This year in art has been great for the kids. Students in First grade ventured into art history. They learned about the artist Monet. They created their own rendition of “The Water Lily Pond”. They created this art work using crayons and watercolor paint to create a crayon resist.
Mrs. Colon
Gym Class
Cat and Mouse
Their favorite game was soccer. They learned to use their feet and no hands. Only the goalie was allowed to use their body and hands. In basketball, they learned how to shoot the ball in the basket. But their favorite game was cat and mouse.
Ms. Rosario
Computer Class
Jump Start
This year we concentrated on a program called Jump Start. Using this program the students learned the following:
• Math: Addition, Subtraction, Money Fractions, Tally Charts, Time
• Reading: Parts of Speech, Comprehension, Antonyms, Word Building
• Critical Thinking: Problem Solving, Patterns, Attributes, Classification
• Social Skills: Preparations, Perseverance, Cooperation
Mr. B
Reading Lab
Read, Read. Read!
It’s hard to believe that our 2012-13 school year is over. I’m happy to share that through the use of the research-based reading program and our students’ hard work all our students have excelled and went up at least two reading levels since September. Some went up five reading levels. Kindergarten through 5th grade were challenged in the reading lab to implement the following reading strategies as they read their weekly story selection and leveled readers.
Students were encouraged to summarize what they read, predict what will happen in the story, clarify and monitor what they read, ask questions while reading, visualize what they have read in their mind, and make connections with the text.
I would like to thank the parents for their efforts at home. As we look forward to the coming school year, I trust that as we continue to work together we will see greater success in the coming years. Please continue to encourage your child to Read, Read. Read!
Yvette Jimenez
Music Class
The students in elementary enjoyed learning about music this year in its entirety . They learned how to cooperate with each other for when we had to move/dance to certain music. They have learned different aspect of music from the tempos in Italian to how to fine tune their social and motor skills.
Mrs. Colon
Art Class
Optical Illusions
What an awesome year. We have learned so much in what seems now to be a little time. 1st grade had the opportunity to do a project with Optical illusion. They had a great time.
Mrs. Colon
Gym Class
Field Day
Students had fun doing relay races with obstacle courses. They also did their annual physical fitness test. At the end of the school year we had a field day in the gym.
Mrs. Rosario
An Amazing Year
This has been such an amazing school year.
The almost second graders have grown to be confident readers and writers. They came to school each day enthusiastic and ready to learn.
We took a journey to Antarctica measuring and weighing penguins. We became farmers purchasing land and animals for our model farms. We became scientists and discovered how our body systems work for us. We became researchers and discussed great inventors and how their scientific discoveries changed our world. We explored the past from ancient civilizations to the early exploration of the American West.
Our favorite time in first grade was sharing our writing pieces during our monthly Publishing Parties.
The end of the year is always a bittersweet time. We are looking forward to our summer break but will miss our time together.
Ms. Calma
Reading Lab
Reading Street
Evangel is committed to assist our students to become successful readers. To achieve this goal Kindergarten through fifth grade are using a research-based reading program called Reading Street. Reading Street provides instruction in the five core areas of reading instruction; phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension skills and strategies. Students with their classroom teacher attend the reading lab daily where they‘re grouped to receive differential instruction. Students are taught Reading Strategies that focus on:
Summarizing what you have read.
Predicting what will happen in the story.
Clarifying and monitoring what you are reading.
Asking questions while reading.
Visualizing what you have read in your mind.
Making connections with your reading.
Decoding and trying to figure out difficult words
Our students are learning through varies types of genre in the weekly reading selection and leveled readers that good readers use different strategies before, during, and after reading. As they learn to apply these strategies they will be more engaged in what they read and eventually become successful lifelong readers.
Current research in reading reveals three important considerations for parents and teachers:
1. Children who read, and read widely, become better readers.
2. Reading and writing are complementary skills.
3. Parents are important to children both as role models and as supporters of their efforts
Mrs. Jimenez
History lesson
Hieroglyphics
During our Unit on Early Civilizations we all imagined how it would have been like to be an Egyptian. It was fun trying to read each other’s names in Hieroglyphics.
Ms. Calma
Literature
What we love
Through literature, we discovered what inspires authors to write. Authors write about what they love,what they experience and want to share with others. This month First Grade shared what they love most of all through their writing.
Ms. Calma
Let’s have a Fiesta.
Who doesn’t like a party?
During the month of October We traveled to Mexico. After locating Mexico on a world map we took a tour and learned about its people, customs, food and holidays. We especially enjoyed making our own piñata and decorating it with the colors of the Mexican flag.
Ms. Calma
Welcome
All About Me
We had a fabulous first month in First Grade! We had tons of fun getting to know each other especially while writing our personal narratives. What first graders love to do is share stories about themselves and their experiences.
Each month elementary students have a “Spirit Day” where we focus on a theme, read books, and dress up for that day’s theme. September was “flash forward” day when students dressed like their grandparents or how they thought they might look in 70 years. October was “friends” day and they dressed up like twins or triplets. November was a fun time for elementary students as we celebrated Thanksgiving our spirit day was combined with the Harvest Fair and they dressed up like Cowboys, Indians, and Farmers. All of Elementary got together in November to participate in our annual Harvest Fair complete with crafts, games, obstacle course, and face painting! Instead of participating in Operation Christmas Child this year, we focused on collecting donations for Hurricane Sandy victims. We are so proud of our students for stepping up and having a heart of ministry! Each class had their own Thanksgiving meals in their classes and invited their parents to come and enjoy some great food and company.
See Galleries for great pics.
Money for Missionaries
Our student body had the privilege of hearing from a missionary family, the DiSalvo’s, who will be heading to the mission field of India. They leave in about three weeks to begin their language school. Our students were very receptive to hear what they had to say and asked many questions of how they would be sharing the gospel. The students found out that due to the countries rules about missionaries coming in, they are coming their to help students with their education as well as opening a coffee shop to help form relationships with the people of India and through those relationships, tell them about the eternal gift of Jesus Christ. Our students were so moved by the DiSalvo’s heart and love for Jesus and the people of India that they took up and offering of almost $500.00. The elementary students had also been taking up school chapel offerings since the beginning of the year and were able to add $200.00 more dollars into the offering so the DiSalvo’s could be blessed with a $700.00 check to help them as they leave to spread the gospel into a country that so desperately needs to hear about the love of Jesus Christ.
Spiritual Emphasis Week
Spiritual Emphasis week was by far the best we have ever seen here at Evangel. We thank God for the Spiritual guidance of our staff who helped prepare and speak for this chapel but it was the moving of the spirit of God through our kids that made this one so unique. The students took to heart the things that were spoken of in chapel and ran with it. They stayed late, past their school day and continued to pray and worship in the altar. It was an amazing site. Many times, when a movement takes place like this, students go back to their normal lives but our students have gone the extra mile. They have begun their own facebook and twitter page called “be the spark.” On this page, students encourage one another with scripture and more ideas of how to grow in the Lord. They have also begun morning prayer and lunch time bible study. They recently ordered bracelets with “be the spark” on them and are now selling them to the entire student body. God is continuing to do great things through our students as the spark was lit during Spiritual Emphasis week.
Elementary Spiritual Emphasis Week was a great time as we learned that with God ANYTHING is possible. Through bible stories of faith and purpose, our students learned:
NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE, TRUST GOD!
NO MATTER HOW YOU FEEL, TRUST GOD!
NO MATTER WHAT PEOPLE DO…TRUST GOD!
NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS… TRUST GOD!
NO MATTER WHEREYOU ARE… TRUST GOD!
Why it Matters:
Adults may feel like kids have it easy- and by comparison, maybe they do. But every child has faced, or is facing something that seems impossible. For some, it’s falling asleep in a dark room while they imagine monsters under the bed. Other kids are dealing with intense peer pressure or unstable homes. Some kids might just need the courage to stand up for their faith or to obey God’s word. Those seemingly impossible tasks can seem overwhelming to kids…until they discover that EVERYTHING is possible with God!
THe NED Show
The NED show came to our school with a positive message through the use of yo-yo tricks. NED stands for Never Give Up, Encourage others, & Do your best. The students stayed attentive during the show and answered questions as the presentation was given. They learned yo-yo tricks in the process of the show and were able to purchase their very own yo-yo’s to reemphasize the message the NED brings. The students have continued to talk about it and there has been a special area in the gym designated in the gym called the “NED” zone where students can practice the tricks they learned. We hope we can have the show return next year as it has such a positive impact on our school.
Please see Galleries for some wonderful pictures
Local Firemen Visit Evangel
THANK YOU FDNY Community Relations team!!! Evangel Christian School is so thankful…for the 3rd year in a row the FDNY has sent a community specialist to teach a fun workshop about a very serious issue…. fire safety. The morning started off with a real FDNY retired firefighter coming in and meeting with our Prek3 through 5th grade students, he brought in his uniform and special tools as well as hosting a Question and Answer session for the students. The morning ended with a wonderful video about fire safety encouraging students to check with and talk to their parents about a plan to evacuate, stop drop and roll and never touch matches or a lighter and make sure you have batteries in your smoke detector. Every Student left with a gift from the FDNY of a coloring book or afire safety facts page. We are so grateful for this completely free course the FDNY provides for our school! BE COOL ABOUT FIRE SAFETY is a message we all need to keep in mind!!!
See “Galleries” for awesome pics.
Spring Celebration
Singing…..Dancing…..Drama……Poetry…….Worship……Fashion Show………..Flags……..and using our talents to honor the Lord. Our Spring Celebration was an amazing time and our student worked so very hard. Tuesday, May 22nd will be an evening to remember! A bid Thank You to all those who made this evening so very special.
Please see Galleries for wonderful pictures of the evening!
ART FAIR
We want to thank everyone for your support of Evangel’s ANNUAL ART SHOW on TUESDAY APRIL 3RD.
It was a very special afternoon as we celebrated all our young artists at Evangel. We believe it is critical to keep the arts in the schools! We are in a time when art programming is being cut from many public schools due to budget cuts, etc… at Evangel we are committed to continue with the arts programming even with our tight budgets(we operate on ½ the budget of the public school system)
Thank you to everyone who came out and supported the event… through touring and viewing the Art, or making an anonymous donation to our collection box, participating in the silent auction of a few pieces of student artwork or just buying a cupcake in support of the art program! We appreciate you! A special thank you to our volunteer judges, some were our teachers and to keep it really interesting we brought in three special friends from the community who donated their time to be judges…. Janet Banks of our Foundation For ECS Scholarship, Inc. Board, Ms. Erika White a supporter and friend from Evangel Church, and Albert Popa a famous Christian Painter. Of the hundreds of students that participated in the our Art Show, 28 students artwork was voted best and went on to the ACSI Regional Art Show . At that Art show many of our students received ribbons and two of our students were named BEST IN SHOW , 2nd grade John Costa and 8th grade Christine DeArruda. We are so proud of all of our artists!!!!
In addition to enriching the students love for Art Appreciation and extending goodwill throughout the school the afternoon raised $400 for the Art Department and $40 for our Middle School Magazine production! Special thanks to our PTF- Parent Teacher Fellowship they made a generous $100 donation, they told us they were so thrilled to see another outlet supporting Art appreciation at Evangel School. Of course the biggest thank you goes to Mrs. Bueno for coordinating this very special event. We love you Mrs. Bueno!
Please “Galleries” for some incredible pictures!
Academic Fair 2012
Ms. Gloria Gaynor
Academic Fair 2012
Over 1,000 people got a chance to attend our Annual Academic Fair on Thursday, March 22nd from 7pm to 9pm. Each student from Prek 3 through 12th grade designed and inquiry project which included a Project, Project Board, Research Research Paper and Presentation. Projects covered a gamut of Subjects: Science, History, English, Bible, Math, Sports, Home Economics, Technology, Fashion, etc…
The night was filled with excitement, smells of food from different countries, dances, singing, and so much more. We were honored to have with us Ms. Gloria Gaynor, famous for the song “I will survive”. Also, Mr. Michael Strawberry, brother of Darryl Strawberry, a former major-leauger, was able to attend and spend some time with our students. We are seriously honored to have had all the parents and students, families, friends, alumni, associates and partners that were able to attend.
We are so very proud of all of our students and we thank all the parents, staff and students for all of their hard work.
See “Galleries” for lots of incredible pics.
Reading Lab
Keep On Rolling
As we reach the half way point this year, we’re already looking ahead to next year. Our stories are getting tougher, and we’re using our reading skills to face the challenge. We’re learning to apply the skills and strategies that we already know to anything we read. We’ve built up a great momentum and we’re going to keep on rolling!
Miss DiGiovanni
Elementary Christmas Program:
“A King is Coming to Town” was a great story of our Savior coming to this earth which our elementary students shared for their Christmas program this year. It was a great journey as students looked at various kings, such as, King Tut, Elvis, The King of the Jungle and more on their discovery to realize that Jesus is the true King of Kings that came to this earth for us and is still alive today.
See Galleries for great pics.
Elementary Chapel
Each year our elementary classes are asked to be in charge of one of our chapels. Our second grade students did a great job as they reenacted the story of Moses and the burning bush. Each child took part and it helped the other students to better understand the story and how God is always with us even when we feel alone.
Harvest Fair
The Elementary School had a day filled with fun and adventure for our Harvest Fair! Students came to school dressed as Cowboys, Indians, Turkeys, etc… During the day each class went to the gymnasium to play a myriad of games for which they won tickets and then used those tickets to buy prizes. t was a day filled with Thanksgiving!
Reading Lab
Thankfulness
November is a great time to think about all of the things we are thankful for. God has blessed us in so many ways, and it is important to take time each day to tell Him how much we appreciate it. We’ve been reading many books about being thankful.
Miss DiGiovanni
Reading Lab
Forgiveness
October is all about forgiveness. Through Bible verses, books, and class discussions we are learning about why forgiveness is so important. Forgiveness is deciding that someone who had wronged you doesn’t have to pay. We can all think of a time when we were forgiven, so we also must forgive others.
Miss DiGiovanni
Field Trip
Stick Puppets
After a great tour of the Material for the Arts warehouse, 1c reused and repurposed donated material and created our very own stick puppets. The class had a great time learning about all the different materials and art supplies donated for artists and art educators. Supplies used from the warehouse helps to protect our environment.
Ms. Calma
International Week
International Week at Evangel was filled with diversity an a unique blend of rich cultures. Over 73 different nationa are represented at Evangel and how awesome it is to share about our heritage with eachother.
Each day of the week was filled with something new… from wearing the colors of our flags, to country costumes, to food and desserts from our homelands. Each new student gets tpplace a marker in our wall map to represent where they are form.
We are so blessed at Evangel and we thank God for blessing us with such diversity.
Please see “Galleries” for some fantastic pictures.
Sticky:
Click on the link below to see News about our Curriculum.
October 26th to the 30th was Spirtual Emphasis week at Evangel. Students had an amazing week during our Spiritual Emphasis week. Our younger students learned how God loves them just the way they are. They alsocompleted crafts and sang songs each day with our theme, “Panadamania.” The students are continuing to learn that God is “wild” about us! Our older students had an amazing week as our speakers, Ron and Heather Rhoads flew in for the week to share the love of God through the Word and song. Many students responded to the message that was given each day and we are blessed as a staff to see the seeds being planted in our students’ lives.
Please check out “Galleries” for some amazing pictures.
Music Class
Let’s March
In 1st grade music, we are reviewing the different instruments that are played in a band. The children move to the music, while we constantly practice rhythm through clapping, moving our arms, sliding from side to side and jumping here and there. Another activity we combine with learning about different instruments is marching as if we are a marching band, and playing with expression the instrument assigned to each child. It is a fun time!
Miss Farrell
Gym Class
Relay Races
The students did relay races with obstacle courses. First they ran a regular race with batons. Then we added hurdles, hula hoops, and finally an obstacle that they slid under. After they did all of them separately, we add all three obstacle courses together. Students had to step through the hoop, hop over the hurdle and then slide under. The students enjoy it.
Mrs. Rosario
Gym Class
Gymnastics
The students have been learning gymnastic. They first learned to do a basic tumble . Then once all the students learn how to tumble, they go into cartwheels. Lastly they learned how to do a hand stand or a head stand with me stopping them.
Mrs. Rosario
Dance Elective
Hip Hop
The students wanted to do a second dance to a hip hop song. These children had fun and worked well. They did a great job learning the steps.
Mrs. Rosario
Gymn Class
Muscle Builders
The students have been working out their muscles. After our warm up exercises, we worked out our muscles to make them strong. They would do pushups and tug a war with their legs. They used their hands and feet to make a bridge. Then the students would lay on their stomach and try to touch their head with their toe.
Mrs. Rosario
Dance Elective
Spring Celebration
For Elementary we were working on a dance routine for the spring celebration. We learned how to work in groups. The song we worked on was Trading my sorrows. We learned sign language and working in pairs and stretching lines. It was very interesting. I left the streamers and flags for last because I wanted them to learn the dance steps first. Then at the end of the song, they learned together how to move the flags and stemmers together. Lastly we did the intro of the song and put the whole dance routine together. They did a great job.
Mrs. Rosario
Gym Class
Scooter Races
The students in elementary did scooter racing teams. The students learned different ways of using the scooter. One is we sat on them and used our feet, second we laid on our stomach and used our hands and feed, third we sat on our knees and just used our hands and last we went backwards using our feet.
Mrs. Rosario
Library Class
Watermelon Wishes
1st grade enjoyed listening to the story, Watermelon Wishes, a story about a boy and his grandpa. The fun relationship they had reminded our students of how fun grandma and grandpa can be for little ones.
Mrs. Ruiz
Library
God loves us
Our 1st and 2nd graders enjoyed listening to The Tallest of Smalls, by Max Lucado. A wonderful story that reminded our students that they are special in their own special way. Even if we are small or we feel like we don’t fit in, to God we still matter and He loves us no matter what.
Mrs. Ruiz
Library Time
Confidence
1C listened to Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes. This is an awesome story about a little mouse that has a good level of confidence in herself until she starts school and the kids start making fun of her name. She starts to welt and feel ashamed and her self esteem crumbles until a teacher intervenes. An amazing story about feeling great about oneself.
Mrs. Ruiz
Library Time
1st Grade has continued to borrow books to work on their book reports for class. For this month we read The Shiny Red Sled, a story about loving one another and about forgiveness. We also listened to A Sticky Mystery. Both of these books are great character builders for our kids. They really enjoyed them.
Mrs. Ruiz
Reading Lab
Twins Day
Were we seeing double in May!? Well, not exactly… it was TWIN DAY! It was so much fun to pick a friend and dress alike for the day- even the teachers got in on the action. We read books about friendship and did partner activities where teamwork was the name of the game. Do you think you could find your match just by making animal noises? It’s harder (and noisier) than it sounds!
Regina DiGiovanni
Reading Lab
Go Green
We went green in April. We celebrated Earth Day by reading about ways that kids can make a difference and care for the Earth. We even read that the Bible says, The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. (Genesis 2:15). So, taking care of the planet is not just a good idea, but it’s something that God told us to do. We each planted some seeds in a recycled cup that we decorated. When the seeds become flowers we can replant them outside where they are not only beautiful, but also good for the environment.
Ms. DiGiovanni
Reading Intervention
Let’s Read
It is hard to believe that our 2010-11 school year is drawing to an end. This year I had the privilege of working with students in 1-4th grade who needed additional reading support besides their classroom instruction using a research based reading intervention program called My Sidewalks, five days a week. My Sidewalks provided instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension skills and strategies. Not only were theses skills strengthen but I was able to witness my students relax, gain confidence and believe that they can read as they learned to apply themselves and practiced reading daily. This summer students are challenged to read daily to improve their reading fluency and meet their reading speed goal for their specific grade.
Yvette Jimenez
Math Class
Old Mc Donald had a Farm
We each had an opportunity to create a paper model of a small family farm. This project was a great way to end our school year in Math. We had fun purchasing road pieces, farm houses, barns and animals and more.
Ms. Calma
Clean Fun
Geometry Fun!
What Shape Will Your Bubble Be? First graders experimented with bubbles. We constructed a bubble maker using straws and string and each of us soaked them into a bubble solution. Does their 3-D bubble shape match their bubble maker? Why or Why not? Then we ended the lesson by blowing bubbles with straws! Our room smelled and looked so clean.
Ms. Calma
Gym Class
Soccer
Students had fun learning how to play soccer. They learned how to guide the ball with their feet without touching the ball with their hands at all. We also work in groups kicking the ball to each other and learning how to stop the ball with our feet. Then the fun part came when the students tried to kick the ball to make a goal. Each student had a turn at being the goalie. The goalie is the only person who can use their hands by rolling the ball to the player and stopping the ball from getting into the net.
Mrs. Rosario
Gym Class
Parachute
The students have a lot of fun when we play with the parachute. We play games using the parachute and a beach ball and colorful frogs. They also like it when we make it go up and they run underneath it before it comes down.
Mrs. Rosario
Gym Class
Cat and Mouse
Kindergarden-2nd grade had fun playing cat and mouse. The game is played where one student is a cat that chases all the other students who are mice. When the cat pulls the tail off of a mouse, they become a cat and start grabbing tails and so on.
Mrs. Rosario
Gym Class
Baseball
Students had a great time learning how to play baseball. First they learned how to hold a bat and how to stand. Then they learned the basics of how to hit the ball with the bat and last they ran the bases.
Mrs. Rosario
Computer Class
Freerice.com
Elementary School is reviewing computer vocabulary and enjoying some new websites. We started using Freerice.com, which donates 10 grains of rice to charity for every correctly answered vocabulary question.
Mr. Boyd
Computer Class
Pixie
Elementary School is learning how to use Pixie, which many of them already enjoy playing with. I’ll be showing them how to use the tools in Pixie to create great pictures.
Mr. Boyd
Computer Class
Let’s Type!
Elementary School is beginning a typing unit. 1st and 2nd grades will be using Jump Start Typing to get familiar with the keyboard.
Mr. Boyd
Computer Class
Web Addresses
Elementary School has been learning exactly how the internet works and how web addresses are built. We tried entering web addresses and learned that they have to be exactly right to work.
Mr. Boyd
Ronald McDonald visits Evangel
Ronald McDonald visited our students Pre-K through 5th grade on Wednesday, May 4th. Ronald shared a great message about being yourself. The show was filled with student interaction, comedy, games and a great life lesson. The lesson about “being yourself,” supported what our students are learning in their classrooms. We teach our students to be who God made them to be and not follow the crowd. It was a great show and students are continuing to talk about it. As students left, they each got to shake Ronald McDonald’s hand. How exciting! What a great show!
Annual Academic Fair
The sounds of singing and music could be heard and the smells of delicious food filled the hallways and classrooms of our school. What an awesome night it was! On Thursday, March 24th the school was filled with over 1,500 adults and children. One parent described it as a “huge party”! Students proudly explained their projects as eager listeners tasted, smelled, and watched.
The students and staff worked very hard and I believe this year was the very best Annual Academic Fair we have ever had. Pre-K focused on plants and they even grew their very own. One Kindergarten studied the planets and the Solar System and even made costumes and performed a play. The other Kindergarten focused on the book “A La Casa de la Mama Provie”. Were she goes door to door to gather food for her recipe. The Kindergartners made recipes and then cooked the dish. First Grade learned about community helpers and chose one to focus on.
Third through Twelfth grades chose their own projects from a variety of subjects such as: Science, History, English, Sports, Math, Bible, etc… Projects ranged from animal dissections to a car made out of recyclables to delicious cupcakes made from scratch. A big thank you goes out to everyone involved from staff to students to parents for making this event a HUGE success!
Check out “Galleries” for some amazing pictures!
Reading Lab
March is all about choices
We’re also talking about making healthy choices when we eat during our Healthy Foods Literacy Day. God put so many yummy fruits and vegetables here for us to eat. We’re having fun reading books, watching videos, and making projects that will help us choose the foods that make our bodies strong!
Regina DiGiovanni
Reading Lab
Decisions, Decisions, Decisions
Can you decide to be like Saint Patrick and use your life to spread the Gospel? Maybe we can’t travel an entire nation yet, but we can tell the friends and family we have around us about Jesus, just like Saint Patrick did!
Miss DiGiovanni
Music Class
Music Games
In 1st grade music, we learned long and short musical patterns, high and low sounds. We also talked about all the sports games we could think of that used a ball. The class did an excellent job and named over 15 sports games, without any help. Our focus and song was Soccer Sounds and Silences. The song was about soccer, also known as futbol in some Spanish countries. The song has musical rests in it, which means there are silent sections with no singing. The class was given the music and taught about musical rests such as a quarter note rest. The activity with this song was to bounce their ping pong ball on their desk while the song was played and sung, and to hold the ball when there was silence in the music. The ball could not touch the ground. Whenever there was silence in the music, the students would say shhhh to over emphasize the break and rest in the music. It sounded great! It is a fun musical game, which also may have become one of their favorites!
Ms. Farrell
Computer Class
Learning about software
In first and 2nd grade, the students are learning to identify educational software and educational computer games. We are expanding from Jumpstart 1st Grade to several other Knowledge Adventure games, including MathBlaster and Reading Blaster.
Mr. Boyd
Science Class
States of Matter Jell-O
We made red raspberry Jell-O cutout hearts which showed us the changes of matter. Powder is the solid; the steam from the boiling water is a gas; mixing the powder with water creates a liquid; and finally, cooling the gel not only creates a solid again, it also made a yummy snack! Happy Valentine’s Day!
First Grade News
State of Mind
Your State of mind reflects attitudes about yourself, about others, and about God.
We learned the Earth has three states of matter (Liquid, Solid and Gas). Just as Earth has different states of matter, we can have different states of mind. Your mind can be in a state of forgiveness or unforgiving. It can be in a state of pride or it can be humble. It can be willing, or grateful, or prayerful. The more time we spend thinking about Jesus, the more we become like Him. A mind filled with Jesus’ love is in the best state of all!
Ms. Calma
Reading Lab
We LOVE to read
February is Black History Month, so we have been reading books about important people and events from the Civil Rights Movement. From leaning about Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream to recording facts and opinions about the Greensboro sit-ins, we recognize how blessed we are to be in a school where we can have friends of all sizes, shapes, and colors!
Ms. DiGiovanni
Reading Lab
How Do You Learn?
January sure was a cold, snowy month. What a great time to curl up with a good book! Line snowflakes, we are all unique, and we each learn differently. In our reading groups we have been talking about how we learn. Do you learn best when you listen to something? When you see it? When you touch it? When we know how we learn, we can be responsible for our own success!
Ms. Di Giovanni
Library Time
SRA’s
First Grade has enjoyed their time in the library. They have been checking out books and they just started working on SRA’s for the first time. The SRA’s are a series of reading comprehensions that the students work on for their library period after returning and borrowing books.
Mrs. Ruiz
Project Angel Hugs
Helping those in need…
We are always looking for opportunities to instill in our the importance of ministering to those in need. An opportunilty arose through the contact of a parent who led us to “Project Angel Hugs.” Project Angel Hugs is a Christ-centered organization ministering to the emotional eeds of children with cancer and their families. To youth touched by cancer and their families, they offer encouragement through prayer, words, gifts, and festivities; harnessing the adundant energy from healthy youth to accomplish work generated by this project while instilling in them a pssion for volunteering.
Evangel students were able to touch a child with cancer by making home-made Valentine’s Cards that will be distributed o Valentine’s Day. We collected 170 Valentine’s cards from our students to send to Project Angel Hugs. The students really enjoyed being able to “reach out and touch someone” in need with card.
See “Galleries” for pics.
Spiritual Emphasis Week
Step Up Your Faith
January 3rd- January 7th
“Step up You Faith,” the theme for the week, encouraged students to go a step further in their walk with God. Middle School and High School students were challenged with speakers each day to take their faith to the next level. Our Elementary students looked at a different bible stories each day as well as completed crafts to encourage them to “step up their faith.” Our memory verse for the week was Luke 17:5-6
Library
Teddy Bear Stories
1C has been listening to the story A Bear Called Paddington, which they have enjoyed very much. They have very interesting questions and comments about the story. We talked about why this story is fictional and what actions Paddington performed that are not possible for a teddy bear to do. They really enjoyed this story as it reminded us of Corduroy.
Mrs. Ruiz
Music CLass
Train Music
For 1st grade music we have been identifying sounds and focusing on fast and slow rhythms. We sang a song called the Orange Blossom Special. We discussed paying close attention to the words within a song. This song talked about a train, which traveled from New York to Miami, so that the girl could get some sand in her shoes. The students explained that she was on her way to the beach! We talked about the sounds in the song, the rhythm, what the students knew about trains, and we moved to the beat of the song in the form of a train circling the perimeter of the classroom!
Elementary Christmas Program
“Christmas Hang Ups”
“Christmas Hang Ups,” the title of our elementary program this year was another take on what Christmas is really about. Our students told a story through the eyes of Christmas ornaments. It showed us how we get “hung up” on so many things, other than the true meaning of Christmas. The students sang, danced, and acted out the true meaning of Christmas. It was a great night filled with great joy of our Savior coming to this earth, Jesus Christ, and there were over 500 in attendance
Please see “Galleries” for some great pictures.
Art Class
Christmas Decorations
Elementary classes got a chance to make temporary sculptures this past month. Pre-K practiced with shapes and towers, while Kindergarten through 2nd grade practiced alphabet skills, all with Play-Doh. They also prepared for the Christmas season by making homemade, decorated Christmas cards and coloring beautiful Christmas templates.
Miss Kleinschuster
Computer Class
Wish List
To enjoy the Christmas season and learn new skills in word processing such as changing fonts and centering text, we made fun things like colorful Christmas poems and bulleted Christmas lists. Some of the Christmas lists were pretty incredible. I wish I could have a jet pack for Christmas too!
Mr. Boyd
Art Contest
Spirit Week
I was impressed with how many students in both elementary and middle school entered a drawing, painting or collage of our school mascot, the eagle, in the first ever Spirit Week art contest here at Evangel. Thanks for participating, guys!
Miss Kleinschuster
Art Class
Thanksgiving
Pre-K, Kindergarten and 1st grade continue to celebrate the beauty of autumn by making their own customized trees decorated with abstract leaves. They, along with second grade, also celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday by constructing their own turkeys and writing down what they were grateful for.
Miss Kleinschuster
Reading Lab
Literacy Day
Our Nativity Story Literacy Day was a great success. We read so many books about Jesus’ birth and some of us even dressed up like angels, shepherds, Mary, Joseph, and the wise kings. We had a blast!
Ms. DiGiovanni
Reading Lab
The Ture Meaning Of Christmas
December has been so exciting! We are getting in the true spirit of Christmas by making Christmas cards for the veterans in the VA Hospital in Brooklyn. We have prayed for them and we want them to know that we love and appreciate them!
Ms. DiGiovanni
Math Class
From Land to Sea
It might be cold outside, but it has not stopped us from designing our own sea creatures, for our Crabs Looking at Tens chart and our classroom Sea Star Quilt. These charts will help the first graders gain a greater understanding of operations and counting patterns for addition and subtraction. Counting by 10’s and 5’s.
Ms. Calma
The Gingerbread Man
He Is Back
The Gingerbread Man has kept in touch as he promised. He has been traveling all over the United States and sent us postcards of his journey. He is working his way back to Evangel. We have recorded his adventure on our map and can’t wait to see him again. Now he is back bearing gifts and yummy cookie ornaments to decorate!
Ms. Calma
Literacy Day
The Nativity
On December 14th, our elementary students came dressed as the nativity scene. They had the chance to come dressed as the stories they heard that day. Students had a great time reading and illustrating the Christmas story.
Library Time
Thankfulness
1C enjoyed listening to “The Squirrels Thanksgiving” a perfect story for this time of the year. It reminded us about being thankful even for those people in our lives that make it a little difficult. It was a great opportunity to talk to our first graders about being thankful for our friends and siblings even if they are not 100% nice to us all the time. They really liked this story.
Computer Class
Home Row Keys
1st and 2nd Grade are nearing the end of their introductory keyboarding unit. We have learned the eight home row keys and have begun to practice reaching other keys while staying in home row position. We will wrap up the unit by learning about the 10 key number pad. We’ve also been having fun in 1st and 2nd grade with JumpStart and our various painting programs.
Book Reports
Jumpy Monkey
Before 1C decorates our door with snow and Christmas Ornaments we are hanging our Jumpy Monkey Book Reports for all to read and enjoy!
Ms. Calma
Geography
Road Trip!
The Gingerbread Man has kept in touch as he promised. He has been traveling all over the United States and sent us postcards of his journey. He is working his way back to Evangel. We have recorded his adventure on our map and can’t wait to see him again.
Ms. Calma
Music
Know Christ
We are currently practicing our songs for the Christmas Program! Students are excited and some looking forward to singing a solo while others are looking forward to singing nice and loud within their class groups. It will be a fun time and a time of reflection pointing to what this holiday season is all about, and how it is displayed through the words they are singing. As someone once said,
No Christ, No Christmas! Know Christ, Know Christmas!
Miss Farrell
Reading Lab
November Happenings
Wow! What a November we’ve had in the Reading Lab!
Literacy day was a great success. We did projects and read books about Thanksgiving. We also talked about all of the things that God has blessed us with this year. We have A LOT to be thankful for! The puzzle contests were so much fun, and we had some crazy harvest prizes… corn, turnips, parsnips, and carrots!
Miss DiGiovanni
Literacy Days
Stuffed Animal Day
“Where the Wild Things Are,” & “Corduroy,” are just a couple of the books students got to hear at our first Literacy Day this year. Literacy day is a day to show students how much fun reading is. At our first literacy day, students brought in their favorite stuffed animal and cuddled up with it in our new library as they heard fun and exciting stories. We are looking forward to next month, “Fall Fun,” as students hear adventurous stories about the change of season.
See Galleries for some adorable pictures!
International Week
Cultural Explosion!
We enjoyed a week of cultural exposure. We saw different costumes and traditional dress, tasted exotic foods from far away lands and learned about traditions. We also had new students place pins in our world map located on the first floor as people enter our building. This map represents all the countries our students come from – over 73 countries!
See “Galleries” for pictures
Gym Class
Basketball
The students have been learning basketball drills – how to dribble and bounce the ball with one hand and dribble while they are walking. They also learned how to bounce pass to each other and chest pass. The last skill they learned was how to shoot the ball into the basket. After all the practice and drills, they had fun playing an actual game of basketball – well at least shooting the basket.
Music Class
Let’s Dance
We have been learning high and low sounds and notes, singing songs together, and playing instruments for different words and sounds in the song. We have been putting motions with the songs and dancing around the rooms.
Art Class
Fall into Fall
Lower elementary has been practicing and reviewing their simple shapes and celebrating the Fall season with Autumn-themed projects. Thanks for helping Miss Kleinschuster decorate her door!
Science Class
Seasons
For science our class is traveling through space and learning about our Solar System. Why do we have seasons? Well we know how the Earth is on a tilt and that it revolves around the Sun and this creates weather pattern we call the seasons.
Social Studies
Green Meadows Farm
We had a great trip to Green Meadows Farm. We got to milk a cow, chase chickens, pet rabbits, go into the pigpen, go on a hayride and ride on a pony. We ended our trip having a picnic lunch at the farm. Before our trip to the farm we sketched our own maps of a farm after our Social Studies Unit on Map skills!
Another One Escaped
Gingerbread Man
It happened again! Another Gingerbread Man Escaped from our oven. Someone saw him running out of our school singing You can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man. He left yummy gingerbread man cookies and frosting for us to enjoy. We are tracking his journey on our map! Next time we should bake a Gingerbread Girl instead.
Library Class
Theme Books
First grade is enjoying story time even more this year with our new seating arrangement in the library due to the remodeling. This is an exciting time for first grade since it is the first year they get to borrow books. We have been reading a series of bear themed books. We have read Big Smelly Bear and The Very Cranky Bear. They especially enjoyed the cranky bear’s loud roars. They also enjoyed listening to Big Smelly Bear’s itching problem that was caused by him not taking a shower, and this gave us a great opportunity to talk about hygiene and how to stay clean.
Mrs. Ruiz
Sidewalks Reading Program
Animals Tame and Wild
In our Sidewalks Intensive Reading Intervention class we are one week away from completing our first unit- Animals Tame and wild. We are thrilled that we can read one or two sentences without assistance. We have learned to recognize 15 High Frequency words. These are words we can’t sound out. We have to memorize them.
Mrs. Jimenez
Reading Lab
Benchmark Tests
Unit Benchmark tests are being done this month. It’s our chance to show off how much we learned in Unit 1. All of our reading skills, grammar practice, and hard work will pay off. We can’t wait to see what the next Unit theme will be… Maybe money? Or friendship? Or animals? Or perhaps something international? There are so many amazing books to read!
Reading Lab
Literacy day Fun
We’re blasting off into reading this year! We hit the ground running and we’re so excited to see what this year will bring. Bringing our stuffed animals in for Literacy Day was so much fun. If we’re ever home and want to read out loud we can read to our stuffed animals. It might seem a little silly at first, but it’s a great way to practice reading. (And we think it’s a lot of fun too!)
Miss DiGiovanni
Computer Class
Mavis Beacon
We have just started their fall typing unit. We are currently taking a fall speed test and will be working on improving their typing skills for several weeks. We are working mostly in Mavis Beacon, though 1st and 2nd Grade are getting to use Word pad as well.
Spiritual Emphasis Week
“My whole heart follows hard after you and clings closely to you!”
We were thrilled bout our first spiritual emphasis week for the 2010-2011 school year. It was held September 20-24.
The theme for Elementary School was “Spirit of the Seas.” Each day during bible time, students focused on a bible story which all centered in on obedience. The stories covered during this week were: Jesus Calming the Storm, Noah and the Ark, Jonah, The Disciples Casting Their Nets & Peter Walking on the Water. Each day students were able to have worship time, a bible lesson, memory verse and complete a craft. The week concluded with an interactive bible story, including a large boat and someone “walking on water,” during chapel. It was a great week and students received a certificate and snack for their completion of our Spiritual Emphasis Week.
Pastor Tom Mahairas (founder of Manhattan Bible Church) came in to speak to our Middle and High Schoolers. He graciously shared his testimony with them and spoke about how God rescued him from a life of drug addiction. Pastor Mahairas also shared that there are 3 types of Believers….. The Believer, The Non-Believer, and the Make-Believer…….he challenged them as to which one they were. At the end he asked all those that would like to rededicate their lives to Christ to come forward. On Friday he shared with them that they are special and that God loves them very much. Seven students came forward to receive Jesus as their personal Saviour. He also asked student to pray for one another.
We praise God for His presence and for moving amongst our students. We are excited to see what He has in store for us this school year!