October, 2015

Kindergarteners have learned some “magical” skills through art.  They have learned to overlap things to create an illusion of space.  They have learned to cut on a fold to make a whole shape while drawing only a half the shape.  They have learned to mix colors to highlight and shade in painting.  Really, what they are exercising is the fine motor skills and getting accustomed to the procedures in the art room.  We are having a blast!

First graders have explored, experienced, and identified a variety of musical elements in the first marking period. They understand when music has a steady beat or does not have a steady beat.  They have identified tempo (speed of music) in Italian terms: adagio, moderato, allegro and dynamics (volume of music) in Italian terms: piano, mezzoforte, and forte.  They should understand the difference between pitch (highness/lowness of a tone) and dynamics/volume (how loud or quiet sound is).  They will continue to explore and understand pitch vocally and on pitched percussion instruments (xylophones).  First graders have also played plenty of non-pitched percussion instruments: triangles, sandblocks, drums, tambourines, maracas, woodblocks, cymbals, clatterpillars, whistle tubes, and thundertubes.  They are developing the ability to hold various mallets correctly in order to play xylophones and glockenspiels.  We’ve used our instruments to highlight text in songs/poems and to learn how to follow the conductor’s cues.  In case you don’t know what a clatterpillar or thundertube look like, here are pictures:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ThunderTub

  http://toysdiscovery.com/Products?category=49

For a free on-line game high/low pitch:

https://www.musick8kids.com/html/musicgame.php

For a game about steady beat sound/no steady beat sounds:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/schools/4_11/music/mm/sound01.shtml

It’s October,time to see what kind of shape we are all in.  The children in grades 1st thru 4th will be evaluated in the following area’s: 1 mile run (24 laps in the gym) for 4th and 3rd graders, ½ mile 3 laps around the big field outside,for 2 graders, and for 1st grade, two laps on the big field.  The children are timed and the time is recorded.   

All grades do a shuttle run, sit-ups for 1 minute, and a sit and reach to test their flexibility.  These area’s will be revisited in May at this time their should be some improvement. We will also be enjoying some Happy Halloween activities.      

Fourth Graders have been exploring and learning about important reference books, including the thesaurus and the dictionary. We learned about Noah Webster and the first American dictionary, and Peter Roget and his thesaurus. Students practiced using these resources both online and in print.

Third and Fourth graders have begun keyboarding practice, and will spend 2-3 classes practicing the correct technique.  Students will then be encouraged to apply this technique to all computer activities and homework that is completed in school and at home, and are strongly encouraged to complete 30 minutes of weekly home keyboard practice.

Students in grades K-1 are having fun learning and talking about “Colores!” or Colors. First graders even completed a fun survey with their classmates to find out if they liked certain colors or not. Can your child tell you some colors they like (Me gusta!) or don’t like (No me gusta!)? Second graders have also been surveying their “amigos” to find out their Spanish name, age and birthday month! Can your child do the monthly macarena for you or tell you how old they are? Third and fourth graders are learning adjectives to describe themselves… and fourth graders are learning how to describe their friends as well! We are doing a lot of acting out and moving around to learn the new vocabulary. Can your child tell you about themselves using adjectives (Yo soy…/No soy...)? Please be sure to check the Spanish website for ways you can practice together at home! Gracias :)

September, 2015

Second graders have gotten right back into the groove in Spanish class! We started off the year with fun chants and songs to practice greetings and introductions, as well as activities that help students get to know one another better… while speaking in Spanish! In class, students have an “exercise spot” where we sing songs such as the “Macarena” while singing the months in Spanish, stretch different body parts and exercise while we count from 1-20. A class favorite is also “Simon Dice!” or Simon Says! in Spanish. Please encourage your child to share what they are learning in class and practice with you at home! Can they introduce themselves to you and ask you how you are feeling? Can they tell you something they like or dislike? If they need extra practice, they can visit the Hilltop Spanish website and go onto Quizlet, where they can listen to the vocabulary and practice through games and type as they listen to the words. Thank you for your support!

Art:  Our Hilltop artists are blasting off the year with their first art projects!   Kindergarteners are work on Picasso’s Posies; first graders are making is a summer scene;  second graders are zooming in their flower pictures to make it Georgia O’Keeffe-esque; third graders are working on a picture using emphasis; and fourth graders are creating their own scrumptious dessert pictures, inspired by Wayne Thiebaud.  This first project is actually for Display My Art, an HSA fundraiser.  So look out for the upcoming brochure that explains how you can order your child’s artwork to be printed!  

It has been fun getting to know our new Kindergartners! We’ve been busy singing, playing instruments, and moving to music.  Ask them about our puppet mouse “Ralph” who likes to sing and our puppet monkey “Bananas” who likes to move.  We begin each class with a vocal warm-up with fun props (like a slide whistle).  We use props to get the students discovering/exploring all their vocal pitches from high to low and to develop their singing voices.  Students participate in a “Secret Song Bag” activity (thanks to a colleague of mine - who is a fantastic music teacher in Kinnelon - for this) where students take turns picking objects from a bag and guess what well-known song goes with each object.  They love to see what comes out of the bag and sing the songs that they guess.  In the instrument arena,  we’ve played drums, maracas, jingle bells, and woodblocks.  More to play yet!   We break up the singing and instrument playing with lots of movement experiences like Shake Your Sillies Out and even some fun music movement videos from Go Noodle.  Lastly, when we have time, we share a “singable” story book at the end of class.  So far, we’ve read/sung There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly, If You’re Happy and You Know It, and Over in the Meadow.  Books are available on Amazon and also can be requested through public libraries.  Photos below from www.amazon.com.

                                     

Kindergarten “singable” story books.

WOW!!, September is moving right along.  Your children have been moving right with it.   They are learning new exercises to do in the class.  Throughout the year each child will have the opportunity to be the “ Gym Helper”. The gym helper will lead the class in exercises, and be able to help Mrs. Morales Model certain skills and movement that may need to be shown in class.  

We are going to be sharpening up our Soccer skills, which really means they will be focusing on Eye-foot coordination.

In Kindergarten, we are focusing on Space awareness, body control and what the words STOP and FREEZE  look like.

If you haven’t seen or heard about the take your parent for a walk program, ask your son or daughter, it could win them a fun token that they can hook onto their shoe lace or backpack.   

     

From the Hilltop Library Media Center...
Welcome Back!  3rd graders have been learning about their new Google Drive, how it can enhance their learning experiences, and what it looks like to respect their drive as well as their classmates’ drives. Each student was given a Google License, and now have 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, sharing safe and productive ways we can use our Google Drive.  Our K-4th grade students have begun checking out books.  In Kindergarten we are reading and singing along with Pete the Cat. First 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 Second Graders are learning about Tall Tales, the 398.2 Dewey section and of course, the use of exaggeration in Tall Tales. Third and Fourth Graders have learned all about Melvil Dewey, the Dewey Decimal System, and using OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog) to locate the books they are searching for. We are looking forward to exploring and experiencing wonderful literature throughout the 2015-2016 year!

We had a fabuloso time in Spanish class this year! Please be sure to review and practice the language with your child this summer, as it is very easy to forget different skills learned over the long summer months!

                     Some ways to practice together are counting in Spanish, playing games such as “Simon Dice/Simon Says,” singing songs and acting things out- such as feelings, animals and family members, as we did in class. If you are at the beach, can they find something rojo or azul? Also, have your child try ordering food at a Spanish restaurant… or simply ask them to share about their interests in Spanish at the dinner table! Another fun thing to do is read bilingual books or watch a favorite movie in Spanish together, with English subtitles. Many DVDs come with this feature!

                   Students that bring in work they have done over the summer or have a note from a parent telling me specific ways they reviewed will receive special recognition in septiembre. Quizlet, found on the Spanish website, is a great way to practice topics we learned about this year or that they will learn about next year!

                    Thank you for all of your support this year! ¡Feliz verano!

Second graders have mastered their elements of art this year.  During this month, they have created a clay relief of an animal incorporating all the elements of art, proving their development.  I can not wait to have them next year to start on learning experiences on the principles of design.  Hope they are continuously inspired by nature and experiences this summer to create more beautiful art!  All they need is a pencil and a paper.  Enjoy!

Kindergarten students focused on what pitch means in music and sounds like (high, middle, low) and what "percussion" means (you need to hit, shake scrape/rub these instruments). They can name many percussion instruments that they have played this year (drums, earth bells, triangles, rhythm sticks, woodblocks, maracas, guiros, sand blocks, resonator bells, tambourines).  They are beginning to understand what pitched percussion instruments are: boomwhackers, glockenspiels, xylophones, piano, timpani, chimes, and temple blocks. They also did a lot of playing and experimenting with classroom instruments to figure out which instruments make long sounds and which make short sounds; each child wrote a long/short composition using circles and lines.  We wrote these compositions on the SMART board, read the simple "circle" and "line" notation, and played each student's composition using our long and short sounding percussion instruments.  See the example below.

Here are some fun web pages with music games:

http://www.ndimedia.com/portfolio/wumpa3_skymusic/ - younger grades

http://www.classicsforkids.com/games/rhythm/rhythm.html

http://www.nyphilkids.org/games/main.phtml

http://www.sphinxkids.org/MM_Instruments.html

http://www.funbrain.com/cgi-bin/hm.cgi?A1=s&A2=instruments&INSTRUCTS=1

http://www.quia.com/rr/4048.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/schools/4_11/music/mm/orchestra02.shtml - younger grades

http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/schools/4_11/music/mm/mood01.shtml - younger grades

http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/schools/4_11/music/mm/sound01.shtml - younger grades

http://www.sfskids.org/

http://www.bso.org/brands/bso/education-community/children-families/bso-kids.aspx

http://www.dsokids.com/games

http://www.klsriley.com/for-students/online-music-games/ - grouped by grade level

         Have a wonderful summer!        

PHYSICAL EDUCATION:

Summer Time is almost here.   Your child/children  are all fit and ready to continue keeping their bodies in shape.  They have been taught since September the importance of Exercise on a daily basis. ( we even talked about doing sit ups during commercials while watching TV.)

We finished up the year with some throwing, aiming, striking  and catching skills. Ask your child/children about the game Gladiator Ball.  The bat we used was a little different than most.    For some the Parachute was a big hit.  Continue to take walks at night, ride a bike or just enjoy a little swim at the beach or pool.  

Keeping fit is important. Enjoy your summer!

     

Third and fourth grades have been learning all about a delicioso unit…La Comida/Food! Third graders are busy working in stations to learn how to plan healthy menus, shop for food and speak about food interests and preferences. Fourth graders are working in groups to plan their restaurante skits, which they will present in the beginning of June! Can your child talk with you at the dinner table about the food they are eating and how they feel about it?

Third graders have been experimenting with different materials and having a great time in art.  The month of May has been about being introduced to three-dimensional art.  After learning that a relief is an sculptural artwork that is raised from a flat background surface, the third graders have worked on a metal relief using the techniques of repousse and chasing.   They are currently working on making a full sculpture in the round by making a paper mache animal.  This learning experience will probably end this academic year.  However, with this introduction to sculptural art, I hope that the students would be more open and receptive to different forms of art appreciation perhaps in the summer time and in the future.

First Graders have been working on reading traditional rhythmic notation this spring.  They can identify, read, and perform quarter notes, eighth notes, and quarter rests.  They have been listening to selections from Carnival of Animals by Camille Saint-Saens.  So far we have listened to “Donkey,” “Elephant,” and “Fossils.” First graders are using SMART response individual remotes to answer questions about our listening selections.  Using the response remotes, they can identify instruments they hear and musical elements like tempo, pitch, and dynamics.  Lastly, they have been singing patriotic songs and ringing colored hand bells to accompany themselves.  

Fitness is important, and at this time of year, the children are tested to see how much they have improved.  In October, they were tested on their Flexibility (using a sit and reach piece of equipment), sit ups for 1 minute, a Shuttle run ( for Agility ) and either a mile run, ½ mile run, or a ¼ mile.   They then repeated those Tests in May.  It was GREAT! many many many of the students improved in all areas.  
I am proud of our Hilltop “Gymsters” they have worked hard

     

May has been a busy month!  Students in grades K, 1, and 2 took trips to the Mendham Borough Library. In an effort to promote literacy, encourage summer reading, develop relationships with community workers, and share the importance of supporting public libraries/services, all K,1, and 2 classes visited the Mendham Borough Library this month.