  As the principal of P.S. 8 - The Isaac Varian School, it is my pleasure to welcome you back to a new, exciting year of school. At P.S. 8, we strive for excellence and have high expectations for our students. We are focused on creating a learning environment that is safe, respectful, and engaging and our goal is to develop responsible and dedicated students that are prepared for the demands necessary to be successful in the 21st century. We welcome your feedback, and I hope you visit our site often for the latest news and school events. Respectfully, Claudia Tahiraj-Sadrija *Illustration courtesy of Mrs. Jen -------------------------------------------------------------- PS 8 Proud Lions Newsletter April/May, 2018 3-5 Literacy Reading & Writing Coach - Ms. McCosh Dear Parents, During Reading Workshop your third graders have begun their Animal Research Clubs where they will learn to synthesize related information from at least two sources. They then will write about the animal they are researching. Your fourth graders are studying historical fiction. They are entering settings where buffalo roam the Great Plains inhabited by Lakota Indians, where people struggle to put food on their tables during the Great Depression, where a plague of grasshoppers descended on our prairie lands and destroyed crops –leaving farmers with no food to eat and no source of income, and many other times and places in history. Your fifth graders are also learning about the past. They are studying the Civil Rights Movement. Martin Luther King, Thurgood Marshall and Rosa Parks are just some of the people they will encounter during this Unit of Study. The Montgomery Bus Boycott and other protests that led to change will also be discussed. K-2 Universal Literacy Coach - Ms. Blackwood A Glimpse into PS 8’s K-2 Reading and Writing Units Kindergarten:
First Grade:
Second Grade:
Some Comprehension Questions to Ask Your Child at Home Questions to ask before reading:
Questions to ask during reading:
Questions to ask after reading:
If you have any questions, please reach out to me via email at cblackwood@schools.nyc.gov or stop by room 202. I look forward to working with you! K-5 Mathematics Coach - Ms. Chang K: Students analyze, compare, and create 2-D and 3-D shapes. They
use position words (above, below, beside, in front of, behind, etc.) to
describe the position of various familiar objects in relation to surrounding
objects. Students also analyze and compare 3-D shapes. They learn how to
determine if a solid figure can roll, stack, or slide. 1: Students tell time to the hour using analog and digital clocks.
Students use attributes to match shapes. They understand that 2-D shapes,
such as triangles, circles, rectangles, and squares, have attributes that define
them and make them different from one another. They understand how to
determine the number of straight sides or vertices of a shape. 2: Students estimate measures and use a ruler, meter stick, or tape measure
to measure length and height to the nearest centimeter or meter, and
measure the length and height of objects in inches, feet, and yards. 3: Students measure the area of a shape by counting the number of square
units that cover a region. They learn the amount of space inside a shape is its
area. They learn to find the area of a square and a rectangle. Students
understand that the area of a figure is the amount of surface that is covered. 4: Students identify and describe points, lines, and planes. They recognize
and draw lines, rays, and angles with different measures. They explore
points, lines, line segments, and rays in preparation for learning about
angles. They use a protractor to measure angles. They identify angles as
acute, obtuse, right or straight. 5: Students identify and classify polygons and triangles. They sort a variety
of quadrilaterals to develop the hierarchy for quadrilaterals. They classify 2-
dimensional shapes into categories based on their properties. Students
identify and graph points on a coordinate grid. K-5 Science - Ms. Pacelli The Kindergarteners at P.S. 8 are currently learning about the life cycles of living things. They have been focusing on animals that are "Oviparous", which are animals that hatch from eggs. The First graders at P.S.8 have been learning about animals, with a focus on, predators and prey. The first graders have been involved in a non fiction activity where they had to identify simple food chains. They are also including non fiction writing with their projects.K-5 Science - Ms. Rivas Third graders have been learning and engaged in many hands-on experiments bringing Science fun to the classrooms. They have been learning The Physics of Sound. Experiments include investigations of pitch, frequency and vibrations. Students have made many discoveries. Some of these discoveries include using tuning forks, making "telephones" using twine and two cups, and they have even played an African instrument called the Kalimba, to distinguish different pitches. Second graders have been learning Balance and Motion. The students have created mobiles using straws, rubber bands, paperclips and small cardboard pieces. This allowed the students to work cooperatively with the focus of maintaining a balance with their construction. They also experimented with creating tops and spinners, discovering different ways to make things go faster or slower. They learned that there are many factors that create movement and balance. K-5 Science - Ms. Lukaj Grade 4 - It's Electric! What do you think of when you hear the word electricity? Chances are you might be thinking of Benjamin Franklin’s famous kite experiment or Thomas Edison‘s improvement on the light bulb. But in reality, it was the Greeks (600 B.C) who found that rubbing a piece of amber with fur/cloth, gave amber the ability to attract small pieces of straw. What they discovered was static electricity (the electricity that makes your clothes cling, gives you fly-away hair and zaps you when you grab a metal door handle). The Greek word for amber is electron. Our 4th grade students have been “charged” to build and compare simple circuits with a focus on how connections are made. They used trial and error to build a circuit that lights a bulb. They learned that a D-cell (battery) is a source of electric energy, a bulb is an energy receiver that produces light, and a circuit is a pathway through which electric current flows. They used a switch to turn a motor on and off and build a circuit to test whether objects are conductors or insulators. The students learned that materials which allow the flow of electricity are conductors. For example, all metal objects and water are conductors. They also learned that materials that stop the flow of electricity such as rubber, plastic, and wood are insulators. The students were surprised to find that even though a small paper clip is made of metal, it didn’t conduct electricity. After discussing it amongst themselves, they realized that the plastic cover was an insulator and that is why it didn’t conduct electricity. They hypothesized that a metal paper clip without any covering would be a conductor. They tested their theory and to their delight, they were proved correct. They are excited to continue working with electricity. They will construct and compare series and parallel circuits before they dive into water! Grade 5 - Landforms Earth is an amazing place. Great forces are constantly shaping and reshaping the face of the planet. Some of these forces form mountains and ridges. While others such as moving water and wind wear down the land and fill in irregularities on planet Earth’s surface. Our 5th grade students have been investigating Landforms. They have made observations on what happens to earth materials when water flows over them. They were amazed to learn that the Grand Canyon was created by erosion and deposition. They have used scientific thinking processes to conduct investigations, build explanations, and communicate/share their results with both teacher and peers. They have enjoyed making a splash with their investigations. To find out about erosion, the students set up the stream table with earth materials and the water source. They ran a liter of water through the system and focused their observations on the process of erosion. The students learn that erosion involves 2 processes; Weathering (wearing away of the earth materials by water, wind, or ice) and Transport (the movement of earth materials by water, wind, or ice) The 5th grade will continue to work on Landforms and they are excited to build mountains! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | A few interesting articles on this month's theme: Disappointment is Good by Psychology Today Helping Kids Deal with Disappointment by Parents Magazine Life's Little Lessons by PBS Kids 
 
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