Dear Parents,Welcome back from the rainiest summer ever. I hope that you managed to enjoy yourselves with your children in between showers.
Our school has many new faces this year. If you haven’t met them all, they are:
Ms. Chan - Class1-123
Ms. Forte - Class 3-234
Ms. Lombardo - Class 3-201
Ms. Preston - Class 3-222
Ms. Coyne - Class 5-304
Their photographs will soon join those of our other staff members in the main hallway. Please take a look on your next visit to the school.
Literacy will be of central importance to us again this year. Our school has been chosen by Region 3 as a Columbia University “focus school.” We will receive extensive staff development as a result of this honor.
We will also be funding a remedial after school program on Wednesdays from 2:50 p.m. to 5:40 p.m. for students in grades 3, 4, and 5. Reading, mathematics and test preparation will be the areas addressed in these sessions.
Finally, please join and attend meetings of our Parents Association. These meetings offer you a unique opportunity to be a part of our school community.
Sincerely,
Linda Green
Principal
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Our Assistant Principal
Dear Pen and Ink Readers,
Classroom Chatter
Kindergarten
1st Grade
2nd Grade
I extend a warm welcome back with best wishes to all staff, students and family members at the start of this new school year. Meeting and working with our teachers, students and family members, some of whom are new, lets me know that our school faces many new challenges and we expect to set and accomplish high standards for excellence.
I hope you had a restful and peaceful summer with your family and friends. The vacation weeks passed quickly. I attended a Summer Institute at Teachers College and an Everyday Math Seminar at Forest Hills High School. I am most happy to return to P.S. 175, The Lynn Gross Discovery School, as your Assistant Principal. Thank you for your support and well wishes.
Our school looks great. The classroom doors have been enhanced by the teachers to expose our children to literacy and math. Each teacher selected a special read-aloud math story book and created with their students an exciting classroom door. We invite each student and his/her family to read every title displayed on each “Designer Math Door.” Kudos to our teachers and their students for such hard work.
Our children are artists, with great imaginations and artistic ability. As a family project, please borrow from the library or purchase from the bookstore books that explore visual arts:
The Art Box by Gail Gibbons (Ages 4-7)
I Spy an Alphabet in Art by Lucy Micklethwait (Ages 4-7)
Painted Words Spoken Memories by Aliki (Ages 7-9)
The Birthday Room by Kevin Henkes (Ages 10-13)
I invite you and especially our children to have fun creating lasting memories with various materials: watercolors, paper, crayons and craypas.
Until our next issue of Pen and Ink, enjoy and share good times!
Fondly,
Patricia Cooper
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Pre-K
The school year has gotten off to a great start in Pre-K 116. We have been learning all about ourselves and what makes us special. We have made graphs of our eye color, hair color and gender. We are all different yet we are all the same. The children have been enjoying all our color theme activities and color days. Red, blue, yellow, orange, green and purple are some of the colors we will be learning. Can you find things that are these colors?
We welcomed fall with beautiful leaf paintings, tree collages, songs and stories. We love watching the leaves fall.
The class has been enjoying the wonderful creative activities they do in Performing Arts each week. Learning new songs, dancing and acting out stories has been so much fun! In gym, the class has been doing movement activities to enhance their motor skills.
The children have been having a great time in our classroom learning centers. Housekeeping, painting, blocks and water table are among their favorites. We will continue to explore, learn and have fun! We can’t wait!
Pre-K 120 is off to a good start. We have begun our Lending Library. Each child takes home a book every day to read with their family. The next day it is exchanged for a new book. Everyone in our class gets to choose the book by themselves. We are enjoying circle time as well. Each day we listen to a story, make a chart or graph and do the calendar. All of our centers are open for playing. Children rotate among the kitchen, dress up, dolls, Legos, clocks, paint, puzzles, small toys, computer and our project/craft table. All are playing nicely with their new friends. In the Primary Park, children are developing confidence in their gross motor skills as they walk across the moving yellow pods. They are very proud that they can cross all by themselves! We are looking forward to a fun Halloween party. Details to follow. Thank you to all our parents who have helped out in our class this year. We appreciate your help.
Mrs. Cheffo
Mrs. Preyor
Ms. Fuentes
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We’re off to a wonderful start. The children are very busy reading and writing and doing math discoveries. We’ve been learning about the Fall, apples and holidays.
We’ve been learning all about classmates, making new friends, and becoming responsible Kindergarten students.
Thank you for reading everyday and discussing the stories with your child.
Please continue following the variety of suggested mathematical activities given in “Everyday Mathematics—Mathematics at Home” Book 1, which was given to you the first week of school.
We’re looking forward to a FABULOUS school year in Kindergarten.
The Kindergarten Teachers
M. Olson, L. Nelson, A. Mandis, A. Sommer
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First grade welcomes parents and students back to a wonderful school year. We have started our first reading and writing activity focusing on fall. We look forward once again to our first fall trip to the Green Meadows Farm where we will each receive an autumn pumpkin.
In math we’re reviewing counting and learning to tally. It’s going to be a great year!
Ms. Lyons
Ms. Piansky
Ms. Torre
Ms. Warner
Ms. Chan
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The second grade is off to a great start! We are all participating in the reading/writing workshop. Our children are learning how to “talk” about books and the process authors (writers) go through. Our new math program “Everyday Math” is comprehensive and allows for varied hands on activities, which the children seem to love.
Our science program has expanded. Each class is allocated a 90-minute block so that the children can truly experiment and investigate, like real scientists.
All our classes are being exposed to art, library, computer, gym, trips and performing arts. We have a busy schedule!
We look forward to working with you and your children. Please encourage your children to read, read, read.
The 2nd Grade Teachers
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3rd Grade
The school year has barely begun but third graders are going full speed ahead! Basic skills are reviewed as new ones are introduced. In Math, we are learning to read and make different kinds of graphs and we are having fun identifying patterns. In Reading, we are learning to use our leveled libraries, to pick the “just right book,” and we are doing lots of thinking about what we are reading. In writing, we are pacing ourselves through the “Writing Process,” and defining ourselves as authors. In Social Studies, we are developing a sense of place and an awareness of the truly international character of our school community. And we still find time to do art!
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4th Grade
We are all happy to be at school for the 2003-2004 year.
Everyone is busy reading, writing and find out about each other.
Lots of us are excited about studying the special places to visit in New York State.
Children are busy investigating the properties of rocks and learning about the parts of plants.
Opening our hearts to care about our classroom community and our school.
In Mathematics we are focusing on problem solving.
Exciting trips are being planned. The Queens Botanical Gardens is first.
Becoming fourth graders means being responsible, respectful and cooperative.
Always doing our very best work in school and at home, is very important.
Coming to school prepared each day is essential.
We Know that fourth grade will be a wonderful and productive year!
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5th Grade
The fifth grade has gotten off to a wonderful start this year. The students have been focusing on improving their reading, writing and math skills. In addition, they are preparing for the fifth grade social studies test, which will be given in November.
As usual, the teachers are planning special activities for the students. Information about these activities will appear in future issues of Pen and Ink.
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Science
Welcome Back! I hope all my little scientists are well rested and ready for another great year at 175! I know I am!
We have another exciting year planned for our school and cool news from the science room. Our school has purchased a weather station for all of us to enjoy. We are now one of the 6,000 schools around our country to be part of the awesome, one-of-a-kind, interactive program. The WeatherNet weather station is a state-of the-art weather monitoring system that is installed on our school’s roof. It can record 27 different real-time weather measurements and its live weather data is fed into our on-line educational program right here at school! I can’t wait!
If anyone is interested in checking out all of the different features of the weather station, just go visit their website: www.weathernetclassroom.com. I invite everyone to go!
I am looking forward to another exciting, fun-filled, scientific year here at 175!
Shannon Clark
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PCEN Math
I would like to take this opportunity to welcome back all of our wonderful children for another exciting year at P.S. 175.
Our math program is off to a great start. The air is filled with talk of numbers, place value, measurement, problem solving, geometric shapes, fractions, graphs, probability, patterns, money, function rules, tangrams and so much more that I could go on and on.
And . . . . let's not forget all the fabulous math literature out there . . . . Grandfather Tang’s Story, Ten Black Dots, Arthur's Money, Equal Parts, Shapes and many, many more great stories that make math so fascinating and exciting.
We can’t wait—nor can we waste a minute! Actually, I hear my little mathematicians knocking on my door. So sorry, we have to run—so much to explore and so much fun ahead of us. Can’t stop progress!
We’ll talk again soon!
Love,
Mrs. Rosen
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PCEN Reading
It’s wonderful to be back! Since school started we are on an exploration—reading different genres, predicting outcomes, comparing characters, determining cause and effect and noticing change.
Please encourage your child to read every night and also continue to read aloud to them. Talk to them about what they are reading and ask them questions: What is this passage mainly about? What was the problem that the character had? How has the character changed? What is the moral?
Help to make reading a world that your children want to be a part of.
Happy Reading!
Mrs. Hyman
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Project Arts/TAG
I hope everyone had a wonderful summer. I am looking forward to an enlightening and exciting year in P.S. 175 and in the TAG room.
This year one of my responsibilities is to find creative ways to spend our Project Arts money. We are in the process of scheduling a musical movement program for Kindergarten, puppet making for first and second grades, recorder lessons for the third and fourth grades and ballroom dancing for the fifth grade. We have hired professional artists to work with your children.
The TAG room has been a new and terrific experience for me. The second grade has been busy making acrostics with their names using adjectives and nouns. The third grade has started a unit on immigration and exploring their family history. The fourth and fifth grades have started discussing the Renaissance and Middle Ages. Everyone is making a personalized shield.
The fourth and fifth grades, in addition, will be starting a unit on the stock market. More to come on that next time!
I am also pushing into third and fourth grades. The third graders are getting a headstart on reading music. I have been articulating with Mr. Burger and Mrs. Krochek about fourth and fifth grade as we are planning on continuing our “Shakespeare” studies.
I hope to enrich all the children’s minds and help strengthen their education at P.S. 175.
Here’s to a great year!!
Mrs. Barbara Bialek
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Library/Media Center
It’s the start of a new school year with many opportunities to explore new books and new ideas. I hope some of you were able to attend the “New York is Book Country” celebration in September. There were lots of books to browse and buy, authors and storytellers to meet and greet. It was a great celebration of reading and readers. If you missed it this year don’t be upset, there is another one next year. Remember, New York is the publishing capital of the world and the best place to celebrate reading.
Celebrating readers and reading is what the P.S. 175 library is all about. We have lots of old friends and some new ones waiting to be borrowed and shared. Fall is the time when the library ordering is done so if your child has some favorite authors or books let me know and maybe we can add it to our extensive wish list.
We’re looking forward to a great year of wonderful reading, sharing stories and learning how to use all the resources libraries have to offer. I know it will be a wonderful year in the library for the P.S. 175 family.
Haren Zweibel
Library Teacher
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Physical Education
No one can ever fill the “sneakers” of Mr. Steifman, but I will try my best. As you know our beloved gym teacher, Mr. Steifman, retired. He made the gym period an amazing time for our students. I hope to do the same.
Our youngest students are enjoying old favorites like Duck, Duck, Goose and circle games. We are also running, hopping and learning how to throw and catch.
Grades 2 and 3 are also enjoying Crab Soccer while Grades 4 and 5 can’t get enough of Dodge Ball.
Safety is always a concern in the gym. Rubber-soled shoes are no longer acceptable. It is now school policy that in order to participate in gym, sneakers are the only footwear allowed. Also, please keep us in informed of any health issues that may affect your child’s participation in the gym.
I will soon be conducting vision and hearing tests for students in Grades 2–5. I am looking for parent volunteers to assist me in this process. If you are interested, please drop me a note.
It is good to be back and see the faces of my former students.
Ms. Lucchesi
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Performing Arts
I’m very excited to be the cluster teacher for Performing Arts this year. We’ve gotten off to a great start and the children appear to be very happy with their activities. In the younger grades, we’ve been singing what I call “build-up songs,” that is, songs that promote recall by adding on a new element with each verse; in fact, we’ve been making up our own and dancing to boot! In grades 2 through 5, we’ve been learning brand new songs that encourage our students to think about the blessings of living in America and making collages to go with them. We will sing these songs during our Veterans Day assembly in November. Also, Mrs. Bialek, Mrs. Krochek and I will shortly begin year-long preparations for our Shakespeare performances in grades 4 and 5 later in the year. Stay tuned!
David Burger
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Art
It’s great to be back for a new school year.
All the grades drew self-portraits for our first project this year. The pre-K and Kindergarten are now learning about lines and shapes.
I’d like to thank the Parents Association for bringing back a variety of supplies from Materials for the Arts. We used the rolls of sequins to decorate the art room door for the math project.
I have many exciting art projects planned for 2003-04. I am looking forward to a productive and creative school year.
Ms. Rovinsky
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SETTS (Resource Room)
The SETTS / RR program is in full swing. We want to welcome you all back and hope you have a great school year.
The resource room teachers will continue to work hard to ensure that all the children will learn to the best of their capabilities. We need everyone’s support to make their successes happen.
This school year we welcome Danielle O’Keeffe to the SETTS/RR program, and wish her a great school year.
As always, thank you for your cooperation and continued support!
Marlene King
Brenda Green
Danielle O’Keeffe
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ESL
The ESL Department would like to welcome all our English Second Language students back from their summer vacation. We will be seeing you shortly in our classrooms as soon as the testing of new students is completed.
We extend an especially warm welcome to all our new English Language Learners and their parents to our school.
We look forward to meeting with all of you and working with you for a successful program.
There will be an Orientation Meeting for our new parents on Wednesday, October 15th at 9 a.m. in the library. We will explain about our program and translators will be available if possible. Please try to attend. You will receive a letter from your child’s teacher.
Cory Bosetti
Susana Domingo
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Speech
We would like to take this opportunity to welcome back our parents and students to the new school year. This year, the speech program is looking forward to an exciting year filled with new language skills and improved speech communication. We believe this year will be our best year yet. Thank you, for all your support.
Debra Rowen
Julie Polk
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Computer Lab
Welcome to our state of the art computer lab!
The children are experiencing such wonderful ways to find information. The Internet is very exciting.
We are looking forward to learning how to make our PowerPoint presentations in conjunction with the state and country studies.
The classrooms are all connected and we are starting projects there as well.
Love,
Mrs. Krochek
P.S. Here are some useful websites for our families:
www.lightspan.com
User Name: 28q175s
Password: csd28
www.worldbookonline.com
User Name: csd28
Password: csd28
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School Store
If you are interested in purchasing some T-shirts or pencils, please Print the School Store Order Form from your browser, complete the form and drop it off in PA mailbox in the school office or give it to your child's teacher.
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Mark Your Calendars
September/October (Current Issue)