Mrs. Di Re’s third grade students brought hands on learning to Elmont’s new Ready Gen Literacy Program! After reading several fictional texts and learning about characters, problems, solutions and motivations in Unit 1 A, Mrs. Di Re’s students made Thunder Cake in class with the help of parents and the fantastic kitchen staff at CHC. The students read and discussed Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco several times over the course of a few days. They read inde-pendently, with partners and in small groups. They worked coop-eratively to answer close read questions and participated in many Think-Pair-Share and Team Talk discussions. The students followed the narrator of the story as she fought her fear of thunder

by gathering ingredients to make a Thunder Cake with her babush-ka, her grandmother. Students learned how the narrator over-came her fear of thunder and became brave through her ac-tions during the events of the story. They also studied the word choice and rich language Polacco used in writing the book. With the help of class parents Mrs. Sirjue, Mrs. Bossous, Ms. LaMotte, Ms. Holder, Mrs. Chevres and Ms. Hamilton the boys and girls made Patriccia Polacco’s Thunder Cake in class. They learned how to read and follow directions in order, how to measure ingredients, and how to make a cake from scratch, not from a box. Students were un-sure of how the cake would taste with tomatoes as an ingredient

and were surprised the chocolate cake batter turned a red color. Once the cake was ready to be baked, Ms. Peggy and the fantas-tic kitchen staff at CHC cooked the Thunder Cake according to Polacco’s directions. Later in the day the students ate the Thunder Cake. They all agreed the cake was delicious. The students truly enjoyed being able to share in Patricia Polacco’s Thunder Cake story and recipe! This rich hands on learning experience is one the students will remember for a long time!

CHC Mustangs December 2014

This academic school year, the Elmont Union Free School District recently adopted the Words Their Way program. The program teaches students the importance of word study through phonics, vocabulary and the study of word patterns and their meaning. One prominent benefit of the Words Their Way program is the ability for teachers to differentiate instruction to meet the individual needs of each student. In the beginning of November, the first graders at Clara H. Carlson dove into the new program. Students were eager to participate in the various sorts and games throughout the week. It encourages students to analyze the words and/or pictures provided. Words Their Way focuses less on memorization and enables students to have a more hands-on approach to their learning. We look forward to the continued growth of our first grade students. When in doubt, sort it out!

The 6th grade students at Clara H. Carlson competed in the annual Egg Drop Experiment, and the results were astounding! Students studied the scientific concepts of force, gravity, acceleration, velocity, as well as Newton’s 3 Laws of Motion all while having a blast at the same time! This year’s devices demonstrated tons of creativity and higher level thinking, devices that incorpo-rated stuffed animals, umbrellas, jars of pea-nut butter, and even a stuffed Pig took to the skies of CHC all focusing on the same objec-tive. How can I protect an egg from a two story drop? Although all of the students did a fan-tastic job, we had 5 students who were our class winners based on their devices having the slowest rate of descent.

Hira Chohan from Mrs. Lombino’s class was our most successful drop at 7.54 seconds. Representing the rest of the 6th grade winners were Issani Martinez from Mrs. Hernandez’s class at 7.00 seconds Zane Small from Mr. Cavaliere’s class at 4.94 seconds Palaknoor Kaur from Mrs. Sagnelli’s class at 4.28 seconds Manal Faisal from Mrs. Racioppo’s class at 3.75 seconds The entire grade as a whole did an incredible job, and we look forward to the innovative ideas our students come up with in the future!

STEM Lab: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Upcoming Events

Holiday Recess December 22nd - January 2nd School Resumes January 5, 2015 International Night January 16, 2015, 7 pm Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day January 19, 2015 School Closed

Words Their Way

Carlson Chronicles

Mrs. Di Re’s Students Make Thunder Cake!

As part of the System 44 reading program, students in

Ms. Kaminsky’s class explored the importance of symbolic

masks used in ancient Maya life.

The 2014-2015 Student Council is in full swing. We have al-ready met three times this year, and we are off to a great start. Our biggest project so far was the CHC Helping Hands for Hun-ger. Student Council members went to different classrooms explaining the program. Classrooms received brown paper bags and were asked to donate non-perishable goods. We collected many canned goods which was then transferred to Gotham Avenue. On Saturday, November 15, 2014, the CHC Student Council joined the Elmont Dad’s Club, Elmont Memorial High School Key Club, the Boys Scouts, and other community groups to sort out all of the food. After all the food was sorted and boxed, the food was delivered to many families in our commu-nity.

For Red Ribbon Week, we created posters and decorated the

building with them. We also walked with pride to represent our

school at the Annual Elmont Veteran’s Day Parade. The Stu-

dent Council will return this year with the Mustang Shop where

you can purchase fun items. Remember all the money we raise

goes to a great cause. We are currently researching a variety of

organizations in which we would like to donate to. If you have

any suggestions, please be sure to contact your class repre-

sentative and give them your ideas.

As a reinforcement activity to support addition of decimals, Mr.

Wochinger’s class participated in a game called, Perfect Ten.

The objective of this game is to get a sum closest to ten, but not

exceed ten. Students are placed in leveled groups and compete

against each anoth-

er. Each player must

roll dice, explore

multiple combina-

tions and strategical-

ly decide where to

place the decimal in

order to create to

most reasonable

number. This activity

not only promotes critical thinking, academic growth and real-

life application, but instills a desire to learn math in a fun and

meaningful way. This activity is aligned with common core

standard CC.5. NBT.7.

Page 2

Perfect Ten: Adding Decimals Dice Game

Carlson Chronicles

Student Council

Want to know how animals use structural and behavioral adap-tations to survive in their environments? Ask the fourth grad-ers! As part of the Ready Gen Program, the fourth grade stu-dents are creating an infographic on an animal of their choice. The infographic will be a poster that contains an essay about their animal, as well as visuals to help the reader comprehend the text.

After choosing their animals, the students used both books and the internet to conduct their research. They then composed an essay that focused on the features the animal uses to meet its basic needs. To visually enhance their poster, the students add-ed graphics, such as maps, diagrams, sidebars, and charts. In addition to learning about their animal while acquiring new research methods, the students utilized many computer tech-niques to publish their posters.

4th Grade Zoologists

Our fifth grade students are developing the skills necessary to

construct a narrative writing piece. Our students have explored

various techniques to help readers get to know characters and

their experiences. During this process, students have compared

and contrasted characters in a narrative, analyzed author’s

style, recognized point of view, identified the importance of

transitional word use and examined the use of dialogue. Each

fifth grade student will develop an original short story with a

clear beginning, middle and end. They are working hard to de-

velop their own main characters, settings, conflicts, resolutions,

and sequence of events. Ultimately, the students will construct

narratives about a main character who demonstrates a commit-

ment to the environment. The fifth grade teachers look forward

to reading the finished products!

5th Grade Narrative Writers of the Future

Ms. Kaminsky’s Class Researched Ancient Maya Culture