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2005-06 Highlights |
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Students make puppets
with the Catskill Puppet Theater
group
 MAY
2006—John Potocnik and Carol
Mandigo, co-founders of the Catskill Puppet Theater,
visited Truman Moon kindergarten and first
graders in May 2006. Students had the opportunity to create
shadow puppets and take part in a puppet show!Since 1979,
Potocnik and Mandigo have been touring internationally
with their production. Combining backgrounds in
art, music, drama and American folk culture they are one
of the nation's finest touring companies, receiving
accolades from such premiere venues.
Author
brings book characters to life
 MAY 2006—Author
and illustrator Dominic Catalano visited Truman Moon
Primary Center and Chorley Elementary School during the
first week of
May as part of the Middletown City School District's Arts in Education programming.
He delighted students
with stories from his childhood about his developing
interest in drawing and demonstrated his art by doing an
airbrush illustration of Bernard, one of the characters
from his books (See below at left).
As an
illustrator and author of children's picture
books Catalano says, "I find it a privilege
and an honor to visit schools and talk with
young people about my work and the book
publishing industry. My programs are designed
to meet the needs of students at all levels."
 Catalano earned a B.S. in art education
at SUNY Buffalo, an M.A. in Fine Arts from SUNY
Oswego, and an M.F.A. fromSyracuse University
and holds a Ph.D. in Art Education from Ohio
University. His illustrations have appeared in
a number of children's magazines and have
drawn high acclaim in many books for
children. He lives in Bowling Green, Ohio,
near Toledo, with his wife and two sons. Dominic
teaches Art Education and Illustration at
Bowling Green State University.
Child safety a
priority at school
 MARCH
2006—Operation SAFE CHILD visited Truman Moon on March 29,
2006, in
an effort to raise awareness about child safety. Officer
Jones and Investigator McIlory were on hand from the
Orange County Sheriff's Department to finger print
children and create SAFE CHILD ID cards for parents and
guardians.
Using
equipment that contains the latest digital
fingerprinting technology and high resolution
photography capabilities, SAFE CHILD ID cards were
created in less than two minutes and can be stored in a
parent or guardian's
wallet or
pocketbook.
The cards
contain the child's name biographical information (date
of birth; gender; height; weight; hair color; eye color;
and race), and a fingerprint image of both index
fingers. According
to Principal Donna Napolitano about 200 SAFE CHILD ID
cards were created during the visit.
Students learn about
rhythm, music and self through music and movement
performance by Lyle Cogen
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Pictured above: Lyle Cogen poses
with some of the props used in the
"Friends, Like You And Me," show. |
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MARCH 2006—"Friends, Like You And Me," an early elementary music
and movement performance that is built upon character
education themes, was put on for K-1 students at Truman
Moon on March 21 & 22, 2006, as part of Arts in Education (AIE)
programming at the school.
The
show, done by Lyle Cogen,
teaches students
rhythms; music
history; and pride in country; community; and self.
Students had the chance to make imaginary pizza; flop
their socks; hop like frogs; and learn sign language.
Students were also challenged to think and voice their
opinions about friendship and bullying.
Cogen is a Grammy nominated, Lincoln Center trained
artist in Aesthetic Education. Her CDs have won the
Parents Choice Gold Award and Silver Award.
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Picasso
paintings come to life
MARCH 2006—Pablo Picasso's paintings
came to life at Truman Moon Primary Center on March 7,
2006, as K-1 students were visited by Picasso People—an
innovative, educational act that uses costumes, music,
mime and puppetry to reveal how Picasso's life
experiences inspired his creativity and artwork.
As part of the district's Arts in Education (AIE)
programming,
students are participating in age-appropriate arts
activities and programs integrated into the district’s
curriculum and linked to specific New York State
standards.
This act in particular translates the energy behind
Picasso’s work into an array of clever stories giving
students an opportunity to look at Picasso's artwork in a new
way and understand the artist’s true intentions.
Read more here. |
 Ninth annual
dance program held
FEB. 2006—On Feb. 24,
2006, kindergarten and first grade
students participated in the ninth annual Truman Moon dance program.
Students performed a variety of dances including:
the
Alley Cat; a square dance; the
Chicken Dance;
and additional traditional dances. The Truman Moon staff also got
involved in the program. Three couples performed a "Dancing with the
Stars" routine. Special thanks to Mr. Lentino, Mr. McDevitt and
Ms. Patrick. |
Residents at
Southwinds get a treat
NOV. 2005—Truman students in Mrs.
Byrnes's, Ms. Yegidis' and Mrs. Traina's classes visited
the residents at Southwinds Retirement Home on Nov.21,
2005, for a meet-and-greet.
The children brought table decorations and baked goods
to share with residents. In addition, all three classes
entertained the residents with poems and songs.
"What a way to brighten
the senior citizens' day," said teacher Karen Yegidis.
"All who attended had a delightful time. What a
rewarding experience."
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Truman Moon
Primary students try their hands at art
 FALL 2005—Students
at Truman Moon tired their hands at various art projects
this fall. Kindergartens,
after
observing and describing the painting "Squares with
Concentric Rings," by Wassily Kandinsky, used water
colors to create their own paintings of concentric
circles.
In
a unit about Vincent Van Gogh, first grade students
observed and discussed the painting "Starry Night." They
learned to draw and cut horizontal, vertical, diagonal,
zig-zag and wavy lines when they created a construction
paper collage based on the painting.
"The students did
excellent work on all of their landscapes and enjoyed
learning about Van Gogh and his artwork," said
art teacher Gregory
Farina.
Full-day kindergarten program launched
SEPT. 2005—On Sept. 12, 2005, kindergartners learned their way around
Truman Moon Primary Center as the
first day of Middletown’s full-day kindergarten program
was launched.
According to Dr. Darlene McDonough, Director for
Elementary Education, children need to acquire
competencies earlier in their school careers because of
the greater demands placed on students by
standards-based curriculum and New
York State assessments.
“Increasing the number of hours children attend
kindergarten will help to level
the playing field for those students who were not
afforded quality preschool experiences,” she said.
“Full-day kindergarten will provide our students with
more time to obtain support and to further develop and
practice cognitive, physical, social, and emotional
skills in a nurturing and enriching environment with
other children under the guidance and coaching of highly
qualified, certified teachers.”
Teachers will also benefit from the full-day too, said
Dr. McDonough. “Teachers in a full-day program can
develop a better balance between the cognitive
activities and affective/social activities that children
need in the future to function as valuable contributors
to society.”
The full-day program will allow time for “daily
specials” including: art; music; physical education; and
library/technology. English as a Second Language (ESL)
and bilingual education services are offered at Chorley as are breakfast and lunch within the
school day, and an active recess time.
The student-teacher ratio for full-day kindergarten was
also lowered this year to 18-1 in an effort to add to
students’ success.
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This
page is maintained by Melissa
Cortellini, public information specialist, according to Web
publishing guidelines used by the Enlarged City School
District of Middletown. All rights reserved. This Web site was produced
by the
Capital Region BOCES Communications Service. © 2003 |
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