January 30, 2015

Curriculum Connections...

Happy Friday to everyone as we head into the final weekend of January... I cannot believe it is going to be Groundhog Day on Monday as we kick off February! So exciting to know that we are speeding towards the 100th Day of school - what an amazing year of learning it has been from the integration of Genius Hour to our experiences with coding to the continued development of reading and writing workshops... it has been an AWESOME year!

As some of you may have seen on Twitter, I am excited to share that I collaborated with two other administrators from NJ and Minnesota to develop a ConnectED Reading BINGO challenge! This such an exciting opportunity for our children to tackle various reading "challenges" as we kick off February, which is Love To Read Month! Click here for the details about the event and to access a PDF version of the BINGO board that can be printed out and used with the children... I think you will really love some of the challenges!

Finally, as you know the F.E.O. – Tuesday, Feb. 3rd – please note that our next full staff FEO will be happening on Tuesday and will feature APP presentations from students in Rande’s class. We will all gather in the Library to kick it off and then the students will work in small groups to present the following apps…

a. In Allison & Marissa’s room, there will be two presentations on the following apps… NearPod and Sticky Notes.

b. In Christina’s room, there will be two presentations on the following apps… Haiku Deck and Educreations.

c. In Rande’s room, there will be two presentations on the following apps… iMovie and BitMoji.

Based on the presentations you want to attend (about 35 minutes in total for both presentations in each room), you should probably download the apps in advance! I am really excited about this opportunity to have the children facilitate and lead our F.E.O. experience… we hope our teaching can reach them each day so it will be awesome to sit back and be the learners!

This week, as I walked around #Cantiague this week, I spotted the following #EduWins...

• I got to spend some time in Melanie's classroom during their Brazil project time and I was completely blown away by what the children were creating. Two kids took the information they learned about Brazilian food and created a Brazilian Food Truck with a menu and working radio-- AWESOME! Another group re-created the Amazon rain forest while yet another built a miniature soccer stadium including miniature players and goalie... WOW! I was really blown away by what they had learned and their attention to detail. In my mind, there is no need for a Brazil test - these were the perfect assessment points - AMAZING work! 

• Karen's class was working in small groups to research the 13 Colonies and they were doing such an awesome job collaborating. Each group had a device and they had each created a graphic organizer to help them gather relevant information in different categories. I was completely blown away by how engaged the children were throughout the experience and their discussions about what information to include was impressive - INCREDIBLE! 

• Dale, Diane and Clare did an amazing job preparing and presenting the Grade 5 Winter Concert. It was clear that the children worked so hard and have grown so much under their instruction - they really did beautiful job and they looked adorable on stage!

Please refer to this post (especially for the Schedule of the Week below) for the next couple of weeks! 

Tech Tip of the Week...
Looking for some great new apps to try out in your classroom, check out the 70 Best Apps for Teachers and Students!  

SCHEDULE OF THE WEEK... 

Monday, February 2

"B" Week
Happy Groundhog Day!

Tuesday, February 3

F.E.O. @ 3pm - Student Led Tech Workshops 
Special CST Meeting - 8:40am to 11am

Wednesday, February 4

Happy Wednesday!
Tony out of the building

Thursday, February 5
Happy Thursday!
Cultural Arts!
Tony is out of the building

Friday, February 6

Happy TGIF!
Grade 5 Bake Sale
Tony is out of the building (Paul is having surgery today assuming he gets over his illness... keep you posted)

Monday, February 9

"A" Week
PTA Health Awareness Week kicks off... Meditation Monday - please stop during the day and have the children breathe and be mindful!

Tuesday, February 10

NO F.E.O. 
Gr. 5 DNA Lab - in-house!
PTA Health Awareness Week kicks off... Team Up Tuesday - wear your favorite sports team jersey, shirt or gear!

Wednesday, February 11

Gr. 3 Author Visit - Library Closed!
PTA Health Awareness Week kicks off... Workout Wednesday - wear your favorite workout gear because we will be doing a couple of school-wide exercise breaks!

Thursday, February 12

CST at 1:20pm
Gr. 1 Open House... 8:45am
Bd. Of Ed. Meeting - 7:30pm
PTA Health Awareness Week kicks off... Wear RED for Healthy Heart Awareness!

Friday, February 13

Happy TGIF!
PTA Health Awareness Week kicks off... Jump-A-Thon today... dress down to participate!
Happy Winter Recess to all!

Kids' Korner
During lunch one day, I walked by a third grader who stopped me and said, "Mr. Sinanis, I am sexy and I know it!" LOL! Oh gosh... definitely not something I would have EVER said to my principal!

Pics of the Week...

Check out Cantiague's Week in Tweets - click on the following link to see our Pics of the Week...

WEEK IN TWEETS