Spelling Bee "Shout-Out"

EMS student Justin Trout received a mention on Northjersey.com for kicking off the 74th North Jersey Spelling Bee by correctly spelling "Siberian." Full article here.

Pi Day

On March 14th, (or 3/14), the fourth graders went outside to celebrate Pi Day and work on a Pi Day assignment.

(Photos: Ms. Connolly)

C-5 Trip To Hawaii

The children and teachers of Pre-Kindergarten C-5 are off to Hawaii! The class brainstormed and voted on a destination for a class vacation and then the real work began. How we will get to Hawaii and what should we pack? What sights might we see in Hawaii? All of the children stretched their imaginations and applied higher thinking skills to best prepare for their trip.

Later in the week Tommy Cavanaugh's dad a "real" airline pilot visited the classroom and shared his experiences as a pilot with the children. The children were most enthusiastic to take home a real model jet.

Watch as they boarded and flew off to Hawaiian adventure!

Facebook users click here to see video.

(Post: Ms. Brennan)

6th Grade Greek Olympics

Images from this year's festivities (courtesy of Ms. Prata).

Not on the blog? View slide show here.

The Bouncy Ball Compact

Recently, third graders in Ms. Bliesener's class heard about the positive effects of replacing classroom chairs with exercise balls. Ms. Bliesener, in conjunction with their studies on the American Colonies and the Mayflower Compact, asked the class to develop a set of rules and expectations for the use of the exercise balls. Which is what they did. The following compact was written, signed and enacted by the students; what a wonderful example of the curriculum in action!

Bouncy Ball Compact

February 11, 2011

We the class of 3B agree to use the bouncy balls under the following terms. The most important rule is that there is no falling off the ball. If you do, the person who fell off loses the ball for two days. Another rule is to keep your feet on the ground. There is no dribbling, picking the balls, no patting and no jumping to high on the ball. If you would like to move to another spot, you will have to get up and roll the ball. You will also have to move any work if needed. There is no picking up the ball!! When you eat, do it over your table. We do not want food on our D.H's! The balls also collect dust. The maintenance crew will wipe down the balls every Friday so that we will have clean balls for a new week. Also, when you take a bouncy ball, remove it from the basket brake, put the brake under the table (stack the break if necessary), and start bouncing. Under thy terms, the bouncy ball compact shall live forever.

First Grade Neighborhood Studies

First grade students have been studying neighborhood communities. They learned that communities are places where people work, live, learn, play and help each other. They took field trips into the Englewood community that included the police station, fire station, and a grocery store. As a culminating activity of this study each class is building an imaginative 3-D community called "Kids Town." Each child has created a building that can be found in a neighborhood community. The children are working collaboratively to build the town by creating objects such as cars,streets, traffic signs, parks, fire hydrants, etc.

Also our students are learning about maps. They learned that maps help people to find places, and that there are many different kinds of maps, including maps of towns, states, countries, the world, subway maps, trail maps, etc. During field trips in the Englewood community, the children had an opportunity to see how maps were helpful to police officers and fire fighters for keeping the neighborhood safe. The students also made their own maps. They learned that to create a map, you must imagine what a place looks like from above. They created a variety of their own maps including, maps of their bedrooms, classroom maps, and a map of the E.M.S. campus, including technological programs such as Google Earth, and Neighborhood Map Machine.

(Post: Ms. Lowell)

Ms. McConville and Kindergarten Adventures class

In our Cooking Through the Seasons class we are cooking for spring. The children made butterfly cupcakes, candy flowerpots, and birds nests with candy eggs and Peeps. Welcome spring! (Post: Ms. McConville)

6th Grade Greek Projects

Take 5 minutes to view the projects that the 6th graders have created as part of their study of Ancient Greece. You will see Achilles Heel with the arrow shot by Paris, Pandora's Box, Sisyphus endlessly pushing his boulder up a hill, the Trojan Horse and the Parthenon, just to name a few. The creativity and knowledge displayed are impressive. The Greek Olympics are tomorrow!

Colonial Fair

The Third Grade's Colonial Fair is a series of presentations by student groups on life in the Colonies with a focus on occupations. Be it silversmith, baker, brick maker or shipbuilder, parents, teachers and administrators can go from station to station and hear the students describe what it took to keep life going in America over 225 years ago.

The video is a bit noisy and jumpy, but it does give a sense of the energy and creativity of this undertaking. -- David Lowry

Colonial Dances

After the first part of the 3rd grade's Colonial Fair, the students performed two dances from the times: the Virginia Reel and the Circle Dance. Here are two quick samples:

Spring Break Mini Camp

This year's theme is Seasons of Change!

For more information or to register, click here (.pdf).

The Shape of Things in 37 Seconds

The Kindergartners in C2 read the book "The Shape of Things" and then created their own collages using a variety of shapes they created. Take 37 seconds to see their work!

Cinderella and Sound Effects

During their unit focusing on instrument exploration, Mrs. Ebeling's first graders used the classroom instruments to add sound effects to the story of "Cinderella". They did such a wonderful job that they were invited to perform the story at this morning's Chilton House singalong. ~Ms. Spaeth

Press play (>) to listen to the performance.

Pajama Day Pre-K

The Pre-K had a Pajama day, recently. Our letter of the week was "P" and, continuing with the theme, we made pancakes and came to school in our pajamas. We also had two students read us two stories after lunch time. (Post: Ms. Aslam)

Animal Adventures

Here are some photos from the Monday, After School, Animal Adventures with Ms. Dorrien and Dr. Day. (Post: Ms. Dorrien)

Pre-K Keyboarding

Students in the Pre-K have been practicing their skills using a typewriter that was donated by Mrs. Bernal to the dramatic play center in C8. (Post: Ms. Aslam)

Bubbles!

Recently, second grade students use blew bubbles to study surface tension in science. (Post: Ms. Milne)

Colonial Day Preparations

The third grade has been busy preparing for Colonial Day festivites, which kick off today at 1:15 P.M. Thanks to all the parents who have helped out!

EMS Scholastic Kids Reporter

Recent published work from EMS eighth grader and Scholastic Kids reporter, Viveca Riley. Read book report and interview here. You can review all of Viveca's work as a Scholastic Kids reporter by clicking here.

Strategic Planning Task Forces Formed

For more information, please click.

4th Graders Auditioning for Carnegie Hall

Our fourth graders submitted these two videos to Carnegie Hall last week. Our assignment was to invent new lyrics for the Aaron Copland classic, "I Bought Me a Cat." If we are chosen, a film crew will be sent to video our class, and our school's video will be presented onscreen at the Carnegie Hall LinkUP! concert in May 2011. In a few weeks, we are also auditioning to be the representative school onstage at Carnegie Hall with the Orchestra of St. Luke's. EMS has been onstage for the last 8 years! And we are known as a school with enthusiastic, well-prepared students with high standards and lots of musicality.

Here's an extra video; these fourth graders were practicing for the Talent Show.

(Post: Ms. White)

Spanish Lessons

The first grade students are retelling the story of Goldie Locks And The Three Bears after learning "family" vocabulary. As well, the first graders are working on puzzels that review "community helpers" vocabulary.

Our third graders have recently learned the highlights of the Aztec Civilization. Our special guest, Mrs. Lowry, came to the class to talk to the students about the story of el chocolatl and its connection to the Aztecs and the Spanish Conquistadors. The students also learned about the cacao seeds and all the other original ingredients used to make their chocolatl. The students were also able to make their own chocolatl: both the ancient Aztec kind as well as the chocolate we know today.

The fourth graders have recently studied the Maya civilization. Again, Mrs. Lowry came to talk to the students about the main sources of food for the Mayas. The students where delighted to make and eat guacamole. "Delicioso!" That's what they say!!

(Post: Srta. Gonzalez)

1st Grade: 100 days of school

Yesterday, the first grade celebrated the 100th day of school! They worked hard on individual posters by creatively arranging 100 items into equal groups. They presented their posters during math time. (Post: Ms. Cozza)

Eating by Design...

Children showing off their chocolate creations in Eating By Design, an EMS After School Adventures class. (Post: Ms. Smithline)

First Grade visit to Whole Foods

Our first graders visited Whole Foods as part of their Neighborhood and Community study. They visited the store's various departments, including produce, meat, fish, bulk, cheese, bakery, and prepared foods. They learned a lot about nutritious foods and how the many people work together to provide the items we buy in a grocery store. (Post: Ms. Lowell)