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Washington Irving 2007-2008
News
Math Olympiads
This past Tuesday, June 10, the Washington
Irving School held its fourth Math Olympiad
celebration and awards ceremony. The fourth,
fifth and sixth grade students performed
very well this year, and has kept up our
strong math tradition. Internationally there
are approximately 150,000 students who
compete in the Math Olympiads. This year we
had 48 students scoring in the top 50%, 18
students finishing in the top 10%, and 9
students who scored in the top 2% of all the
students world wide. This was an especially
exciting year because we had one student who
received the George Lenchner medallion for
having a perfect score. There were only 81
students who had perfect scores this year.
Our 6th grade team scored in the
top 10% of all the teams world wide. The
families of our Olympiad students
participated in Olympic Games, enjoyed
snacks and cheered the students for all the
hard work they put in this year.
(Posted 6/19/08)
WordMasters
A student representing Washington Irving
School recently won highest honors in
this year’s WordMasters Challenge – a
national language arts competition
entered by over 230,000 students
annually, which consists of three
separate meets held at intervals during
the school year.
Competing in the very difficult Gold
Division, fifth grader, Jordan B. earned
perfect scores in all three meets of
this year’s Challenge. He is one of
only ten fifth grade students in
the entire country to achieve perfect
cumulative year-end scores. Also,
but competing in the year’s third and
final meet of the Challenge, fourth
graders Karthik R., Spencer S., and
Nikhil S., fifth graders Heather B. and
Austen P. and and sixth graders Katie
C., Dhruv S., and K.T. T. all earned
perfect scores. Nationwide, only 351
fourth graders, 130 fifth graders and 80
sixth graders did so in this meet.
Other students at the school who also
achieved outstanding results in the
year’s third meet of the Challenge
included fourth graders Caleb G., Sere
P., Julia S., Elizabeth S., Heather C.,
Mark J., Juliet L. and Dominique M.;
fifth graders Colin A., Jason C., John
C., Sara F., and Katy K.; and sixth
graders MacKenzie H., Lily S., and Julia
R.. The school’s students were coached
in preparation for the Challenge by
Karen Cook.
The WordMasters Challenge is an exercise
in critical thinking that first
encourages students to become familiar
with a set of interesting new words
(considerably harder than grade level),
and then challenges them to use those
words to complete analogies expressing
various kinds of logical relationships.
Working to solve the Challenge analogies
helps students learn to think both
analytically and metaphorically.
Congratulations WordMasters!
(Posted 6/9/08)
Washington Irving's No Junk Food Week
Washington
Irving will celebrate No Junk Food Week
June 9th to 13th.
Events to include: special menus in the
cafeteria, special activities at recess
such as fear factor, trade in you
unhealthy snacks for a healthy one, and
so much more!
Get rid of that junk food and take a
ride on the healthy side.
(Posted
6/3/08)
Student
Composers
Mrs.
DiNome’s general music students
transformed into composers through a
unit of piano composition.
Students
in Mrs. D’s classes were taught piano
introduction, form and composition.
Ninety percent of the classes had never
played piano before. Students performed
their compositions in the lobby during
homeroom for all to hear!
Please click
here
to listen to an example of their
original work! (Posted
5/27/08)
Warner Library
A great community resource is
Tarrytown’s own Warner Library. WI’s
AIS reading teachers along with 4th,
5th and 6th
graders, took a crisp walking trip for a
personal Warner Library guided tour
given by the children’s librarian. The
librarian shared the many offerings
Warner’s Children’s Library has for our
students. Summer programs abound.
Prizes are available for those who keep
a reading log; Spanish texts and tapes,
videos, CDs and games are all part of
Warner’s contribution to summer fun. We
encourage all students to frequent the
library, especially during the hot
summer months when air conditioning is
part of the reading fun. (Posted
5/22/08)
3 2 1 Action!
 6th
grade scientists in Mrs. Conjura’s
classes became producers, researchers,
directors, editors, musicians, and
voice-over artists while developing
movies about the planets in our solar
system.
Students used iMovie to put all of the
components of their movie together and
GarageBand to compose original musical
scores to enhance the movies. The
movies were premiered in class and
students used Senteos, an interactive
clicker, to answer quiz questions
developed by each planet team
after their
movie was viewed. All the movies were
put together like a feature film DVD.
After viewing her movie on premiere day
one student said, “I feel so proud!”
Click to view the Jupiter clip (
9 MB, please allow the project to load)
(Posted
5/20/08)
Picasso People at Washington Irving
School
Picasso People is based on the
well-known Modern artist Pablo Picasso.
He was born in Spain in 1881 and
developed a painting style called
Cubism.
Picasso People is a one-man show
performed by Carlton Van Pyrz. The show
began with “Carlton the Curator” leading
students through a gallery tour of some
of Picasso’s most popular works of art.
He then brought to life those various
works using mime, mask, puppetry,
narration, and music. “The inspiration
of Picasso’s work is explored in a
light-hearted array of clever stories
and vignettes based loosely on his
true-life experiences.”
Picasso People is an exciting way for
students to develop an appreciation for
art in combination with music and live
theater. This program supports a unit
taught on Pablo Picasso in Miss Gallo’s
5th Grade art classes. (Posted
5/21/08)
"Reading
Buddies"
 Wednesday,
March 26th, 2008 Washington Irving (WI) students visited
their “Reading Buddies” at John Paulding for the first time. WI
students read aloud self-selected picture books to the first graders
modeling how good readers sound when they read aloud. The readers
focused on their fluency and phrasing which in turn captivated their
audience. All were well prepared as they took students on picture
walks, activated prior knowledge, and asked comprehension questions.
The first graders were an attentive audience that impressed their older
peers with meaningful text connections. They seemed enthralled as they
rotated from reader to reader hearing various tantalizing stories. One
first grader was overheard saying, “Wow! I want to read like that when
I get big.”
It
is our hope to continue helping WI students shine as they build their
self-esteem and they get to re-visit their “Reading Buddies” in the
future.
(Posted 3/30/08)
The Circus
is Back at Washington Irving School!
On Monday
April 7th, two circus professionals from the N ational
Circus Project will join our physical education classes and work with
our 4th and 5th grade students. Throughout the
week, the two instructors will teach a variety of circus skills
including juggling, devil sticks, mime, stilts, spinning plates, diabolo,
and the unicycle.
5th
grade students will be creating their very own BIG TOP CIRCUS! There
will be an evening performance on Friday April 11th 6:30 – 8:00pm. Come
one, come all and enjoy the show!!
(Posted 3/30/08)
The
Eleventh Annual Black History Jeopardy Contest
Excitement filled
the air as Mrs. Gonzalez welcomed everyone to the Eleventh Annual Black
History Jeopardy Contest on Wednesday afternoon, March 19, 2008. As
Mrs. Gonzalez introduced the eight 5th grade contestants, the
auditorium resonated with enthusiasm.
Proud parents, teachers and classmates were once again in awe of the
talented 16 student contestants and the PowerPoint Black History Game
Board. It was evident through the constant “buzzing in,” and the
correct responses that the contestants spent hours preparing for the
competition.
This year’s categories were African American Firsts, Arts &
Entertainment, Black History Brain Quest, Education, Picture This,
Science and Technology, and “Quotable Quotes.” The Arts and
Entertainment audio clues included: Georgia by the soulful Ray
Charles, Take the A Train by the incomparable Duke Ellington,
The Entertainer by the Ragtime genius Scott Joplin and No One
by the talented, multi-Grammy winner, Alicia Keys.
The four highest scoring teams secured a golden opportunity to compete
in Final Jeopardy. This year’s semi-finalists included the following: Imani
from Mr. Adams’s class along with her partner, Jojo of Mrs. Conjura’s
class as our fourth place winners. Austen of Mr. Jacobs’s homeroom and
partner, John from Ms. Creary’s class were the third place winners. In
second place were Henry from Mrs. Gonzalez’s class and his partner Ellis
of Ms. Leveille’s class. Demetri from Mr. Dietz’s homeroom and Dominic
from Ms. Carty’s class triumphantly captured first place. Each
semi-finalist will receive a Baskin Robbins gift certificate, a Barnes &
Noble gift certificate and a 2008 family pass to sites of the Historic
Hudson Valley. The grand prize winners, Demetri and Dominic, will also
receive a $50.00 savings bond.
In her closing
remarks, Mrs. Meghan Fitzgerald, Assistant Principal, congratulated all
the participants and staff for their participation. Last year’s 5th
grade semi-finalists who returned to help with this year’s program were
judges, Ben and Manisha, and technicians, Meghan and Ramon. A special
thank you goes to Neal Spitzer and Jean O’Brien for their invaluable
support, and kudos to Gabrielle Carty and Linda Elmore for a job well
done.
(Posted 3/27/08)
"Nature Up Close"
Fourth
grade artists at Washington Irving School studied the life and work of American
artist Georgia O'Keeffe. Georgia O’Keeffe worked in many styles and
painted many different subjects over her long career as an artist. For
our work, we focused on her large scale, cropped images of flowers,
shells, bones, and other natural objects. O’Keeffe painted her subjects
BIG so people would notice. She once said, “No one notices a flower
because it is so small and they haven’t the time. To see it takes
time.” Working from small objects such as flowers, leaves, shells, and
insects, students created large scale, close up oil pastel drawings.
These colorful student creations focused on small details and value
changes.
(Posted 3/17/08)
WordMasters Challenge
Three students representing Washington
Irving
School
recently won highest honors in this
year’s WordMasters Challenge – a
national language arts competition
entered by over 250,000 students
annually, which consists of three
separate meets held at intervals during
the school year.
Competing in the very difficult Gold
Division of the Challenge, fifth grader,
Jordan B. and sixth graders MacKenzie H.
and Lily S. earned earned perfect scores
in the year’s second meet, held in
February. In the entire country, only
69 fifth graders and 122 sixth graders
achieved at this level. Other students
at the school who also achieved
outstanding results included fourth
graders., Sere P. and Dominique M.;
fifth graders Jason C., John C., Heather
B., Mikey F, Sara F. and Joey G., and
sixth graders Dhruv S, Johnny K., Katie
C. and Tomas C. The school’s students
were coached in preparation for the
Challenge by Karen Cook.
The WordMasters Challenge is an exercise
in critical thinking that first
encourages students to become familiar
with a set of interesting new words
(considerably harder than grade level),
and then challenges them to use those
words to complete analogies expressing
various kinds of logical relationships.
Working to solve the Challenge analogies
helps students learn to think both
analytically and metaphorically.
Congratulations WordMasters!
(Posted 3/16/08)
Rhythm in Art
Art and Music go hand in hand when
looking at the colorful paintings of the
Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky
(1866-1944). Kandinsky had grown up in
a musical family and was also a talented
musician. He believed that painting and
music were directly related, and that
each could represent emotion.
“Music,” he said, “expresses itself by
sounds, paintings by colors.”
Through this lesson, 5th
grade artists at Washington Irving
School had the opportunity to experience
just how music can influence art, as
well as learning about important
elements and principles of design.
 We
started this project by discussing the
life of Wassily Kandinsky, and took a
close look at a selection of his
non-objective paintings. Students
learned that Non-Objective means
there is NO recognizable subject
matter. It is art purely made up of
shapes, lines, and colors where the
artist had NO intent for it to
look like anything. We then began to
create a connection between art and
music by discussing a principle of
design called Rhythm. Rhythm in
art is when the artist repeats
certain visual elements, which causes
the viewers eye to actually “move”
through the work. After discussing
this, students did a “sketch to music”
exercise and created four different
drawings to different genres of music,
such as Jazz, Classical, and Dance.
Using these pencil drawings and new
ideas, we created these final drawings
you see. Students learned the
importance of certain aspects of design
such as Cropping and Balance.
They also learned specific blending
techniques and how to create
visual texture using oil pastels.
(Posted 3/10/08)
Washington Irving High
Jump Contest
There was a dazzling display of jumping
skills at the Washington Irving High
Jump Contest held on February 14th.
Approximately 40 students took part in
the contest this week. A grand
display of talent was showcased in both
the girls and boys events. Sixth
grade student Christine G. came in
second place with a jump of 3’11”.
Two sixth grade students, Callie B. and
Marina P., tied for 1st place
with jumps of 4’0. In the boys
event, sixth grade student Will S.
jumped 4’4” for third place. The
surprise of the contest was fifth grade
student, Peter J., who jumped 4’6” for
second place. The star of the
event was sixth grade student Dominick
O., who jumped 4’8”, and came within a
fraction of an inch of setting a new WI
record. The announcer of the
contest was sixth grade student Ben P..
(Posted 2/15/08)
WI
4th Graders Experience Colonial Day
The fourth grade celebrated Colonial Day on February 7, 2008. The first
floor of Washington Irving School went back thr ough
time as our social studies curriculum came alive with the sights,
sounds, smells, and tastes of a colonial village. Students strolled down
the "village street" where each room was transformed into a colonial
shop.
Crafts and activities, highlighting daily colonial life,
spilled out into the hallways. Children paraded down the street to the
beat of the fife and drum. Students dipped candles, made pomanders and
mob caps, fashioned rag rugs, and wrote with a quill and ink. They also
played quoits, crafted Bilbo catchers and whirligigs and learned the art
of paper quilling. The bakery, managed by Harriet Bettman, overflowed
with cornbread, pound cake and cider.
We were fortunate to have Sara Mascia, from the Tarrytown
Historical Society; Lynda Fassa, from Green Babies; and Eric Clingen,
from Tarrytown Woodworks, share their special talents. Our hallways were
decorated with beautiful murals of colonial life drawn by teaching
assistant Maureen Considine.
The fourth grade team would like to thank all those who
participated. It is truly a collaborative effort between parents,
community and school personnel. (Posted
2/8/08)
 Family
YMCA at Tarrytown Y Theatre Presents
Washington
Irving School Students in...
A
Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare
El Sueño De Una Noche De Verano
WASHINGTON IRVING SCHOOL AUDITORIUM
Wednesday, February 27 at 8:30 am & Thursday February 28 at 9:15 am and
7:30 pm
Evening performance tickets $10 adults, $5 children 4th grade and up.
(Posted
2/4/08)
WI’s
Black History Brain Quest 2008
Washington Irving’s
Black History Brain Quest is a school wide activity patterned after
Channel 7’s popular game show, Jeopardy. During the month of February,
the Black History Brain Quest “Answer” of the day will be read
during the morning announcements.
Students may
participate in Black History Brain Quest by placing a re-cycled entry
form (WI is going Green!) in the Question Box located outside of
the main office. The student’s entry must be in the form of a
question and placed in the Question Box within two school days. In
researching the “answer” students acquire knowledge of the many
significant contributions of African Americans to this country.
Each day five
respondents will be selected to receive a Baskin Robbins gift
certificate. The names of the winners will be posted on the Brain Quest
Answer Board.
 The
answers from Brain Quest will be used as a category during the
Washington Irving’s Eleventh Annual Black History Jeopardy Contest. The
Jeopardy Contest is the culminating activity for Black History Month.
The entire school community is invited to cheer and encourage the 5th
and 6th grade contestants during this assembly on Wednesday
March 19th at 12:30pm in the school auditorium. We hope to
see you there! (Posted 1/31/08)
Karthik R. Wins WI
Geographic Bee
Moves one step closer to $25,000 College Scholarship
Karthik a 4th grade student at WI won the school-level
competition of the National Geographic Bee on January 16, and a chance
at a $25,000 college scholarship. The school-level Bee, at which
students answered oral questions on geography, was the first round in
the 20th annual National Geographic Bee. The Bee is sponsored
by the National Geographic Society. Jordon B. came in second after a
tension filled championship round. Elizabeth S. was the third place
winner.
The Bee included international questions such as, “Which sea, shared by
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, has lost more than 70 percent of its volume
since the 1960s as a result of diversion of water irrigate cotton and
other crops?” and also questions about U.S. geography such as, “Brown
v. Board of Education, the 1954 Supreme Court case that helped end
racial segregation in public schools, focused on a school in what city
in eastern Kansas?” All of the contestants who participated did a
wonderful job. It was a very exciting afternoon. (Posted 1/16/08)
Tappan Zee Dance Company Visits WI
Washington Irving students are on the move, dancing, with our
local Tappan Zee dance instructors. The residency provides general music
students the opportunity to learn a different dance genre at each grade
level. Through movement, students will experience how dance relates to
the elements of music as well as develop an understanding that dance is
an important art form.
Tappan Zee dance instructors will present a dynamic performance Friday
January 25, 2008 at 1:20 pm for all to experience!
Thanks to the Tarrytown K-6 Arts plan and Foundation for funding this
wonderful residency. (Posted 1/15/08)
Word Masters
Two students representing Washington Irving School recently won highest
honors in this year’s WordMasters Challenge – a national language arts
competition entered by over 230,000 students annually, which consists of
three separate meets held at intervals during the school year.
Competing in the very difficult Gold Division of the Challenge, fifth
grader, Jordan B. and sixth grader Katie C. both earned perfect scores
in the year’s first meet, held in December. In the entire country, only
163 fifth graders and 172 sixth graders achieved at this level. Other
students at the school who also achieved outstanding results included
fourth graders Elizabeth S., Sere P., Zachary K., Zoe Kaplan, Nikhil
Suri; fifth graders Jason C., Heather B., Colin A., Mikey F; and sixth
graders Lily S., MacKenzie H., Sam V. and Dhruv S. The school’s
students were coached in preparation for the Challenge by Karen Cook.
The WordMasters Challenge is an exercise in critical thinking that first
encourages students to become familiar with a set of interesting new
words (considerably harder than grade level), and then challenges them
to use those words to complete analogies expressing various kinds of
logical relationships. Working to solve the Challenge analogies helps
students learn to think both analytically and metaphorically. (Posted 1/15/08)
Vodcasting Comes Back to W.I.!
Mrs.
Conjura is at it again with her 6th grade social studies class with the
latest edition to her student created Vodcasts, also known as video
podcasts. Students studied ancient Mesopotamia and took a little extra
time to study writing and food. While working in small groups students
researched the food of ancient Mesopotamia and combined this research
with their knowledge of cuneiform writing to create an ancient
Mesopotamian menu written in cuneiform. They added a modern twist to
this by creating commercials for a theme restaurant that could be found
today. When you walk through the doors of these theme restaurants they
will bring you back in time to experience a meal like an ancient
Mesopotamian. The restaurant "owners" hope their commercials make your
mouth water for a taste of the past. We have included our Vodcasts from
this event. You can also download this into iTunes so it can be played
on a video iPod.
Click below to watch video podcasts.
Ancient
Sundays
Mesopotamia Breakfast
Out to
Lunch
Tinky Winky
(Posted 12/16/07)
Student vs. Staff Football Game
On
Friday November 16th, the Washington Irving faculty took on a
formidable
opponent in the 6th Grade students. It was a highly
anticipated meeting between the elder staff and the more youthful
students. The Students, with high expectations of shutting down the
highly potent Staff offense, had a successful game plan of intensity and
fun. In a highly spirited game, the Staff defeated the Students by a
score of 35-21. At the end of the game, it was obvious that the score
did not matter. It was the sportsmanship, fun, and memories that we
will all take from that cold November Friday. Congratulations to all
participants, fans, and chaperones for a job well done!
(Posted
11/29/2007)
Lion’s Club International Peace Poster Contest
 Lion’s
Club International Peace Poster Contest is a contest that encourages
children ages 11-13 to creatively express what peace means to them. The
contest allows students to share their unique image of peace with
others, so that we may all have a greater tolerance and international
understanding. The contest was available to Ms. Gallo’s sixth grade art
students at Washington Irving School. The winning poster was judged on
originality, artistic merit, and expression of the theme “Peace Around
the World.” The winning poster was created by Caitlyn from Ms. Mullin’s
class. Her poster now has a chance to win the multiple district level
and national level of the competition. Congratulations and best of luck
from everyone at Washington Irving School. Thank you to all of the
students who participated! (Posted
11/14/2007)
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