I. CURRICULUM & INSTRUCTION Doyle School Pre K Age 4 Full Day Inclusion- Mrs. Rightmyer/ Ms. Molta The month of April has been extremely fun and exciting in our classroom. Our theme of the month was Travel Theme. Our classroom transformed into all different places that the students could travel to. We had a Travel Agency that was filled with handmade brochures and maps. There was a computer and a telephone there for the kids to talk to their customers and book trips including flights, hotels and activities. There was also a spot for them to make their customer’s passports. We had an airport that was extremely fun to play in! They made their own suitcases and passports which were waiting at the door of the airport if they went to that center. The children, of course, had to scan their bags through the x-ray scanner before they could get onto the plane. Also, the children had a great time acting as a pilot, a copilot, a flight attendant, and a passenger. Another one of our centers was a camping ground which was so much fun! The students could camp out in the tents, use binoculars to go birdwatching, roast marshmallows in the fire, or even go fishing in the lake! They also could have traveled to the Beach, Disney World, and NYC! This month we also had a lot of fun walking to the park. The children always have a blast! The children are really becoming independent with swinging on the swings and climbing on the rock wall! They especially love the ice pops that they get when we return to school. Superintendent’s Monthly Report April 2016 1 We learned so much when we celebrated Earth Day. The student’s loved doing different things to help keep our earth clean. We planted flowers and watched them grow with our science eyes. We also took the students on several “nature walks” where we used our science eyes to explore different parts of nature such as birds, grass, bugs, butterflies, and trees. Our sight-word of the month was “for.” The students enjoyed reading through books and searching for all of the sight-words that they have learned so far. Overall, it was a great month! Pre K Full Day Self Contained- Ms. Albonico Since the weather has been so nice lately, we have taken many nature walks and walking field trips to the park. The students are enjoying the weather and are having so much fun playing outside. They are using their gross motor skills to play, climb, and run. Superintendent’s Monthly Report April 2016 2 We celebrated Earth day. To celebrate Earth Day, we use recycled water bottles to make volcanoes with baking soda, dish detergent, and vinegar. The students had so much fun watching them erupt. Each student got a chance to make his or her own volcano! Superintendent’s Monthly Report April 2016 3 We also learned about the life cycle of a butterfly: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, and butterfly. In our classroom, the caterpillars are currently in the chrysalis stage. We are anxiously waiting for them to turn into butterflies. All the students are so excited! We planted a seed into little pots. We have been watering them and monitoring their growth. The students learned what plants need to survive: sunlight, water, soil, and air. Pre K Age 4 Full Day- Ms. Pollaro We had a lot going on in April! We did a school theme this month! We turned every center in our class into a different part of the school! We had our own Art Room, Music Room, Cafeteria, Library, Nurse’s Office, and Classroom. It was so much fun pretending to be different teachers! We learned letters V, W, and X, and completed crafts that associated with those letters. We also continued our Scientist of the Week! Two students showed the class some really cool science experiments! We were able to go down to the Kindergarten class and read with them for book buddies! We even asked them some questions about Kindergarten. One of my favorite things about April, was that we all created calendars to keep track of the “April Showers”. It was really fun to see what kind of symbol we were going to give the day. We also created a classroom garden, and have been learning all about plants. Superintendent’s Monthly Report April 2016 4 Pre K Age 3 PM Session- Ms. Nolan During the month of April we reviewed letters V, W, X,and Y. The students took part in activities that incorporated these letters and our new season, spring. The children were able to make turtles, vases, flowers, and umbrellas. In class we went over the saying “April showers bring May flowers,” and we planted flowers for our garden and for our moms. Students are taking care of their plants by watering them and making sure they have enough sunlight. In April we celebrated Earth day, talking about what we can do to keep our planet clean. The children came up with ideas to keep our school and neighborhood sanitary such as recycling. To Superintendent’s Monthly Report April 2016 5 continue with the spring theme, we have been watching the life cycle of caterpillars in our classroom. We observed the caterpillars growing every day and made sure they had food to live. We were able to change the themes of our classroom centers during April. Our new centers include all parts of our school. We have incorporated the gymnasium, nurse’s office, library, cafeteria, classroom, and music room into our centers. The children are taking on teacher roles very easily. During W week the students became chefs and made waffles. The children were very excited that they had the chance to measure, mix, and eat something they created. Kindergarten- Mrs. DePalma During the month of April, we have expanded our reading skills. We have been working on blends, ending sounds, and context clues. Along with our reading, we have become much better writers. Not only are we writing two and three sentences, we are also making our own books. In math, we have just finished working on various shapes including spheres, cones, cubes, and cylinders. We enjoyed finding many of these shapes with our teams in the classroom. As we approach the end of the school year, our journey so far has been great! Kindergarten- Ms. Goodlin We have been focusing on many topics in class. For morning work we fill out our center charts with pictures and words of what are job is to do at each center. In Reading and Writing class we have been reading, writing and acting out Magic Tree House stories for Dolphins at Daybreak. We have learned a lot of background knowledge on these topics through Power Points provided from the Tools of the Mind program. Our Math topics have been sorting shapes and objects by color and size. Our Science topics have been comparing and contrasting different sea levels and the creatures that live in them and used BrainpopJr to learn about fish and What is a Food Chain. In Social Studies we focused on our community and the buildings/types of land around it. For Spanish, we continue to use Rosetta Stone in whole class instruction to match Spanish phrases to their appropriate pictures. Finally in Health class, we have been focusing on topics on BrainpopJr about What Are Allergies and Why Exercise is Important to our Bodies. For the last two weeks in class we have been practicing physical activities such as yoga and active exercise in class. Kindergarten- Mrs. Pagliocca/Mrs. Nass The children have been very busy getting ready for our Mother’s Day Tea on Friday, May 6. They made a book, All about Mom, planted flowers and painted beautiful picture frames. We have prepared songs to sing, that will definitely make them smile or maybe cry tears of happiness. The Wood-Ridge Education Association is sponsoring the treats for our tea. It will be an afternoon filled with much love for our wonderful moms. Jack and Annie are on an adventure to the Wild West. The children are learning about living in the Wild West. We created our own camp fire out of colored paper and sang cowboy songs. Superintendent’s Monthly Report April 2016 6 Look at us having fun at it. The children also are learning about horses and living in a time without many of the luxuries we have today. They made books about what they would do if they were a cowboy or a cowgirl too. May is going to be an exciting time for us. We have a class trip to the Green Meadows Farm. What a great hands on experience it will be. Speech Therapist- Ms. Allen We continue to work hard during speech class in our small group/ individual speech therapy sessions. Speech instruction for all students is working toward complete carryover of accurate sound productions and/or improvement of language goals. Therapy sessions are individualized to each child’s needs, and technology of the iPad is being incorporated into therapy sessions as appropriate. Speech- Ms. Rustad All students continued to work hard in their small group/individual therapy sessions, throughout the month of April. This month, at WRIS, we completed a bulletin board project using speech goals for each student. Each student used their speech goals to decorate two hand prints. The hand prints were then placed together to make a flower. The students were very creative and made each one of their hand prints unique.