�

NewsletterCanisteo-Greenwood Central School District

February 2009

What’s inside...From the Elementary principal ........................ 2

Elementary School news ............................2-4

Middle Schoolnews ............................5-8

High School news ......................... 9-10

Sign up for schoolclosing alerts ..............11

Food pantry opens ...11

Donkey Basketballgame ............................12

A message from the SuperintendentThis edition of the Canisteo-Greenwood CSD newsletter is

intended to highlight many of the rich educational activities that are occurring on a daily basis in our school buildings. You will notice some very creative hands-on activities, long-term projects and the integration of technology. These varied approaches signify our school district’s commitment to “Teaching for Learning.”

In the last two months, many events of interest to our school district have occurred in our nation, state and local community. The ongoing economic challenges directly impact every family in our district and federal efforts to date have yet to halt a deepening recession. The Governor’s budget was released December �6 with

the unwelcome news of a state aid cut for our district. Locally, we have spent a significant amount of time considering the recommendations of the Student Housing Study. This effort was highlighted by a very productive Public Input Session on January �4. I want to thank all of our community members who served as facilitator’s and scribes. Their efforts produced a great deal of useful information. Your Board of Education recently received the collated feedback from this session and will deliberate on this matter further in February.

This spring we are continuing our school improvement efforts with various activities associated with a recently-awarded School Improvement Grant of $50,000. Last fall our planning team targeted the first installment of school improvement grants toward interven-tion strategies, instructional techniques and beginning the process of aligning our K-8 English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum. This spring the planning team revisited our Comprehensive Educational Plan (CEP) and will focus on specific needs of our students in the area of thinking skills. In addition, we will train our staff to work in collaborative groups with a focus on student learning.

The training effort related to student thinking skills will occur on two recently scheduled early release days on Friday, February �3 and Friday, March �3. On those days our students will be dismissed at ��:00 am. Our Food Services will make lunch available to our students prior to dismissal. On both afternoons, our faculty and staff will be trained in Thinking Maps: A Lan-guage for Learning. This training will directly impact the classroom as teachers will take this learning and begin teaching the maps to our students. There is useful software associated with Thinking Maps that will be made available to every K-8 family in our school district. This will allow us to strengthen our educational partnership with our families as they will be given a tool to help build their child’s thinking skills. (For more information on Thinking Maps go to thinkingmaps.com.)

The process of developing the 2009-20�0 school district budget has begun with two Public Input sessions at our January �2 and January 26 Board of Education meetings. The feedback from those sessions along with Board of Education guidance is providing the framework for budget development. The Superintendent’s budget is slated to be presented to the Board of Education at their regular meeting on March 9 in the Canisteo-Greenwood Middle School auditorium.

Dr. Matteson

2

Kindergarten CornerThe Kindergarteners have been studying family units. The students are learning about

family composition and how they work together. This social studies unit integrates into writing and reading skills.

Each child has a special role in his or her family. The children wrote about their roles and family experiences and compiled them in a scrapbook. They read their Family Scrap-books to their classmates. The children are eager to share and learn how much they have in common.

When you visit the Elementary building, take a look at their scrapbooks on our bulletin board. You will learn a lot about our kindergarten families!

T he Canisteo-Greenwood Elementary School’s emphasis is on teaching and learning. We are dedicated to assuring that all children receive a quality education and are provided

with all of the necessary tools to be successful learners. One of the tools that we have been working on is the Response To

Intervention process. RTI is most commonly used to provide support to children who are experiencing some difficulty in the areas of reading and mathematics. The interventions can take many forms and afford the chil-dren the opportunity to receive the individualized interventions that can help them to be more successful learners. Progress is closely monitored so that we can assess the appropriateness of the interventions. This type of progress monitoring helps us to provide the children with interven-tions that can make a difference.

An integral part of the RTI process will involve a variety of screening activities that allow us to track student progress and provide us with data

on the types of interventions that the children need. We are excited about the RTI process and the promise that it holds for helping our stu-

dents in two major academic areas.

Nick Rossi, Interim PrincipalColleen Brownell, Director of Special Education

From the Interim Elementary Principal

Above: Kindergartner Alexis Flaitz with her scrapbook.

Left: Kindergarten students pose by their scrapbooks on the bulletin board.

3

Brrr…it’s cold out! Mrs. Peters’ Pre-Kin-dergartners are enjoying the winter

season as we are working on our winter thematic unit. We have been learning about the three forms of water; liquid, solid and gas. In our classroom, they are known as; water, ice/snow and steam. This is a great time of year for conduct-ing our science experiments using snow. We played in the snow and made snowballs, placing them in our plastic cups and waited to see what happened to them. When we returned from lunch, we discov-ered that the warm temperature in our classroom melted the snowballs changing them from a solid form to liquid (water). We also used rock salt on one snowball and

watched how quickly it melted the snow-ball, much faster than the ones with no salt.

Our winter thematic unit would not be complete without a snowman. We read a great book, Snowballs by Lois Ehlert and

took home three dif-ferent shaped circles to decorate with our family. We are dis-playing them on the bulletin board next to our classroom until winter recess. If you are in the build-ing stop outside of room �49 and check

out our creativity.We are enjoying lots of great books

about winter. We learned two new songs “Snow Pants” with Mrs. Roberts, our music teacher, and “I’m A Little Snowflake.” We are making two books I Am a Snowman and January. We also made a puff paint snow-man by mixing equal parts shaving cream and glue and added materials to decorate the snowman.

Mrs. Peters’ Pre-Kindergartners are enjoying the winter season

Other Pre-K happenings:Mrs. Marvin’s Pre-K class has been talking about the polar regions and learned that penguins live in Antarctica and not the Artic. Back, from left are students Matthew Amidon, Jacob Fay and Andi Williamson. Front, from left, Christian Dombert and Cody Rierofski.

Computer Class NewsThe students in the elementary school

have been very busy working hard in computer class. Here are some of the things they are doing.

Pre-K has been using various educa-tional websites to improve letter recogni-tion, letter sounds, numbers and shapes. Kindergarten and first grade are using Mighty Math Carnival Car to improve and explore various math skills. The second and third-graders are using Microsoft Excel to create graphs. Students have created bar, pie and line graphs. Fourth graders are using Microsoft PowerPoint and will soon start a PowerPoint presentation entitled “All About Me.”

Don’t forget to check out Mr. Cone’s website.

From left: Pre-K students Kaleigh Cook, Cole Lewis, Kaitlin Carbone and Thomas Streeter.

4

Valentine Store for second-gradersMiss Norton’s second-graders are excited about learning to count money. They have a

“Valentine Store” set up in their room. The children will earn play money for good be-havior, having pencils ready to use, etc. Then they will buy Val-entine decorations like stickers, pompoms, ribbons, etc. to make a special Valentine card for their family. This activity will give the children experience using money and making a special “surprise” for their family.

Other second grade happenings:

Mrs. Rouse’s second graders wrote a story about Santa’s Day Off and read them to Mrs. Marvin’s Pre-K class.

Third grade travels around the worldThe third-graders at CG Elementary have

been exploring some distant countries as part of their social studies curriculum. The students have had some wonderful experiences with both Mexican and Italian cultures and celebrations. All of the students became famil-iar with the flag and money of Mexico and studied Mexico’s geography. While studying Mexico, many of the students were able to make Fiesta Flags and tambourine maracas. Mrs. Brock shared photos from her trip to Mexico with her class. Mrs. Brott’s class completed research projects on Mexico. After view-ing an authentic leather painting, Mrs. Sager’s class created their own leather paintings from paper bags and brightly colored paint.

They also celebrated a traditional Mexican holiday, Day of the Dead, by making paper flowers.

The third-graders are currently study-ing Italy and Italian culture. They have read about Italy and studied the Italian flag. Mr. Rossi, who recently returned from Italy, shared some samples of Italian money with them. Each class is exploring Italian culture with different projects and stories. Mrs. Askins’ class will survey the staff about favorite Italian foods and make a math connection by graphing their findings. Mrs. Brott’s class is researching Italy and will compare and contrast Italian culture with Mexican culture. Mrs. Ludu’s class has read Tomie dePaola’s story Tony’s Bread and has tasted panettone pasta. Several of the classes created mosaics and in late Janu-ary all of the classes had an “Italian Feast”. During the feast students had the chance to taste test some authentic Italian foods. A big thank you to Mrs. Lisa Wall for her hand in the feast!

The third-graders at Canisteo – Green-wood Elementary are looking forward to the future studies of Egypt and Japan.

Second-grader Kevin Lewis visits the Valentine Store.

Third-grader Annie Smith.

5

Need a good book to read? With the weather being so cold outside, don’t you want to curl up with

a good book? What? You don’t know of any good books? Have no fear, the students in CGMS grade 5 and 6 library classes can help you find a good book. It’s easy. Go to Canisteo-Greenwood’s new webpage and listen to book talks. Go to www.cg.wnyric.org, click on SCHOOLS, MIDDLE SCHOOL. Then in the left hand side click on CG MIDDLE SCHOOL LIBRARY and then click on the drop down BOOK TALKS. Soon you will have more than �00 book talks to listen to. Enjoy the wonderful book talk projects that our students have put together for you.

Middle School Math Department NewsStudents in the Canisteo-Greenwood Middle School have been busy learning new math

skills and concepts all year. Parents are encouraged to visit the NYS education website to view the performance indicators for each grade level. http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/3-8/march.htm) Indicators are separated into Pre-March and Post-March sections. Questions on the upcoming NYS test are aligned only to Pre-March performance indicators for the student’s current grade or Post-March performance indicators for the student’s previous grade.

2009 NYS Mathematics Test Dates Examination Administration DatesGrade 5 Mathematics March 3 & 4Grade 6 Mathematics March �� & �2Grade 7 Mathematics March �� & �2Grade 8 Mathematics March �� & �2

What can a parent do to help a child achieve success?• Check to be sure that your child is completing math homework everyday.• Ask your child about the math concepts that he/she is learning. Students who have the opportunity to teach the information to someone else have better retention of the infor- mation. • Ensure that your child receives adequate rest, particularly before a test.• Insist on breakfast. • Encourage your child to do his/her best everyday. Excellent attitude and effort are essential to success.

What can a student do to achieve success?• Believe in yourself. • Commit yourself to constant improvement.• Complete all class work and homework assignments.• Ask for help if something is unclear.• Practice good test taking skills such as reading each question carefully and eliminating answers that do not make sense.

Parents are encouraged to contact their child’s teacher with questions or concerns.

6

News from the fifth grade

What’s new with sixth-graders?Social Studies

Sixth-grade students at the Middle School will begin to study Ancient Egypt in about two weeks. As a project for this unit, they will use the mummification process to mummify a chicken (a whole fryer—not a live one!)

The mummification process will take about six weeks, and involves a lot of table salt, Ziploc bags, and hopefully not a lot of smell! When the chicken is mummified, they will wrap it in linen/gauze, decorate it and make a sarcophagus for it. Then they will bury it somewhere on school grounds to be dug up by next year’s sixth-grade archeologists.

To do this project many materials are needed, such as table salt, two gallon Ziploc bags, non-latex gloves, baby oil, spices (such as cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, rosemary), and white linen or gauze. Fifteen chickens also will need to be purchased. If you would like to help out with any of these materials, please call the Middle School to let Ms. Bond know what you can donate to the mummification process.

ScienceOur sixth-grade scientists have been studying the universe and Earth’s place in it.

The students are currently learning about plate tectonics and the resulting changes our earth has gone through as well as current changes occurring around us. They have learned about continental drift, sea-floor spreading, earthquakes, volcanoes and mountain building. This week the sixth-graders are beginning a unit on weather-ing and erosion, the rock cycle, and their effects on our planet.

The fifth grade has just completed a review unit for the state ELA test. We

learned strategies to use as we read for un-derstanding and tips to use as we complete

the test.After the state test, we will

embark on an affix unit that is guaranteed to double our vocabu-lary! We will soon begin Literature Circles and our biographies. We will observe the author’s craft as we read and discuss some of the newest literature and old favorites.

Then we will apply that craft as we research and write about a person we respect and love. These two projects keep us very busy throughout the third quarter of the school year. Later in the year, be on the lookout for our Authors’ Tea. We will introduce our

new, promising authors, and you will be able to hear them read from their published biographies.

Fifth-grade scientists have been study-ing the classification of all living things. They have learned about Monerans, Protists, Fungi and the Plant Kingdoms and how they differ. The students have learned what cells are, how they are constructed and what their activities are. They also have been studying adaptations that help living things survive in their environments. The fifth-graders are currently studying the animal kingdom, including vertebrates and invertebrates. Class teams will research one group of invertebrates, construct a poster, and then present their information to the class during the next two weeks.

7

Eighth-grade newsELA

We have been very busy in eighth grade ELA. We started the year out read-ing short stories and studying common literary elements and vocabulary. We also have read two novels so far, The Outsiders by SE Hinton and Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli. This month we have been preparing for the state assessment in ELA. We went through and examined all three parts of the test, reading comprehension/multiple choice, listening, and reading and writing. This week we put a different twist on review with center activities and games, looking at test buzz words like explain, illustrate, imply, etc., test taking strategies, listening activities and working on inferencing/drawing conclusions.

After the assessments we will be preparing to read Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse and studying the affects of the Dust Bowl era on the people, environment and the economy.

Science

Learning is on the RISE as eighth-grade students prepare to lift off their hot air balloons this month at Canisteo-Green-wood Middle School. Students constructed balloons earlier and are prepared to set them off during the upcoming cold spell. Students always enjoy watching the well-crafted balloons travel over the school and into the hills on updrafts. This is an oppor-tunity to learn why heat rises first hand and

get some fresh air in the process. Students are introduced to a tan-gent table that they use to calcu-late the height of their balloon and review the concept of density in gasses. This will prove to be a fine combination of the geometry unit currently being taught in math class and the science curriculum. Keep your eyes open for those high floaters.

Eighth-grade science students have set up water cycle bags to purify their own water. The process is very slow and students are amazed at how little can be cycled through in a few days. The lesson has been a good reminder to take care of the water we do have. Only around two percent of all the water in the world is fresh water and around 80 percent of that is frozen in icebergs and polar ice caps. The water cycle is our main way of renew-ing that freshwater that we so depend on. Through the water cycle we can re-drink water that has been used before. The water cycle is a good example of how the world naturally cares for itself and the importance of not disrupting that balance.

Social studiesThe battle fields of WWI come alive as

students attend class with their home-

...continued

Art Student’s learn about Shel SilversteinSeventh-grade art student Paul Lathrop points to his il-

lustration of the poem A Light in the Attic written by Shel Silverstein. Mrs. Cornell’s students studied the poems and illustrations of this renowned poet, illustrator, screenwriter and songwriter. Each student then chose a poem to illustrate in his or her style.

8

soup. Afterwards for homework students read quotes from WWI veterans about trench life. Later in the unit, students will be making paper Poppies and analyzing In Flanders Fields as well as participating in another classroom simulation: The Treaty of Versailles.

Our next history unit will include a �920s dance marathon. Students will learn the Charleston and authentic �920s music as well as replica �920s attire will jazz up the event. A �920s dance bulletin will be sent home with students in the near future and community members are invited. If you would like more informa-tion about our upcoming �920s dance, please email me at arobbins@cg.wnyric.org or phone our CG Middle School building. Also, most of the props I use during my history lessons are paid for out of pocket; please email me for more information if you are interested in assisting. ~Mrs. Amy Robbins

work in hand, a twenty pound backpack to represent the weight of soldiers’ daily equipment. During class students form the Allies and the Central Powers and

partake in a Western Front activity which includes “going over the top” and making it through “no man’s land.” The students are given plastic helmets, face masks and toy shovels. The scene is set with strobe lights (as explo-sions), a party fogger

and refillable balloons (as mustard gas), silly string (as flame throwers), light weight Velcro balls (as grenades) and targets, as well as trenches made out of desks and plastic tarps. Trenches are protected with a maze of string to represent barbed wire. The simulation ends with a WWI luxury, corned beef

Eighth Grade News, continued...

Students Selected for All-CountyThe following students have been selected to attend Jr. High All-County Chorus:

(from left): Lauretta Seaman, Brianna Mills, Slade Ryan, Anthony Powley, Jenna Meade and Amber York. These students will participate in the Steuben County All-County concert at Corning West High School on March 20 and 2�. Congratulations!

9

High School News

Math Student of the MonthCassandra Brown is a senior

taking both ACE Calculus and ACE Statistics. Cassie is a strong math student; she is able to understand new concepts quickly, she is an indepen-dent thinker and has excellent problem-solving skills. She has a superior attitude in class, she participates fully and works until all concepts are thoroughly understood. Cassie’s work ethic and determination to excel have earned her A’s in every math class throughout high school. Upon gradu-ating, Cassie plans to attend college to become a math teacher. Keep up the great work. Congratulations, Cassie.

Science Student of the MonthDerek Brown is currently in Ms.

Markel’s ninth-grade Living Environment class. He is a stel-lar student who goes above and beyond the expectations in his sci-ence class and goes out of his way to help other students. He is well-liked by his peers and is respected by teachers. Derek is reliable and can always be counted on to give an exceptional answer to any ques-tion. All these qualities are what make Derek our choice for Science Student of the Month. Derek will receive a $5 gift certificate to BB Shenanigans for his efforts. Congratulations, Derek.

Business ClassStudents in the Career Exploration

class, taught by Mrs. Beth Jacobs, have been busy all semester exploring careers. They have com-pleted self-invento-ries, career research, job preparation activities, and also have participated in mock interviews with local area professionals. Students also participated in a job shadow experience arranged by Mrs. Jacobs with the help of the Career Development Council. Career fields that students have researched include accounting, education, piloting, law enforcement, administrative assistants, nursing, journalism and civil engineering. Students have been maintaining a Career Portfolio throughout the duration of the course. They will be able to keep the port-folios after final evaluation. Students in the Desktop Publishing class, also taught by Mrs. Beth Jacobs, were honored to be asked by our Superinten-dent, Dr. Matteson, to help design the new district letterhead. Each student created his or her own unique design, incorporating a new school logo that was created by an art student. Dr. Matteson came to the class-room to view each student’s design. He will be back in touch with the class and Mrs. Jacobs to continue working on the design. Other projects that this class has been working on include creating holiday cards to send to injured soldiers in Washington as well as area nursing home residents. At present time, students are creating family albums. Students have been maintaining a desktop publishing portfolio of sample projects they have created during the class.

C. Brown

D. Brown

�0

Metal mania!Alpha and Omega! From the beginning

to the end, when education theories are carried through to the finished product. That is what our Technical Drawing stu-dents are experiencing as their semester course draws to a close.

Learning to visualize objects in 3D and draw them on plans made of paper is only the first step in the design and manufac-turing realm. To understand the purpose of those plans, students must see the finished product. This is the focus of one

How to help your child study• Ask your child about his day, what he learned that was interesting or what did he learn that he didn’t understand or have a question about.• Read over class notes with your child. Talk about the important points and condense them onto another sheet or study aid. Pick a different subject each night so you are reviewing one subject a night if that is all that fits into your schedule. • Ask your child if she has a study aid for notes and review it with her.• Make flashcards of the important vocabulary words and review them with your child nightly.• The following websites offer ad- ditional practice and ideas to help your child:

www.cg.wnyric.org www.castlelearning.com http://usny.nysed.gov/parents/

Chemistry students get artisticChemistry students spent the week before Christmas break learning about chemical

bonding, while making tie-dye T-shirts. They also investigated the nature of polymers while making holiday Christmas ornaments. Living environment classes were learning about the process of cell respiration and fermentation. They made bread to study the fermentation process and they made their own acid base indicator using purple cabbage. They used this indicator to determine if carbon dioxide is produced from plants.

of the last units in the course as the kids first learned to draw sheet metal transition pieces and then actually made the piece in the workshop. This experience teaches them to transfer their ideas to a practical application such as changing from one size and shape of furnace ductwork to a differ-ent one. Using pencils, then tin snips, layout dye, scratch awls, a box and pan brake and soldering, they produced a transition piece that would go from a 3.5” round pipe to a 5”x7” rectangular duct.

��

Don’t be left out in the cold!

Sign up for school closing mobile alerts!Canisteo-Greenwood is excited to offer our parents instant text messages or email mes-

sages for school closings and athletic cancellation. No longer do you have to listen to the radio or watch TV to get up-to-date information.

For more information contact the Elementary School at 698-4225 ext �400, Middle School at 225-4292 ext. �03 or the High School at 698-4225 ext. 240�.

Food PantryGreenwood-Rexville residents only

Begins: Thursday, February �9 Then every third Thursday of each month

Time: 3:00 to 7:00 PM

Location: Community of Christ Church-Fellowship Hall, Main Street, Greenwood, NY

For information, call Carolyn at 607-225-4968.

High School FAFSA NightOn Monday February 23 from 4:30– 6:30 p.m., room 227 at the High School will be open

with Mr. Falvey and Mrs. Franclemont to provide assistance to parents/guardians on filing the 2009-20�0 FAFSA online. The FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is required for almost all financial aid institutions. You must bring a completed FAFSA on the Web Worksheet. These worksheets will be available in the guidance office after January �.

Apply for our Federal Student Aid Personal Identification Number (PIN) prior to the event at www.pin.ed.gov –this is necessary to file the FAFSA online. Please allow one to three business days for receipt.

Second Annual College NightAll parents and students of college bound seniors are invited to attend the Second An-

nual College Night on Wednesday March �� from 5:00-6:30 p.m. at the Canisteo-Green-wood High School Gymnasium. Last year more than forty colleges and military representa-tive attended this event.

Check out our 2009-20�0 budget planning survey on our website at

www.cg.wnyric.org.

�2

Canisteo-Greenwood Central School District 84 Greenwood St.Canisteo, NY �4823

Board of EducationChasidy A. Allen, PresidentMichael L. Nisbet, VPPeter D. WallTodd S. BurdickDouglas J. BrownBruce W. MacKellar, M.D. Marcy L. Bradley

SuperintendentDr. Jeffrey A. Matteson

Non-Profit Org.US postage

PAIDCanisteo, NY

Permit #�

Postal PatronRural Route Canisteo, NY �4823or current occupant

It’s Donkey Basketball Time Again!

The Canisteo-Greenwood Senior Class is sponsoring the fourth annual Donkey Basketball game. This exciting event will be held on March �� at 7 p.m. in the Elementary School gymnasium. We expect a great night of fun and entertainment for the entire family, with the profits going to support the senior class.

Tickets will be on sale in February. Tickets will be $5.00 in advance or $6.00 at the door.

Tickets will be available from any member of the Class of 2009. Contact Mrs. Leven (698-4225 ext. 2306) or Ms. Markel (698-4225 ext. 232�) in the high school for more information.

Mark your Calendar• February 13 and March 13 Early dismissal days for students. Students will be dismissed at ��:00 AM both days.

• February 16-20 Winter Recess- No School