Issue 8 - Nov. 6

Dearest Friends,

I have been contemplating how to start this week's newsletter every day for the last week and a half and every time I sit down to write it, I either find out that school will be closed again or I simply can't put into words all the things I am feeling and all the ideas floating around in my mind (its a scary place up there). First and foremost, let me say that I miss you all so much and having a chance to chat, text or email with most of you over the last few days has been a source of strength and inspiration for me in light of Sandy and the devastating affects she has had on many of our lives in some way, shape or form.

As some of you know, Kelly, Paul and I are doing well and fortunately missed the brunt of the storm as our block was spared any damage and in the end, we never lost power (mind you, being home isn't all fun and games - Kelly is ready to throw both Paul and I out but thats a whole other story). Knowing that this is our reality over the last few days, I feel some guilt because I wish I could share my home, electricity, power, heat, supplies and anything else any of you might need to start to return to some semblance of normalcy. Unfortunately, the fact that gas is hard to come by makes it difficult for me to make it out to Long Island and for most of you to come to Queens (the door is always open though -- our couch is comfy and Kelly is an amazing cook). Late last week, Kelly, Paul and I gathered bags of baby clothes, winter clothes, toiletries and a bunch of other things that we could donate and headed off to Queens College, which is currently being used as a shelter for those displaced by Sandy. We felt it was imperative for Paul to see how blessed we are and how horrible Sandy has been for many people around us. It was humbling, to say the least, to see families with babies who lost their homes and were now living and sleeping in the gym at Queens College - it is unreal to see how quickly life can change in a matter of minutes.

Of course, I know for some of us, the experience I just shared has become a reality - the idea of normalcy was shattered in seconds. I know Terri Shannon, Allison Yablon, Carolyn Korrow, Jen Broughal and Laurie Oddo (and there may be others that I don't know about) suffered significant amounts of damage to their homes and cars and in the end, lost a lot more than the material things that can be replaced. To Terri, Allison, Carolyn, Jen and Laurie (and anyone else affected), know that the entire Cantiague community (and Jericho community at large) will stand by your sides during this difficult time and offer whatever support possible and necessary.

The next few days will show once again why Cantiague Elementary School, and the entire Cantiague community, is the most amazing one in the world. In my short time here, we have survived a lot of "stuff" - the loss of our beloved Phyllis, you all helped me navigate and survive Paul's multiple surgeries and we lived through Hurricane Irene last year - just to name a few. After each situation, we struggled, came together and pulled through stronger than before. I am confident that the same will be true after our most recent experience with Sandy. We will come together, share a laugh, compare stories, lean on each other for support, regain normalcy and persevere because that is what we do at Cantiague - that is what defines Cantiague - strength, courage, character, a sense of humor and perseverance.

Sincerely (& humbled to be leading our school),
Tony   

Schedule for TOMORROW (Wednesday, Nov. 7)...
Staff reports normal time;

Staff gathering/meeting/debriefing in the Library at 8:20am;

Students are on an hour delay so they should start officially arriving by 9:10am;

Specials will begin at about 9:25am (or around that time after morning announcements & everyone is settled) except for the following scheduling changes...
  (Weisblack & Maione will have P.E. at 10:10am; Montonelli will have Art at 11:40am);

Lunch periods & dismissal times will stay the same;

Schedule of the Week (& Next Week)...

Thursday, November 8
All after school activities postponed;

Friday, November 9
Photo Retake Day is being rescheduled

Monday, November 12

School Closed

Tuesday, November 13

Tony & MaryAnn out of the building- Blue Ribbon Ceremony in DC

Wednesday, November 14
PTA Meeting at 9:45am
CST @ 1:20pm

Thursday, November 15

Cultural Arts Begins

Curriculum Fair

1. Gr. 3, 4 & 5 - 6pm
2. Gr. K, 1 & 2 - 6:40pm

Board of Education Meeting @ Cantiague at 7:30pm

Friday, November 16

Happy Friday!
Tony is at Penn (leaving by 10:30am)

Gr. 1 Open House @ 9am

Ralph's Ices Sale at lunch

Issue 7 - Oct. 26

Happy Friday to all! I hope you all had a wonderful and relatively stress-free week! I had the pleasure of attending the Long Island Technology Summit on Wednesday and it was so awesome - I cannot wait to share some of the great things that were shared at the conference. I learned how to create a QR Code (see the image below this paragraph and if you have an iPhone or iPad with the free scanning app downloaded, scan the QR code and see where it takes you), how to build an APP, how to turn an iPad into a Whiteboard and a bunch of other cool things that I think could be useful in the classroom!

As a follow up to our Faculty Meeting on Tuesday, thank you for confirming the plans for the night of the Curriculum Fair. I will email the parents in the next few days reminding them about that event and sharing the following plan... Kindergarten = MindUp; First Grade = Literacy Centers; Second Grade = Text Savvy; Third Grade = Tech/Blogging; Fourth Grade = Science or Math Games (let me know) and Fifth Grade = Science. Please let me know if any changes are made to this plan! Thank you for figuring this out so quickly - I know this will be a special night for our entire Blue Ribbon school community! In regards to the Blue Ribbon Celebration in Washington DC in November, I just wanted to share that MaryAnn will be joining me at the celebration as the teacher representing our school. MaryAnn worked so hard with the Compact Committee and other groups to help complete multiple essays for our Blue Ribbon application and then spearheaded my nomination for the Terrell Bell Award - THANK YOU MaryAnn!

On another note, I would like to spotlight some of our amazing part-time Teacher Aides - Janet, Elaine, Debbie, Olga, Chris, Mary and Diane. I would argue that these ladies have some of the toughest jobs in the building but they always do them with a smile and with the best interests of the children at heart! As if all of their hard work in the lunchroom and at recess weren't enough, they are also doing a lot of other things to help out around the building. Elaine has done amazing work in the Science and Reading rooms - no matter what the job, Elaine always goes above and beyond to make the results perfect! Janet has proven to be such an invaluable resource throughout the building - from supporting instruction in the Computer Lab to troubleshooting various tech issues in the building! Chris and Mary continue to support the Health Office and we would never be able to be successful without their support. Diane and Olga are always running around and helping out in different classrooms and the Main Office whenever they have a free moment - their hard work ethic is admirable! Finally, Debbie has contributed so much to the Library in her daily work supporting Lorraine's efforts and she continues to oversee the entire lunch and recess experience and even squeezes in time to help out in the Main Office. This is an amazing team and Cantiague Elementary is a Blue Ribbon School because of your hard work!

The awesome visits continued this week (I know, its not a surprise)! Yesterday afternoon I had the chance to spend time in Clare's room while she worked with Risa's class and I had a blast watching the kids engage and enthusiastically participate. Clare introduced them to a Halloween song and then gave them each an instrument to play at a specific point in the song and the kids were beyond excited to be having this musical experience (check out the pic below). The arts are such a critical component of the development of the brain and this experience was the perfect example because it gave every learner (visual, auditory and kinesthetic) an entry point - BRAVO! I also had a chance to spend some time in Allison's room and was so impressed by their growth since the beginning of the school year. In the forty minute period I was there, the children sat through a Reader's Toolbox mini-lesson (using picture clues to decipher unfamiliar vocabulary), all of them read independently while Allison pulled a strategy group who needed support (check out the pic below) and then the whole class came back together on the rug for a whole group share and self-assessment experience to discuss whether or not they were able to apply the reading tool. The whole experience was so robust and meaningful that it could have easily been a 1st or 2nd grade classroom. I was also fortunate enough to stumble upon Carolyn during Writing Workshop the other day (see the pic below). The children were at the editing stage of the publication process with their first publications of the year. The experience started with the whole class sitting on the rug in a circle with Carolyn facilitating a conversation about what it means to edit and what things they might attend to while editing. The children then worked in partnerships to peer edit while Carolyn supported specific partners and students. The whole group then gathered at the end for a share and it was clear that they successfully edited for things like punctuation, spelling and overall mechanics - they did an awesome job!

I also had a chance to visit Jen and Joe's room in the morning while the class was working in the area of mathematics. Joe was in the back working with two students who needed a modified and differentiated experience while Jen was gathered at the SMARTBoard with a small group who needed some support; and the rest of the class was working independently. The tone in the room was amazing and the children were all so engaged in their work - it is impressive to see how much they have grown since the start of the school year and to observe the power of the co-teaching model! Additionally, earlier in the week I had a chance to visit with the fourth grade as they were sharing their first published pieces of the year, which are now hanging up in their hallway. I loved the way the share was set up - the kids from all three classes were spread across the three rooms and engaged with a partner to share their pieces and offer each other feedback - it was awesome (see the pic below)! Finally, thank you all for making Red Ribbon Week such a huge success - check out the picture below of Rande's class who were a sea of red on Thursday!

Tech Tip of the Week...

I am thrilled to share that even more teachers in our amazing school have started their own blogs - ROCK ON Team Cantiague! I would like to share some more of the wonderful blogs started in our school over the last week or so...

Huzarsky's Happenings- http://huzarskyshappenings.blogspot.com/

Kalish's Cool Crew - http://room11ultimateblog.blogspot.com/ 

Moses' Marvelous Kids - http://mrsmosesclassnews.blogspot.com/ 

Please check out the blogs and leave some comments - everyone would appreciate it!

Schedule of the Week...

Monday, October 29

"B" Week
All Planbooks Due for All Staff
PARP Week Kicks Off - PARB Gr. 2 & 3 @ 8:45am

Tuesday, October 30
PARP Week - PARB Gr. K & 1 @ 8:45am
Faculty Meeting - Gr. K - 3 - 3PM in the Library

Wednesday, October 31
HAPPY HALLOWEEN
PARP Week- PJ Day & Community Read-In @ 8:45am

CST at 1:20pm

Thursday, November 1

PARP Week - Jester Jim Family Assembly!

1. Gr. K-2 - 8:45am
2. Gr. 3-5 - 10:15am

Cultural Arts Begins

Friday, November 2

Happy Friday!
PARP Week - PARB Gr. 4 & 5 @ 8:45am
Gr. 5 Bake Sale at lunch
Weisblack - Whole Foods Trip
Gr. 5 SPORTS NIGHT @ 6:30pm

Kids' Korner

Yesterday, while I was playing handball with some 2nd and 3rd graders (yes, I play against them because it is an ego boost being that I often win) when one of them walked over to me and said, "Shouldn't you really be walking around and supervising people instead of just playing games?" I think maybe Kelly caught this kid's ear! LOL!

Pics of the Week...

Fun in the Music Room                    Joe differentiating instruction



Allison with a Strategy Group         Jen with a small Math Group

 

Rande's Class on Red Day                Carolyn supporting the Editing Process

 

Karen listening to a share                  Alex working 1:1 with a child


Upcoming Board of Education Meetings...

• Thursday, Nov. 15th (this one is at Cantiague to celebrate our Blue Ribbon Award!!)
• Thursday, Dec. 13th
• Thursday, Jan. 17th
• Thursday, Jan. 31st
• Thursday, Feb. 7th
• Thursday, Mar. 14th
• Thursday, Apr. 18th
• Thursday, May 23rd
• Thursday, June 13th



Issue 6 - Oct. 19

Curriculum Connections...

HAPPY TGIF to the entire Cantiague Community! I hope you are all doing well and that everyone had a wonderful week. Thank you to everyone for making our annual Book Fair experience a huge success! Please feel free to send a note, email or card to the PTA (they have a mailbox or you can email one of them directly) thanking them for organizing this amazing book fair and for the Wish List opportunity. This whole book fair experience is not easy to plan and execute (I have watched Kelly at home) so I know they will appreciate any expressions of gratitude!

Before I forget, just a reminder that at our Faculty Meeting this Tuesday, we do need to make a decision about our focus for the Curriculum Fair on November 15th! Please come to the table with some ideas... I am open to anything! 

This week the amazing visits continued and I am literally left walking out of many classrooms just shaking my head because I cannot believe what is going on every minute of the day in our building. WOW is the only word that accurately captures it! Late last week I had the chance to visit Rande's room during Reading Workshop and the children the were learning to synthesize and apply two different skills - making inferences and identifying character traits so they could make inferences about the character traits based on their actions and dialogue. This type of synthesis and application can be so challenging yet Rande effectively modeled for them and scaffolded them for independent success. While there I also observed a reading conference and the process Rande used, where the children also referred back to a reading goal they established at the start of the week was impressive - talk about accountability (see two pics below - a picture of the conference sheet and the kids reading independentlyy)! I also had the opportunity to see two of our labsites with Lisa D. in Grade 2 and Grade 1 last week. I was so impressed with the fact that our first graders were learning about envisioning and previewing and preparing. Meanwhile, in Grade 2, aside from the shared reading synthesizing lesson, the teachers practiced enhancing the timing of their independent reading conferences (see the pic below of Nancy and Lesley) and they were able to get two conferences done in 10 minutes - impressive! I also had a chance to visit Mandy's classroom while the children were launching back to back independent reading time and needless to say, it was something that could have been videotaped as a model experience! The children were actively engaged the whole time and were excited about reading while Mandy pulled a group of four students on the rug for a Guided Reading lesson and in 8 minutes she was able to set the children up to access the text and they continued the activity during the next reading block - talk about awesome time management skills (by the way, Mandy did Shared Reading right after the independent block and their previewing and preparing skills were superb!)!

I also had a chance to spend more time in the Science room with Laurie and the fourth graders and had a lot of fun watching them use the stream tables to see how the process of erosion and deposition are impacted by different variables such as the force of the water or the incline of the streaming table. Their conversations at the end were impressive! Earlier in the week I had a chance to watch Jacquie with our second graders who were comparing the weight of different things using scales. They were so engaged an excited about what they were learning (see the pic below). Finally, I had a chance to spend some time in the gym yesterday with Rob and Phil as they played the game Pinned Down with second graders. The period flowed so nicely and the children launched the experience with warm up exercises (the guys even incorporateted a version of Deal or No Deal, which the kids loved) and laps around the gym. After that Rob and Phil explicitly modeled and explained how to best throw and roll the ball to try and maximize the number of pins knocked down. It was great and the children had a blast! Again, thank you all for sharing these amazing learning opportunities with me!

As we bring this week to a close I just wanted to quickly share one thought... if anyone is uncomfortable with me spotlighting them or mentioning their name in this weekly blog or if they dont feel comfortable with pictures from their classroom being used, please let me know because I most definitely want to respect everyone's personal feelings on the matter. Even though I see this newsletter as an opportunity to celebrate all that is awesome about Cantiague, I dont want people to be concerned about what is being shared. Thank you again for letting me spotlight all of the awesomness taking place in our building! 

Tech Tip of the Week...

In case you haven't heard, more people in our building have started a blog as a result of the recent Blogging 101 session. Instead of spotlighting outside tech resources, I would like to share some more of the wonderful blogs started in our school (teacher and student blogs!!)...

Team Maione -  http://maionegrade3.blogspot.com/2012/10/october-reading.html 

Samuel Lee (in Janine's class) - http://samuellees.blogspot.com/ - his work is AWESOME!

Weisblack- http://teamweisblack.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-bully-blockers-club-as-part-of.html- now it is up and running and it is a great post!

Please check out the blogs and leave some comments - everyone would appreciate it!

Schedule of the Week...

Monday, October 22

Weisblack Whole Foods Trip

Red Ribbon Week Kick Off

Tuesday, October 23
Montonelli Whole Foods Trip
Faculty Meeting - All Staff - 3PM in the Library

Wednesday, October 24

School Store Launch - during Lunch Periods
CST at 1:20pm

Hats Off To Healthy Living - Wear Your Favorite Hat to support Healthy Living
Tony is out of the building at a Conference

Thursday, October 25

Gr. 2 Trip - Queens County Farm!
Wear Red to Support Healthy Habits

Friday, October 26

Happy Friday!
Team Up for Healthy Living - wear your favorite sports team jersey/t-shirt

Kids' Korner

Yesterday, while I was playing tag (I think that is what we were doing) with the first graders at recess one of them stopped and said, "Mr. Sinanis I love having you run after me because I feel like I have my own big scary monster chasing me!" and he laughed hysterically! Compliment? I don't think so! LOL!

Pics of the Week...

                   
Conference Sheet Rande uses                               Kids reading in Rande's room

                  
Lesley & Nancy timing the conference                    2nd Grade Writing sample

           
Joey showing off his Prezi to Hank!           Marissa conducting a nonfiction rdg conf

            
     2nd Gr. having fun in Science                     4th Gr. baking NYS cookie cakes!

Upcoming Board of Education Meetings...

• Thursday, Nov. 15th (this one is at Cantiague to celebrate our Blue Ribbon Award!!)
• Thursday, Dec. 13th
• Thursday, Jan. 17th
• Thursday, Jan. 31st
• Thursday, Feb. 7th
• Thursday, Mar. 14th
• Thursday, Apr. 18th
• Thursday, May 23rd
• Thursday, June 13th



Issue 5 - Oct. 12

Curriculum Connections...

Happy Friday to all and hello to a wonderful weekend ahead! It is hard to believe that we are already in the middle of October - this whole "life speeding by" thing is not working for me! Meanwhile, as a follow up to our Faculty Meeting this week, I am happy to share that everything was resolved at Paul's school regarding his aide. His new aide is Mr. Luke, who is about 20 years old and wants to be an Art Teacher. He also loves everything Marvel Comics and Star Wars so Paul has a new buddy! Thank you all for asking and caring about my family - it means so much to me!

I also want to thank our amazing teacher aides for their incredible in the Library - it is totally ready for the Halloween experience. I think you should all consider opening an interior design business together as a side job!  :)

I would also like to spotlight the efforts of Christina G. who is working with one of our new second graders. Her student requires significant behavioral support and academic interventions to meet with success but no matter what the challenge, Christina always handles it with a smile and an incredibly positive attitude! Thank you for all of your work Christina!

As I mentioned at our Faculty Meeting the level of instruction and learning that is unfolding every minute of every day in our building is sick (in a really good way) and like nothing I have ever seen before in my life! I have been conducting random unannounced observations throughout the last month and no matter what time of day, I can always stumble upon something amazing happening in one of your spaces - BRAVO! This week I had a chance to spend some time in the Literacy Lab with both Ginny's and Jill's classes as they were getting ready to select a piece from their writing folders for publication as part of the Writing Workshop experience. The thoughtfulness and collaborative opportunities that unfolded while the children narrowed down their choices was impressive. While visiting with Jill's children, I was blown away by the conversations that were taking place between writing buddies who were trying to help each other select the best piece for publication! Then I had a chance to watch Lesley and her kids during the Shared Reading experience and they were working on the Envisioning skill, which could be so challenging. Lesley had the children create their own "movie strip" where they sketched the images they visualized after reading a poem - really important skill for the children to master! Additionally, I had a chance to visit Risa's room while the children were engaged in drafting their writing pieces and preparing them for publication. It was so awesome watching all the children immersed in their work - not one head looked up the entire time - while both Risa and Terri were conferring with students and offering them feedback on their writing - it was truly impressive!

I also had a chance to spend time in the Science room with Laurie and the fourth graders and had a lot of fun watching them fully immerse rocks in different types of solutions to see if they would erode or start falling apart. The children were so excited and could not wait to see the results of their experiments - this is exactly what a science experience should include - enthusiasm and excitement about the scientific process! Furthermore, I had a chance to spend some time with both our FLES teachers - Milissa and Ilene - and really enjoyed watching how much fun the children were having in both 1st and 4th grades! Milissa had the children presenting various skits in Spanish and the kids did such an awesome job - not only performing, but also speaking completely in Spanish! Then Ilene had the first graders taking turns identifying the different colors in Spanish, which they all did correctly and were able to come up to the board to color in different objects with the correctly identified colors - MUY BIEN! I also had a chance to visit Allison's classroom two days in a row while the children were launching back to back independent reading time and needless to say, I was really impressed. It was their first time really experiencing their "just right" books and using a process where the books they read were in one pile and the books they still needed to read were in another pile. The children were actively engaged the whole time and were excited about reading - that is the bottom line - instilling a love for reading in our children! Finally, I got to hang out in the Library while Lorraine was reading a book to a kindergarten class and words cannot do it any justice but all I can say is if you have some free time, you have to watch Lorraine read a Piggie and Gerald book to a class - it is one of the most dynamic and engaging experiences you will ever have! Again, thank you all for sharing these amazing learning opportunities with me!

Tech Tip of the Week...

In case you haven't heard, MORE teachers in our building have started a blog as a result of the recent Blogging 101 session. Instead of spotlighting outside tech resources, I would like to share some more of the wonderful blogs started in our school...

Team Marsen- http://teammarsen.blogspot.com/

Team Montonelli- http://montonelli.blogspot.com/ 

Weisblack- http://teamweisblack.blogspot.com/ - still under construction!

Please check out the blogs and leave some comments - everyone would appreciate it! I also look forward to sharing more blogs in the future!

Schedule of the Week...

Monday, October 15

Gr. 5 Author Visit at JPL- 9am

Gr. 1 Trip - BOCES Outdoor Ed

Tuesday, October 16

Book Fair - Please Follow Schedule

Wednesday, October 17

CST at 1:20pm

Book Fair - Please Follow Schedule

Book Fair Evening Grand Event - 6PM - Hank and I will be doing a read aloud!

PTA Meeting - 7PM - M.S. Library for an Introduction to Math In Focus

Thursday, October 18

Book Fair - last day for any kids who forgot money during the week!
Math in Focus Staff Development- Gr. K-2 

Board of Education Meeting - 7:30PM in the M.S. Library

Friday, October 19

Happy Friday!
Carvel Sale

Tony is at Penn this weekend - gone by 10:30am on Friday

Kids' Korner

The other day I was walking behind two third grade girls who were discussing being bucket fillers when one turned to the other and said, "I think so many people have filled my bucket that I might need a second one!" That totally made my week!

Pics of the Week...

 

             Writing Sample from Sanderly           Back2Back Reading in Team Marsen's Room

                   Lorraine's Dynamic Read Aloud         4th Graders Presenting a Spanish Skit

        Team Montonelli implementing B2B    Lesley's class creating sketches after visualizing

                Allison's kids reading Back2Back           Jill's kids engaging in Writing Buddies

   
 

Upcoming Board of Education Meetings...

• Thursday, Oct. 18th
• Thursday, Nov. 15th (this one is at Cantiague to celebrate our Blue Ribbon Award!!)
• Thursday, Dec. 13th
• Thursday, Jan. 17th
• Thursday, Jan. 31st
• Thursday, Feb. 7th
• Thursday, Mar. 14th
• Thursday, Apr. 18th
• Thursday, May 23rd
• Thursday, June 13th

Issue 4 - Oct. 5

Curriculum Connections...
Happy TGIF!! I hope we all enjoy the wonderful three day weekend - I am so excited about that extra day off because I might be able to catch up on some of my HW for Penn! If anyone is in Queens this weekend and is looking to experience some fun Greek culture and some tasty treats, there is a Greek Festival at Paul's Greek school - St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church on 196th Street and Northern Blvd (right off the Clearview Expy and west on Northern Blvd).

I want to begin by wishing Colleen Ferry good luck in her new teaching position in Fire Island. They are so lucky to have you and the children in that district will learn so much from you! Thank you for all that you have done for the children of Cantiague over the last two years - we will miss you! I also want to take a moment to welcome some of our new staff members. First off, Casey Carey, who has been in our building this week as the floater aide, will be working with Meryl and taking over for Colleen - good luck Casey! Additionally, we have Dawn Camilleri, who is our new permanent sub this year and will be present more often in the coming weeks. Dawn joins us from the Baldwin School District and we are so lucky to have her. Finally, welcome to Alana Goldberg who will be working as our floater sub covering the team meetings throughout the week. Welcome Casey, Dawn and Alana - the Cantiague community is lucky to have you!

I also want to thank all the teachers for our important Faculty Meeting the other day. It was so critical for me to hear about all the things that people are struggling with on a daily basis. Even though I try to be in your classrooms as much as possible during the day, I know there is so much more everyone is juggling and I thank you for working so hard to shelter our kids from the stress that we are all dealing with each and every day! I also want to thank you again for inspiring my most recent blog post... I do believe that we will be able to start this revolution for our kids!  :)

This week has provided me with many more wonderful opportunities to visit in all of your classrooms and learning spaces and see some awesome stuff (thank you)! I had a chance to spend some time in the Art Room with Lois and a 5th Grade class. Lois did an amazing job scaffolding the students for independent success in creating their own Artist Trading Cards. The children saw the directions written out then they got to watch a YouTube video spotlighting how to create the ATCs and finally, Lois explicitly modeled the process for the students. The children were so excited about this experience because they couldn't wait to express themselves as artists in the form of a trading card (check out the picture below). I also had a chance to spend time in Ginny's room during the independent reading block and was so impressed by the tone in the room. All of the children were scattered around the room in their independent reading spots and engaged in their books while Ginny was conferring with different children at the back table (there is a great picture below to check out)- it was a model for the independent reading block! Additionally, earlier this week I had a chance to spend time in both Mandy's and Allison's rooms watching MaryAnn implement the Mind Up curriculum with our kindergarten students and I was literally blown away (check out the picture below of Maryann with Jeffrey). Our kindergarten students are able to label various parts of the brain and explain their function. If that wasn't enough, the children then created illustrations of actions they completed while being mindful and they came up with some awesome stuff that they were excited to share with the whole class at the end!

I also had a chance to spend time in the Science room with Jacquie and the second graders and had a lot of fun working with cereal and removing the air from the cereal. The children learned that this solid substance was filled with air and by crushing it, we could remove the air and decrease the volume - impressive stuff! Furthermore, I started the week in Tali and Marissa's room for the Reading Workshop experience where they launched an exploration of the features of nonfiction texts. Within 30 minutes, they team taught the experience where they shared a PREZI spotlighting the differences between fiction and nonfiction texts; they taught a mini-lesson; they provided the students an opportunity to work with a partner to explore books and analyze how the text features helped them understand the book better; they conferred with students while they worked in pairs and finally gathered at the meeting area for a whole group share - all within 30 minutes - talk about awesome time management skills! Then I had a chance to visit Meryl and her class while they were discussing the title of one of the chapters in their shared text, Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key. Meryl facilitated an amazing conversation where the children were challenged to go back into the text to decipher why the chapter was entitled Bad Seed. Although many students had theories, Meryl held them accountable for proof from the text, which they produced. I also had a chance to visit Carolyn in her classroom yesterday while the children were reading a book about Christopher Columbus. The children were actively listening and Carolyn would periodically stop and ask questions at different levels to help the students solidify their understandings. The reality is, I see amazing things everywhere - Melanie doing an incredible activity connected to the Envisioning portion of Shared Reading; Donna and Christine doing an awesome team teaching of how to create a Level 2 Post-it where the children have to go Back to the Book; Janine implementing an exit slip at the end of the math lesson to assess the students' understandings of adding using estimation; Alex and Rosanna having the children create a hands-on project to share their knowledge of three branches of government; Jen and Joe implementing stations for the first time and successfully differentiating the learning experiences for specific students within each group; Carly and Nancy setting up math stations where the children practiced 3-digit by 3-digit addition using different techniques and then the children self-assessed at the end to determine which technique best suited them; Lesley engaged in small group math activity with three students who needed additional support; and the list could go on and on and on - thank you for sharing these amazing learning opportunities with me!

Finally, to all our amazing teacher aides, thank you for all that you do for our children with special needs. You each get to know your kids so intimately and you are incredibly dedicated to doing whatever is necessary to help them meet with some levels of success. As a parent of a child who has an aide in school, I can assure you that we are always nervous about whether or not our kids are in good hands but with each of you, I know our kids are in AMAZING hands! Today is the last day for Paul's aide who is moving on to attend school full-time. The aide has been with Paul since first grade after his first major surgery and we will forever be grateful to him because he took care of our son as if he were his own child -- just like each of you does each and every day -- THANK YOU!

Tech Tip of the Week...
In case you haven't heard, several of the teachers in our building have started a blog as a result of the Blogging 101 session I faciitated last week. Instead of spotlighting outside tech resources, I would like to share the wonderful blogs started in our school...

Alites - http://alitesgrade5.blogspot.com/

Korrow - http://korrowsclasshappenings.blogspot.com/

Colucci - http://somethingspecialinschoolpsych.blogspot.com/

Please check out the blogs and leave some comments - everyone would appreciate it! I also look forward to sharing more blogs in the future!

Schedule of the Week...

Tuesday, October 9

Faculty Meeting - Teachers Only - 3PM in the Library
Hot Lunch Begins for Kindergarten
Team Montonelli - Trip to Safety Town

Wednesday, October 10
CST at 1:20pm

Thursday, October 11
Maione - Trip to Safety Town
Compact Committee Meeting - 3PM in the Conference Room

Friday, October 12
Payday
Happy Friday!


Kids' Korner...
On Tuesday, Rob had to leave and I had to cover the last gym period with Melanie's class. Even though I am pretty confident I did a pretty ineffective job, a couple of days later, one of the students from that class came up to me and said, "Mr. Sinanis you should probably stick to being the principal - not sue if the gym is for you." LOL - right on kiddo!  :)

Pics of the Week...

Marissa & Tali team teaching to review features of nonfiction text

MaryAnn implementing the Mind Up Curriculum with Mandy's class 

Ginny doing an Independent Reading Conference

Meryl reviewing how to decipher the meaning of a chapter title

Kindergarten Writing Sample

Steven (Alites) showing off what he learned about the 3 Branches of Government

Stations in Team Marsens class

Lois modeling how to create an Artist Trading Card for 5th Graders

Upcoming Board of Education Meetings...

• Thursday, Oct. 18th
• Thursday, Nov. 15th
• Thursday, Dec. 13th
• Thursday, Jan. 17th
• Thursday, Jan. 31st
• Thursday, Feb. 7th
• Thursday, Mar. 14th (this one is at Cantiague)
• Thursday, Apr. 18th
• Thursday, May 23rd
• Thursday, June 13th

Issue 3 - Sept. 28

Curriculum Connections...
Happy Friday to everyone as we close out the first month of the school year - its amazing how quickly one month has flown by as we prepare to usher in October on Monday! I hope everyone has a wonderful upcoming weekend. If the weather is cooperative, please stop by the 5th Grade Car Wash Saturday morning from 9:30am to 11:30am - I will be there washing cars and helping raise money for our fifth graders!

I want to thank everyone for their hard work in getting most of our WRAP testing done over the last two weeks. I know it has been an intense time with the start of the school year but I really feel that assessing our kids this early allows us the opportunity meaningfully launch the reading workshop experience and meet each of our kids at their entry point. The data from the WRAP results should help guide upcoming mini-lessons, independent reading conferences, flexible small group conferences and guided reading groups based on similar readiness levels. Our children have become amazing readers and writers due to all the incredible instruction taking place in our building and I am firm believer that our stringent assessments are a TRUE and ACCURATE reflection of our children as readers - thank YOU for making that happen! Although the Common Core Standards and APPR supposedly mean that the work keeps getting "harder" and that our kids are expected to do more, I don't think that applies to us at Cantiague - HECK NO! The Standards and APPR merely represent the "floor" but here at Cantiague we are consistently reaching for the "ceiling" and are always exceeding expectations! By the end of this year, our kids will be where they need to be - both academically and developmentally and I am 1000% confident in the instructional expertise that permeates this building!

It has been almost two weeks since I have been able to share all the awesome learning and teaching I have seen taking place in our building so please indulge me as spotlight just SOME of the awesomeness! First off, let me say that spending time in the different classrooms brings me to one conclusion - I wish I was that good of a teacher when I was in the classroom. Yesterday I had the chance to spend time in Nancy and Carly's room and I got to watch Carly lead the Envisioning portion of the weekly Shared Reading experience. They were using a nonfiction text about lemonade and Carly was explicitly modeling what she pictured in her mind as she was reading the text (check out the picture below). The children then went back to their seats and illustrated the image they pictured after reading the text. This was a wonderful way to practice an important skill but also incorporate nonfiction texts. Melanie and Janine also completed similar experiences with their students where they had them sketch what they envisioned after reading a text. I also had a chance to spend time in Kim's room during a second grade group where she used the book Mossy by Jan Brett (check her out in action below) to help the students refine their listening skills while also practicing how to make a statement about a text while using evidence from the text to support their thinking. The skill was a sophisticated one but Kim offered the appropriate amount of support to help all the children meet with some level of success. Then I had a chance to watch Lisa (twice this week) with a second grade group where she was working on building fluency by reading dialogue with expression (see the picture below). The children practiced basic skills, such as the appropriate placement of quotation marks, and then more sophisticated skills such as reading dialogue with expression.

I also had a chance to spend time in Rosanna and Alex's class where they participated in a writing workshop experience where they challenged the children to write about a special family holiday or tradition. Rosanna and Alex each read aloud from a mentor text (Fig Pudding and Halloween) and then they each read an excerpt from their own personal writer's notebooks - talk about awesome modeling and scaffolding! I also had a chance to watch Laurie in the Science Room with a 4th grade class and the children were challenged to create an earthquake-proof structure, that was at least two levels high, using only paper cups and tape. The kids were so excited about doing the activity that as soon as Laurie was done giving directions, the children jumped to work (see the great shot below of them in action). Additionally I had a chance to watch both Joe and the Montonelli's work on place value skills where Joe had the children create a Human Number Line (see the picture below to get an image of this cool hands-on/kinesthetic activity) and Christine and Donna implemented station teaching activities that were beautifully differentiated and tailored to meet the needs of all learners. Finally, I had a chance to watch our awesome kindergartners in Mandy's class work in the Literacy Lab where they were writing (drawing and writing) about the many things that are important to them and what they like to do. While drawing, they were challenged to label their illustrations and write a sentence if possible (see the pics below)!

Additionally, I would to spotlight two of our amazing teacher aides - Jen B. and Adam. They have been working in first grade classrooms with children who exhibit very challenging behaviors and are easily distracted and regularly off task. By implementing personalized behavior plans that emphasize the positive, collaborating closely with the various team members and relying on a tremendous amount of patience, they have literally transformed the behaviors of their assigned students in three short weeks. Granted, we have not attained perfection and there are still many things that need to be addressed, but the growth since August 29th is TREMENDOUS! Thank you Jen and Adam!

Finally, I would like to thank Jill for her hard work dedicated to data collection on one of her students to assess how often and for how long this child was not attending. By dedicating a week to collecting data and pinpointing the issue, which was recommended at last week's team meeting, now the intervention for this child can be targeted and specific! The success with data collection is all about FIDELITY and Jill successfully dedicated the necessary amount of time and energy to this process in the best interest of the child- BRAVO!

Tech Tip of the Week...
If you have not done so yet, create a Twitter account because it is the BEST and most PERSONALIZED Professional Development you could ever experience! You can start small (follow me) and then check out the people I am following to see who tweets about the things that most interest you. This is a free and powerful resource that can change the way you view teaching and learning - CHECK IT OUT!  :)

If you dont believe me in all my Twitter Madness, check out the following links...

Because of Twitter

100 Ways to Use Twitter

Schedule of the Week...

Saturday, September 29

5th Grade Car Wash Fundraiser - 9:30am to 11:30am

Monday, October 1
PTA Joint Open Council

Tuesday, October 2
Faculty Meeting for Teachers Only - 3PM in the Computer Lab

Wednesday, October 3
CST at 1:2opm

Thursday, October 4
Weisblack - Trip to Safety Town

Friday, October 5
PTA Executive Board at 9:45am
Kindergarten Hot Lunch Begins Today with pizza from the PTA!


Kids' Korner...
While picking a birthday prize from my office the other day, one of the kids said to me, "Mr. Sinanis if this was my office, I would want to keep all the birthday prizes for me - how do you control yourself?" LOL!!  :)



Pics of the Week...

              
                    Kim doing a read aloud while           Lisa working on various skills
                    practicing listening skills


        
     Joe had the kids make a Human        Carly leading the Envisioning portion
     Number Line                                       of the Shared Reading experience

 
                      
                  4th Graders building an                      Math Stations in the Montonellis
                  Earthquake Proof Structure                practicing place value & rounding
                  using only cups and tape!



                  
                                 Awesome Kindergarten Writing Samples 

Upcoming Board of Education Meetings...

• Thursday, Oct. 18th
• Thursday, Nov. 15th
• Thursday, Dec. 13th
• Thursday, Jan. 17th
• Thursday, Jan. 31st
• Thursday, Feb. 7th
• Thursday, Mar. 14th (this one is at Cantiague)
• Thursday, Apr. 18th
• Thursday, May 23rd
• Thursday, June 13th