The students in the third grade experienced a different world this year. The third grade is the year in which the students’ work becomes more extensive and the responsibility for the tasks becomes more of the students’ own.
We explored a variety of genres and worked on various skills and strategies for comprehension, as well as for critical thinking and analysis. We also became authors to create our own formal writing pieces to publish, in which the lengths or the qualities of the contents expected were challenging. The mathematical concepts became more abstract with skills that demanded students to analyze and synthesize their learning, going beyond memorization of mathematical facts.
In the midst of our hard strive to be equipped and prepared for our Creator academically, we did not forego of the fun and the blessing of each individual’s presence in the Lord – We became another important family of God.
Mrs. Im

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The students danced for the Christmas Program and the Spring Program. For Christmas they danced to Christmas in Black and White and for the spring they danced to A Beautiful Day.

Ms. Rosario

 

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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

 

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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

 

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FOURTH GRADE

HERE WE COME!

Third grade has been so much fun, and now we’re ready for fourth grade!

We’ve learned so much, and made so many new friendships. From making our own ice cream to field trips to the Academic Fair, it seemed like there was something new and exciting going on every day!

We’ve learned together, played together, laughed together, and even cried together over the last ten months and it has certainly been a year we will never forget!

 

Miss DiGiovanni

 

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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

 

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New Artists

What an awesome year. We have learned so much in what seems now to be a little time. 2nd and 3rd graders were introduced to two not so famous artists. Students learned to create beautiful art with colors that pop out of the paper. They had a great time.

Mrs. Colon

 

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We had a wonderful Spring Program. Elementary students danced to Shout to the Lord, with streamers. The middle school danced to Go Fast, and high school danced and ministered the songs that they did in Hawaii. The high school electives also danced to I’m Free.

Mrs. Rosario

 

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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

 

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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

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Here Comes 2013

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here. Our tree is up, and the Nativity is set to remind us of the real reason for the season – Jesus. Even with the festivities and excitement we have had A LOT of work to do. Learning about light and how our eyes work as well as learning about the fierce and terrifying Vikings has been interesting. We can hardly wait for 2013, and all of the new challenges, successes, and friendships it will bring. With God in control, it’s going to be a GREAT year.

Miss DiGiovanni

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Ancient Rome

We traveled back in time to Ancient Rome. We used our history books and Bible to find out about what Roman society was like. This month we are also thinking about how thankful we are for our families, our school, and each other, but most of all we are thankful for Jesus and God’s love that gets us through every day.

Miss DiGiovanni

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Energy

Can you feel the energy? We can! We’ve been studying different forms of energy, and how energy changes.

Miss DiGiovanni

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Yummy Experiment

In science we found out what matter is and just why it really matters. We discovered that there are solids, liquids, and gasses all around us. We even made our very own ice cream to show how a liquid can become a solid. It was one delicious experiment.

Miss DiGiovanni

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Oh Canada

October is a busy month here in third grade. We learned about Canada, our Neighbors to the North. Maybe some of us will visit there someday and see Niagra Falls, a Canadian goose, or even a Royal Mountie!

Miss DiGiovanni

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Learning about Earth

We are so excited to start the year together! Some of us are buddies from last year, and there are some new friends that we are enjoying getting to know and love. Our year starts with a look at our Solar System. We even took a Field Trip to the Moon at the Planetarium. For Social Studies we came back down to Earth to learn about how the shape of our world has really shaped our world. It’s amazing to see all of the things God has created for us to learn about, discover, and explore.

Miss DiGiovanni

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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.

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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:

 

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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

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NEHS

On Thursday, May 24th, we were so excited to invite many new members into National Elementary Honor Society. This is a beautiful ceremony where students carry candles. The NEHS Officers spoke and there are many presentations give. Officers received blue cords and 5th Graders received yellow cords to wear at graduation. We welcomed 18 new members and 26 old members into the society. Please see below for the history of NEHS and click on the Blue inserts below to see our bulletin.
When the National Honor Society was founded in 1921, the hope was to create an organization that would recognize and encourage high school students’ academic achievement while developing other characteristics essential to citizens in a democracy.  The National Junior Honor Society was founded shortly thereafter-in 1929 to recognize middle school students in the same areas.  Now, over 80 years later, these Societies have become prestigious organizations with outstanding faculty members and students from the school community.  Their  reputation for excellence is the result of years of commitment on the part of everyone involved.  In 2008 the National Elementary Honor Society was established. NEHS now is the first stage for students in a process that can bring recognition in the elementary, middle level and high school years to those students who commit to achievement. Membership is thus both an honor and a commitment. NEHS recognizes outstanding Elementary school students who demonstrate excellence in the areas of scholarship, leadership, service, and character.

2012 bulletin inside nehs

2012 outside bulletin nehs

Please see “Galleries” for some great pics.

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THANK YOU FDNY Community Relations team!!!  Evangel Christian School is so thankful…for the 3^rd 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 5^th 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.

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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!

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ART FAIR

We want to thank everyone for your support of Evangel’s  ANNUAL ART SHOW on TUESDAY APRIL 3^RD.

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 , 2^nd grade John Costa and 8^th 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!

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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.

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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

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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.

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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!

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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

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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

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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.

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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.

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Fun Music Theory

One of 2nd and 3rd grades’ favorite music activities is Music Bingo. While playing this game, the students are learning about the parts of a note, accidental signs, time signatures, notes on the lines and in the spaces, rests, and key signatures with sharps and flats. Some of these things are considered advanced music education, but when it is learned in a fun way, they are eager to show you how they are grasping the concepts, and doing it with speed!

Miss Farrell

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International Week

Jalapeno Bagels was a story about a boy who needed to bring a treat from his culture to school for international week. What a fun story that was for the 3rd graders. We all talked about our families and the foods we eat for the holidays.

Mrs. Guzzardo

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We love animals

We had fun talking about animals and their habitat what they eat and where they live.

Mrs. Guzzardo

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Let’s Add

Math was so much fun! Student’s were put in groups and learned about how to use calculators. They were adding numbers and having fun.

Mrs. Guzzardo

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Spring Celebration

The students practiced on their two songs for the spring celebration. They also worked with the flags and streamers. They took time to go in the sanctuary to work on their routine so they could get the feel of how it would be on stage.

Mrs. Rosario

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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

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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

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Sharing

Honey, honey ….Lion is the book that we focused on with our third graders. This is an extremely funny story about a bird and a badger that gets tricked into a position were he ends up face to face with a Lion all for not sharing his honey. We discussed the importance of being a good friend and sharing.

Mrs. Ruiz

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The Dog Ate It

Third grade is continuing to borrow books on a weekly basis from the library. This month they really enjoyed listening to a story titled, The Best Homework Excuse Book Ever. We talked about why they enjoyed it and we discussed their homework excuses. It was extremely funny to listen to their excuses.

Mrs. Ruiz

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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

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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

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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

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Celebrate

After all the hard work the students did learning their dances, we decided to celebrate and have a party!

Mrs. Rosario

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He Reigns

The students in 3rd-5th grade Dance Elective only had 30 minutes each rehearsal to practice their steps to the song they danced to for the Christmas program. They worked on sign language and dance steps, and then worked on how to move the flags and streamers and then put it all together. The song the students danced to was, He Reigns.

Mrs. Rosario

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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

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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

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Let’s Type!

Elementary School is beginning a typing unit. 3rd-5th Grades will be using Mavis Beacon to try to increase their speed and accuracy.

Mr. Boyd

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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

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NEHS

On Thursday, May 26th, we were so excited to invite many new members into National Elementary Honor Society. This is a beautiful ceremony where students carry candles. The NEHS Officers spoke and there are many presentations give. Officers received blue cords and 5th Graders received yellow cords to wear at graduation. Please see below for the history of NEHS and click on the Red inserts below to see our bulletin. Please see “Galleries” for some great pics.
When the National Honor Society was founded in 1921, the hope was to create an organization that would recognize and encourage high school students’ academic achievement while developing other characteristics essential to citizens in a democracy.  The National Junior Honor Society was founded shortly thereafter-in 1929 to recognize middle school students in the same areas.  Now, over 80 years later, these Societies have become prestigious organizations with outstanding faculty members and students from the school community.  Their  reputation for excellence is the result of years of commitment on the part of everyone involved.  In 2008 the National Elementary Honor Society was established. NEHS now is the first stage for students in a process that can bring recognition in the elementary, middle level and high school years to those students who commit to achievement. Membership is thus both an honor and a commitment. NEHS recognizes outstanding Elementary school students who demonstrate excellence in the areas of scholarship, leadership, service, and character.  

For the selection of Members to the NEHS Chapter:

Members must maintain a cumulative overall 85% average or higher for two consecutive semesters with 80% as the lowest grade in all subjects.

Members must be in good behavioral standing.

Members must demonstrate outstanding performance in areas of scholarship, service, leadership and character.

The selection of each Member shall be reviewed and approved by the this School’s Administration and Faculty each school year.

 

2011 outside bulletin

2011 bulletin inside

Please see “Galleries for some reat pics!

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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!

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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!

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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

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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

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Learning the Recorder

For 3rd grade music, we are teaching the students how to play the recorder. We have learned out first three notes, how to identify these notes on a musical staff, how to position the hands on the instrument and which recorder openings to close for each note. We’ve had a student request to play a song in front of the class, which included the three notes we just learned. Very impressive! They are ready to start playing song selections, and songs they will play!

Ms. Farrell

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Notepad, Word Pad, and Word

In class we are working on learning three different word processing programs, Microsoft Notepad, Word Pad, and Word. We have finished the lists and are now focused on writing a critical comparison review of the three programs to find out which one we like the best.

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Valentine Ode

For Valentine’s Day, the students tried their writing skills on a free-verse ode to something they love. An ode is a lofty poem to a person or thing. Most students chose their pillow pet; a few their games, computers, or bicycles; some opted for their mom, an aunt, teachers or school, and one, the rain! They had fun writing. If you come by our classroom, the poems are all tacked up on our bulletin board for you to enjoy.

On top of that bulletin board is a verse from Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. The students discussed what this verse meant to them and wrote a note in response on a piece of heart-shaped paper. These notes are now the borders of the bulletin board.

When you look at our bulletin board, it is very telling. Yes, the things and people we love take center stage of our lives and God is on the periphery. The third graders were challenged to make it their goal by the end of this school year to reverse this – making God the center of their lives!!!! Let’s keep them in our prayers as they seek to put God first.

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Fun with Legos

Writing?! Five sentences?! THREE PARAGRAPHS?!?! That’s the reaction you get when you want the third graders to write (well for most of them). Forget about telling them to add more details or rewrite a sentence or, horrors of horrors, calling their finished work a draft!

Last week, as a fun idea, I brought Legos into the classroom to illustrate the writing process. The students were randomly put into five teams. Each team was given the same number of Lego bricks (15-2×4’s, 9-2×2’s, 8-1×4’s, and 2-1×8’s). They had 5 minutes to create something out of them. Teamwork was crucial too. As a matter of fact, one team couldn’t pull themselves together and had nothing to show when the time was up. Thus only four teams presented their creations and we voted for the best one.

Then the teams were given unlimited amount of Lego pieces, which included people, windows, doors, flowers, trees, wheels and more. Again they were given 5 minutes to come up with an award winning creation. This time the dysfunctional team pulled themselves together and created something. Each team presented their creation and they told why the second one is superior to the first. The students used terms like better, awesome, hotter, more details, clever, cooler details, bigger, and has an environment. The last one I wasn’t sure of at first, but after questioning the team, I suddenly realized they meant setting!!

Afterward we spent a few minutes relating their Lego creations to writing. How, when we use a limited vocabulary, our writing is boring, which was the exact word they used in describing their first creations. In order to make our writing better, cooler, hotter, we have to include details, adjectives, adverbs, prepositional phrases and, of course, a setting. Sometimes we have writer’s block, like the team that couldn’t work together, but we should not let that deter us from writing. We need to push forward and do it. The next day, a student brought in his war cycle from home that he had built with Legos. He told me that he had to make six drafts (that was his exact word) before he settled on this final design. I loved it and told him to write down the drafting process to create this war cycle.

In the upcoming days, the third graders will be collecting Lego Blocks of Words. For now, there will be two strips of paper on the classroom wall – one titled Lego Blocks – Grownups and another Lego Blocks – Children. Underneath you will find all kinds of adjectives for that category. If you have a Lego block for these categories, let us know. We will add them to our collection. You never know, your block might appear in one of the student’s writing.

Mrs. Work

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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

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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

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Wings For The King

Third Grade enjoyed the story, Wings for the King by Anne Sodra. This is a story about a king who wishes to fly to faraway places because he is bored. In his attempt to fly to faraway places he summons his subjects to build him wings and he will reward them with gold. This story is written in a play format and the children really enjoyed how the king finally gets to travel to faraway places. This story is one of my personal favorites. If you get a chance, please read it and I know you will enjoy it as much as the 3rd graders enjoyed it during their library time.

Mrs. Ruiz

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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.

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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

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Musical Phrases

In 2nd and 3rd grade music, we are focusing on music phrases. We listened to the song Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star and the phrases in this song. After identifying the parts of the song, the class played the song on xylophones. When playing the instrument, they were also spending time developing an ear for musical tones: how they go up and down; and by their ears determining what came next. This follows a class where we had defined and rehearsed line and space notes on a musical staff.

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“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.

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Color Mixing

Did you know there are at least three different ways to mix the color brown? 3-5th grades do! They can mix virtually any color from 5 basic colors: primaries, black, and white. They also prepared for the Christmas season by making homemade, decorated Christmas cards out of construction paper, miniature templates, markers and glitter.

Miss Kleinschuster

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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

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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

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Colors, Colors, Colors

Upper elementary students continued to master their knowledge and manipulation of primary, secondary, and neutral colors. 4th and 5th grade also created monochromatic, or single-color, drawings. They learned that a single colored pencil can be very versatile!

Miss Kleinschuster

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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

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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

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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.

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Jump Start Fun

Students 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 3rd through 5th grade Jump Start and our various painting programs.

Mr. Boyd

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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

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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

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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!

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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

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Christmas Practice

Students are working hard on their dance steps for the Christmas program. They are also working on hand movements and sign language. The song they are working on is He Reigns.

Mrs. Rosario

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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.

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People on the move

We are talking about people on the move. How did America become so great? How were the states formed? We are also learning about importing and exporting products.

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Faith

We are learning about Abraham and his faith. We learned about God telling him to sacrifice his only son. He was a man who trusted God even though he did not understand what was happening.

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What can we see?

We are learning about science and how it works. Our class has a microscope that we use to look at things that we set under it. We looked at crystals under that microscope and discovered they were salt crystals. It was fun guessing!

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2X2=4

It has been a fun two months. So far, September we started out with subtraction and addition. October took us to measurement and multiplication. Yes, 3rd grade is multiplying!

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Self Portraits

Students have been having lots of fun making Heuri Matisse-style self portraits and practicing with the color wheel.

Miss Kleinschuster

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Dollars and Sense

In our Sidewalks Intensive Reading Intervention class we are completing our first unit, titled Dollars and Sense. We learned about building a community, trading & swapping, smart saving, money; it’s value and how kids can have a business. One of the stories we enjoyed most was when we read how money is made in the U.S. Mint. We have also learned that when we read an unknown word we should look to see if it has a prefix or suffix, spot the vowels, split into syllables and read the word. As we learn to LOOK, SPOT, SPILT & READ we are going to become awesome readers.

Mrs. Jimenez

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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!

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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

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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.

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“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!

See Galleries for some great pics!

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All News Below Is From The 2009-2010 School Year!

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Spring Celebration

Students did a great job for the Spring Celebration. They learned two dance routines and danced to Shackles and My Life Belongs To You. They worked really hard during their recess time and learned both dances in less than two weeks. Everyone was blessed at the program.

Mrs. Rosario

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We can read!

It is hard to believe that our 2009-10 school year is drawing to an end. This year I had the privilege of working with students in 1-3rd 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 were charged to read daily to improve their reading fluency and meet their reading speed goal for their specific grade.

Yvette Jimenez

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Communities of America

This lesson started us taking about diversity in our community. How we all come from different family cultures. These talks lead into immigration. Our ancestors all traveled to this country form somewhere else. In our reading we are taking about the Statue of Liberty and how it came to be in our New York harbor.

Mrs. Guzzardo

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The 329 Friend

We are multiplying with 2 digit number s, continuing in word and story problems, and now subtraction 3 digit numbers. Our class math story is The 329 Friend. We had so much fun with story. It’s about Emery the raccoon. He invites 329 friends to his house and must make a lunch for them. He must count out 329 napkins and plates and forks and so on. its great fun.

Mrs. Guzzardo

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God Is Faithful

God continues to show Daniel His faithfulness. We see some Godly character traits in Daniel that Christ has. God gave Daniel wisdom to interpret dreams for the king. He served under the leadership of three kings so far and they each said God was mighty and powerful. At the end of their lives they served the one and only living God.

Mrs. Guzzardo

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Brain Pop

How to explore absorption. How does this work? We talked about the clouds, rain fall, mountains, and all sorts of things. Brain Pop was a big part of what we did in class. For the first time we were shown how to use a microscope. It was great fun! We also had fun working with a partner.

Mrs. Guzzardo

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Word Problems

Story Problems – this will take us far as we will cover Math and Vocabulary. Word problems come in steps and each step must be done and worked out before we can move on to the next step. We are finding out that Reading is a big part of Math as well.

Mrs. Guzzardo

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Joseph and Daniel

We just began the Beattitudes found in Matthew chapter 5:3. The whole class will learn about this passage. We are also reading through the book of Daniel. We are going to compare the lives of Joseph and Daniel and how God brought them through every trial in their lives. Each time, we will see that God will bring them trough.

Mrs. Guzzardo

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