Click
here for Tappan Hill memos
Patterns,
Patterns and More Patterns
The
children in Mrs. Magliano’s class are great mathematicians. They have been
very busy these past few weeks learning about patterns; recognizing,
creating, extending and labeling all kinds of patterns. We have been finding
patterns everywhere…in our clothing, in books, in our environment, and even
in our daily class letter. We have made patterns with blocks, with paper
shapes, and with beads. We made beautiful bead bracelets in all kinds of
colorful patterns and had so much fun! It is a lot of fun to move our bodies
in action patterns, such as jump, hop, jump, hop or clap, clap, tap, clap,
clap, tap. The children are able to create simple patterns and some very
complex ones, too. We are learning how to label patterns in more than one
way. Most people think of labeling patterns with letters, like AB or ABB,
but we can label patterns with numbers, too. Who knew math could be so much
fun!! (Posted
2/4/10)
“You Can’t Catch Me, I’m Your Gingerbread Friend!”
Mrs.
Magliano and Mrs. Afonso’s Kindergarten students have been learning about
positional words such as under, over, through, on, in and beside, left and
right. In an effort to teach these concepts, we took the children on a
gingerbread man hunt. We first told the children that the gingerbread man
Mrs. Blueglass’s class had made had run away and she needed our help to find
him. The children were very excited and wanted to help! Clues were left
throughout the school. The first clue began…
”I
thought it would be fun
to run
all around.
See if
you can catch up with me
so that I
may be found.
The
clues took us to the library, the main office, Ms. Milliam’s office, the
gym, the cafeteria, to Mrs. 
Blueglass’s
room and finally back to Mrs. Magliano’s classroom. We had to go right and
go left…we had crumbs
on Mrs. Lopez’s desk, crumbs under Ms. Milliam’s desk, and crumbs in the
hallways. When the hunt came to an end in our own classroom, we found a big
surprise. The gingerbread man had left us gingerbread
friend cookies to eat and a new book to read…Gingerbread Friends by
Jan Brett. (Posted
2/4/10)
Kindergarten
Registration For The 2010-2011 School
Year
Will be held at the Tappan Hill School
on the following dates:
MARCH 19 – FRIDAY……….. 4:00
P.M. – 6:00 P.M.
MARCH 22 -.
MONDAY.............4:00 P.M. – 6:00 P.M.
MARCH 24 -
WEDNESDAY..….6:00 P.M. – 8:00 P.M.
All
children who will be five on or before December 1, 2010 and who are
RESIDENTS OF THE TARRYTOWNS’ SCHOOL DISTRICT are eligible for SEPTEMBER
2010.
To
ensure that you are on our mailing list and receive registration
information, please write to Ms. Gladys Otero, Office of Central
Registration, 200 North Broadway, Sleepy Hollow,
New
York 10591 and provide the following: child’s name, date of birth, name of
parent(s)/guardian(s), home address and home telephone number. (Posted
2/2/10)
Speech Language
News
I recently had the opportunity to attend a conference about the "Sounds
in Motion" program which promotes phonemic awareness skills and the
accurate perception and production of speech sounds in young children. This
unique program, which was created by Fran Santore, Speech Language
Pathologist, utilizes gross body movements which correspond with the mouth
movements we use when producing speech sounds. This program is particularly
useful in helping students articulate their sounds precisely and in matching
up sounds with their corresponding letters of the alphabet. The children
enjoy learning them and readily acquire the expressive body movements. The
kinesthetic and multisensory aspects of this program make it a dynamic and
enjoyable activity for students and teachers. I will be working with a team
of TH teachers (Pat Magliano, Mary Lynn Pearlman, Heather Schoenberg and
Robin Suarez) to promote use of SIM in the classroom. Sounds in Motion
is a wonderful addition to our "tool box" of strategies and activities to
help our Kindergarten students acquire speech and reading skills.
Mary Comas
Speech Teacher, TH (Posted 1/19/10)
The GREEN Pledge at
Tappan Hill
The
Kindergarten students – along with the entire school district – are taking a
special “Green Pledge” this year. At Tappan Hill, we are all signing a big
“Green Pledge” banner that says we are promising to do our best to help take
care of our Earth. The banner has been making its way around our school. In
each classroom, the teachers are taking the time to discuss and explain the
pledge and to share some special stories with the children. Once everyone
has had a chance to sign it, the banner will put on display in the lobby of
our school.
The
idea of being “green” and taking care of our Earth is new for many of our
Kindergarteners. This is the first time many of the children are learning
about environmental issues and the first time many of the children are
hearing the vocabulary used in the pledge. A copy
of the pledge in its original form appears on our banner and has been sent
home with each child for families to review and discuss at home. In the
words of the children we are promising to
do our best to help our Earth by: learning ways we can help the Earth -
helping to keep the Earth clean - using "resources" (paper, water, etc)
wisely - remembering to recycle - and by growing and caring for plants. (Posted 12/9/09)
Abstract Shapes
Ms.
Gallo’s Kindergarten art students studied the element of shape for our next
project. Just like the element of line, shape is an important foundation of
drawing. We read a story together titled When a Line Bends…A Shape
Begins by Rhonda Gowler Greene and discussed the different
characteristics of each shape in the book: square, rectangle, triangle,
circle, oval, diamond, octagon, star, crescent, and heart. Students were
able to choose between using squares or circles for their shape project. It
required lots of practice with their cutting and pasting skills in order to
successfully complete the project. In addition, students learned about
texture, which is defined as the way things feel. You use your hand to
touch and to feel, but you can also use your eyes to see a texture. Artists
will often times create the illusion of texture in their artwork.
Kindergarten artists set out to create their own texture rubbings using
crayons and textured surfaces. Students used these rubbings to cut out
additional shapes for their project. Following directions carefully,
students glued down their shapes in a pattern, alternating between the solid
colored shapes and the textured shapes. In the end we learned that not all
art has to look like something recognizable. It can simply be made of
beautiful shapes, patterns, textures, and colors! click
here to view
the Tappan Hill art gallery.
(Posted 12/4/09)
Little
Hawk
On Thursday, November 12th,
the students and teachers at Tappan Hill
School enjoyed a presentation by Little
Hawk. Little Hawk is a Native American
performer who is a member of the Mohawk
tribe. He taught the students
traditional Native American songs,
dances and customs. The students were
awed by his hoop dance in which he
displayed his talents and stamina by
dancing in and out of 18 hoops!
(Posted 11/23/09)
Kindergarten and Fifth Graders Interact via Technology
The
Dual Language Kindergarten at Tappan Hill and Mrs. Gonzalez’s Fifth
Grade Dual Language Social
Studies Class at Washington Irving began this year’s “buddy activities” with
a Skype session. Kindergarten students sang songs in Spanish to the fifth
grade class and several fifth graders read in Spanish to the kindergarten
students. Students giggled with delight as they watched and listened to
each other. Kindergarten teachers beamed with pride to see their former
students perform so competently. The two classes will continue to Skype
followed up by a face to face visit in the near future. The visit will
involve the fifth grade role models reading Spanish books to their young
buddies.
(Posted 10/20/09)
Parents of Kindergarten Students Learn About “Growing With
Math”
The
first Principal’s Chat of the year at Tappan Hill School did not feature
Principal Milliam, rather a guest speaker, AUSSIE Math Consultant, Liz
Irwin. Parents were invited to hear about the math program that their
children will be experiencing this year in Kindergarten. Parents were very
interested in learning about the developmental stages of counting and
numeration. The important message that Liz emphasized throughout the
session is that we are teaching children to become “mathematical thinkers.”
The days of rote learning are gone and that students now need to understand
and explain how they arrive at the solution to a mathematical problem.
Parents laughed as Liz had them reflect on how they learned math and math
facts. The majority of parents had similar memories of when they learned
math through the memorization of facts.
Liz
also led the parents in hands-on fun to demonstrate some of the ways
students learn through games. She encouraged parents to have some Math fun
at home and gave some suggestions for doing that in natural authentic ways:
cooking, sorting (of all kinds), counting the number of steps when possible,
setting the table and playing board games like “Candy Land,” “Chutes and
Ladders,” “Dominoes” and “Mancala.”
(Posted 10/20/09)
