Connors School Scoop

Dear Connors Families,

We had such an awesome week at Connors with our kindergarten field trip to the Children's Museum of Staten Island, 5th grade field trip to the Newark Museum, presentation of our Koala Animodule Sculpture painted by our 5th grade artists, Black History Month morning contests over the announcments and wonderful learning activities! Students in grades 1-5 completed the CogAT assessment for Johns Hopkins CTY Program. If your child missed the CogAT, the make-up day is on February 29th. Congratulations to our 3rd Grade students who are moving on to STEAM TANK REGIONALS! Make sure to see all of the project titles below! We have so many events coming up, so please be sure to read about them in our Connors School Scoop!

CARMELA FULL OF WISHES THEATER FIELD TRIP 2/6-2/7

Carmela Full of Wishes theater field trip is coming up on February 6th for grades K-2 and February 7th for grades 3-5. Please review the Carmela Full of Wishes Smore and ensure that you completed the Carmela Full of Wishes Field Trip Permission Slip Form. Please be reminded to pack your child an early morning snack. In addition, students will have a PTO provided snack of Pepperidge Farm Goldfish crackers at the theater. If students have an allergy to goldfish, we are providing Rold Gold brand dairy free pretzels. Please reach out to Nurse Kristen if your child has food allergies to goldfish crackers.

THE YEAR OF THE ARTS MUSEUM FIELD TRIPS 2/14-4/11

In honor of the Year of the Arts field trip theme, all grades K-8 will visit museums across New Jersey and New York. For each K-5 museum trip, all students will receive an engaging and hands on experiences. Students will delight in their themed guided tours, workshops, planetarium shows, and guided educational play opportunities. Here is the PERMISSION SLIPS: CONNORS YEAR OF THE ARTS MUSEUM FIELD TRIP.

• February 14th-3rd Grade-Ms. Hall, Ms. Schmidt and Ms. Gillen's Class
• March 7th-Kindergarten-Ms. Fleischer and Ms. Fernandez's Class
• March 14th-4th Grade-Ms. Stubbe, Ms. Schulz, Ms. Arciero and Ms. Rodriguez
• March 20th-1st Grade-Ms. Vayda, Ms. Klag and Ms. Sheridan
• April 11th-2nd Grade-Ms. Rinaldi and Ms. Garcia

VALENTINE'S DAY FESTIVITIES-Valentine's Day Smore

Friendship Bears-We are going to have our Valentine's Day FRIENDSHIP BEAR Exchange to celebrate how much we all CARE for each other! Each student will be able to give and receive a Friendship Bear with a caring card with one of their classmates. Thank you so much to our Connors PTO for sponsoring this activity!

Treats-No food, candy, treats or goody bags may be sent to school by any families (this includes food to be shared in class or sent home in backpacks). We have many severe food allergies at school and during school wide holiday celebrations, the candy and treats can become too much to keep track of. Thank you for understanding as we protect our little ones.

Valentine's Day Cards and other Non-Food Items-It is completely optional if you would like to send in Valentine's Day cards or other non-food items such as pencils, stickers, etc., but if you choose to send these in, please make sure that you send in enough for the whole class. Your child's homeroom teacher can provide a list of names for you.

3rd Grade Field Trip on February 14th

Our 3rd graders are going on a Field Trip to the New Jersey State Museum on February 14th. Therefore, all of their Valentine's day activities and friendship bear exchanges will occur on February 13th.

FREE DENTAL SCREENINGS, CLEANINGS AND FLOURIDE TREATMENTS @ RIVERVIEW DENTISTRY

On February 10, 2024, Riverview Dentistry will be holding the Give Kids A Smile (GKAS) to provide critical dental screenings, preventive fluoride treatments, and dental hygiene education to kids up to 12 years old. The American Dental Association has held this an annual event for many years. Many dental offices volunteer time to provide underserved children up to 12 years old free dental screening, cleanings and fluoride treatments on the day of the scheduled event. Attendance by appointments only. This free service is for families who DO NOT have dental insurance. Please call Riverview Dentistry at 201-653-2929 to make an appointment.

PTO CORNER

Upcoming Events

There are a lot of exciting events coming up! Review the most important info at-a-glance then click links (or scroll down) for more information about:

• Hygiene Drive for the Hoboken Community Center (2/5-2/9) - Donate toothpaste + diaper cream/baby ointment (Amazon Wishlist here)

• Family Bingo Night (2/8) - RSVPs at capacity so please join the waitlist, sign up to volunteer and/or donate concessions

• PTO Meeting on 2/6 at 8:30am w/ special topic (Hoboken Middle School) + special guest (HMS Principal Ryan Sorafine) - Join in person or virtually, RSVP here for in person

• 5th Grade Moms Night Out (2/6 @ 8pm, Dear Maud) - RSVP here!

Stay Connected and “In the Know” when you…

• Read the January PTO Meeting Minutes (Next Meeting: Tuesday 2/6 at 8:30am with SPECIAL GUEST HMS PRINCIPAL SORAFINE!)

• Visit (and bookmark!) the PTO Website

• Sync the PTO "Live" Calendar

• Join the PTO Facebook Group + PTO Email List

• Support the PTO (many ways to help!)

ADDITIONAL SCHOOL REMINDERS

SCHOOL LUNCH and SNACKS

Here is lunch order form for the week of February 5th 2/5-2/9 Lunch Form.

Please ensure that you have set up a Payschools Account on our district website. Please make sure that you packed a healthy snack for your child to eat at school.

ATTENDANCE

If your child will be absent from school, please email connorsattendance@hoboken.k12.nj.us along w/ your child’s homeroom teacher with the following information:

• Child’s Name

• Reason for absence

• Date of expected return

• Any documentation for your child’s absence (i.e. doctor’s note, court note, etc.)

School begins at 8:15 am. Please ensure that your child arrives on time to school and enters the building with their homeroom class.

EARLY PICK-UP

If you are picking up your child early from school, please Email connorsattendance@hoboken.k12.nj.us along w/ your child’s homeroom teacher with the following information by 10:00 am.

• Time that you will be picking up your child

• Who will be picking up your child. Make sure that whoever is picking up your child is listed on your child’s approved pick-up list.

• Parents will not be able to sign children out between 2:30 and 3:00 PM. After 2:30 PM, you must wait until regular dismissal time.

HOBOKEN PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT MISSION AND VISION

Students have been learning about our Hoboken Public School District's Mission and Vision!

MISSION: The Hoboken Public School District will prepare confident and resilient graduates who value academic achievement, embrace challenge, honor diversity, appreciate collaboration and respectfully contribute to their local and wider-communities.

VISION: The Hoboken Public School District will be recognized as a premier educational choice and widely known as a best-practice model for academic growth, high quality instruction, innovative and equitable programs, engagement, facilities and personalized pathways that are essential for college, career and life preparation in our ever-changing, interconnected global society.

IMPORTANT UPCOMING DATES:

• February-Black History Month
• February 5th-9th-National Black Lives Matter Week
• February 6th-9th-Families Helping Families Food Pantry Drive
• February 6th-PTO Meeting @ Connors or Virtual @ 8:30 am w/ HMS Principal Sorafine
• February 6th-K-2 Field Trip to see "Carmela Full of Wishes" at the Growing Stage
• February 7th-3-5 Field Trip to see "Carmela Full of Wishes" at the Growing Stage
• February 8th-Walmart Women in Tech Presentation for 2nd graders
• February 8th-PTO Family Bingo Night Fundraiser @ 6:00 pm in the Connors Gym
• February 13th-100th Day of School
• February 14th-Valentine's Day Class Kindness Bear and Card Exchange
• February 14th-3rd Grade Field Trip-Ms. Hall, Ms. Schmidt and Ms. Gillen's Class
• February 15th-1:00 pm dismissal
• February 16th-19th-President's Weekend/School Closed

IMPORTANT LINKS

• Connors Family Manual, FAQ's
• Connors Calendar of Events 2023-2024
• Hoboken Public School District Calendar 2023-2024
• Chromebook Handout
  

• Hoboken Public Schools-Technology Google Site

• Connors PTO Google Site

• Connors Faculty and Staff Directory 2023-2024
  

• Meet our Connors Team
  

We make it our priority to partner with parents in the academic growth and success of every child. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

All the best,

Juliana Addi, Connors School Principal

Ms. Watson & Ms.Bartolotti’s class had the BEST time on the field trip! We went to the Staten Island Children's Museum on Thursday! We read the book “The Grouchy Ladybug” by Eric Carle and had a great discussion about the story. We made our own grouchy ladybug project using watercolor paint and construction paper. We also got to play in all the museum attractions! We first played in the “ladder 11” room which resembled a fire station. We dressed up as firefighters, played in the firetruck, used the station pole, and put out fires with the sensor fire hose! The next attraction was called “great explorations' ', which included a rainforest, a dog sled, a raft across a river, walking in snowshoes, ocean exploration, a WEXP radio station, and much more! We really were exploring the world! Lastly, we went to the 3rd floor which showcased three attractions! The “house about it” attraction which is a two-story unfinished house. The kids got to use a wrecking ball, a tool bench, bricks, a seesaw, construction worker outfits, a slide, and more! The “Bugs and other Arthropods” attraction which showcased many real life bugs! We also were able to try on an exoskeleton, crawl through an ant hill, and the displays taught us about hibernation, life cycles, and much more. And the “pets and people” attraction which showcased a veterinary office. We dressed up at veterinarians and checked up on all the animals using stethoscopes and scales! We had a BLAST at the museum and want to go back!

Over this summer the Fine Arts Department applied for Arts in Education grant awards for the elementary level of our vibrant Fine Arts program. We were awarded and stood in gracious reception of this extraordinarily creative opportunity to create a Connors Koala Animodule designed and painted by our 5th Grade Artists along with Barat Foundation's Artist in Residence.

The Animodules is a three dimensional “Animated” “Module” sculpture, formed by notching two flat planes together, to create a third dimension. It is an original urban art form born in New Jersey, created by children and youth under the direction of professional artists. They are symbols of community collaboration and creativity, fostering peacemaking through the arts and promoting the civic ideals of inclusion, diversity, pride of place and the beautification of public space.

The Barat Foundation is a non-profit organization founded in 1997 as an educational corporation dedicated to expanding creative opportunities through immersion programs designed to help maximize artistic and intellectual achievement alongside personal growth. Their mission is to engaging youth and communities in the process of collaborative artistic creation, fostering peacemaking through the arts and promoting the civic ideals of inclusion, diversity, pride of place and the beautification of public space. Their commitment is centered around a single idea: “Public Art by the Public” promotes peacemaking through the arts, diversity, inclusion and creative placemaking highlighting a community’s unique history and culture and promoting healing.

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 5TH GRADERS FOR THEIR AMAZING ARTISTRY AND CREATIVITY!

Sumay Ramachandran

Gregory Hanna

Elias Hanna

Faye Figueroa

Gabe Morris

Domenica Bussanich

Harper Appell

Abigail Murray

Nolan Pinchevsky

Romy Ron-Kushnick

Dylan Patel

Noah Renoni

Charlotte Young

Asya Longobardo

Kiran Cross

Maya Newfield

THANK YOU TO MS. CAPALBO AND MS. FASOLINO FOR ORGANIZING THIS ENTIRE PROJECT!

A BIG Congratulations to the following 3rd Grade Teams who made it to the STEAM Tank Challenge Regionals. We are very proud of their effort, creative ideas and innovative thinking!

Sparkle Girls (Comfortable Rain Boots)

Lia ODonnell, Macie Nizgoda, Serafina Seto, Quinn Carleton, Laurielle Washington

Pop Up Desk

Emma Lane, Samatha Slackman, Milania Bussanich, Ariyanna Lopez, Aanika Gupte

The Perfect Duo Chromebook Desk

Michelle Gallagher, Sienna Page, Julius Callender, Israel Reyes -

NJ Scientists -Magic Umbrella

Jordan Kohut, Nolan Goldberg, Lucas Appell -

Wake Up Beds

Sophia Seto, Maya Perez

Perfect Packaging Girls

Emily Rosenfield, Stella Troutman, Lainey MsLaughlin

S.T.A. (Save the Animals)

Brielle Frank, Chloe Mennegand, Niyantri Rathore, Aiden Colon, Alya Rushing

Desk Trap (SODA Crew)

Dylan Morissey, Sagan Cross, Aayan Patel, Oliver Pinchevsky

Also, a round of applause to the entire 3rd grade team for their amazing effort and participation in the STEAM Tank Challenge. Go Koalas!

STEAM Tank Congratulations Message

4th Grade had special guests from High School come to Connors to talk about Mock Trial!!! Mock Trial High School students together with their teacher, Mr. Paul Huggins, visited 4th grade students and presented a script that gave a great understanding to our Koalas about the Mock Trial, how it works, and what questions to ask to the witnesses. Everyone enjoyed the presentation and learned a lot from the high school students. In the next few days during Mini PGP, 4th graders will be applying that knowledge to create the questions using their originally written cases. THANK YOU to Mr. Paul Huggins and his Mock Trial High School Team for making the visit possible!

HS Mock Trial Folder With Pictures

Connors PTO is partnering with the Hoboken Community Center on a Hygiene Drive for the incredible Personal Care Pantry program the Community Center runs in conjunction with the Food Pantry. These items will directly benefit families in Hoboken and Hudson County.

This drive is focused on TWO specific items: toothpaste and diaper cream / baby ointment (all items must be full size and not expired). Shop this Amazon Wishlist, and the items will be delivered right to Connors. Or you may shop for these items anywhere you wish and drop them at Connors between Feb 5-9. Please help us collect 100 (or more!) items in honor of the 100th Day of School coming up on February 13.

Thank you for helping us help others!

Waitlist

At this time, due to high interest and limited space we have reached our advanced RSVP capacity. We encourage you to join the waitlist as described on the Connors PTO website as we do anticipate some spots will open up and only those on the waitlist will be considered (in the order they join) as tickets are non-transferable.

We Need Your Help!

We still need a few volunteers and concession donations. Prize donations and monetary donations (to help offset our out-of-pocket costs) are always welcomed and appreciated. More details on all can be found in our Sign Up Genius, so please take a moment to review and sign up.

Would you like to learn about Hoboken Middle School? Then please join us at our next Connors PTO Meeting on February 6th as we welcome Principal Ryan Sorafine from Hoboken Middle School as our guest speaker. There will be an abridged PTO Meeting from 8:30am-9:00am, then Mr. Sorafine will join us for a presentation about Hoboken Middle School along with some HMS students who will share their personal experiences. As with all PTO Meetings, parents of all K-5 students are invited and may join in person or virtually. Please help spread the word. We hope to see many of you there! Please RSVP here if you plan to attend this meeting in person so we can prepare for adequate space.

There is an informal district-wide 5th grade Moms Night Out happening on February 6th at 8:00 pm for moms of rising 6th graders to get to know each other from different schools! (Planned by a group of Connors/Wallace/Brandt Moms). It would be so wonderful if you could attend! Please RSVP: District-wide 5th Grade MOMS NIGHT OUT RSVP

Items shown in this flyer are available IN STOCK. Email SwagConnors@gmail.com for availability + purchasing. Wearing swag is a great way to support the PTO and show school pride – including at upcoming sporting events!

The Hoboken Public School District is proud to have a certified Reading Specialist in each of our three elementary schools and Hoboken Middle School. Teaching children to read requires that every child receives excellent reading instruction and that children who are experiencing reading difficulties receive early intervention and additional instruction from professionals specifically prepared to teach them. The role of the district Reading Specialist is to provide research-based, small group reading instruction using the Institute for Multi-Sensory Education’s (IMSE) Orton-Gillingham (OG) methodology. The purpose of the Reading Specialist Corner is to provide families with at-home literacy tips to ensure strong home-school partnerships. This week, the Reading Specialist Team is excited to share the key components of an Institute for Multi-Sensory Education (IMSE) Orton-Gillingham (OG) multi-sensory lesson.

The History of Orton-Gillingham

We are a very proud partner of the Institute for Multi-Sensory Education (IMSE). IMSE’s mission is to empower districts, schools, teachers, and parents to be agents of change toward equitable literacy instruction for all learners that is driven by research. This is accomplished through research-based curriculum and instruction centered around the Orton-Gillingham approach to teaching reading.

Orton-Gillingham was among the first teaching approaches designed to help struggling readers by explicitly teaching the connections between letters and sounds. In the 1930s, neuropsychiatrist and pathologist Dr. Samuel T. Orton and educator, psychologist Anna Gillingham developed the Orton-Gillingham approach to reading instruction for students with "word-blindness," which would later become known as dyslexia. Their approach combined direct, multi-sensory teaching strategies paired with systematic, sequential lessons focused on phonics.

IMSE has spent decades crafting its approach based on the Orton-Gillingham methodology, the science of reading, and practical implementation in the classroom.

What are the key components of an IMSE OG multi-sensory lesson?

The Components of an IMSE OG lesson review learned phonetic concepts and incorporates three multi-sensory components by engaging students in the following processes.

• The first component is the Phonogram Review. Here we review the sound-symbol correspondence with the rapid phonogram card drill.

• The next component is Simultaneous Oral Spelling. This practice is where we repeat words, sounds or we spell out words using finger taping, writing the words while saying the letters, and then reading the completed word.

• Another component is the Blending Drill, where we decode and blend a randomly generated series of syllables.

• Our next component incorporates Dictation, providing the opportunity to write complete dictated sentences.

• An important component of an OG lesson is the Introduction of a New Concept. A new phonogram, a new sound for a known spelling pattern, or a new spelling generalization is introduced to continually extend learning.

• The Text Reading component is where we read out loud and apply our learned decoding skills to continuous text.

• The Reading Words component offers a regular and ongoing opportunity to read a series of words and sentences that use the new pattern, as well as review words targeting skills that need particular practice.

• The Learned Words component is where students get to read and write specific sight words, these are limited to words that are not decodable using what has already been taught.

• What Says, is the component that asks a student to write down everything that they have learned that makes a specific sound.

• What Means, is the morphology version of the What Says component, and asks students to identify what prefix, suffix or root has a particular meaning.

Ms. Bartolotti, Ms. Fernandez, Ms. Fleischer, Ms. Watson, Mrs. Schain, Ms. Ramos

ELA: This week's essential question was, "How do living things change as they grow?" Kindergarteners listened to the informational text The Grand Old Tree. After listening to the story, Kindergarteners could retell the nonfiction text by identifying the topic, writing details, and discussing exciting facts learned. Kindergarten students also listened to the interactive read-aloud. Students recognized that the story was fiction because pine trees don't talk! Our KOALAfied Kindergarteners did a fantastic job reading the short story Ed and Ned. They also ROCKED their center work, which focused on this week's sight word: are, phonics focus short /e/, and guided reading! Kindergarten students continue to LOVE completing the 3-part drill. Auditory (sand) is their favorite, and they have done a fantastic job completing their dictation. We look forward to another fantastic week of learning next week. Keep up the outstanding work, Kindergarten!

Science: This week kindergarteners completed their monthly lab for the month of January by using weather tools to determine the weather outside. Students checked the thermometer and recorded the temperature each day. As an extension to science, kindergartners completed various Move This World activities in order to recognize our emotions throughout the school day.

Ms. Vayda, Ms. Klag, Ms. Sheridan, Ms. Ramos, Ms. Criqui, Ms. Romanowski

ELA: This week our essential question was "What was life like long ago?" We began the week by listening and reading books that taught us about school and homes long ago. Our main focus was compare and contrast. Students used Venn Diagrams to compare and contrast life long ago and today. We also practiced comparing simple things such as apples and oranges. Our phonics skill this week was long u_e, o_e, and e_e. Our red words for the week were: ago, boy, girl, people, how, and old. We learned when to use verbs, are and is correctly in a sentence. Another focus this week was on rereading. This is very important to practice, so students apply this when taking their weekly reading assessments. We began our new unit in writing. This unit will focus on expository/informative writing. Students will be writing All About Books. This week they picked a topic to focus on. Then they researched and organized all the facts that they know. Next week we will begin our introductions that will include a hook, naming the topic, and listing 3 subtopics.

Social Studies: This week in our Social Studies, we discussed the chapter on neighborhoods from our Young Citizen textbook. We began by defining the concept of income and discussing the importance of jobs within our communities. Additionally, we took the time to review between facts and opinions. As January comes to an end, we eagerly transitioned our focus towards Black History Month. The first graders are excited to learn more about historically relevant African Americans. To celebrate and educate, each class is going to be decorating and designing their classroom door that represents the life and contributions of a visionary figure. In Mrs. Sheridan's class, students are learning about Mary McLeod Bethune. In Ms. Vayda's class, the door decoration, is dedicated to Toni Morrison. Ms. Klag's class has embarked on a journey to explore the life and achievements of Ida B. Wells. We can't wait to showcase the final results!

Ms. Rinaldi, Ms. Garcia, Ms. Criqui, Ms. Courtney, Mr. Donovan, Mrs. White

Math: This week in math we continued using standard notation to represent addition and subtraction situations. We are becoming experts at solving story problems. We are able to figure out the important information in a word problem, decide what we don't know, create a representation, and solve an equation. We also learned a new game called Collect $1. It is an extension of a game we learned in Unit 1. We were able to review coin values and equivalencies this week as well as telling time.

ELA: This week our fabulous second graders continued to learn about how children around the world are different. Students continued to learn about settings in a story and the comprehension skill comparing and contrasting. Students read the realistic fiction story, "Dear Primo, A Letter to My Cousin", and were able to compare and contrast how two cousins live and play in America and Mexico. The phonics skill this week was r-controlled vowels: er, ir, ur, or. The vocabulary skill was figurative language: similes. Students have started their realistic fiction stories. They began writing using a graphic organizer and they worked on their introduction and have started to work on their drafts using juicy details and sounds to get the readers excited!

Social Studies: This week we finished writing our opinion essay titled "A Problem in Our School". Everyone worked so hard and had many interesting reasons and examples for their problem. We will be presenting to our class to vote on one problem we would like to focus on as a class.

Special Moments: This week, 2nd graders completed their CogAT. They all tried their hardest, and the 2nd grade teachers are very proud of them.

Today, 2nd graders completed a variety of activities that helped us learn more about Groundhog Day.

Science: 2nd Grade completed the unit on Earth's Surface by engaging in a unit project Explore Ocean Water. Students brainstormed and discussed in groups why ocean water does not freeze completely, tested their ideas, reviewed and recorded their results and discussed it in a class discussion. 2nd Grade Unit Project

Ms. Hall, Ms. Schmidt, Ms. Gillen, Ms. Layson, Ms. Goodwin, Mrs. White, Ms. Criqui,

Mrs. Schain

Math: This week in math the students expanded their knowledge and understanding of multiplication. The students practiced forming fact families, answering word problems and breaking apart larger numbers by using the distributive property. We look forward to continuing to grow our fluency for both multiplication and division next week.

ELA: This week, the third graders celebrated all their writing growth by participating in their second Writer's Cafe! The students shared their final Literary Analysis essays and provided each other with positive feedback while enjoying donuts and juice. They are already excited to begin learning about our final writing task, which is a Research Simulation Essay. The students began learning about this style of writing by analyzing the similarities and differences between LATs and RSTs. They used this information to begin writing their first Research Essay about hot air balloons. Additionally, the students continued reading our core novel, Who Was Coretta Scott King?, and specifically focused on inferring and analyzing character feelings by finding both direct and indirect evidence in various texts.

Social Studies: This week students started our new unit: a case study of the Lenni Lenape! In this unit, students will explore the history and connection of New Jersey and indigenous people, specifically the Lenni Lenape. This week students learned about the original settlers of our area, the resources they used, and the origin of immigration.

Third Grade Thrills: On Monday, third graders celebrated the culmination of our second writing unit: Literary Analysis Tasks! In celebration of our progress and growth, we had a writer's celebration. Thank you to the third grade families for donating yummy treats for students to enjoy while they shared their essays. Third graders, we are so proud of your wonderful writing!

Science: This week third graders completed their monthly January lab. Students had to determine the monster traits of the parents' offspring by using a coin. Students would flip a coin and complete the chart provided. Once the chart was completed students created the baby offspring and answered the reflection questions provided.

Ms. Schulz, Mrs. Rodriguez, Ms. Stubbe, Ms. Goodwin, Ms. Courtney, Ms. Romanowski,

Mr. Donovan

Math: 4th Grade Mathematicians continued their study in Investigations Unit 6: Fraction Cards & Decimal Grids. In Investigation 2, students compared pairs of fractions to determine which is greater. They ordered fractions on a number line by identifying equivalent fractions and making comparisons to landmarks such a s 1/2 and 1.

ELA: Phenomenal 4th Grade Readers began Unit 3 "That's the Spirit," by reading the realistic fiction passage "Remembering Hurricane Katrina." The focus skills this week include identifying the narrator's point of view, inferring character's perspective, using context clues to define new vocabulary words, and analyzing the purpose of a flashback.

Social Studies: 4th graders worked hard this week to learn about colonial New England and Middle Colonies. They learned about their government and education systems. They discussed the differences between today and back then. Keep up the great work 4th graders!

Science: Unit Project: Game Time

Ms. Schultes, Ms. Ortiz, Ms. Courtney, Ms. Layson, Ms. Ramos

Math: This week our mathematicians practiced computation skills in all operations and solve multiplication and division problems with large numbers. Students were also able to practice computation skills in all operations to solve multi-step real world problems. In order to review before their unit test, students worked in a task card carousel where they had to work on their multiplication and division skills.

ELA: This week fifth grade students continued reading their core novel, Hoot. A lot of exciting events happened in these chapters, especially chapter 15! In addition, they have been answering both RACES and opinion-based questions about the chapters. For writing, students have continued the process of planning and writing a research simulation task essay. Great work, fifth grade!

Social Studies: This week in Social Studies, students learned about child labor during the industrial revolution. Students learned about children who worked in textile mills, the coal mines, the farms, the sweatshops, and on the streets and the dangers associated with working in each of these places. We discussed how lucky they are to be able to attend school thanks to the reforms that occurred.

During the Individualized Learning Pathway (ILP) period, students who have qualified to participate in the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY) programming engage in a wide array of math course offerings that address their specific strengths and interests. Johns Hopkins CTY believes in researching and advancing ways to identify and nurture academically talented learners. CTY furthers research, guides educators and families and inspires students from diverse communities and backgrounds to pursue their intellectual passions and create the world of tomorrow.

Johns Hopkins CTY Cryptology: Math and Codes

CTY students will make and break secret codes in this exciting introductory cryptology course. They will begin with simple Caesar ciphers, learning to encrypt and decrypt messages as well as the history behind the cipher. They will then move through more advanced mathematical concepts to learn substitution ciphers, Vigenère ciphers, and multiplicative and affine ciphers. All of their newly acquired knowledge will be put to the test by finishing with public key cryptography and the modern-day RSA cryptosystem.

This CTY course combines mathematics, computer science, and electrical engineering, and it’s an excellent choice for those wishing to enhance their grasp of modern cryptology concepts such as ATM cards, computer passwords, and e-commerce. Our CTY scholars will certainly be challenged, though—many of the concepts covered in this course are often not seen until college!

G3

A BIG Congratulations to the following 3rd Grade Teams who made it to the STEAM Tank Challenge Regionals. We are very proud of their effort, creative ideas and innovative thinking!

Lia ODonnell, Macie Nizgoda, Serafina Seto, Quinn Carleton, Laurielle Washington - Sparkle Girls (Comfortable Rain Boots)

Emma Lane, Samatha Slackman, Milania Bussanich, Ariyanna Lopez, Aanika Gupte - Pop Up Desk

Michelle Gallagher, Sienna Page, Julius Callender, Israel Reyes - Chromebook Desk

Jordan Kohut, Nolan Goldberg, Lucas Appell - NJ Scientists (Magic Umbrella)

Sophia Seto, Maya Perez - Wake Up Beds

Emily Rosenfield, Stella Troutman, Lainey MsLaughlin - Perfect Packaging Girls

Brielle Frank, Chloe Mennegand, Niyantri Rathore, Aiden Colon, Alya Rushing - S.T.A. (Save the Animals)

Dylan Morissey, Sagan Cross, Aayan Patel, Oliver Pinchevsky- Desk Trap (SODA Crew)

Also, a round of applause to the entire 3rd grade team for their amazing effort and participation in the STEAM Tank Challenge. Go Koalas!

STEAM Tank Congratulations Message

G4

4th Grade had special guests from High School come to Connors to talk about Mock Trial!!! Mock Trial High School students together with their teacher, Mr. Paul Huggins, visited 4th grade students and presented a script that gave a great understanding to our Koalas about the Mock Trial, how it works, and what questions to ask to the witnesses. Everyone enjoyed the presentation and learned a lot from the high school students. In the next few days during Mini PGP, 4th graders will be applying that knowledge to create the questions using their originally written cases. THANK YOU to Mr. Paul Huggins and his Mock Trial High School Team for making the visit possible!

HS Mock Trial Folder With Pictures

Hi Connors Families,

The week of January 29th our Connors students had some fun vocal warmups and were working really hard on new songs.

In all kindergarten classes the students warm up their voices by using the Solfege method of singing the major scale in music. We like to sing along with the “Do, Re, Mi” song from the “Sound of Music” movie. The students love it and here is Deandra and Wesley from Ms. Watson’s class leading their classmates as they warm up their voices and get ready to sing their hearts out!

In the 4th grade our clarinet players were hard at work. They practiced playing notes with sharps and flats. This is a very difficult task, because the fingerings on the clarinet get very complicated and moving from natural notes to sharp and flat notes can be very demanding on the fingers due to all of the keys on a clarinet. Well, that didn’t stop Nevah, Khloe, Bella, and Emily from moving quickly around the clarinet. They rock!

This week in Mandarin we made dragon puppets and lucky envelopes to get ready for the Chinese New Year. We also tried the ancient art of 剪纸 ( jiǎnzhǐ) or paper cutting.

Email: juliana.addi@hoboken.k12.nj.us
Website: http://www.hoboken.k12.nj.us
Location: 201 Monroe Street, Hoboken, NJ, USA
Phone: 201-356-3684