Principal’s Newsletter

The Holland Brook School

Readington, NJ

March 2017

Volume 6 , Issue 3

HO M E O F T H E

BO B C A T S !

Happenings at Holland Brook

Hello HBS Families!! I hope this finds you happy and energized. We have been very busy here at HBS. On February 23, we welcomed Tristan the Wonder Guy and his awesome science show on lasers. Tristan demonstrated how a laser can create amazing pictures and how the human eye can be fooled into thinking it is many lasers creating moving images. He slowed down and sped up the laser to show your children how it works. We also had the Destination Imagination Jam fundraiser which was a lot of fun. I was impressed by the D.J. (Brandon) who had all of the students dancing and enjoying themselves. If you would like his contact information, please email me. At our winter concert we were entertained by our chorus, orchestra and strings performers. I am always amazed by how much they learn in such a short amount of time. Our fifth graders walked over to the middle school to see “Shrek” performed by the RMS Drama Club. In April, our fourth graders will meet and learn about animals of the rainforest. On a serious and important topic, we welcomed in Detective Mackiewicz from the Readington Township Police Department who spoke to your children about social media and taking precautions when using the internet and their favorite apps on their phones. His presentation included time for questions which the students took full advantage of. On March 20, our school will enter the “No Bully Zone”, an assembly by Cris Johnson continuing our school wide focus on helping children identify and prevent bullying behavior. Please read the weekly Wednesday email parent blast for all upcoming events. All events are stored on our website’s Virtual Backpack as well. Sincerely, Paul Nigro

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Student Site Based Committee

In addition to meeting with my parent committee, I met with a group of fifth

and fourth graders in two separate meetings. Before coming, they were told to

speak to their class about homework, school provided lunch and clubs they

would like to see offered. I received many ideas from them including:

Homework: Most fourth graders felt that they have the “right amount” of

homework and appreciate that it helps reinforce what they learn. Our fifth

graders were concerned about the amount of homework and having enough

time to complete with all of the afterschool activities they have.

Clubs: Students gave many ideas on clubs they would like to see offered. The

top five, in order: 1. Any kind of sports club 2. Games 3. Cooking 4. Anything

with technology 5. Animals

School Lunch: The discussion focused on foods they would like to see offered.

Ideas included: more pizza days from local pizzerias; smoothies; foreign food

days; soups; more salad bar choices offered and a deli bar.

A second meeting was set up with our food provider allowing the students to

meet and discuss their ideas with our Maschio’s district representative, Katie Filosa. Katie discussed their ideas and has already implemented a Chinese

food day (March 16). In April, she will have a chef from Maschio’s come and

cook pizza for the students which will include various toppings of their

choosing. We will advertise this as the date approaches.

Below is a link to the Maschio’s website providing federal governmental

nutrition standards.

http://maschiofood.com/nutrition-standards/

Fabulous Fourth

Social Studies: Fourth graders started off the year by comparing and contrasting the physical characteristics, natural resources, climate, and economy of New Jersey’s four regions. They went on to study the lives, traditions, beliefs and government of the Lenape, the first people who settled in our great state. They also learned about different European groups who first settled in New Jersey. The presidential election set the stage for our unit on government. Students identified the importance of the Constitution as our governing document. They identified our federal government’s three branches and gained an understanding of the individuals who represent each branch and their responsibilities to our country. Fourth graders also learned about the election process and the significance of the primaries, campaigns, debates and the electoral college. Students gained an appreciation of cultural diversity and its influence on the development of our country. They researched our country’s immigration patterns and focused on the push and pull factors that prompted immigration to our country. They learned about Ellis Island and its impact on the growth of our country. Our young historians learned about the birth of our nation while reading and writing about the American Revolution. They analyzed the points of view of the Loyalists and Patriots while learning about key events of the war that led to independence. Fourth graders are currently identifying inventions in transportation and communication in New Jersey in the early 1800s. They’re researching some of New Jersey’s brilliant inventors who left their mark on technology in the world. Reading and Writing Workshop: The fourth graders have been busy immersing themselves in many genres of literature. They have become adept at following characters through meaning, interpreting nonfiction, along with learning about

historical fiction events. Recently, the students have begun to explore social issues and are currently reading “Wonder” by R.J. Palacio. They have been involved in book clubs and are enjoying working with their peers to engage in meaningful book discussions. In Writer’s Workshop the students have learned to enhance their narrative writing skills, personal and persuasive essays, along with learning how to research effectively. Currently, the students are using literature to grow big ideas to develop into a literary essay. The fourth graders have been really busy! Math: In math students have been learning how to multiply and divide multi-digit numbers, add and subtract fractions, and solve multi-step word problems. Students are challenged to explain their math thinking and calculations in an extended response format. Currently, students are learning about decimals and how they relate to fractions. Shortly, we will be moving into the study of geometry and the accelerated math (ACM) classes will begin the fifth grade program. Science: So far this year we have completed our study of electricity by building circuits and understanding how electricity works. Currently, we are studying matter and energy which includes learning about the states of matter and how matter changes forms. Shortly, we will begin our land and water unit which incorporates our field trip to the river and focuses on concepts such as erosion, deposition and transportation.

Detective Mackiewicz speaking to our students about internet safety.

Fantastic Fifth

Social Studies: In social studies, students started off the year learning about Native Americans and completed activities to show their understanding of how to compare and contrast Native Americans based on their geographic region. Students also learned about European exploration during the 1500’s and completed activities showing a timeline of various explorers including their contributions to society. Students are currently learning about what life was like in the British colonies. Students are learning how the government was run, how people made a living, how they found, hunted, and grew their own food, and what it was like to be a child during colonial times. Students will complete various activities and projects about colonial life including going to the Bouman Stickney Farm in April before moving into the Revolutionary War unit. Reading and Writing Workshop: In reading and writing, students began the year with nonfiction units. Students researched during reading class and followed it with a research-based argument essay on an issue he/she felt strongly about. Students also wrote nonfiction articles or picture books on topics they knew a lot about. Students are now moving into a fantasy unit.

Science: In science, students have explored the concepts of mixtures and solutions. They created examples by using water, citric acid, baking soda, diatomaceous earth and calcium chloride. We furthered our investigation by saturating solutions and determining whether one solution was more concentrated than another. We wrapped up our unit of study by creating chemical reactions in a bag. Students enjoyed putting their knowledge to work during our field trip to the DaVinci Science Center in October. There they were able to complete hands-on science labs, as well as visiting multiple stations relating to the world of science. Students are currently studying the human body, including the circulatory and respiratory system. They will then be moving on to the digestive and excretory systems.

Math: Students have been busy studying fractions and decimals. They have solved problems using all operations as well as creating their own word problems. Students will begin to investigate algebra and geometry in the spring. In accelerated math, students have pulled apart numbers to look at factors and expressions. In their geometry units, they focused on finding areas of polygons and applying that knowledge to surface area and volume. Students are currently focusing on integers and writing equations and solving inequalities. In honors math, students just completed the unit on percentages and the important real world uses of decimals and percentages. They've been working hard to learn strategies to quickly calculate sales, discounts, tax and tip, without needing to rely on a calculator. Students are currently working on our Statistical Measurements and Data Displays. They will be analyzing what is "typical" of a 5th grader at HBS and using the concepts from this chapter to analyze and represent the data.

Congratulations to Dr. Ann Kane our Teacher of the Year!!

Innovation & Design

The goal of the Innovation and Design class is to promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) learning as well as innovative thinking and creative problem solving. This class is designed to promote a problem-based course of study where students are presented with a problem and work to design a solution for the problem.

This year both fourth and fifth grade classes have actively participated in a variety of themed lessons. Fourth graders have saved our city from the toxic marshmallows, and have designed and produced one of a kind Holland Brook field day t-shirts. They are currently innovating hand products and making prototypes of their innovations.

The fifth grade classes built canoes that were able to hold two Lego guys and safely keep them afloat for 3 minutes. Students creatively designed and built their very own Rube Goldberg Machines. They also programmed ProBot cars and made everyday materials into keystrokes using Makey Makey Boards.

In the upcoming months, students will continue to work together at creatively solving more challenging problems.

Library ________________________________________________________________________

Reminder: Book Fair is the week of March 13th Did you hear about the librarian that twisted her ankle? She slipped in the non-friction section! Ah, librarian humor! To find more amusing jokes and riddles students in the 4th grade have been learning all about the organization of the library. They started with fiction and alphabetizing authors’ last names; never as straightforward as it sounds...what to do if they have two last names or two authors who have the same last name or if an author writes more than one book!?! After learning the answers to those questions students moved onto the Dewey Decimal Classification System and its creator Melvile Dewey.

After a quick review of all things Dewey, 5th grade has delved into the realm of information resources and are finding alternatives to “I’ll just Google it.” Students have been exploring almanacs with a rousing game of Almania, atlas scavenger hunts, and why databases have replaced encyclopedias. Both 4th and 5th grades continue to work on their typing skills using the program “Typing Club”. This program is available on my Holland Brook website, as well as plenty of keyboarding games. Students can log in at home and continue to practice as they wish. BTW: if you are still wondering where to find the jokes and riddles...they are in the 800’s Literature.

Art

The fourth grade Bobcats have been creating some great masterpieces! They just finished up drawing and painting mythical creatures of their choosing. They used metallic watercolor paint, along with tempera paints. I am so proud of the talent these little artists possess. The result was awesome! They are now working on Sugar Skulls. As a class, we do a guided drawing and then I give them a packet of various designs and patterns to fill the inside. They then use sharpie and colored pencils to color them in. It was really neat to see how they went from believing they couldn’t draw them, to actually drawing the skulls with confidence, trial and error and then feeling proud of themselves. I look forward to seeing all of the wonderful finished artwork. The fifth grade Bobcats have been exploring various media and Master Famous Artists. They have learned about Picasso and Abstract Cubism, Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts and Pascal Knapp (Cows on Parade). They have dabbled with tempera paint, watercolors, colored pencils and oil pastels. They are now working on Zentangles, using various intricate designs. They are definitely a very talented group of students! I look forward to creating new and fun artwork in the next couple of weeks!

Music ____________________________________________________________________

Mark your calendars! Please join us for our upcoming concerts! Everyone is welcome. Your student's concert will be in the gym at the time stated below. All materials / lyric sheets / accompaniments to practice with can be found at the HBS website.

5th Grade Concerts: Tuesday, March 28 Mrs. Haberkern, Mrs. Riess, Mrs. Wilk, Mrs. DiGregorio's classes: 12:40 - 1:20 Dr. Kane, Mrs. Rehrig, Mrs. Patterson, and Mrs. Padavano's classes: 1:30 - 2:10 4th Grade Concerts: Thursday, March 30 Mrs. Razza, Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Neuberger, and Mrs. Noonan’s classes: 8:40 - 9:20 Mrs. Vance, Mrs. Winter, Mrs. Krayem, Mrs. Buelow’s classes: 9:25 - 10:05

In addition to preparing for the concerts, the General Music

room has been focusing on rhythmic and melodic reading. Fourth grade has focused on reading syncopated rhythms (syn-co-pa) and dotted quarter note eighth note combinations (tam-ti, ti-tam). They have melodically focused on more advanced treble clef music reading. The students are singing and playing in two part harmony and developing emotional expression while performing. After the upcoming concerts, we will begin a unit on composers, read music in ¾ time, and add fa in solfege. Fifth grade has been rhythmically working on eighth note sixteenth note combinations (ti-tika and tika-ti). They have been continuing to develop reading in the bass clef and the grand staff, with more focus on these after the concert. They have added note names to the rhythmic names and note values of all known notes. Starting in April, fifth grade will have a unit on composers and learn about I IV V chords, as well as continuing to develop knowledge about solfege.

Spanish ________________________________________________________________________

Fourth graders are enthusiastic about creating their "zoo families." We learned how to say different family members, animals, foods, beverages, and action verbs and now are choosing what our interesting "family of animals" like to eat, drink, and do. We are creating a restaurant showcasing our family's meals and a book to show who our family is and likes to do. The book will be completely in Spanish. We will be interviewing classmates about our adorable and ferocious family members....completely in Spanish! Los estudiantes en cuarto grado estan creando "una familia de animales." Aprendimos como describir la familia y lo que le gusta comer, beber, y hacer. Hacemos un restaurante mostrando las comidas de nuestra adorable y feroz familia. Luego vamos a crear un libro en espanol sobre nuestra familia de animales y les vamos a leerlo a nuestros companeros de clase! Fifth graders are learning how to describe the basic rooms and furniture pieces in the house. We will then learn some prepositions to describe where things are located around our house. Look out! A mouse (toy) will soon get loose in the classroom and be hiding under, over, in between, next to, on top of, to the right of, and to the left of our mini pieces of collected doll house furniture. We will be describing these locations completely in Spanish and making an origami house of our own showcasing the rooms and furniture items we are learning. Los estudiantes en quinto grado estan aprendiendo como describir los cuartos y muebles de la casa. Ademas, vamos a aprender las preposiciones como al lado de, a la derecha de, a la izquierda de, entre, debajo de, abajo de, encima de, delante de, y detras de para describir donde estan todos los muebles de la casa. Luego, "un raton" (juguete) va a esconder alrededor los muebles de una casa de munecas y vamos a describir donde esta el raton. Tambien, vamos a crear una casa con papel en el estilo origami para mostrar el vocabulario que hemos aprendido.

Physical Education ________________________________________________________________________

The students of HBS have been working tremendously hard this year in physical education. We have learned skills and concepts of team sports like: soccer, basketball, volleyball, hockey, and team handball. Recently in fourth grade, students learned about the concept of setting long term goals. Students participated in fitness testing and were able to create a goal based on their fitness scores. Each student then took his/her goal and created a “Fit-Folio”, a collection of works based on the Fitness Goal set. Students learned how to set short term goals (benchmarks) to help track their personal progress. The Five Components of Fitness were introduced and students carefully placed their goal in one of the Five Components. Students will complete this project by the end of March. Ask them about their goals and what they are doing in and out of school to work toward reaching their goal. Fifth graders have been working incredibly hard on creating their own Fitness Program. The Five Components of Fitness were reviewed. Students learned the new concepts of Target Heart Rate, and the FITT acronym (Frequency, Intensity, and Time). Each group was responsible for creating a program with 1-2 fitness components and 6 different exercises within the component. The program needed to be creative, fun to do, and able to be taught to the class. A few groups have already presented and taught their programs. They have been nothing short of amazing. Great job to those who have already presented and I look forward to seeing the rest. This spring students will be introduced to sports like golf, tennis, base running games, and field games. We will talk a lot about team strategies and coming up with ways to make their team and personal selves more successful. Students will learn various skills in each unit and will play a variety of games.

From our counselor’s office ________________________________________________________________________

Throughout the school year, I have been conducting classroom lessons with both fourth and fifth graders. The first half of the school year, lessons focused on the Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying law, school policies, and school rules. Students listen to a story regarding bullying, engage in classroom discussion, and role play various bullying situations with positive solutions. Also, conflict resolution is taught during lessons. The focus is to teach students to use "I" statements when resolving conflicts with others. Recently, I did a lesson for fifth grade on alcohol, tobacco, and drugs and healthy life choices.

From the health office ________________________________________________________________________

Did you know that March is Poison Prevention Month?

Each year, between 2 to 4 million actual poisonings occur in the

United States.

Approximately 90% of poisonings occur in the home. Poisoning can

occur at any time of the day or night, but peak hours are generally

between 4PM and 11PM.

On average, poison control centers handle one poison exposure

every 8 seconds.

Most poisoning exposures are unintentional and the majority

occurs in children under the age of six.

Please click on the important information about Poison

Prevention Week Awareness: http://www.njpies.org/ http://www.njpies.org/Public-Education/About-Poisoning/Facts.aspx https://www.poisonhelp.hrsa.gov/uploads/nppw_2011_introduction.pdf Here is some alarming information regarding hand sanitizers and

our students’ age group:

https://medlineplus.gov/news/fullstory_163878.html Here is helpful information on questions regarding poison help:

https://www.poisonhelp.hrsa.gov/faqs/index.html http://www.poison.org/

April April 6: Spirit Day – Twin Dress

Alike

April 7: Early Dismissal 12:15

April 10-17: School Closed Spring

Break

April 18: Classes Resume

April 19: School Store

April 19: Gr 4 Rainforest

Assembly 1:00

April 20 & 21: Gr 4 PARCC Math

April 23-28: H.S.A. Clothing

Drive

April 20-25: Bouman Stickney

Field Trips

April 20 – Riess/Haberkern

April 21 - Padavano/Patterson

April 24 - Rehrig/Kane

April 25 – DiGregorio/Wilk

April 24-26: Gr 4 PARCC LA

April 27: Take Your Child to

Work Day

March March 16: Bobcat BINGO 6:15

March 16: Book Fair Family Night

after Bobcat BINGO

March 20: Cris Johnson Anti-

bullying Assembly

March 21 Spirit Day: Wear

Favorite Sports Team Attire

March 22: School Store

March 23: Math-a-Thon Assembly

March 24: NJ Makers Day

March 28: Grade 5 Music Concerts

Haberkern/Riess/Wilk/DiGregorio

12:40 – 1:20

Kane/Rehrig/Patterson/Padavano

1:30 – 2:10

March 30: Grade 4 Music Concerts

Razza/Johnson/Neuberger/Noonan

8:40 – 9:20

Vance/Winter/Krayem/Buelow

9:30 – 10:10

March 31: Spring Portraits

March 31: Paraprofessional

Appreciation Day

March 31: Mark Cleere Memorial

Basketball Game 6:30 p.m.

Upcoming Events at Holland Brook