September/October 2017

September - October 2017

Hilltop artists are quickly back into the swing of things in the artroom!  They spent the first month of school not only (re)acquainting themselves with the art room but also actively working on a couple of big projects.

Display My Art -- This is the annual HSA fundraiser project that the students get involved in as their first art learning experience of the year.  Kindergarteners overlap; first graders share their favorite scenes; second graders practice line design in their traced hands; third graders emphasize; and fourth graders share what they enjoy -- dessert!  Look out for more information to come from the HSA regarding this fundraiser!

Rock Painting -- As a part of character education and Hilltop Rocks Day, every student came to the art room and painted a rock that will make up a beautiful rock garden in front of the school. All of the students unleashed their creativity and uniqueness evidenced by these colorful rocks.  A huge thanks to volunteers and teachers who made this day possible!  

Technology: 3rd graders have been learning about their new Google Drive, how it can enhance their learning experiences, and how a great digital citizen uses their drive in respectful, constructive and productive ways to enhance their learning. Each student was given a Google License, and now has full permission to use their drive at home and in school.  Both 3rd and 4th graders have been working on a collaborative Google Drive project. Both 3rd and 4th graders are now active OPAC users. Ask your child what the acronym OPAC stands for, and how it can help learners locate and explore literary resources.  

Hilltop Library 2017-18 Reading Initiative …. RECOMMEND A BOOK IN SIXTY SECONDS! Throughout the school year 2^nd-4^th graders are encouraged to share book a recommendation on Mrs. LeMay’s FLIPGRID page.  Using Flipgrid for this initiative will allow students to engage in conversations about books, promote literacy, and amplify student voice!  3^rd and 4^th grade students can access this password protected grid in their Google Drive by going to Mrs. LeMay’s Google Classroom. 2^nd graders will be given a copy of the code in order to access the grid. Students can post these book reviews during a specified time in library/technology class using the Video Production station in the technology lab, or they can post from home.

Library book circulation has begun!  Students will be given the opportunity to check out books during their regularly scheduled library class as follows:

Class	Day
K Pirozzi	1
K Rogers	1
1 Gertler	1
1 Del Grande	2
1 Abreu/Freitag	2
2 Cohen	2
2 Epitropakis	2
2 Young	1
3 Crist	3
3 Eagan	2
3 Tucker	1
4 Lau	1
4 McGoldrick	1
4 Stolten	3

Click HERE for the link to the Hilltop School calendar reflecting the assigned days of our 4 day related arts rotation. SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE TO VIEW THE CALENDAR.

Online Resources are at your child’s fingertips! Brain Pop, Encyclopedia Brittanica, PebbleGO, and more, are available to you through the Mendham Borough School subscriptions.  These resources are funded through our district, and are available to your children in school and at home!  For quick hyperlink access to all of our online subscriptions, go to the Hilltop Library Media Center webpage and click on the “Subscription Online Resources” link on the left side of your screen. Username and password information was distributed to all families at back to school night, and 3^rd and 4^th graders have access to a GOOGLE SITE within their Google Drive. Questions?? eMail Mrs. LeMay at lemay@mendhamboroschools.org.

Library Information Literacy: Our K-4th grade students have begun exploring and checking out literature.  In addition to our focus on our school-wide character pillar, RESPECT, we are diving into literature. In Kindergarten we are reading and singing along with Pete the Cat. 1st Graders are exploring the Clyde the Bunny books, and reflecting on the beginning, middle, and end of a story, as well as character, setting, genre, problem and solution.  Our 2nd Graders are learning about Tall Tales, the 398.2 Dewey section, and of course, the use of exaggeration in many Tall Tales.

We look forward to exploring and experiencing wonderful literature throughout the 2017-2018 year!

Physical Education:   The start to a new Fitness year.  Your children will be setting Goals for themselves.  How many more sit - ups can they do in December than they did in September?, learn more about soccer this year than last year, and many more personal goals.  

We begin the year reviewing  the rules of the gym, and then off we go!  The Hilltoppers will be focusing on the basic skills of soccer, using their eyes and foot to get the ball where it needs to go.   They will see what shape their body is in by doing a Sit up test for 1 min, a shuttle run, a ¼ mile,½ mile and the 1 mile jog and using a sit and stretch machine that measures flexibility.  

Ask them about some of the fun games they played at the beginning of the year.  Most of them were games they enjoyed from last year.   Looking forward to a fun filled year with lots of great fitness activities.      

Music:

Kindergarteners: Ask a kindergarten about “Ralph, the Mouse” who sings with us every lesson, and “Bananas” who moves with us in every lesson. We sing familiar songs together with the “Secret Song Bag” (many thanks to another music colleague for this idea). K students learn new songs for future skills development and the correct names and age-appropriate techniques on classroom instruments -- ask them about “Jingle Bear” (again, thanks to another music colleague for this idea!). We end each lesson with a musical story. Some musical stories K students have heard are If You’re Happy and You Know It by Jane Cabrera and Over in the Meadow by Jane Cabrera.

First graders have been demonstrating their understanding of tempo through Italian terms - allegro, moderato, adagio) and dynamics through Italian terms - forte, mezzo forte, piano.

Second graders have reviewed rhythm symbols and 4-beat rhythm patterns from last year. They have learned new songs with games for future skill development: Tinker, Tailor and Here We Sit.

Third graders have played “Use Your (Pool) Noodle” to review rhythms and music symbols from last year and “Poison Pattern” to review melodic patterns from last year.

Fourth graders have reviewed their B A G recorder skills and begun Recorder Karate to develop their staff reading/notation skills. Next, they will study common time signatures.

May

Kindergarten has been working on reading patterns long lines and short dots as a start to reading rhythm patterns and are performing locomotor movement to match the mood/meter/feeling of various music selections.  They continue to play a variety of small percussion instruments.

First Grade is identifying aesthetic qualities and musical elements to selections from Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saens.

Second Grade is identifying aesthetic qualities and musical elements as they listen to each character’s theme in Peter and The Wolf by Sergei Prokofiev.

Third Grade is playing songs with E and G and BAG E on their recorders.  They will hear a mini-concert by the fourth graders pm Tuesday, May 23, 107,to help them decide whether they would like to study a band or orchestra instrument next year.  A letter will go home to explain the Fourth Grade Instrumental Program after the mini-concert, and parents/guardians can fill out an on-line sign-up form that will be sent out from Mrs. Kanefke via e-mail between May 24 and May 26.

Fourth Grade is reading and playing songs on the recorder with the pitches low D, E, F#, G, A, B, and high C.  They will earn their purple belts this month in Recorder Karate.  They are preparing a song called Music in Our School to share at the Fourth Grade Talent Show on Thursday, June 8, 2017 at 8:45 a.m. in the gym.

In May, the children of Hilltop school were working to increase their scores.  In October they did their Presidential Physical Fitness testing.  Sit ups, Shuttle run, Mile run, and sit and reach. The 3rd graders did Disco Bowling.  The lights were turned down. The disco music was being played. For the other classes, they learned what it was like to bowl with different types of bowling balls.  Small, medium and large. The smiles on their face were priceless.

Hundreds of Hilltop Readers are READING WITHOUT WALLS  @ the Hilltop Library!. This challenge is led by National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature and MacArthur “Genius” Fellow, Gene Luen Yang and was designed to expand the range of books that children read.

In addition to reading without walls, students in grades 2-4 have been sharing what they have read on our new Reading Without Walls Padlet. Have you recently read without walls? If so, please feel free to post your book and comments on our Padlet by clicking HERE. For more information about the program and our National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, Gene Luen Yang, go to Reading Without Walls @ Hilltop Library. Questions?? email lemay@mendhamboroschools.org

The Reading Without Walls Challenge

4th Graders are App-Smashing @ the Hilltop Library Media Center!

The term App Smash was coined by Tech Teacher,  Greg Kulowiec.  An App Smash is when content created in one application is transferred to and enhanced by a second application (or more).

Why are we App Smashing?

• It demands creative thinking
• It demands more from the technology - let’s use applications to their maximum potential!
• It often results in more engaging learning products
• It is a fun challenge for digital learners!

So, what did 4th graders App Smash? 4th graders learned about and wrote Haiku and Cinquain poetry. Students published their poetry using the PADLET application.  From there they recorded their poetry using the VOCAROO application. Lastly they searched and identified a creative commons and copyright friendly image from BING images.

Padlet + Vocaroo + Bing Images = App Smashing Poetry Products!

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT OUR POETRY PADLET

Some dates to remember….

May 19th - last day to check out books (exceptions will be made for research, classroom projects, etc.)

May 26th - All library books due back to the Hilltop Library Media Center

June 12, 13, 14 - Annual School Wide Summertime Book Swap.  Details regarding participation coming soon!

This spring has been sprinkled with flowers, famous artists and Mother’s Day in art.

Kindergarten has been making collages, painting spring flowers and making a pot of flowers.  All of these learning experiences not only explore different media but also help the young students to open their eyes to nature and appreciate their surroundings.  

I hope that the first grade moms have appreciated the mother’s portraits.  Inspired by Modigliani and his simple yet elegant style, the first graders have reflected on their own mothers when they painted these paintings.  Their thoughtful hearts and efforts have surely shined through their artworks!

Second grade have finished learning about all the different elements of art. Now they are learning to make creative, beautiful artworks combining those art elements.  We started out with exploring one of the most beautiful(and famous) artworks in the world, Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night.  They’ve also delved into different media this spring:  manipulating tissue paper to make a giant flower for moms, and making a treasure pot using pinching and coiling method.

Third grade are applying several elements and principles of art to their artmaking.  The weaving in the round project of using the round loom exhibits patterns, repetition and texture.   They have also been learning to draw using lines and shapes to show shading and texture, giving the illusion of three dimensionality.  

Fourth grade have been finishing up the last part of Hilltop art with sculpture unit.  They have learned that sculpture, as in any work of art, can communicate ideas and feelings.  That is what they’ve been trying to do with their “foil man” and clay bottle people.

April '17

Music:

Kindergarteners have been learning about pitch: high, middle, low, going higher, and going lower. They have added glockenspiels and xylophones to their instrument repertoire.

1st Graders have learned how to read traditional rhythmic notation and can read, write, and identify quarter notes, eighth notes, and quarter rests.

2nd Graders have learned how to read, write, and perform 3-pitch songs using solfege (do re mi, etc.) from traditional melodic notation on the treble clef staff.

3rd Graders have been learning recorder basics and reading and performing B A G songs from notation on the treble clef staff.

4th Graders earned green belts in Recorder Karate for reading and performing songs in treble clef notation with low and high D, G A B, and C. Sign-ups for the 4th Grade Talent Show are due Monday, April 24, 2017. For more talent show information, visit this link: 4th Grade Talent Show Information 2017.

Physical Education:

April, what a fun month, especially for those 3rd graders.  It is DISCO bowling time The children will be keeping score and bowling in the gym with the lights down low and many disco balls spinning with color. The 4th graders will be doing a bowling tournament.  The younger grades will learn that it is not always the biggest ball that knocks down the most pins.  It could be rolling a football that does it W H A T????  Ask your first or second grader to tell you what Mrs. Morales Means. They have enjoyed this month’s unit on Bowling. As the warmer weather approaches so does the next unit: Look here for May's Physical Education Blog.

Connecting LITERACY and STEM @ the LIBRARY!

Kindergarteners participated in Story Time From Space,

a program made possible by The Global Space Education Foundation. Students heard astronaut Kate Rubins read Rosie Revere, Engineer while she was in space!  We discussed STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, as well as the power of perseverance and resilience. Check out more stories from space with your children at http://storytimefromspace.com/library/. For additional titles in Andrea Beaty’s wonderful STEM related series, check out these books from the Hilltop Library!

Hilltop Library Media Center Celebrates National Poetry Month!

Students in grades K-4 have been reading, writing, sharing and celebrating poetry @ the Hilltop Library. In addition to hand written poetry and digitally publishing poetry using presentation software, we have modified the publication process by  publishing, sharing and collaborating using PADLET. Padlet is a virtual wall that allows learners to share and express themselves on a common topic easily. Check out The Hilltop Library Cinquain and Haiku Padlet by clicking here, or click on the Padlet link at the upper right corner of the Hilltop Library Website. We have also explored figurative language through poetry and music!  Students used figurative language and tagged (identified) it appropriately with #simile, #metaphor, #alliteration and #onomatopoeia!  Lastly, please continue to add to our DIGITAL POETRY PARTY on Flipgrid this month! Details and instructions were sent via email at the beginning of April. Questions...email lemay@mendhamboroschools.org

Some dates to remember….

May 19th - last day to check out books (exceptions will be made for research, classroom projects, etc.)

May 26th - All library books due back to the Hilltop Library Media Center

June 12, 13, 14 - Annual School Wide Summertime Book Swap.  Details regarding participation coming soon!