Kindergarten Orientation Times Have Changed
Incoming Kindergarten Orientation will be held on May 28th and
May 29th at 1:30pm. (Posted 5/4/09)
Click here for the
Kindergarten registration packet
Mrs.
Gonzalez’s fifth grade Dual Language Social Studies class at the Washington
Irving School, along with Ms. Corea’s and Mrs. Praino’s Kindergarten Dual
Language classes at Tappan Hill, were able to read to each other using
Skype. With
assistance from technology teacher, Ms. O’Brien, the children
read to each other in both English and Spanish. Laughter could be heard on
both sides while students appreciated the text read by their cyber-guests.
Plans are being made to connect with other countries for opportunities to
share languages and cultures with children around the world.
(Posted 5/31/09)
Holi Hai!
Mrs. Pearlman’s and
Ms. Ore’s classes celebrated the Indian spring festival of Holi last week.
The 40 students were treated to a reading of the origins of the Holi story,
which is one of the most high-spirited of the Hindu holidays. They were able
to pass around various crafts from India like Indian dolls and ornate,
embroidered saris, and watch a Bollywood Holi dance number on Youtube.
Everyone who wanted one was able to get a temporary henna tattoo and
forehead decoration called a bindi. The grand finale had students throwing
colored shredded paper at each other in the gym (instead of the traditional
colored water -- too messy!), and celebrate in the uninhibited spirit of the
holiday. Our students of Indian origin, Arya Glenn, Anya Puri, Arghya Roy
and Maya Weitzen, were joined by mothers and aunts, Mini Dhingra, Mangala
Narasimhan, San/dhya Narasimhan, and Mrinalini Rajwar. Both classes enjoyed
the festivities thoroughly. Holi Hai! (Posted 5/18/09)
GO
GREEN Week at Tappan Hill
Tappan
Hill enjoyed being a part of the district-wide Go Green week.
Throughout the school, everyone focused on the many things that we can do to
help take care of our Earth. We made a huge banner that hung in the hallway
and added one letter to the word GREEN each day.
G
– We talked about what living things need to grow the importance of
keeping the land, the air, and the water clean to keep our Earth
green.
R
– We
talked about recycling. We read the story Michael Recycle and
thought of ways that we can all be recycling heroes.
We can all reduce, reuse, and recycle to help our Earth.
E –
We
celebrated Earth Day! We all went outside and had a special ceremony
with representatives from the Double Tree Hotel. Each class received
seeds for Spruce trees which we have planted and are caring for in our
classrooms. We started a number of special Earth projects which we
continued to work on throughout the week.
E –
We said that every day can be Earth Day! We need to take care of our
Earth each and every day and do our part to help the environment. We
talked a lot about plants and what they need to grow.
N –
We talked about nurturing nature and protecting the natural habitats
of animals. We made a list of all the different things we can do to help
our Earth and saved our good ideas in our Earth books.
It was
a great GREEN week! We learned that taking care of our Earth is up to all
of us and there are many things we can all do to help! We also learned that
we need to treat every day as Earth Day!
(Posted
5/12/09)
Young and
Older Together
On Wednesday,
April 15th, Mrs. Magliano’s, Mrs. Thomas’ and Mrs. Blueglass’ classes
enjoyed a collaborative art project with the Tarrytown's Neighborhood House
Senior Painting Club. The children and adults worked side by side and
rendered beautiful watercolor paintings by observing actual spring flowers.
Young and older shared laughter as well as all the joy that creativity
brings! The intergenerational get-together granted all the opportunity to
create in the spirit of Georgia O'Keefe! Everyone had a wonderful time!
(Posted
4/26/09)
YES, WE
CAN!
In honor of
African American History Month, Tappan Hill kindergarten students did the
unthinkable --for such young students only 5-6 years of age!!! They
re-created an image of President Obama in a larger than life format. The
children were given one inch squares that were originally part of a 10 inch
square photo of the President. Teams of two worked together, using oil
pastels, to render a one inch square image upon a 12 inch square sheet of
paper. The children had to learn difficult and complicated math concepts in
order to enlarge the fragment. Math manipulatives were invented just for the
project. Moreover, in the spirit of President Obama's message, all of the
kindergarten students had to cooperate and work together in order to create
a successful outcome! Children were paired by the instructor; children who
do not typically play together were partnered. Pairings placed children of
diverse backgrounds and experiences together. The children completed the
work in their classrooms during the scheduled art time. They had the
guidance of the Art teacher, and ALL work was student rendered. The results
astounded the instructor, Ms. Harrison, as well as the Principal, Ms.
Milliam. We would like to share this achievement with the public to prove
that anything can happen if there are no preconceived limitations or
parameters that are artificially set. Children can do anything if the
expectations are high. Most of all, if we all work together as a community,
anything is possible!
The finished
work was revealed to all the students who had never seen it in its
entirety. Ms. Milliam organized a dramatic unveiling ceremony. Mr. Mejia,
carpenter and Mr. Almeida, head custodian, conceived a pulley system that
raised the poster high upon the wall of the All-Purpose Room. The covering
was removed and the students were overjoyed by seeing their amazing likeness
of President Obama. News 12 reporter Tracy Everson, and The River Journal
writer David Neilsen captured the looks on the faces of our students when
they saw the assembled "Obama Puzzle" for the very first time! It was an
uplifting moment for all!
(Posted
4/20/09)
Enrichment for All at Tappan Hill
Since
mid-January, the
Kindergarten students at Tappan Hill have been having weekly adventures
traveling around the school, visiting different classrooms, and experiencing
some of the culture of Italy and France. One morning each week the children
take their passports, wave good-bye to their own teachers, and “fly” down
the hall to their destination country (classroom). Once they “land”, their
passports are collected
and stamped and they are
welcomed either in French or Italian to the location they are visiting.
When arriving in one of the destinations in Italy, the children get to make
homemade pasta with Strega Nona, learn to dance the Tarantella, try out
their “opera voices”, practice soccer, or create an Italian tile mosaic.
Experiences in France include learning sign language, practicing the art of
mime, creating the art of Monet, hearing the music of the “Carnival of the
Animals,” and seeing the sights of Paris with Madeline. Then the children
bid their tour guides goodbye, gather their passports and souvenirs, and
return to the United States (and their own teachers). Once back at “home”,
the children share and save special memories about their adventures with
conversations, illustrations, and written entries in their travel logs or
journals. These travel adventures are truly enriching for all – and a lot
of fun too! (Posted
4/19/09)
Small Moments
On Thursday, March 19, the students of Tappan Hill School had
a Small Moments Celebration. All of the children have been working very
hard to write their Small Moment stories. To celebrate and acknowledge their
accomplishments, the children read their stories to other students. Mrs.
Blueglass class joined Mrs. Newman’s class for this occasion. The children
proudly shared the stories that they had written. Then, we all enjoyed a
special snack. (Posted
4/2/09)
Senses
Search
As part of our Science 21 curriculum,
Kindergarteners are learning about the five senses. After an exciting Senses
Scavenger Hunt in the classroom, the children painted a picture of something
they found with their sense of smell, taste, sight, hearing or touch and
recorded their findings on sentence strips. They especially enjoyed tasting
the salty pretzels, sweet cookies and some even liked the sour lemonade!
Click
here to see student's work. (Posted
3/22/09)
Tappan Hill
School Physical Education
Students at Tappan Hill
School have been working very hard in their physical education classes. Over
the past few weeks, each child has performed and practiced the PACER
(Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run) Test. The PACER Test is a
multistage fitness test that is similar to the shuttle run. This test is a
progressive test that starts off relatively easy and becomes more difficult
as it continues. The PACER Test also helps to measure aerobic capacity in a
fun and enjoyable way, as opposed to a typical long distance running test.
The way this test works includes the student’s running back and forth from
line to line (15m apart) to beep sounds which are specifically timed and
increase in speed as the test progresses. Students begin the test with the
first beep and continue to run back and forth to each line at the sound of
the next beep. Each student was encouraged to try their personal best and
when they became too tired to continue, or did not reach the line before the
next beep, they have completed the test. After they completed the test, each
student’s results were recorded and they went to a cool-down area where they
encouraged their classmates who were still completing the test.
Each child
really enjoyed participating in this activity and certainly did their best
to complete as many laps as they personally could. Overall, the students
performed extremely well at this test and without a doubt exceeded
expectations. The results of each student will be placed in the gymnasium to
recognize their exceptional efforts.
(Posted
2/26/09)
Happy New Year “Xin Nian Yu Kuai”
The students at Tappan
Hill School celebrated the Chinese New Year in many different ways this
year. On January 26, Mrs. Sanchez-Zhu, E.S.L. teacher and in-house “China
expert,” spoke to the school during an assembly about some Chinese
traditions. This year we celebrate the year of the Ox. Children learned that
if they were born in 2003 they celebrate the year of the Sheep and in 2002,
the year of the Horse. Mrs. Blueglass’, Ms. Corea’s, Mrs. Pearlman’s and
Mrs. Praino’s classes marched in a Dragon Parade. The parade was led by
our Asian students, Miae Belmonte, Zoey Millstein (guest appearance by
Zoey’s 1st grade sister,Maya) and Raye Angela Mallari. Children
learned how to say Happy New Year in Mandarin ( Xin nian yu Kuai) and
Cantonese (Gung hay fat choy). They all participated by bringing
noisemakers. Mrs. Pearlman’s and Mrs. Blueglass’ classes cooked dumpling and
graphed what dipping sauce they liked best. The children had fun trying to
figure out how to use chopsticks and get the dumplings into their mouths!
Other classes read books and learned how to write using “Chinese”
characters. (Posted
2/11/09)
Calling All Tappan Hill
Pre-K and Kindergarten Parents!
The Foundation for the
Public Schools of the Tarrytowns Invites you for Breakfast in
the TH’s all purpose room,
on March 3 at 8:15 a.m, right after drop off.
Find out about the many
Foundation-Funded Programs that your child will be experiencing as he/she
continues in the elementary schools and upper schools. Take the time to ask
questions to Foundation representatives, and learn what the Foundation does
for your children and for all the children of the Tarrytown Schools
We also need your help more
than ever before with our largest fundraiser, the Dinner Dance and Auction.
Find out how you can help keep these enriching programs alive….Get Involved,
Give Back!
Please RSVP via email to
Shelly Colley, foundation@tufsd.org, so we can get an idea of how many
parents will be attending. Feel free to call 366-8457 for more information.
LLAMANDO A TODOS PADRES DE
ESTUDIANTES DE PRE-K Y KINDERGARTEN
La
Fundación para las Escuelas Publicas de los Tarrytowns les invita a un
desayuno en el cuarto publico en la escuela Tappan Hill, Marzo 3, a las
8:15, de la mañana inmediatamente después de que lleguen los estudiantes
Aprenda de
los programas fundado por la Fundación en que sus hijos participan en las
escuelas primarias y secundaria. Representantes de la Fundación estarán
dispuestos a contestar sus preguntas y tendrán información sobre lo que hace
la Fundación para los estudiantes de distrito.
También
necesitamos ayuda con la Gala y Subasta que la Fundación tiene todos los
años. Aprende como usted puede ayudar mantener estos programas.
Participen.
Devuelvan a las Escuelas.
Pro favor
RSVP a Shelly Colley,
foundation@tufsd.org,
para poder tener idea de cuantos de ustedes van a venir. Llame a 366-8457
para más información.
Kindergarten Math Night
Rescheduled
There will be
no Kindergarten Math Night tonight Monday, February 9, at Tappan Hill
School. It has been rescheduled for Monday, March 2 at 7pm.
No habra
reunion de Matematicas esta noche, Lunes, 9 de Febrero en la Escuela Tappan
Hill. La reunion la hemos pospuesto para el Lunes, 2 de Marzo a las 7pm"
Tappan Hill School Experiences History!!!
January 20th, 2009 was a most momentous day. The
inauguration of our first African American President is an historical
highlight that illuminates the values of our country. Tappan Hill
Kindergarten celebrated along with the nation and international community by
witnessing history as the inauguration unfolded.
Ms. Milliam transformed the All-Purpose Room into a screening room
where the children and staff--sporting red, white, and blue--watched the
events of the day. The huge screen revealed the grand nature of the
celebration as millions applauded. The scale of the projection created a
virtual experience that helped the children feel as though they were among
those gathered on the National Mall. The students cheered and clapped
after Vice President Biden and, then, President Obama were sworn in. They
were moved by Aretha Franklin’s heartfelt and soulful interpretation of “Let
Freedom Ring”. They were transfixed by the beauty of John Williams
arrangement of “Simple Things” as expressed by violinist Itzhak Perlman,
pianist Gabriela Montero, clarinetist Anthony McGill, and cellist Yo Yo Ma.
The children were taken with the epic experience as well as with the
interest and emotion expressed by the Tappan Hill teachers and staff. They
realized that they were experiencing history in the making. The
inauguration of the 44th President of the United States of
America, although now part of our most recent past, has become a living
memory for all of the kindergarten students. It is a day that will never be
forgotten. (Posted 1/26/09)
