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searingtown happenings january 2012 herricks ufsd fifth grade happy new year fifth grade has started 2012 in a whole new light in science students are studying light they are trying to figure out how to bend light create rainbows and shadows in social studies we are working on moving west finishing up the inner workings of the government has led students to wonder how we became the 50 united states in reading as we soar into fantasy students are using critical thinking techniques to help further understanding students are asking themselves what elements make this book a fantasy how are the setting and plot critical to the story to contrast the reading students are writing as we look to february students will be focusing on many different aspects but none more important than kindness the kindness campaign was kicked off this month with an assembly we focused on how our actions can affect others be it in a positive or negative manner we are emphasizing how being a good person has its own benefits the fifth grade is up for the challenge realistic fiction pieces by understanding the difference in the elements of fantasy and realistic fiction students are creating stories with conflict and solutions that could happen in reality [1]

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4th grade the 4th grade students are learning about the features of non-fiction reading and writing in research we have been learning about the big 6 to help us do our future research projects in social studies we have continued to learn about new york s history through the lives of the native americans tribes in our state this month we finished up our science units on crayfish and said goodbye to our little friends we also set our minds to explore the solar system and our very own moon multiplication and division are being explored this month and the students are working on mastering their math facts 3rd grade global adventures have begun in the 3rd grade after learning about the five strands of social the world for the remainder of the year we will be traveling to japan australia and egypt studies and doing a brief exploration of our own country we are studying different countries around in science we are investigating the concepts of buoyancy the children are very excited to find out what causes things to sink or float we are conducting lots of fun and messy experiments in our classes multiplication rules literally the kids are working on mastering their multiplication facts through practice and games ask your children to share a game at home with you in writing we are learning what we are all experts at as we explore non-fiction writing with our all about books the children are learning about the features of non-fiction writing and their work is wicker today and every day we are all learning new skills and enjoying the journey quite impressive thanks to our training from teacher s college and constant support from our mrs [2]

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2nd grade searingtown s second graders had a spectacular start to 2012 during the month of january the students explored place value learned how to add two digit numbers with and without regrouping and continued solving multi-step word problems in math practicing our addition/subtraction facts with a partner and taking oneminute tests each day using the mastering math facts program has been challenging and enjoyable after writing conferencing editing proofreading revising and publishing their realistic fiction stories our author s celebrations were incredible reading nonfiction books during reading workshop and writing persuasive reviews during our writing workshop time has kept us engaged our daily word study fundations lessons continue to be enlightening learning the r-controlled syllable type and using our spelling options really helped us read write and mark the ar or er ir and ur words correctly going on a class trip to the cradle of aviation and the firefighters museum was educational informative and beyond excellent the students learned how instrumental long islanders have been in the development and growth of the aviation industry in the dreams of wings exhibit the children learned about hot air balloon flights in the 18th century experimentation with kites gliders and bi-planes on the hempstead plains in the 19th century and the successful development of the airplane occurred during the early 20th century exhibits depicting various space explorations rockets space shuttles and man s walking on the moon were awesome to see we all learned to follow our dreams and found out that with hard work and determination we can make them come true sharing our family treasures enhanced our social studies unit that celebrates our heritages cultures and traditions studying the life of dr martin luther king jr through poetry and biographies inspired us to follow our own dreams celebrating the chinese/korean new year was fun and delicious ms guercin and mrs mcelroy explained searingtown school s new kindness campaign to all the students during an assembly thanks to our wonderful pta the children were treated to a very entertaining theatre works production called fancy nancy mrs finkelstein our social worker has been teaching the too good for drugs program to all the second graders in the herricks school district some of the concepts that the students have learned and discussed are goal setting decisionmaking to stop and think about consequences how to handle frustration how to give good compliments how to choose a friend and be a friend peer pressure and a message about medicine to top it all off making valentine s day cards and going to the valentines for vets bake sale fundraiser was the icing on the cake [3]

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grade 1 fun activities the first graders at searingtown have continued learning about nonfiction writing the month of january brought a new year filled with many new learning experiences and focusing on the many conventions that are important in nonfiction such as a table of contents a chance to write our own nonfiction how to during our writer s workshop time glossary an index bold words diagrams captions comparisons and photographs we even had the we learned about the lunar new year and some of the traditions that are observed in its honor the first graders also learned about martin luther king jr and how he helped make our students country a better place to live we also celebrated many birthdays and super me star first grade this month has kept us very hard at work with so many new things to learn we look forward to the exciting activities and learning experiences that are yet to come 1st grade [4]

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on january 18th we had visitors from the teddy roosevelt sanctuary they beak and sharp claws called talons which help him catch food we learned that the owl kindergarten were not your ordinary guests is nocturnal which means it at searingtown we stays awake at night so it is welcomed a madagascar cockroach a ball python good that is has big eyes to see better at night we might snake mac the bunny even be lucky enough to see scooter the screech owl and one like scooter in our a harris hawk they live at the sanctuary because they backyards because they live on long island the harris have been hurt and are taken hawk is diurnal which means care of at this safe place that it is awake during the believe it or not we learned that the cockroach helps to keep the environment clean it is from the island of madagascar off the african coast and this one was about 2 inches long we were able to get a close look at this insect because it is wingless and could not fly away we listened closely to hear the hissing sound it makes to protect itself from its predators the snake is called ball python because when frightened it coils around its head and into a ball a lot of oohs and aahs were heard when the bunny was brought out of his crate mac was white fluffy and so cute the owl has a curved day and it hunts for small animals like birds lizards and large insects this hawk has lived at the sanctuary for many years we had fun time learning about the different kinds of wildlife that are taken care of at this safe haven many of us hope to take a trip sometime with our families to this bird and wildlife sanctuary in oyster bay many thanks go out to the pta for bringing this wonderful presentation to the kindergarten children [5]

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reminder be sure to stop in and see the work of nathan sawaya lego artist at at nassau county art museum through march 18th art studio news from the art studio searingtown s annual art show at shelter rock library is on now through february 14th be ready for a real treat when you visit the shelter rock library children s room over 100 searingtown artists are showing their work in brilliant colors and 5 on display all around the room you will see graphite self dynamic black and white designs you will see work from grades 1 portraits designs for stained glass windows notan designs positive negative space collage portraits oil pastel landscapes crayon watercolor resists of swirling fall leaves and brilliant paintings of patterns while you are there ask the friendly head school there long ago children s librarian what searingtown was like when she went to [6]

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library 2nd graders work on their pet research using books and nooks nook news our 25 nookcolors arrived last week below teresa reid from barnes noble delivers the nooks to librarian karen kliegman both 1st and 2nd grades were introduced to super 3 a beginning research method 2nd grade has been working on their pet research while 1st grade researched dinosaurs both grades used our online database pebblego a great resource that offers nonfiction ebooks to our younger students 4th 5th grade research 4th grade has just begun their research project on the regions of nys while 5th grade is finishing up their internet safety public service announcements using a great web 2.0 tool called knovio using a webcam students were videoed narrating their powerpoints both 4th 5th graders have also created private electronic portfolios using google sites part of our google apps for education suite.

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