Rolling Hills Highlights Dec-Jan 2017-2018

Rolling Hills Primary School Rolling Hills Highlights December 2017/January 2018

Vol. 15 Issue 3

Principal’s Message Dear Rolling Hills Family: As we plan for the holiday season, we have many reasons to celebrate together as a community.

Your attendance at Rhingo and the PTA Book Fair helped to make each event special. We thank you very much for your generous donations to the Nassau/Suffolk Autism Society, the Marine Corps Toys for Tots program, UNICEF and the food drive and Happy Meal initiative to benefit Island Harvest.

We always enjoy planning and welcoming you to our weekly Gatherings and we thank you for your assistance at all of our classroom and building events.

We are looking forward to Warm Up to Reading, Family Fitness Night and our Partners in Reading program as well as many more exciting PTA and Arts in Education programs and field trips. Please continue to access both Backpack Mail and the Highlights on our webpage to learn more about Rolling Hills’ activities.

When planning your holiday gift lists, please include quality books for your children. A special book becomes a treasured addition to a child’s library and encourages your child to be a lifelong reader.

Book stores, libraries, and members of our staff have lists of popular and award winning books available to help guide your purchases.

Best wishes to you and to your family for a wonderful holiday season.

With warmest regards, Janet Studley Janet Studley Principal

Kindergarten

The kindergarten students have been very busy here at Rolling Hills! Throughout the month of November our kindergartners learned about the Pilgrims, Native Americans and the celebration of the first Thanksgiving. Through a special visit with Mrs. W. from LICAS we learned how difficult it is for people to live off of the land without all of our modern conveniences. We understand that we have so much to be thankful for. As a way to support our community the students at Rolling Hills prepared “Happy Meals” to donate to Long Island Cares- Harry Chapin Food Pantry.

You may have had trouble finding a turkey for your Thanksgiving feast. Many of the “local” turkeys were dressed up and hiding in our kindergarten hallway! Each of our students had fun creating a disguise for their Thanksgiving turkey. We hope you had a chance to see our beautiful display of turkeys.

It resembled a turkey’s Halloween parade!

In December, we will be learning about the holidays that our family celebrates and sharing our favorite holiday traditions and memories. We will also get ready to ring in the new year-2018!!!! We are looking forward to all of the adventures that are in store for us during the new year!

First Grade

December is the time of year when people of all different cultures celebrate holidays. Our current Social Studies unit focuses on families, and the traditions and special times that families around the world celebrate. Our first graders look forward to reading stories and poems, and singing songs, related to this joyous month. The children find it so fascinating to learn about the cultures and traditions of their classmates. They can’t wait until our First Grade Heritage Day, and neither can we!

As the New Year begins, we look forward to Warm Up to Reading and the start of our Partners in Reading initiative (PIR)! The children will be working hard as they strengthen their reading and writing skills. We will continue to have conversations about the setting and characters in a story, and the events that take place. We will talk about the problems some of the characters face and the steps they took to solve their problems. We will also try to connect these stories to our own lives and “problems”, or talk about how the story reminds us of another book we’ve read. As always, the children will continue to learn and apply strategies that good readers and writers use. They love to make predictions while they read and sometimes we create our own ending to story. That’s when we really get creative! As we talk more about reading and writing for different purposes, don’t be surprised if your child starts making lists or asks you to take a look at one of your cookbooks!

Second Grade

Rolling Hills second graders have been working very hard and enjoying their time together.

During ELA lessons, the children have been reading and writing Realistic Fiction stories. We read many different stories and discussed whether they had the components necessary to be categorized as Realistic Fiction. The children will then use this knowledge to create their own characters, problem, solution and setting to write their own stories. Many of the children are discovering that this is their favorite genre to read and write!

We have been exploring matter and energy in the science lab. The children were shocked and amazed by the experiment we did changing a solid to a liquid to a gas. We had no idea something as simple as an ice cube could be so interesting and exciting!

Communities and how they grow and change has been the focus of our social studies lessons. We had the fantastic opportunity to travel back in time to visit 19th century Long Island at the Long Island Museum where the children participated in a typical day in a one room schoolhouse. It was a fun and eye opening experience for us and we all became more grateful for the comforts of 2017!

We wish all of our Rolling Hills families a happy, healthy, peaceful New Year!

ENL

ENGLISH AS A NEW LANGUAGE (ENL) PROGRAM Rolling Hills is home to the primary level of the Commack School District ENL program.

Children from all four primary schools are bussed to Rolling Hills to receive ENL instruction, if needed.

The following is some helpful information about our program.

This year, we would like to introduce a new member of our ENL Team: Ms. Stephanie Buckley.

WELCOME MS. BUCKLEY!!!

How do we determine who needs ENL services?

When families first register their children to attend school in the Commack district, they complete the Home Language Questionnaire. If another language is spoken in the home, an interview and screening take place. Children in grades K-2, who need to learn more English, are then enrolled into general education classes at Rolling Hills, where they will receive additional instruction from one of our certified ENL teachers.

How do we determine when a child no longer needs ENL services?

The New York State English as a Second Language Achievement Test (NYSESLAT) is administered each spring to all current English Language Learners (ELLs). Your child's results on this exam will determine the amount of services they will receive in the following school year. The results can be in one of the five performance levels: Entering, Emerging, Transitioning, Expanding, and Commanding. Children who score at the Commanding level are considered to be fluent in the English language. Results are calculated at the state level and typically available in late August.

If you would like to view the Parent's Guide to the NYSESLAT online, please use this link: www.p12.nysed.gov/assessment/nyseslat/parentsguide/archive/pgeng.pdf This guide includes an overview of the NYSELSLAT, frequently asked questions, tips on how you can help, and sample NYSESLAT questions.

Mrs. Jennifer Barricelle, Ms. Stephanie Buckley and Dr. Nancy Lopes

Library

The students of Rolling Hills have enjoyed visiting the library each week for 40 minutes with their classmates. Each week, students take part in a lesson focusing on a specific library skill using the terrific literature we have here in the Rolling Hills' library collection. At book selection time, students are able to browse the library collection and choose a book of his/her choice. Our library is filled with books and stories of all kinds. We try our best as librarians to teach the children what a library user does in order to make a good book choice. We talk about browsing through the book, where to go to find books in the collection that interest your child, and to help him/her make a good, but exciting choice, in what he/she chooses to read. Teaching and sharing how the library is organized has helped students make good book selection choices each week.

Our kindergarteners are excited to visit the library each week. Early in the year, we focused on how to take care of the library books and the responsibility we must show to keep the library a happy place for all students. We have focused on learning the parts of a book, as well as learning the parts of a fiction story, like the setting, characters, order of events, and conclusion. Each week, we spend time reviewing those skills. As the year progresses, we will be learning about the parts of a non-fiction book.

After the New Year we will be focusing on squirrels and penguins, using a variety of fiction and nonfiction resources to compare and contrast.

Our first graders were enthusiastic and excited to come back and explore what is new in our collection. Our Easy Reader section in the library offers great choices and many different topics for a developing reader. We have focused on the 5 finger rule and making good book choices. Our first graders have completed an author studies on Erin and Philip Stead. They have enjoyed reading their work: A Sick Day for Amos McGee, Bear Has Story to Tell, and If You Want to See a Whale. We are beginning a big focus on snow as we head into winter!

Our second graders have been doing a great job exploring the different sections of the library each week, looking to find engaging material. We see a variety of material being circulated from fiction, to chapter books, and non-fiction. There has been a focus on digital citizenship, comparing fiction to non-

fiction. We will be moving into the text features found in non-fiction and how we use a non-fiction resource to learn. We will also be focusing on learning how to access the online catalog to do a book search as the year progresses.

Incorporating literature into our weekly lessons is a great way to teach and enhance our young readers' skills. We model thinking aloud about what we are reading; from predicting and inferencing, to making comparisons as we read along. For the newer readers, we talk about how pictures add so much to the story, often helping us understand the story better. There is so much great literature out there, and sometimes it is okay to reread a favorite book – it's like visiting with an old friend. Some days we read for the simple pleasure of sharing a great book with our students and to help them develop a love of literature! Winter is a great time to cozy up with a good book!

Ms. Neri – Recipient of Advocate in Action Award (Founder’s Day) Mrs. Thakral – Recipient of Honorary Life Membership Award (Founder’s Day) Mrs. Carillo – Rolling Hills Teacher of the Year

Lost and Found

If your child has misplaced an article of clothing, please check the Lost and Found Box in the Main Office.

Home School Connection Family Reading     

Suggestions for reading with children: Read aloud slowly enough for children to build mental pictures of what they just heard.

Preview the book by reading it to yourself ahead of time.

Make sure your children see you reading for pleasure so they learn to love reading, too.

Arrange for time for children to read by themselves, even if “reading” means turning pages and looking at pictures.

Enjoy a conversation with your children about the book you are reading together.

Late Arrival and Early Departures Late arrivals and early departures compromise your child’s instructional time, and consequently disrupt classroom routines. For unavoidable emergencies, please send a note to your child’s teacher. Please remember all early departures will be recorded for students who are picked up before 3:15 p.m.

Weather Procedures and Information

Early Dismissal – Early closing procedures will be put into effect when it appears to be the safest way to get students home. The Superintendent of Schools makes this decision usually by noon. Each student will go to the home that you indicated on the Early Dismissal Card. Please contact your child’s teacher immediately if there is a change in the information you provided at the beginning of the school year.

Delayed Opening – A delayed opening procedure will be put into effect when it appears that school can open safely one or two hours later than the regularly scheduled time. Please note that on a day that we delay our opening, the lunch program and the dismissal time follow the usual schedule.

School Closings – School closings or delayed openings will be posted on the Commack Website, http://www.commack.k12.ny.us. The District will endeavor to place an automated telephone call to each household with school aged children but cannot guarantee that all households will be reached.

Please remind your children to wear their warm hats and gloves or mittens to school. We enjoy outdoor recreation as the weather allows.

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School Bus Safety

During our first two bus drills, we reviewed safety guidelines with our students. Please review the following bus safety rules with your child:  Arrive at the bus stop a few minutes before schedule.  Keep arms and head inside the bus.  Wait at the curb until the bus comes to a complete stop before boarding.  Sit in the bus seat and speak at a reasonable volume to assure that the bus driver is able to drive the bus safely.  When exiting the bus, move directly to the curb.  No eating or drinking is permitted on the bus.

To Your Good Health Relax and enjoy the holiday season – Take a walk and observe the changes in the scenery Bring nature inside with green plants and herbs Moderate your portions and eat a variety of proteins, fruits and vegetables.

Exercise regularly and get a full night’s sleep.

Enjoy visiting with family and friends!

A heartfelt thank you to: Our Arts-in-Education committee for scheduling LICAS- Mammals, Night Sky-Star Labs, and the field trip to The One Room Schoolhouse.

Our Birthday Bulletin Board Committee for posting our birthday information in such a creative manner.

Our Holiday Boutique Committee for creating a special holiday boutique in our gym and providing our students and their parents with a wide selection of gifts to purchase.

Our Box Top Committee for monitoring our box top donations and creating a festive bulletin board.

School-Based Management Team Members 2017 - 2018 Louis Cardinale Support Staff Lori Gary Teacher Representative Jodie Hawkins Parent Representative Nancy Lopes Teacher Representative Jen Neri Teacher Representative Laurie O’Grady Parent Representative Jill Piazza Parent Representative Jane Roman Teacher Representative Jenn Ryan Teacher Representative Janet Studley Principal

Looking Ahead 12/1 12/4 12/5 12/6 12/7 12/14 12/19 12/20 12/25-1/1 1/2 1/5 1/8 1/9

1/10 1/11 1/12 1/15 1/22 1/23 1/24 1/25 1/26 1/31

K-5 School Closed – Parent Teacher Conferences PTA Council General meeting at Hubbs 7:00pm RH Grade 2 Visitation to M.S.I.S Winter Concert 9:30-11:15am RH Holiday Boutique 9:30am Gathering Wear your RH spirit wear!

Arts in Education – LICAS Mammals 2nd Grade BOE meeting at HUBBS SEPTA Support Group 7:30pm 9:30am Gathering Wear your RH spirit wear!

School Closed School Re-Opens Arts in Education – Night Sky-Star Labs 2nd Grade PTA Council Executive Meeting at Hubbs RH SBMT Meeting 8:30am-Conference Room 9:30am Rolling Hills PTA meeting RH Afterschool Workshops Begin RH Kindergarten Registration RH Kindergarten Registration BOE Meeting at Hubbs Arts in Education Committee meeting at RH 9:30am Field Trip to Cold Spring Harbor – Mrs. Krompier’s class Martin Luther King, Jr. Day – School Closed SEPTA Support Group 10 am SEPTA Meeting at WP 7pm RH Warm Up to Reading 6-7:30pm RH Partners in Reading (1/25-2/16) Arts in Education - Click Clack Moo K-2 Kindergarten Registration Evening Appointments at Hubbs

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Rolling Hills Primary School Mission Statement We are dedicated to universal and continual education. Therefore, our mission is: To provide an optimum learning environment for all members of the school community in general, and our students, in particular.

We believe that interest, risk-taking, involvement and mutual respect are necessary components of the learning process.