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English
- Carol Buckley Assistant Principal
- Michele Taylor Department Coordinator
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Janet Smuga
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She has devised
a novel group project for The Odyssey. Each group will
write a script and perform a play based on one episode of The
Odyssey.
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I have used
Gmail to create an online survey to gather data about all of my
classes. For my seniors, for instance, this tells me how many
are planning to apply to 4-year colleges and would be interested
in a presentation by Guidance and assignments directed towards
completing the personal statements and essays they will need for
the applications. In each of my classes, students can let me
know what strengths they bring to the class – do they draw well,
like to act, write well on the board, ask good questions, etc.
I hope all of this will help me design more effective plans, and
I may continue to use Gmail throughout the year to poll or quiz
students.
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Michele Taylor
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My 9th
grade students will start off the year with HSPA picture prompt
exercises. We will start off with a group picture prompt and
then create an individual one at the end of the week. We will
also be completing our second Performance-based summer reading
assessment in class.
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We have also
completed a Greek god project where the students created their
own god/goddess and have written about their special powers,
weaknesses and symbols. We have already read Book 9 of The
Odyssey and will continue to work on Greek Mythology until
both Cheryl Laue and I move onto the Renaissance period.
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Mel Clifford
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BIG NEWS for last year’s juniors in Ms.
Clifford’s and Mrs. Lopusznick’s English classes. Last June, as
part of our Final Exam, we wrote letters to Jeannette Walls, the
author of the memoir, The Glass Castle. Ms. Clifford
forwarded those letters to Ms. Walls through her publisher. Last
weekend, Ms. Clifford got a lovely e-mail from the author,
thanking her and the students for the letters and expressing
interest in visiting MHSN.
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In Cinema Studies, we had the “unveiling”
of the “Chazz poster.” During the summer, Ms. Clifford went to
Atlantic City to see Chazz Palminteri perform his one-man show,
upon which the movie, A Bronx Tale, was based. He plays
all 21 characters! After the show, Mr. Palminteri kindly met
with Ms. Clifford, and signed a large Bronx Tale poster,
writing: “To the North kids—“Never waste your talent,” and he
signed it. They had a very nice chat about the Cinema Studies
class and a photo of them together was taken. The poster will be
hanging in Ms. Clifford’s room when it is laminated. The last
thing Mr. Palminteri said to Ms. Clifford was “Send my love to
the kids.”
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In Mrs. Lopusznick’s and Ms. Clifford’s
English classes, the parents at Back to School Night once again
really enjoyed reading the letters of appreciation their
children wrote to them—one parent said it made the whole night
worthwhile and that she would always save and treasure her
daughter’s letter.
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Barbara Christopher
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Barbara Guenther and I have worked out
topics and readings for our 10th grade classes to
introduce Native Americans/Early Colonists. Students are doing
a power point presentation and learning how to evaluate primary
sources.
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Hall Duty –introducing a word a day to the
students
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Judy Bolton
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English 12: We
are beginning medieval projects.
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English 11: I am
working with my US II counterpart (Erin Tulko) to coordinate
non-fiction works that pertain to their history studies, as well
as the beginnings of their thesis papers.
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Journalism:
Students are working on the fundamentals of journalistic writing
style and process on topics as varied as the universal appeal of
pandas and whether the new Dallas stadium is a showcase for the
Cowboys or the Cowboy cheerleaders.
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Michelle Goldfarb
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My classes are
finishing up a “Getting to Know You Unit” where they are
completing and analyzing their learning styles and preferences.
They have begun blogging online about their summer reading.
Using the anonymity of pen names, students are involved in
in-depth literary discussions about what they read. Students
are also creating writing samples by completing two of the
dreaded “What I did this summer” essays. One of their essays is
a true account while the other is a complete fiction piece.
Next week students will be presenting their narratives to the
class to vote and see if they can pick out the true stories.
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Linda Ranger
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Advanced TV
Production is learning to make bulletins for our flat screens.
We have begun shooting segments for North in Action.
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Regular TV:
Writing first TV script and storyboards. The students are also
learning how to operate studio equipment for future tapings.
Guidance–
John Carmody Assistant Principal
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Thomas
Cusick Department Coordinator
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Assisted students with scheduling concerns
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Visited 10th & 11th grade English classes
regarding PSAT
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Hosted 235 colleges at College Fair on September 20th
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Met with all seniors discussing post graduate plans
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Hosted 15 visiting colleges
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Coordinated professional activities for three interns
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Developed
Power Point on “Writing the College Essay”
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Presented Power Point to Senior English classes
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Met with Freshmen in small groups
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Planned
College Info Night for PFA
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Planned Freshman Parent Meetings
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Distributed scholarship information to Senior English classes
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Attended I.E.P & I & RS meetings
Social Studies
—Carol Buckley Assistant Principal
Ed Jones Department Coordinator
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Tara Murphy
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Beth D’Alessandro
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Ellen Hill
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My Advanced Placement History class and Mr.
Jones’ U.S. II History Honors classes went on a class trip on
September 28-29 to Boston and Plymouth, Massachusetts. As part
of our itinerary, we traveled to Plymouth Plantation and
Wampanoag Village. The re-enactors provided commentary on the
settlement conditions, beliefs and chores, and mores and
politics. Sunday evening we participated in a lantern tour of
the original Plymouth Village and on Monday we went to Fanueil
Hall and the Freedom Trail before our departure at 4:00 PM.
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Cheryl Laue
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My World History students are working on a
problem based learning assignment.
Students in both my CP and CP ICR classes have been analyzing
various sources, focusing on identifying the point of view and
source. The documents being analyzed this week focus on the
Greek contributions to Western Civilization. Each document is
followed by a question that requires students to understand the
main idea of the material and to read and interpret/summarize
the ideas in their own words. This skill is imperative for
students to master in order to succeed on Performance Based and
Document Based Assessments. After students have mastered this
skill, they will be required to begin formulating a thesis
statement pertaining to the driving question. (What were the
contributions to Western Civilizations from ancient Greece?)
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Barbara Guenther
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Doug Felegy
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The students in AP Economics are well on
their way to preparing for the AP exam in the spring. We are
currently working on Microeconomics, specifically, supply and
demand analysis. Their preparation includes drawing and
analyzing graphs, completing practice multiple choice questions,
timed writing activities, and practicing short answer open-
ended questions. Supply and demand analysis takes up 20% of the
AP exam. We are also preparing
for the fall New Jersey Stock Market Game. Each team of
students is given a hypothetical $100,000 to invest in stocks,
bonds, or mutual funds via an interactive computer simulation.
This is a three month activity in which each team will not only
compete against each other, but they will also be competing
against various schools throughout the state of New Jersey.
This is a wonderful hands-on student- centered activity that
helps students understand the fundamentals of the stock market
and proper ways to invest.
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The Economics classes have been mastering
the basic principles of Economics. They are responsible for
bringing in a current event each week and relating the event to
the six basic economic principles. This activity shows students
the relevancy of Economics and how it is connected to every
subject and current events. They are also currently working on
a PBL in which they are given the task of helping a fictitious
man switch his current job to start a shoe company. They are
essentially acting as economic advisors to this entrepreneur in
order to write an essay, create a visual diagram, and present
their findings on sales and production to the target consumers.
The Economics classes are also preparing for the fall New
Jersey Stock Market Game.
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In U.S. I we are discussing the differences
among the thirteen colonies. Students are currently in the
computer lab working on a thirteen colonies PBL activity. This
PBL has students acting as an advertisement company to help
promote a colony and to attract as many settlers to the colony
as possible. Students are conducting research in the computer
lab and their final product will be either be a Microsoft Power
Point presentation or a Microsoft Publisher brochure
highlighting their colony.
Mathematics
Rob Feldman Assistant Principal
Rich Piro Department Coordinator
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Rich Piro
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Darren Keenan
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The students in his Algebra II CG class
worked on an activity from the activity generator dealing with
solving and graphing compound inequalities. The activity asked
students to plug in values to both the “and” and “or” compound
inequalities and to describe what the differences are between
the two. Students also looked into graphing inequalities on
number lines, and they needed to figure out how to represent
values on the number line that were included and those that were
not.
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Sue Ruda
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Students are participating in cooperative
learning settings in her Comprehensive Geometry Honors class.
They have been introduced to and implemented several activities
using the Geometer’s Sketchpad. Students are using
geometer’s tools in order to construct segments, angles, and
perpendicular lines, as well as to bisect segments and angles.
Students in SRA Math 12 are completing packets of practice HSPA
style questions and open-ended tasks. Algebra 1 students are
learning that an algebraic answer does not necessarily have a
numerical value.
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John Oxley
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Margot Giudice
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In her Integrated Algebra Part 1 class,
students were using the SMART board to interact with “function”
vending machines. Students were able to analyze how well the
vending machines worked in order to define a function.
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In Mrs. Giudice’s Algebra 2 classes,
students have begun to collect data for the first marking period
project. Students will be analyzing data and statistics to
draft an NFL fantasy football team.
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Jennifer Vought
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The students in her Trigonometry I class
set up stations and were presented with four different types of
problems. One represented midpoint, distance, symmetry, and
finding the x & y intercepts of a function. The students broke
into groups of three and completed each assignment. Afterwards,
they had to complete and submit an exit ticket for a grade and
were required to complete the task on their own.
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In Mrs. Vought’s Integrated Algebra II
course, the students are working on how to solve linear systems
by substitution. This method is reinforced as the students solve
word problems that represent a linear system. They will soon be
designing their own word problems.
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John Kerrigan
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Colleen Sisinni and John Kerrigan
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Colleen Sisinni and Lisa Lombardi
Physical Education and
Health
Michael Wells Assistant Principal
Mike Galos Department Coordinator
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The beginning
of school has been quite busy for the members of the Physical
Education Department. All four grades spent the first two weeks
participating in the Presidential National Physical Fitness
Test. The students’ performances were measured in the following
events:
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Mile Run
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Sit and
Reach
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Sit-ups in
a minute
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Pushups
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Pull-ups/Flexed-arm hang
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The shuttle
run
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These
components measure the students’ levels in different components
of overall fitness. Their scores are then compared to national
standards to determine the physical fitness of our students
versus the national norms. The top scores for each event and
each grade level will be posted on the bulletin board near the
gym, and those who qualify will be awarded a Presidential
Fitness Award. The students will be tested again in the
spring. This will help us measure the effectiveness of our PE
program in helping develop Physical Fitness.
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Lisa Smith
signed up our school for the Stop and Shop A+Bonus Bucks Program.
All customers have to do is to go to stopandshop.com and
register their discount card and Middletown North will earn x amount
of their purchases.
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Mr. McCray, Mr.
Iasparro, Mrs. Smith and Mr. Napoli are supervising their
students competing in doubles tournaments in both Tennis and
Badminton. Much of the competition is fierce.
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At the introduction
of Project Adventure, the 9th grade students are
participating in Team Building activities. Through learning
spotting techniques, communication techniques and problem solving,
we aim to help the students learn how to cooperate, be positive and
help each other out throughout the day. Mr. Galos, Ms. Turiello,
Ms. Dooley, Mr. Sirchio, Mr. Convey and Mr. Napoli currently
have the ninth grade classes.
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The 12th
Grade Students in Mrs. Campanile’s and Mrs. Tanis’
classes are currently experiencing the “Think it Over” babies.
Pairs of students volunteer to take home a computerized baby for the
weekend. They learn first-hand the techniques of changing diapers,
giving bottles, burping and rocking the baby. They also must work
together to make sure that the baby is cared for at all times. It
is a great experience to prepare for or dissuade students from
having a baby at a young age.
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Another 12th
Grade Family Living project is the Pregnancy Profile Vests. Both
boys and girls use the vests to simulate the feeling of being
pregnant. They walk around the school in the vests to understand
what it feels like to be a pregnant woman.
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The highlight of
Mr. Bogosian’s 10th Grade High Elements Class was
watching a handicapped student climbing unassisted to the top of the
rock wall. His strength came not from the use of his legs, but from
his upper body muscles and arms. Nishan is an inspiration to all of
the students and teachers who work with him.
Special Education
– Carol Buckley & Rob Feldman, Assistant Principals
- Amy Koeningsmark & Susan Terplevich Coordinators
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Gerry Moore
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Brock Silvestri
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We gave the students blank BINGO boards to
fill in with the appropriate Topographic map symbols and colors.
We then played Bingo by calling out the name of the symbol, and
the students had to remember which one it was. Using candy corn
as markers, the students had a great time playing and recalling
the names.
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Jenn Woods
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Sue Terplevich
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During the month
of September, my POR classes and my In Class Support Classes
with Michelle Goldfarb worked on a Getting to Know You unit in
which the students were able to learn about themselves, each
other, the teachers, the course and the class organization.
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In both classes
the students:
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Turned in the summer reading
assignment.
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Wrote an “I Am” poem describing
themselves.
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Completed a total of four paper
and pencil and on line learning styles/personality
inventories.
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Wrote and presented verbally and
with a visual, two summer stories to the class, one fiction,
the other non-fiction. The class then voted on the true
summer story.
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Used computers to complete
assignments.
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In the In Class
Support Classes the students:
- Wrote the first chapter of their Memory Book, an anchor
activity that will continue through the year, with chapters due
every two weeks.
- Used a blog to assess the second summer reading assignment.
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In the POR
Classes the students:
- Wrote a goals essay using the Inverted Triangle format.
- Completed a Course Organizer for English 11 – American
Literature, that allows the students to have a visual of the
entire course, including all the units and novels that will be
covered for the year.
- Completed a Unit Organizer for the “Getting to Know You”
unit.
- Organized their binders.
Tech-Ed,
Family and Consumer Sciences, Visual and Performing Arts
Kevin Robinson Assistant Principal
Jim Gibson, Department Coordinator
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Susan Heeter
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Touchdown!
Students in Sports and Entertainment Marketing Management are
once again playing Fantasy Football. They are developing their
own teams, designing logos, uniforms, a new stadium, and a
half-time show. This year we have the Vermont Lumberjacks and
the Orlando Land Sharks competing against the Montana
Mountaineers and the Boston Bulldogs. While the “fantasy” is
fun, the students are doing “real” learning by understanding how
teams market themselves, generate revenue, and participate in
worthwhile charity events.
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Students in the
Cooperative Business Education Program are writing resumes and
practicing interviewing techniques in an effort to better
prepare themselves for finding employment in these uncertain
economic times. Many of the students are fortunate to be working
for family businesses, while others are out in the community,
working in McDonald’s, Feet First, Foodtown and Pizza Hut. They
are learning practical skills that will make them more valuable
employees in the future, while earning some much needed spending
money today.
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Introduction to
Marketing students used their imaginations to create new
Superheroes. They developed characters, marketing campaigns, and
selling strategies using the 4P’s –Product, Price, Place,
Promotion of Marketing. One team of students has decided to
contact the Disney Corporation and see if they would be
interested in buying the rights to “Lightening Man!”
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Dorothy Bagley
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Desktop Publishing I, II and III students
were able to identify the “Design Process” and put forth a
series of logos for the Middletown North High School Band.
Using the Adobe Illustrator program, students constructed a
sequence of logos that demonstrated the principles of
typography. A final logo was chosen, whereby the students
learned the process of sending final work to the printer. The
T-shirts are currently being printed, and the logo winner will
be announced at one of the upcoming home football games.
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The students in Desktop Publishing I were
introduced to programs such as Adobe Photoshop and Adobe
Illustrator. They each created a path, learned effects such as
brightness and contrast, while editing photos of their choice.
Students learned how to choose stock photography and the
legality of photography and images.
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In her Technical Drawing I class, students
learned how to identify the proper architectural lettering
process. They replicated the architectural lettering process by
choosing a quote of their liking.
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Students also demonstrated the proper use
of architectural lines by creating a final masterpiece that
incorporated at least three of the fourteen lines they learned
in class. The students performed several series of sketching
exercises, followed by a trip outdoors to practice. Ms. Bagley
stressed the importance of hand-eye coordination in timed
sketching activities.
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Her students learned how perspective
drawings are created using central focus points. They
identified perspective images by bringing in illustrated
examples from newspapers, magazines and the internet. The
students created final drawings which are exhibited on the
bulletin boards in the hallway of the Tech area. At the end of
the month, students brainstormed a list of potential
difficulties architects may encounter during the design process.
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In her Independent Study for Technical
Drawing III, the student was asked to perform several test
prerequisites. He registered with the Autodesk Educational
Community, whereby he has access to several tutorials, software
programs, resources, etc. at home and in the classroom. The
student is currently compiling and organizing all of his past
work in order to create a final portfolio which is the primary
goal.
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Jane Pearson
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Her Computer Applications students got
their hands dirty while exploring the inside of a computer.
They really enjoyed this hands on experience. Now students know
how to troubleshoot problems they may be experiencing and make
upgrades to their personal computers.
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The new Honors elective, Tomorrow's
Teachers, is a hit! Students have been discovering more about
themselves as individuals and members of our community. They
created quilts and shields about themselves and made wonderful
and impressive presentations! Mrs. Pearson's students have been
working on a puppet show, which will be presented to the Pre-K
students in North. The students have also been working on
completing their required community service hours. They
designed a bulletin board, “Who’s Who in the Principal’s Crew,”
created a showcase display and posted original fliers
advertising Dr. Cartier’s Collaboration Café.
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Jim Gibson
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The Scaled Aviation room has been
transformed into an organized technology “hands on” classroom.
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Students assisted Mr. Gibson in the room
and equipment design and work area maintenance. Everyone worked
together to set up and organize the scaled aircraft building
facility.
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Students designed, constructed, painted and
installed special hangers which will be used to safely store
planes during construction. A unique tool cabinet has been
constructed and attached to the wall. Tools have been collected
and organized in the cabinet in order to make project building
safer and more streamlined. Materials have been ordered, and
aircraft construction will begin soon.
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Mr. Gibson is looking into local newspapers
to see if he can get a storyline about Scaled Aviation, as there
are very few classes like this one offered in New Jersey
schools. The TV Production class has offered to film the class
during their first scaled airplane flights
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Gerry Mahoney
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Play Production and Stagecraft classes have
been learning about the theatre: the introduction to the stage,
all the different parts, as well as safety. Publicity for the
fall play “The Butler Did It “has begun with students creating
posters and playbills. The scenery has been designed, and
students have drawn floor plans and are awaiting the lumber
delivery so they can start building. The two classes are also
involved with the Physical Education and Health classes in
helping to prepare for the Breast Cancer Awareness Fair to be
held in the library on October 27th.
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Students are also helping to organize the
2009 School Holiday Hunger Challenge Food Drive. It runs
through November 12th. At this time the following
groups have expressed an interest: Dance Club, French Club, TV
Production Club, Civic Leadership students, Future Teachers Club
and Mrs. Kathy Orsetti. As the campaign spreads, more staff and
students will become involved. Letters have been sent to all
BOE members and personnel in the Central Office.
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Gail McLaughlin
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Sewing and Fashion classes rolled up their
sleeves and got their hands dirty as they experimented with
painting and dyeing. Students explored color theory and the
psychological effects associated with different hues.
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Clothing Construction and Fashion students
studied shibori techniques and are using its variations to
tie-dye clothing. Students also learned the history of
traditional Japanese sashiko embroidery. They practiced the
stitching technique on indigo-dyed fabric and adapted motifs for
personal use in the creation of a zippered, lined pouch.
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Carin Trocchia
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In Functional Design I, students created a
drawing of their sneaker and then applied
the five types of line to decorate
it. Horizontal, vertical, diagonal, curved and zigzag were all
represented in markers on the drawings. Next, students created
the other sneaker out of cardboard and plaster before applying
paint. This project demonstrated how to take a shape and turn
it into a form.
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Students in
Functional Design II created original tiles out of clay. The
tiles were bisque fired then sanded before glaze and a final
firing were completed. Students are actively working to
complete the projects before the end of October.
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In Functional
Design III, students are drawing celebrities. They have learned
how to divide a face and apply the correct placement of the
features onto the face. They practiced drawing the faces in
their newly designed journals. Students will eventually draw the
celebrity face onto a brown paper bag and shade the picture with
pastels. This is the only medium where you work from dark to
light. The background of the bag will have the song lyrics
written in black pen with the name of the celebrity from cut
outs of the newspaper.
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Students in Fine
Arts I created a color chart that demonstrated tints and shades
using primary colors. Red, yellow, and blue paint were placed
on a palette. Students added white and black paint to the
primaries to show tints and shades of a color. Next,
they brought in a shape from home and traced it onto a canvas in
a pattern. They painted the canvas in four tints or shades of a
primary color. Three pieces of Ms. Trocchia’s personal artwork
will be on display at the Middletown Township Public Library
from October 3-26.
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Linda Ranger
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The students in
Advanced TV Production have been busy doing the bulletins for
the cafeteria screens and sharpening their skills in the studio
and control room. On Back to School Night a crew taught the
parents how to do a TV Production segment.
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The TV
Production classes have been studying the history of Television
and leaning different types of shots and transitions used in TV
Production. The students have all participated in the operation
of the studio cameras and are presently writing a script for the
interview segment for a show.
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Susan
Turner
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The enrichment
activities for her courses include speakers from Berkeley
College, Lincoln Tech and the Director of Disaster Recovery from
AT&T; planning two trips to Superior Court in Freehold for the
Criminal and Business Law classes; planning for an inmate to
speak to her students on Gang Activity in NJ and registration
for the NJ Financial Awareness Program.
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Roberta
Vega
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Her functional
design classes are in the process of creating letter forms that
communicate a message both literally and through imagery. They
created designs in their sketchbooks and are in the process of
using cardboard to translate the two dimensional drawings into
three dimensional forms.
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The photography
classes are in the middle of an exciting and fun project. In
the past two weeks students rotated through a set of tasks as
the first part of a Portrait unit.
While one group dressed in 19th
century costumes and modeled for their fellow classmates, a
second group served as lighting technicians, a third group
assisted by performing the job of “stylists,” and the last group
learned to use 35mm cameras with standard and telephoto lenses
to take formal portraits. Now that all students have taken a
turn at each task, they are beginning the next stage of the
project: developing their film, scanning the negatives into
digital form and making digital prints of their work.
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Amy
Skibinski
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She has
scheduled college visits from the University of the Arts,
Philadelphia, University of Hartford, CT, and Montserrat College
of Art, MA. She has also arranged for an acquaintance, Erin
Hughes, to visit her advanced art classes to discuss commercial
art careers, to present her work, and to talk about the
appropriate course of study to pursue these careers. Ms. Hughes
is a recent college graduate from the School of Visual Arts, New
York City. She has completed several creative internships
including working on films, commercials, and for Mary Kate and
Ashley Olsen’s fashion lines. Ms. Hughes is currently a
freelance assistant to a stylist and is working for a catalog.
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Students have
submitted two paintings for the upcoming exhibit Middletown
Teachers Create, an exhibit of artwork by Middletown Public
School Teachers, on display at the Middletown Township Main
Library and the Middletown Arts Center from October 3 - October
28, 2009.
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Fine Arts I
students are learning how to mix paint, use tints and shades to
create value, and use shading to create the illusion of three
dimensions on a two dimensional support. Fine Arts II students
explored hand illustrated vintage posters from the WPA , films,
advertisements, etc. and are recreating a poster of their
choice. Fine Arts III and IV students are creating observational
drawings which they can use for their portfolios. Advanced
Placement Studio Art students are creating works for the Breadth
section of the AP portfolio at school and at home.
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Peter
Isherwood
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Jill
Nyland
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Gerry Corvo
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The Child Development classes got off to a
fast start by combining the study of child development with
preparing for the start of preschool. The high school students
were very involved in making posters and a bulletin board to
welcome the preschoolers. This activity gave them the
opportunity to learn how to use the Ellison die cutter, as well
as learning how to use some of the art materials that they will
be using with the children.
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The biggest highlight of the month was
definitely the preschool orientation. The high school students
and preschoolers did some activities together, while Mrs. Corvo
spoke to the parents. Dr. Cartier and Mr. Robinson came in to
meet the parents who seemed very excited and ready to start the
year.
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Beth Buoncuore
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With Marching Band in full swing, we have
completed three Half Time shows (participation with both the
Dance Team and Senior Cheerleaders during Thriller), one
competition (placing 2nd in our Class) and
performances at the Junior Varsity football game. On the
horizon, the Band is looking forward to performing at two more
competitions.
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The Orange Wave has completed the first of
many fundraisers, a candy sale, in hopes of raising money to
defray the costs of the field trip to Virginia with the Choirs.
We also just completed ordering brand new mandatory jackets with
an original logo. Ms. Bagley worked collaboratively with the
Band students and coordinated the contest with her graphic
design class. The winning logo was chosen last week and sent in
to be screened.
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Ms. Buoncuore has completed four units in
her Music Theory 1 class. Included in these units are time
signatures, rhythmic dictation and ear training. Her Rock
History class has just finished discussing Elvis. The students
in Band class are learning to appreciate that they are the
foundation for the music program and will continue learning
repertoire in preparation for the Winter Concert.
World Language Susan Blank, Assistant Principal
Lynn Zink, Department Coordinator
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French Classes
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French I – Students reinforced their
new vocabulary by drawing comic strips depicting conversations
between two people meeting for the first time. They also
created a photo album, including pictures of family and friends,
with their names and ages in French.
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French II – Students in Ms.
Vieira’s class created an “On Cherche” (“Wanted”) poster
describing a “wanted” person (themselves, stating their name,
age, location, description, likes and dislikes).
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Students in Mrs. Marzulla’s class
studied the school life of French teenagers, and they created a
carte d’identité like the one that French teenagers carry with
them. Students also studied adjectives in French and created an
acrostic poem using their name and French adjectives. Students
enjoyed finding positive adjectives that described themselves.
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French III – Students made posters
using their names and adjectives that include a letter from
their name to describe their personality. Students were graded
on the content of the poster as well as an oral grade for the
presentation of the project.
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French IV – The students prepared
skits about traveling to other countries. The students are
continuing to work on a Francophone project where they are
working in pairs to research and present a Francophone country.
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Italian Classes
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Latin Classes
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All of the Latin classes learned
about how the Romans’ writing differed from how we write today.
The ancient writings were essentially cultural artifacts that
tell us something about the culture in which they were
produced. The students created their own scrolls that would
tell people in thousands of years about themselves, their daily
lives, or their culture. These scrolls were written in Latin,
in the Roman style. This activity introduced the students to
new, relevant vocabulary as well as helping them to learn
something about the way writing functioned in Ancient Rome.
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The Latin II, III, and IV classes
played Latin Pictionary to review previously learned vocabulary.
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Spanish Classes
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Spanish I – Students learned
interrogative words to the tune of Jingle Bells. They learned
new vocabulary through the use of the gallery walk and stand up,
hand up, and pair up techniques. A scavenger hunt using their
laptops was used as an activity to learn about Spain.
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Spanish II – Students reviewed
Spanish I highlights by participating in various TPR and hands
on activities such as using stuffed animals to introduce and
describe to the class, practicing the question – “¿Cómo eres?”
Also, the “Bolsa Mágica” was used to review the verb gustar.
These students are working on comic strips to send to the
elementary school children to help them review introductions,
vocabulary, and phrases.
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Spanish III – Students have
completed acrostic poem projects using the letters of their
names to describe themselves, their likes and dislikes and
favorite things. This activity enables the students to get to
know each other and to review and recycle already acquired
vocabulary and grammar.
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Spanish IV – To review the future
tense, the students did plant projects. (They are growing their
ideas for the future).
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Spanish V – This month’s topic is
the art of storytelling. Students learned about how fables and
legends have enhanced traditional Spanish stories. They read
famous Spanish fables and legends in class, and they are working
on writing their own story to be presented to the class.
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AP Spanish – The students researched
and analyzed authentic internet news articles, newscast and
videos from sources like CNN Español, BBC MUNDO, and Nuevos
Horizontes. They became more aware of current world events and
shared their views and opinions on them which helped to fuel
classroom discussions and debates.
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