December
Kindergarten
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dressed in their pajamas, robes, and slippers. They needed a ticket and their imagination to board the train. Excitement filled the air as the children searched the classroom for the hidden train tickets. As they lined up to have their tickets punched, they could hear the whistle of the Polar Express blowing as it pulled into the station. The children were escorted to their seats by the conductors. With the last blow of the whistle, they knew the trip was about to begin. The teachers shared reading The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg to the passengers. The children were mesmerized and avidly listened to this adventurous story. Before each child departed the train, they were given a bell as a remembrance of their trip. Back at the station, cookies and hot chocolate were served and enjoyed by all. First Grade*
December was an exciting month for our first graders! As the weather cooled down the activities in our classrooms heated up! The students began their exploration of the solar system with enthusiasm. From the movement of the Earth, to the phases of the moon and the orbiting planets, the students have been actively engaging in many hands on activities and thought provoking discussions.
December also lent itself to the festive creation of winter treats! Mrs. Recinos’s and Mrs. Hess’s classes enjoyed learning with gingerbread men, while Ms. Kohart’s class worked on snowmen and snowflakes. Ms. Morin’s class worked hard to rewrite Good Night Moon, showing their unbelievable reading and writing skills.
The first grade teachers are amazed at what the first 4 months of school has brought! The students never cease to amaze us with their talent, enthusiasm and love of learning! We wish everyone a happy and healthy winter recess and a SUPER START to 2010!
Second Grade*
Although the nights grew longer preceding the winter solstice, there was no shortage of learning experiences, special events, activities, and celebrations for Searingtown School’s second graders. Classroom visits by Regent Roger Tilles were exciting and educational. Thanks to the endless hard work and generosity of Searingtown School’s incredible PTA, the students happily shopped for gifts at the Holiday Boutique and celebrated School Spirit Day by participating in the fabulous BRAIN CHALLENGE game. Reading "Snowflake Bentley" and creating one of kind paper snowflakes celebrated winter’s official arrival at 12:47 p.m. on December 21st. Each and every snowflake was just as unique as we are! Peace Parties, snowflakes, and winter celebrations were the perfect way to end the 2009 school year. The best is yet to come in 2010! *Slideshow
Third Grade
In December, many exciting learning experiences continue to enrich the life of a third grader.
All students are actively engaged in Columbia University’s Teachers’ College writing workshop program. Via instruction, conferencing, and purposefully practicing the craft of writing, children have been improving their renderings of personal narrative stories. The children are incorporating elements such as dialogue, feelings, thoughts, and action in their work.
In Social Studies, we continue with our study of geography. Our current focus is a study of the United States. We learn about our country’s regions, landforms, economy, government, history, and culture. The children learn about the factors that have contributed to the creation and duration of our great nation.
As readers, we are studying the challenges facing the characters in our realistic fiction stories and how they grow to overcome their difficulties.
All third graders have been gazing at the night sky for the past few months. They are experts in tracking and identifying the phases of the moon. They have learned terms such as waxing and waning crescent, first and third quarter, waxing and waning gibbous, new moon and full moon. The children learn how Earth’s satellite affects our daily ocean tides.
In math, the children begin to explore the concept of equal groups to develop the meaning of multiplication. They explore multiplication patterns by drawing and writing arrays. They write and solve multiplication stories.
Our third graders are immersed in challenging and enriching curricula. What a great year this is for them!
Fourth Grade
The season’s first blizzard was just one of the many exciting happenings in the month of December for the fourth grade. Luckily the weather cooperated for our visit to Garvie’s Point Museum and Preserve as fourth graders kicked off their study of the Native Americans in Social Studies. Students loved the hands on experiences as they used the very tools Native Americans of Long Island used to grind corn and create sparks to start a fire. The many exhibits and artifacts made the Native American experience
come alive! Fourth grade students will continue to explore the Native Americans of New York, focusing on the Eastern Woodlands, and the two Native American groups, the Algonquians and Iroquois.In writing, students have been climbing to new heights as they learn how to build story mountains to create their own realistic fiction stories. Students have been immersed in the realistic fiction writing process, imagining and creating characters with real-life problems and solutions- just like their favorite authors do!
If you've been noticing some shooting stars in the fourth grade wing- it's no wonder- fourth graders are shining bright while they research the Solar System! Students have been busy studying information on the internet and in nonfiction books about the many unique characteristics of the planets in our Solar System.
Memorizing multiplication facts, making arrays, exploring patterns in multiples and solving problems are just a few examples of the good "times" the fourth graders mathematicians are having studying multiplication. Next stop, division!
Wishing you a very Happy and Healthy New Year!
Fifth Grade
The fifth grade had a very exciting month of December. We have been preparing for our winter concert and the day finally arrived. Looking polished, with excitement in the air, both the chorus and the orchestra put on a fantastic show for both their parents and the students of Searingtown School. Later in the month we had the opportunity to go with Ms. Williams 
to the Nassau County Museum of Art to see the Norman Rockwell exhibit.
The fifth grade students have been working on expressing themselves, while working on narrative writing with help from our literacy consultant from Teacher's College.Music
Congratulations to select members of the Searingtown Band and Orchestra who performed a Holiday Concert at the Herricks Community Center for the Senior Citizen Program. Under the direction of Ms. Andrea Somma and Ms. Jodie Schoppmann the Orchestra and Band performed several holiday and patriotic selections for the Senior Citizens on December 22, 2009. These students should be commended for their extra preparation and practice that made this performance such a success!
Art Room
Be sure to visit Mrs. William's Art Studio! It is full of information and artwork, so please be sure to stop in and take a look!Library
At the end of December we bid good-bye to Mrs. Wendy Armstrong, who did a wonderful job of filling in for Mrs. Kliegman in the library while she was out on medical leave. Both students and staff are becoming experts on using our new online catalog, DestinyQuest. Did you know that you can access Destiny at home? Simply go to the Searingtown Homepage and click on Destiny OPAC to see our online catalog.
Here's an outstanding fact: students and staff have checked out 9,015 books, videos, and laptops from the Searingtown Library from the first day of school to December 23, 2009! Can you guess what section of the library is the most popular? It is pretty close between picture books and chapter books. In nonfiction, science books were the most circulated, particularly animal books.
- Easy Fiction (picture books): 3,155 books
- Fiction (chapter books): 3,079 books
- Nonfiction (500s section ~ Physical Science & Math Section ~ includes planets, dinosaurs, animals): 680 books
- Nonfiction (700s section ~ Arts & Recreation Section ~ includes art, cooking, sports): 646 books
- Nonfiction (600s section ~ People Using Science & Technology Section ~ includes pets): 463 books
Physical Education
Mr. Lavey and Ms. Pasatieri have recently updated their Physical Education Webpage. It is full of information and photos, so please be sure to stop in and take a look!Gemini
Please see Mrs. Kenny's Gemini website to read about what's happening in Gemini.To find out even more about what's happening inside the classrooms, please be sure to check out the websites maintained by many of our Searingtown teachers!
