations and we are just beginning to examine the planets. Children have created their own constellations and are using writing to record their understanding in their own astronomy journals. It has been a blast! At the end of this month, we will look forward to a trip to the Hudson River Museum.
In math, students have started an in-depth study of place value. During this unit, students will focus on the role of place value with numbers to 40. They will compare quantities using symbols for greater than, less than and equal to, and use strategies to add two digit and single digit numbers.
Second Grade
We completed our intensive work with place value and the addition and subtraction algorithms. We will continue to work with and reinforce these concepts throughout the remainder of the school year. Last week we began our new math unit, an introduction to multiplication. The students will be introduced to the concept of multiplication through the ideas of multiple groupings, repeated addition and arrays.
During our reading work over the course of the next several weeks, the students will read nonfiction texts generally connected to our social studies work with symbols of the United States. Reading groups will become “experts” on one particular symbol and provide a presentation to the rest of the class. Our work with nonfiction is an outgrowth of our introductory nonfiction unit in January and early February. At the completion of this unit around the time of the vacation, the students will continue to read nonfiction as part of their reading group instruction. It will eventually include titles related to insects as part of our final science unit.
Communications Class K-2
We have been busy focusing on individual skills and independent work. We are continuing with our Writing from the Heart theme. We will be exploring Kings and Queens in Kindergarten. We will be cooperatively making a large castle and learning the waltz for the Royal Ball. We will be studying astronomy in first grade, preparing for the Hudson River Museum trip.
Communications Class 3-5
We celebrated Dr. Seuss’ birthday and will continue to read his books for the next week. We practiced identifying story elements using these books. We continued our unit on fractions. We practiced identifying equivalent fractions. In science we continued our unit on the solar system. We are learned about the planets, sun, moon and about our Earth.
Integrated Learning Class 2-4
Our class is busier than ever! Second grade is continuing to work toward fluency in addition and subtraction. Multiplication is next. Reading and researching the symbols of our country in social studies and insects in science are filling reading time. Third and Fourth graders are enjoying learning all about fractions, at the different grade levels. Third grade is continuing to learn about Russia, while Fourth grade is deep into investigating the Dutch in New Amsterdam. Our ongoing class project, Random Acts of Cardboard, continues important work in planning, problem solving and teamwork. One hurdle successfully cleared was the design of shelving that would attach to our bulletin board to display student creations. Next up: each student will be given a set of identical cardboard shapes and sizes to create...something they envision!
Third Grade
In Math third graders have begun an in-depth study of fractions. This includes partitioning different models of wholes into equal parts and understanding the concept of unit fractions., Children are using manipulatives and drawings to help learn about fractions and their use in the world around them.
Students have been busy reading and writing in many formats. We spent time with Hastings author, Roni Schotter, as part of Hillside’s “March is Reading Month”. Students had a lively discussion with her when she came to share her process for writing her books. As she mentioned some of the books she wrote, children clapped with delight as they recognized titles they had read. A special favorite was her book, The Boy Who Loved Words. Students are also fortunate to have the opportunity to work with Judy Davis, a writing consultant, who happens to also be the grandmother of third grader, Lola. During her visits, she has taught students several techniques they can use as they write in their writer’s notebooks - such as choosing small moments, using our senses to liven up our writing, and to “show, not tell” our feelings, hopes and thoughts.
We continue our study of Russia. As children are learning about the history of Faberge Eggs, they are creating their own Faberge Eggs under the guidance of Artist-in-Residence, Alison Marra. Look for our eggs in the front hall display cabinet. We are also studying the life and work of painter Wasilly Kandinsky. Children are creating realistic drawings in his early style. They are then re-creating the drawing in an abstract manner, as he later did. Children are also doing research about his life and what inspired the changes in his artistic style.
Two special PTSA-sponsored programs that students enjoyed participating in were the Soul Steps Dance program - they’re still dancing! - and a visit to the African American Inventors and Achievers Exhibit displayed at the high school. This exhibit was particularly timely for the students, since we had just finished a unit learning about black people who have made important contributions to society, and a unit on inventions and how they are created.
Fourth Grade
As always, 4th graders are working hard. Since our return from February break we have hit the ground running.
In Math, we are continuing our study of fractions. We are learning what equivalent fractions are and how to find them using both multiplication and division. As we move ahead, we will expand upon this concept showing equivalence on a number line as well.
In ELA, we have wrapped up our unit on non-fiction and we are now working in book clubs. Every week, 4th graders in each class are exposed to stories in a different genre such as fairy tales, tall tales, and realistic fiction. Students are learning the elements of each and enjoying the discussions that come from book clubs. In writing, students are using their knowledge of New Amsterdam, Peter Stuyvesant and the Dutch to create letters “home” to the Netherlands. 4th graders are imagining themselves as children settled into what is now lower Manhattan. They have gathered notes and are in the midst of writing letters to Holland on tea stained paper. We look forward to sharing their “correspondences” with you.
Finally, we are so very grateful to live and work in Hastings, a village that is blessed with so many enriching opportunities. As part of March is Reading month, we were thrilled to hear both Bob Shea and Mackenzie Cadenhead speak about their books. Both authors were so much fun to listen to and we were inspired by their hard work and love for what they do.
In addition, thanks to the generosity of the PTSA, we were treated to a wonderful assembly by Soul Steps, an African American dance troupe, and a trip to the high school to see Shirley Harris’s exhibit, “African American Inventors and Achievers.” It was simply astounding to see how many of the objects on display are items that we still use today. Our students were absorbed by the collection and read many of the informational cards explaining how the items were created or improved to make work and life better. We encourage you and your family to visit this small exhibition while it is still available. It was truly eye opening.
Art
The Hillside Art Department is excited to announce this year’s Grade Level Art Shows. Below is this year’s schedule. Please visit the Hillside Art Blog for updates about the art program - http://www.hohschools.org/Page/1225 .
May 9 – First Grade (Monsters), 6 - 8pm in the Hillside All-Purpose Room
May 11 – Kindergarten (Gardens), 6 - 8pm in the Hillside All-Purpose Room
May 18 – Second Grade (Collages), 6 - 8pm in the Hillside All-Purpose Room
May 23 – Fourth Grade (Still-Life), 6 - 8pm in the Hillside All-Purpose Room
May 25 – Third Grade (Circles), 6 - 8pm in the Hillside All-Purpose Room
Music
Ms. Concra’s Classes: Kindergarteners are starting to make their way through Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf. They are learning about the instruments featured in the piece and identifying the music techniques and motives Prokofiev uses to tell the story. 1st graders are learning about the four instrument families and identifying which instrument they like the most and why. 2nd graders are reviewing orchestral instruments, identifying sound characteristics, and how each instrument is played. 3rd graders are starting to study, identify, and compose in rondo form. 4th graders are beginning the sea chanty unit in preparation for guest speaker, David Coffin. They will learn the different types of chanties, their uses, and what life was like at sea. Students will write their own nautical themed call-and-response form chanties.
Mr. Campbell’s Class: Kindergarten students are beginning to listen to Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saëns. So far they have listened to the Aquarium, Aviary, Cuckoo Bird, Elephant, Swan, and Tortoise and are learning how the characteristics of these animals can be expressed through music. First grade students are singing, moving, and chanting to a variety of musical stories including the Tailor and the Mouse, Thorn Rosa, and Kookaburra. Second grade students are beginning to learn about different families of instruments. So far they have learned about the percussion and string families. Third grade students are listening to and learning to identify music in rondo form, where there is a familiar theme that keeps coming back throughout the piece. Fourth grade students have been studying composer Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov and his work Scheherazade, a musical rendition of the story collection One Thousand and One Nights.
Physical Education
Hello Everyone! We are currently in our Volleyball unit and much progress is being made. In grades 2-4 we are playing full volleyball games teaching the students the rules of the game and positions. In grades K-1, we are focusing on perfecting the bump, set, serve, and now getting the ball over the net in a modified game called “Newcomb”. Starting next week we will be introducing a game called “Nine Square In The Air”. This is a game that helps with volleyball skills, primarily the set and works in the way of box ball. The difference being there are 9 squares rather than 4, and instead of the boxes being on the ground we use poles to create the boxes “in the air” so the students have to set the ball up instead of down. We are very proud with how this unit is going and the students sportsmanship!
FLES
We have been so hard at work in FLES class! Kindergarten is learning all about Mis Colores (My Colors) and identifying objects based on their color in Spanish. Meanwhile in 1st grade students are reinforcing their graphing skills by organizing data with Marcas de Conteo (Tally Marks). 2nd graders are practicing identifying numbers with various activities that reinforce “uno más” (one more) and “uno menos” (one less). In 3rd grade we have begun our unit on Peru! Students are diving into the geography of Peru and are anticipating learning all about the wonders of this South American country! Finally, in 4th grade students are working on their first Google Classroom project, publishing their “Fakebook” projects!
As a friendly reminder, please visit our class website, www.nunez-fles.weebly.com for more on our current units and fun practice at home!
From the Library
As March is Reading Month, we have been lucky enough to have a full day HEF funded visit from goofy author Bob Shea (Dance, Dance, Underpants; Dinosaur vs
just about everything; Cheetah Can’t Lose; etc. etc. etc.). He calls his work “Books for Smart Kids,” and when Hillside Headlines reporters, combining work with pleasure, interviewed him at a luncheon about his meaning, he responded: “You read my books, right? So you’re a smart kid!” We’ve also had Alyssa Satin Capucilli (Biscuit, Katy Caterpillar, Tulip etc. etc. etc.) encourage the Kindergarten to woof along to her read-alouds. MacKenzie Cadenhead showed the fourth grade how to illustrate a Superhero book and talk about her upcoming chapter book series. Roni Schotter showed how details make the story to the third grade through her Nothing Ever Happens on 90th Street. Still to come: Leslie Kimmelman for the first grade (The Little Red Hen and the Passover; HOT DOG! Eleanor Roosevelt Throws a Picnic; Everybody, Bonjours and more) and Jacqueline Preiss Weitzman, author of the You Can’t Take a Balloon into the Metropolitan Museum, The National Gallery, and The Museum of Fine Arts and the Superhero Joe books. She’ll be talking to the second grade about these and give them the scoop on her new series of chapter books. Jacquie is also responsible for the beautiful literary calendar of events on the front bulletin board, filled with quotes and illustrations from beloved books. Support the month of March and read, read, read!
From the MakerSpace
Kindergarten and First Grade classes that visited MakerSpace had the opportunity to pilot the new Lego Early Simple Machines Sets. They were asked to solve a problem that two characters, Sara and Sam, were having with their spinning tops. Students built prototypes, tested different solutions and shared which ones worked the best. A great lesson in problem solving and teamwork! Classes will continue experimenting with these sets to complete additional design challenges. Other classes continue to code with Dash robots, create with recyclables, and explore with Legos. Follow me on Twitter @hohjned for pictures and more!
Hillside Elementary School
Website: www.hohschools.org
Location: 120 Lefurgy Avenue, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY, United States
Phone: 914-478-6270