I. CURRICULUM & INSTRUCTION Doyle School Principal’s Notes- Mr. Albro • Principal’s review of staff collection of writing/math portfolios-100% compliance (attached) • Continued to conduct interviews/demonstration lessons/screening of substitute staff candidates • Conducted interview for proposed part day session Pre K • Held 504 Plan Meetings • Conducted individual parent conferences • Second/Third Round/Summative Teacher Observations/Evaluations • NJ ASK Grade 3 Regular and Make Up testing completed • PARCC Field Testing Completed • Grade Level PLC’s conducted weekly along with Team Leader meetings • Principal’s meeting with CST Case Managers weekly o 14-15 planning o Individual student discussions o RTI Pre K Inclusion Program- Ms. DiMauro This month we celebrated Mother’s Day by hosting a Mother’s Day Tea. The children planted flowers for their mothers and practiced a special song for them. The mothers loved coming in for that special day. We also planted flowers outside of our classroom and talked about how to take care of flowers. We watered them each day and watched them grow. We also completed our alphabet study this month by learning letters w, x, y, and z. We completed letter crafts and activities each week for those letters. To practice self-regulation, we learned new partner freeze dance moves to add to our current poses. The children had fun finding a partner and doing those poses during Freeze Dance. We have been working hard preparing for our end of the year Graduation/Celebration Ceremony that will take place the last week of school. The children have been working on two songs. They also will be sharing a “What I want to be when I grow up” poster during the ceremony. They can’t wait! Kindergarten- Mrs. Carnevale In order to prepare for our reading of Lions at Lunchtime, my students listened to and discussed power point presentations about the African savannah, life in the Serengeti for the Maasai and animal adaptations in the savannah. They wrote great summaries about interesting facts they learned and any connections they made. Now, students are making inferences and predictions about Jack and Annie in Lions at Lunchtime. It’s so exciting to try to figure out the third riddle! Students continue to work on essential reading and writing skills in teams and with buddies during learning centers. It’s amazing to see how independent and self-reliant the class has become since September! They have no problem working cooperatively in centers, utilizing resources around them and solving problems in productive ways. They will have no problem transitioning into first grade. I’m so proud of them! Individual reading levels have soared and I’m thrilled that my entire class has learned how to read! Their motivation is inspiring and I’m hopeful that reading will continue over the summer. Page 1 of 50 My students really look forward to math centers every day. In the counting games center, I added a new activity: Tally Tables. Here, students survey friends and tally their responses about various topics… they love this one! Another new and popular center involves Mystery Questions - students work with their team to answer various questions about three dimensional shapes, patterns, numbers and categories. I’ve “upped the challenge” with the I Have Who Has game…. students now solve simple addition problems to keep the game going. It’s so hard to believe that our school year is almost at an end. The class is looking forward to our trip to the farm, field day and end of the year party! It was my pleasure to watch my kindergartners grow in so many ways and I’m so proud of each and every one. They will be greatly missed and never forgotten. Kindergarten- Mrs. Hahn In May, the Kindergartners visited the African Serengeti. Jack and Annie took them on yet another exciting adventure. The children learned all about savanna animals, the habitat and people who live there. In Reading, the students continue to read in their independent reading groups. They are implementing the various reading strategies to help expand their decoding skills. In Writing, the students have been working on creating bigger sentences with more detail. They learned how to revise their work and to peer edit. The students have been very helpful to one another by providing their buddy with great feedback. In Math, the students are learning how to sort objects based on various attributes. We've been sorting all sorts of the things in the classroom. Kindergarten- Mrs. DePalma This is my very last newsletter. It has been a pleasure to teach in such a wonderful district. I have seen many of my students grow up and come back to visit me. Living in town does have its perks. I run into students and their families all the time. So I get to hear what is going on and how they are doing. As for my class, this year I have seen them grow academically, emotionally and socially. I have come to know their parents and grandparents. I have seen the support that is given to my students, have listened to parents concerns, and have given advice on how to help their children organize their work and grow academically. This past month we had our Mother’s Day tea which is always very emotional for the parents. They know this is the end of kindergarten and their child will be moving on to first grade. From now on, the years will fly. We also did some planting, signed a song, sang music, and had our silhouettes made for our Mother’s Day tea. We completed our Jack and Annie Book, “Ghost Town at Sundown,” and this week we will be finishing our last Jack and Annie book, “Lions at Lunchtime.” The children have been writing sentences and using vocabulary well above their age level. Their past test scores showed how much they have improved this year. In math we have completed adding and subtracting and have been working on measuring. We will complete that unit this week. My students are looking forward to field day and their last kindergarten trip. My wish for them is to have a wonderful, healthy, restful, enriching, and safe summer and to return in September full of wonder for the first grade teachers. Page 2 of 50 Kindergarten- Mrs. Pagliocca It is hard to believe that June is here. I have enjoyed watching and helping my kindergarten class grow socially, emotionally and academically for first grade. Each year I find myself thinking that the most rewarding part of my job is to see what the children are able to do when they enter kindergarten and how much they can do at the end. It gives me such pleasure knowing I was a part of their early years of learning. Speech Therapist- Ms. Allen • (2) ESLS Planning Meetings at CED • (2) ESLS Initial Evaluation, Eligibility/IEP meeting completed • (2) ESLS Annual Reviews completed • CST Preschool planning meeting • (2)CST Preschool eligibility meetings • CST Amendment meeting • CST Eligibility/IEP meeting completed • CST Annual Reviews completed • Continued speech instruction for all students working toward complete carryover of accurate sound productions and/or improvement of language goals • Attended outside PD “Successfully Using IPad Apps and Other Crea8ve Ideas in Speech and Language Therapy” Speech Therapist- Mrs. Feinberg • Classroom instruction continues daily working toward complete carryover of accurate sound productions • (2) Initial IEP meetings with parent and teacher (1) in grade 1 and (1) in kindergarten • (3) Annual Reviews conducted with teacher and parent (grade 3, grade 1, kindergarten) • (2) CST eligibility meetings (1st and 2nd grade) • Declassification meeting for (1) second grade student • Evaluation of 1st Grader • Observation of 1st Grader • Served as a judge of Wood-Ridge Memorial Foundation Scholarship applications • Received 2014 Wood-Ridge Memorial Foundation Award Grade 1- Ms. Zielinski During reading, the students continue to use our book bins and independent reading periods to strengthen their individual reading levels. My students are rising to challenges and having fun while they are doing it! We have been working on comparing and contrasting characters within books and identifying characteristics that can make things similar and different. The students have really grown as independent readers and are applying word decoding strategies when coming upon tricky words. This has helped them grow as independent readers and achieve their reading goals in the classroom! In math, the students have had a blast working with plane shapes and geometrical solids. They have leaned ways to identify, sort, and classify these figures. They have also done a lot of hands on work with these shapes, exploring how they can be used to make various other shapes. The students have learned how to identify their vertices as well as their flat sides. Page 3 of 50 In writing, the students have loved working on our creative writing unit. Their favorite thus far has been squiggle writing, in which they take a squiggle, turn it into a picture, and then write a story about their picture with a beginning, middle, and ending. The students have really been doing an excellent job using their imaginations and letting their creative juices flow, all while still applying all of the writing elements learned throughout the year. They have also learned how to peer review with one another, reviewing each other’s work and revising. Grade 1- Mrs. Jupinka Literacy Block: Recently, our themes have been revolved around “Special Friends”. The children continue to be immersed in their independent reading bags. Our spelling patterns, as well as Red Words are becoming more challenging! Math: Our focus has been on Geometry.