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W.
L. Morse 2007-2008 News
Author/Illustrator
Aliki Visits Morse
 On
Monday, June 2nd the hallways
at W.L. Morse were abuzz with tales of
dinosaurs, wooly mammoths, mummies, and
much more! Students assembled into the
auditorium to meet world-famous
children’s author/illustrator Aliki! For
the past couple of weeks, second and
third grade classes did mini author
studies on Aliki and her books. Thanks
to the EPTA, every classroom was given a
copy of Aliki best-sellers such as My
Visit to the Dinosaurs, The Two
of Us, and Milk from Cow to
Carton. During the assembly, Aliki
discussed the writing/illustrating
process and used her picture book,
How a Book is Made, to describe the
stages of publishing. Students were in
for an extra special treat because they
were one of the first to see the final
proofs for Aliki’s soon to be published
book, Quiet in the Garden. Aliki
spent the rest of the day at Morse
holding intimate writing workshops and
Q&A sessions with classes.
Aliki, who had traveled all the way from
England to visit her family, made a
special visit to her “other family” at
Morse. Throughout the year she had been
corresponding with the students in Ms.
Cristella’s second grade class.
Students gave the day rave reviews. One
second grade student commented, “I’ll
never forget it and now I am going to be
an author just like Aliki when I grow
up!”
(Posted
6/8/08)
Earth Day
The students of Ms. Cristella's second
grade class left a green footprint this
Earth Day! The avid readers collectively
read over 100 non-fiction books in an
effort to save the rainforest. In
return, Scholastic Inc, in affiliation
with the International Rainforest
Alliance, sponsored 100 acres of the
Choco Forest in Ecuador under Ms.
Cristella's class name. The Choco
Forest is home to more than 9,000
species of endangered plants, animals,
and amazing natural resources. The
class can now be found online under the
Classrooms Care Green Hall of Fame. The
second grade students hope they inspire
the greater community to do their part
to make a difference and protect the
sacred rainforest. As one student so
aptly pointed out, "EVERY day is Earth
Day!" (Posted
5/7/08)
Music
Notes
As part of their ongoing study of
orchestral instruments, all 2nd
graders were treated to a special
workshop on May 12th.
Musicians from the Westchester
Philharmonic visited our school and
demonstrated woodwind instruments.
Students were able to see “up close” and
hear a flute, bassoon, clarinet, oboe,
saxophone and recorder. They learned
about single reeds and double reeds and
why a saxophone is really a woodwind
instrument. They learned that flutes
are used all over the world and even
heard ones from India and Ireland.
Seeing and experiencing these
instruments “in person” is such a
wonderful experience for the children.
They are looking forward to next year in
3rd Grade when they’ll study
recorders with Mrs. Giuseffi!
(Posted 5/22/08)
Third Grade Artists at
Morse School Studied Joan Miro
Joan Miro (1893-1983) was a Spanish
painter and sculptor who produced vivid
abstract works of art during much of the
1900s. His works often have very
descriptive titles. Joan Miro's name is
pronounced “hoän mro.“
We talked about Miro’s paintings as we
looked at several reproductions of his
work. Then, like Miro, third grade
artists used lines and shapes to make
abstract pictures that are filled with
shapes that remind us of people,
creatures and objects. We learned that
a shape can look like more than one
thing and that two people can interpret
art differently and both have a valid
point of view.
Students worked individually drawing and
coloring Miro-style. We used many of
the skills we learned earlier this year
when we made Cubist paintings. Finally,
we used the crayon-resist technique,
coloring our shapes with primary colored
crayons and then creating a background
with watercolor and large wash brushes.
(see
gallery)
(Posted
4/28/08)
3rd Graders
Attend Westchester Philharmonic Concert
On April 15th, all 3rd graders were
treated to a wonderful concert at
Purchase College. In preparation for
the trip, they studied and listened to
music by Beethoven, Handel and Haydn
with Mrs. Giuseffi in music class.
Since this is Maestro Paul Dunkel’s
final year at the Philharmonic, the
theme of the education concert was
“conducting”. Students prepared with
Mrs. Giuseffi by watching and
participating with a demonstration DVD
created just for this concert. They
also worked with a member of the
Philharmonic who came to the school in
March to demonstrate brass instruments
and conducting styles. The concert was
generously funded by the BOCES
Arts-in-Education Program. Morse
school has been fortunate to participate
in the Philharmonic’s Education Concert
for over 10 years. (Posted
4/28/08)
Second Graders Celebrate African at
Morse School
Second grade artists combined African
textile designs with a
traditional African folktale, “The
Hatseller and the Monkeys.” The
border around the illustration was
created by combining Kente
textile designs from West Africa with
our own carefully designed patterns.
The paintings on the inside of the
project were created after we read the
African folktale, “The Hatseller and
the Monkeys.” When we created these
illustrations, we experimented with a
technique using the idea of batik (a
method of dyeing textiles). Drawings
were traced on top of a special wax
paper leaving a secret wax version of
our drawings on the bottom sheet of
paper. Then we painted with
watercolors. The wax kept the paper
white where we traced. We used mixed
media—pastels and markers—to finish
decorating the details on our pictures.
Examples of this art work
will be on display at the Warner Library
from March 5th until the end of April.
Students and faculty are looking forward
to our visit from the Ishangi Family
Dancers and their presentation, “A
Journey to Africa,” on March 12th.
This performance will be a wonderful
culmination to our study of African
Art. The art and culture of West Africa
will come alive for students as they
enjoy the Ishangi family’s program that
is rich in stories, dance and music.
(Posted 3/3/08)
Our Memoirs
The students in Mrs. Bakala's class have
worked very diligently to publish their
memoirs. From start to finish they
were busy using the writing process in
order to get to their final goal of
publishing. Thank you goes to The
Morse Publishing Center for making it
possible to cover the books. The
next step was now to read from their
published book and record their memoirs.
A special thank you
goes to Liz Golden, our dedicated
recording assistant, for helping the
students record their work during our
Writing Workshop sessions and to John
Calvert, our Technology Specialist, who
is always available to make projects
like this one possible for all our
students. Enjoy reading
Memoirs from Mrs. Bakala's Class.
Click
here to read our Memoirs.
(Posted 2/14/08)
The
Morse Third Grade Mask Tradition Goes On!
Every
J anuary,
after studying masks from around the world, third grade students each cast,
design, decorate and title three-dimensional masks. In our American culture,
we use masks at Halloween. Special protective masks are worn by athletes,
doctors and soldiers. In other parts of the world masks are used for many
different reasons. The third grade has studied some of these masks and
created their own designs. Special attention was given to African masks in
anticipation of an
upcoming visit from the Ishangi Family Dancers from West Africa on March 12th.
The masks are currently on display on the first floor at Morse School. Click
here to view the gallery of third grade masks.(Posted 1/31/08)
Community Poems
The 2nd grade
students have been studying the characteristics of different communities in
social studies. At the conclusion of the unit, the children individually
created poems describing the community of their choice. They each worked
through the writing process to complete this assignment. The students in
Mrs. Richardson's class typed, illustrated and recorded their poems to share
with the world. We hope you enjoy reading and listening to our work!
(Posted 1/10/08)
Morse Artists study the
Art of the Middle Ages
Second grade artists learned that most
people did not read and write in the
Middle Ages and practiced telling
stories with pictures. Each student
created his or her own hand-colored
story-telling picture. Students were
careful to include a setting and main
characters in their work. We used the
legendary tale of George and the
Dragon as a theme for our work. We
even explored three-dimensional art in
“Dragon Workshop” each student sculpted
and painted a dragon figurine.
Third graders learned that books were
made and illustrated by hand and created
their own “decorated letters.” First,
students selected a letter. Then, we
began decorating the letter with imagery
from the period. Crowns, knights,
dragons, castles and medieval flower
designs were all used by Morse artists
to decorate their work. They then
transferred the drawings onto black and
gold metallic scratchboard and etched
their beautiful designs in gold.
Also in keeping with the medieval
theme…the third grade worked
collectively to create simulated stained
glass windows. The designs are modeled
after the rose windows of Notre Dame de
Paris in France. Students used a
polymer paint which dries to a
transparent finish.
The work can be seen on display on the first floor of Morse
School. Please come take a look! The
Middle Ages are between ancient and
modern times. The Middle Ages began with
the Fall of Rome (500) and ended with
the Renaissance (1400). This period is
associated with many beliefs and
practices that now seem out of date, for
example, the belief that the sun
revolves around the Earth, and a host of
popular superstitions. The early Middle
Ages are sometimes called the Dark Ages.
The later middle Ages, however, saw many
notable human achievements. Among these
were the building of modern nations,
such as England and France; expanded
trade and the beginnings of the Age of
Exploration, some remarkable works of
literature and the building of
magnificent churches. The period saw
major technological advances, including
the invention of printing, gunpowder,
spectacles, and greatly improved ships.
(Posted 12/16/07)
Second Grade Community Field Trips
Police sirens blazed,
the hook and ladder truck fired up its engine and Morse second graders
watched on in wonder.
There wasn’t any
emergency. All the fuss indicated it was time for the annual trip to the
Sleepy Hollow Police and Fire Departments. Second graders have been
studying Community Service Workers in Social Studies. Students were experts
on the services the workers provide, their importance in our community, even
how tax money helps to benefit the departments!
It was time to wrap up
the unit by meeting our heroes- the firefighters and police officers! At the
police department, Detective Checchi gave classes a behind the scenes look
at the inner workings of the police department. Students marveled at all of
the computers in the communications room, they beamed as they got to handle
handcuffs, police binoculars, and other important tools. In the booking
room, students imagined an arrest and saw the fingerprinting machine,
scanners, and cameras. Undoubtedly, the highlight of the tour was visiting
the jail cells and evidence room! At the fire department students saw
firsthand the many tools firefighters use to save lives. We saw the forty
year old Sleepy Hollow fireboat that has helped in many emergency situations
throughout the years- from floods to rescues. The hook and ladder truck
saluted us by raising its ladder. Students even got to witness the “Jaws of
Life,” and gasped when they heard it could lift a car several feet off the
ground!
A HUGE thanks to our
community heroes, the Sleepy Hollow firefighters and police officers, who
keep our community safe. We salute you!
(Posted
10/14/2007)
Click
here for the Morse 07- 08 Student Handbook
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