January 2014
WHITEHOUSE NEWS
FROM THE PRINCIPAL ...
WHITEHOUSE NEWS
HOME OF THE WHITEHOUSE CUBS
Dear WHS Families,
In order to promote family fun, it is time for our Eighth Annual WHS Family Photo
Contest. The contest guidelines are listed below.
WHS FAMILY PHOTO CONTEST

The contest is open to all students and their families.

One photo entry per student is permitted. Photos should be recent, taken during
the duration of the contest (December 2013 to March 2014) and must include the
child.

The back of each photo should contain the participant’s name, grade, and a brief
description of the picture.

All photos are due by March 7, 2014 and will be displayed on bulletin boards near
the main office.
THE PRIZE
Winning photos will be published in the April issue of Whitehouse News.
Winners will be selected for each of the following categories.
CATEGORIES
2
0
1
4
50 Whitehouse Avenue
Most Exciting Activity
Silliest Picture
Most Educational
Farthest Location
Best Pose with a Celebrity
Best Wishes for a Peaceful
and Healthy Holiday Season!
P. O. Box 157
Whitehouse Station, NJ
08889
(908) 534-4411
Fax (908) 534-9157
District Strategic Plan Goals
As a district, we continue to work on 5 broad goals that were created by a representative
group of all stakeholders. This plan aims to come to complete fruition by 2017.
1. Enhance students’ social, global, and Intellectual engagement.
2. Create a vibrant learning environment for students and staff.
3. Create a culture of collaborative partnerships in and around our community.
4. Ensure institutional and financial sustainability in the face of economic and demographic
challenges.
5. Assess and monitor our progress toward these goals, and adjust strategies and actions
accordingly.
Sunshine Math News
I am proud to share that Sunshine Math was a “glowing” success with our kindergarteners and
first graders this year. On average, about 140 students participated in Sunshine Math each
week. This kind of success could not have been possible without tremendous parent support.
So, thank you for the assistance and encouragement that you provided throughout the program. If your child is interested in continuing math challenges, please email me, and I will
send home a packet with additional challenges for your child to do.
Now, it is time to begin Sunshine Math Clubs for second and third graders! Please be on the
lookout for information regarding enrollment for your child. There will be information posted
on my website as well. I am anticipating great participation from our upper grades.
~ Lisa Schmidt
Speech and Language
Speech Sound Acquisition
As a parent you are aware that not all children produce speech sounds correctly
all the time. The age at which children acquire speech sounds varies. The
majority of children in grades K-3 use most speech sounds appropriately. Most
children can be understood. However, some exhibit developmentally appropriate
substitutions, omissions and distortions often involving the more challenging
sounds such as r, s, sh, ch, and th.
If you are having difficulty understanding your child and/or your child’s errors
have educational impact, please consult a speech/language specialist.
~Noelle
Laurita and Marie Potenta
Nurse’s News
Many of you may be aware of the recent increase in cases of Streptococcus Group A (GAS)
or strep throat in Hunterdon County & Scarlett Fever. The Spread of these germs is through
direct contact with droplets/mucous from the nose or mouth, indirect contact (sharing
toothbrushes, towels), and direct contact with open sores if skin is infected.
The Hunterdon County Department of Health issued an information alert to educate residents to the signs and symptoms of Strep and Scarlett Fever which if left untreated may
lead to permanent kidney and heart damage. Not every sore throat is strep throat. The only
way to identify a strep infection is through a throat culture. Seek medical attention if
you or your child has the following symptoms:
Signs & Symptoms of Streptococcus Group A & Scarlett Fever
 Sudden sore throat, hurts more with swallowing
 Presence of fever 101-104
 Tender swollen glands under angle of the jaw
 White or yellow patches on throat
 Vomiting

Inflamed red sandpaper-like rash on the throat or other parts of the body (Scarlett
Fever)
Prevention
 Wash your hands with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds (sing the alphabet)
 Use hand sanitizer (62% alcohol)
 Cover coughs or cough into elbows & sleeves
 Stay home for at least 24 hours after acute symptoms have resolved and antibiotics have
Counselor’s Corner
Lunchtime chat groups will be offered to all Whitehouse School students. The group topics
will be as follows::
Banana Splits (Divorce/Separation/Single parent homes)
Circle of Friends (Making and Keeping Friends)
I’m Special, You’re Special (Self-Esteem)
These chat groups are going to be kept small in order to establish a friendly atmosphere.
The children will eat lunch with me in my office. They may purchase a school lunch or bring
a bagged lunch. If you would like your child to participate in any of these Lunch-Bunch
groups, please feel free to call me at 534-4411 X 4741. ~Deb Debaro
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W H I T E HO U S E N E W S
Kindergarten
Happy New Year!! This month we will begin our new science unit on the
study of wood and paper. The children will be introduced to a variety of
woods and paper. They will be observing, comparing, and discussing their
findings. Working with these materials, the children will be acquiring
vocabulary associated with their properties. Our kindergarten scientists
will be busy this month!
In literacy, the children will be immersed in a variety of phonemic awareness, concepts of print, sight word and reading strategy skill-building
activities while reinforcing their letter and sound knowledge. During
Writing Workshop, the children will be starting some informational writing.
They will be looking closely, observing, and labeling like scientists. The
girls and boys will be observing and recording what they notice about the
world around them. They will collect information and record these details
on paper by drawing and writing labels and sentences. The children have
grown so much as writers since the beginning of kindergarten!
In math, the children will be developing their own strategies for counting,
collecting and measuring while observing some teacher introduced
strategies. We’ll be using these new skills when we reach Day 100!
Since Winter weather is here and this would be a good time to
work with your child on zipping, buttoning, snapping and tying
shoes. Some winter coats can be tricky to fasten and giving
children lots of practice opportunities will help get better at it.
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W H I T E HO U S E N E W S
First Grade
We will begin our unit two social studies in which children will learn how to use
maps to find many places on earth. In addition, they will learn what different
places are like and how places can affect the way people live. We will be
making a personal lap book to learn about the seven continents and the five
oceans of the world. The students will learn about their country, state, town,
and street. Does your child know their home address and phone number?
In math we will be starting unit 4. In this unit children will explore tens and
ones using physical groupings and math drawings. They will be building twodigit numbers with strong visual support to get them ready to extend these
place value concepts with adding one and two-digit numbers. We will continue
to focus on strengthening student’s knowledge of addition facts to twenty.
We will continue working on non-fiction writing with All About Books. We will
be exploring many non-fiction texts by a variety of authors to learn how nonfiction stories are written and formatted. Using this knowledge, students will
choose a topic of interest and write their own All About Book.
Our first graders are growing as readers every day. We will continue to build
our reading strategies as we work with our Daily 5 activities in Read to Self,
Read to Someone, Work on Words, Work on Writing, and Listening to Reading.
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Second Grade
Happy New Year and January greetings! Here is a glimpse of what our students will be
working on in the upcoming months.
In Math, students will be participating in an exciting measurement project. We will be
learning how to use rulers to measure lengths to the nearest whole-number unit. In
addition, students will build line plots to display measurement data. By the end of the unit,
they will be able to recognize and draw shapes with specific attributes.
In writing, our young authors will have the opportunity to create an opinion piece based on
their choosing, such as their favorite book, restaurant, food, movie, games, etc. We will
review how to write a strong summary, a personal opinion using a strong voice, and utilize
evidence from the text to support our ideas. Can you guess what your child will want to
write about?
Our readers will be continuing to build their stamina, comprehension skills and fluency
during Reader’s Workshop. Did you know that you can build your child’s fluency by recording their reading on Raz Kids? Please continue to be an example for your child, so let them
see you read. Make reading fun-it shouldn’t be a chore. Discuss the books that your child
is reading and ask questions to help build their comprehension. Read! Read! Read!
The Science Lab will be extra busy these next few weeks! Our
explorations of states of matter continue as we will be conducting
experiments to test our young scientists’ wonderings. The students
will be recording their findings in a science journal and creating lab
reports of the results.
We are excited to begin this wonderful new year!
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W H I T E HO U S E N E W S
Third Grade
Happy New Year! Throughout the months of November and December, third graders were engaged in
reading independently, with partners, and listening to a variety of literature including many of our
favorite fairy tales, folktales and tall tales. Their stamina for reading keeps growing and growing! To
develop stronger comprehension, students have learned to dig deeper into the meaning of the text by
asking themselves purposeful questions, retelling the story, making connections and inferences, and
writing responses to their reading in their reading notebooks. Beginning in January, students will
develop their “muscles” for reading expository non-fiction by paying close attention to the underlying
structure of the text.
During writer’s workshop, to strengthen narrative writing, students have been creating adaptations of
their favorite fairy tales. Upon completion of this unit of study, we will move into opinion writing.
Students will practice the art of persuasion as they write in various forms: speeches, petitions and
editorials. Writers will learn how to gather evidence, organize, and prove through example.
Third grade students wrapped up 2013 equipped with all of the basic multiplication and division facts.
They have taken these facts and applied them to solving story problems that included area,
order of operations, and the more challenging multi-step problems. Throughout the year, we will
continue to provide students opportunities to increase their fact fluency. Please encourage your child
to practice at home as well. Looking ahead to units 3 and 4, students will be solving equations involving
multi-digit addition and subtraction, recognizing and identifying place value, and rounding numbers.
Our science unit, Rocks and Minerals, has proven a big hit among our third graders. Students engaged
in team explorations of various sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous rocks, and actively performed
testing and data collection on 12 unknown minerals. To connect our in-class geological experience to
the real world, third grades visited the Sterling Hills Mine Museum. What a fantastic trip! Our next
science unit will be the study of the Sun, Moon and Stars. But before then, we are heading back to
Social Studies where students will be learning more about communities, landforms, and developing map
skills.
Next year, Hunterdon County will be celebrating its 300th Birthday! Third
graders were introduced to an exciting celebratory program taking place throughout Hunterdon County in 2014. Students across the county will be participants in
an historical time capsule project event. We are all looking forward to learning
more about the history of our community as we begin working on our projects.
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ART
W.H.S. artists were busy working on many snow inspired projects...
The kindergarten students created snow scenes
with construction paper, crayons and white paint.
Students learned how to layer on the paint so
there were shadows in the snow.
The first graders made beautiful snowman
pictures.
Second graders learned about color theory. They
used primary colors to create secondary colors on
a project called “glass bottles”. Second graders
also worked on their “Birds in a Row” picture,
drawing a bird standing on a wire and used
overlapping techniques.
Third graders learned about Modigliani, the
artist, and the way he painted portraits with
long faces and long necks.
~ Mrs. Valerie Patterson
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W H I T E HO U S E N E W S
Computers
Computers
The first graders have made amazing progress in the computer lab. Many students
have mastered logging on to their computers. Several students have already
memorized their usernames and passwords. The first graders have been learning how
to utilize Microsoft Word as a tool in school and everyday life. Students are able to
add text and clipart to a document as well as change the font, color, and size of the
text. The first graders also applied this knowledge to Microsoft Power Point. Each
student created a Power Point presentation describing their favorite animal.
The second graders are delving deeper into Microsoft Word this year. Each student
used an online poem generator to practice copying and pasting documents. Students
are learning shortcuts using the control tree to copy and paste. Students learned how
decorate their poem and print. The second graders explored Kidspiration 2 to create
a story web about their favorite things. In the new year, students will complete a
Web Quest on the 50 states integrating social studies into the computer lab. This
activity will help children review the 50 states and locations using several online
games and tools.
The third grade students have applied their foundation in computer skills to larger
projects. Students completed research on a chosen rock or mineral using a Web
Quest as a tool. Students will become geologists in the new year and present their
findings to their class using Microsoft Power Point.
Every third grade class spends 10-15 minutes on Type to Learn 4 to enhance keyboarding skills. The great news is Type to Learn 4 is accessible from home. Since
keyboarding is an essential skill, students may choose to practice at home. Please
visit the Parent Portal and scroll down to Type to Learn 4 for downloading
instructions.
~Mrs. Reardon—Technology Instructor
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Library
Winter is here and the library is a warm and welcoming place!
Kindergarten students continue to identify the alphabet as they listen to stories with
a particular letter stressed in either the author or title. Thank you for helping your
children remember to return their books on time. This encourages them to be
responsible library users and it’s exciting for them to choose a new book every week!
First grade students have learned the difference between fiction and non-fiction and
they are reviewing some important elements of books including the author, title,
illustrator and publisher. Ask your child what kind of book they borrowed from the
library, fiction or non-fiction, and point out the author and title as you share a book.
Second grade students are in the midst of learning the different parts of a book
including the title page, the copyright page, and the table of contents. We will finish
with the index and how this important tool helps in finding information in a book.
In third grade our focus is non-fiction which will lead to an extensive study of the
Dewey Decimal System and finding books with information on the library shelves.
We will begin with the “900” section and explore some historical facts of Whitehouse
Station with the upcoming 300th Anniversary Celebration of Hunterdon County.
Reading to children has a great positive impact on their academic skills. During these
winter months I hope you find the time to “curl up” with a blanket and a book!
~Mrs. Susan Cunningham
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W H I T E HO U S E N E W S
Music
December is one of my favorite months of the year, full of musical celebrations and fun!
Kindergarten and Grade 1 students learned about instruments of the Orchestra, and what
better way to listen to them in all their glory than by studying Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker! The children had a great time exploring this wonderful ballet. Second graders learned
all about Ludwig van Beethoven. He’s been a musical inspiration for over 200 years. You
might want to ask your child about his greatest admirers - “Schroeder” from Peanuts and
“Beaker” from The Muppets. (Your child may even ask you to Google “Beaker Sings Ode to
Joy.” Be ready to laugh!) Third graders continue to work on mastering their recorders and
are focusing on how to read notes on the treble clef staff. I hope you are hearing their
progress at home as I am here at school. I am so proud of them!
“A Night Out for the Arts” is just around the corner and the children will soon begin
preparing for this special event. Please mark your calendars with the following dates. More
details will be sent home as we get closer to March. We hope you will be able to join us!
Thursday, March 20
6:30 PM
Kindergarten Concert
Thursday, March 27
7:30 PM
6:30 PM
Grade 2 Concert
Grade 1 Concert
7:30 PM
Grade 3 Concert
Sincerely,
~ Laurie Levesque, Music Specialist
WHS x4141
[email protected]
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2
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Gym
MOTIVATIONAL PHYSICAL EDUCATION
Physical Education classes at Whitehouse School are geared at keeping students
motivated. Students are being introduced to enjoyable activities encouraging
them to continue an active lifestyle. Children who get into a habit of being
active are more likely to remain physically energetic throughout their lives. As
physical educators, our main goal is to find activities that not only address the
components of fitness, but also align with our students’ interests and levels of
abilities.
Interactive systems such as the Nintendo Wii and XBOX 360 Kinect have been
a fun way to keep the students engaged and very active. Nintendo Wii, which
uses motion sensor controllers, requires players to be physical movers and work
at their skill level while playing baseball, golf, tennis and bowling. XBOX 360
allows the students to be the controllers. This is a full body game where the
students’ movements control individual or partner challenges.
Additional activities that foster self-directed learning this year are Dance
Dance Revolution, arcade basketball, big box hockey, speed cup-stacking, pogo
stick jumping, feather balancing, plate spinning, stilt walking and jump roping.
Once again, The Myachi Challenge has been introduced as part of the class
warm-up routine. The Myachi has individual based activities designed to engage
students while helping them to develop basic balance,
coordination and motor skills.
The wide variety of activities available enables each child to
find his/her comfort zone with physical activity.
~ Mrs. Kozal & Mr. Yunos
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W H I T E HO U S E N E W S
Spanish
!Féliz Año Nuevo! (Happy New Year!)
During the fall, your children have shown me their interest about learning Spanish by quickly acquiring new
vocabulary and using it at every opportunity. I am very proud of all of them.
First grade has been working on how to state their age, their feelings, the weather and the date, counting
up to 30, learning the body parts, sizes and the family vocabulary. They had fun doing the project,
“Mi monstruo” (My Monster,)
in which they created a funny monster, and then described it to their peers.
Also, first grade has learned the songs “De los Pies a la Cabeza” (From Head to Toes,) “En Mi Cara
Redondita” (On My Little Round Face) and “La Familia” (The Family.) The students enjoyed doing different
activities and playing interactive games to apply the learned vocabulary and they loved reading the book
“De los Pies a la Cabeza” (From Head to Toe) by Eric Carle .
Second grade students have concentrated on stating the date and the seasons, counting up to 50, and
expanding their vocabulary about clothes, colors, and body parts. They did a wonderful job describing in detail
what they or their peers were wearing and sorting out the clothes based on the weather, gender and body
parts. The students have been practicing the learned vocabulary by reading and answering questions to each
other: ¿Cómo te llamas? , ¿Cuántos años tienes?, ¿Cómo estás?, ¿Qué día es hoy?, ¿Cuál es tu color favorito? ,
¿Qué fruta te gusta?, ¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños?, ¿Qué llevas puesto? and ¿Qué te pones cuando hace frio?
In addition, second graders have been writing simple sentences as well as reading, practicing and performing in
class short conversations about the new vocabulary. They also second grade has enjoyed reading the book,
“De los Pies a la Cabeza” (From Head to Toe) by Eric Carle. This book helps the children practice their
vocabulary related to colors, numbers, animals, and body parts.
Third graders have been focused on following classroom commands (open the book, close the door, give me the
book) and learning the classroom materials and objects vocabulary. They put into practice this vocabulary by
using the sentence structure of “Yo tengo/ Yo no tengo (I have/I don’t have,) “Cuántos?” (How many?) and
“Hay” (there is/are). They can ask their peers for various materials; describing the materials that they have
or are missing in their backpack as well as the classroom’s objects. Third graders were very engaged learning
the school subjects and elaborating their own schedule. They have been practicing the new vocabulary by
writing simple sentences, reading and performing short dialogues, and maintaining mini conversation with peers
and playing multiple interactive games.
Also, all students have gained knowledge about how Spanish speaking countries celebrate the winter holidays.
For example, they learned of an old Mexican folktale about the origin of the poinsettias (La Flor de Pascua)
and they created holidays cards based on it.
To increase students’ retention of the lessons learned and to continue to foster their excitement about
Spanish, I suggest practicing the vocabulary at home. You can find the theme vocabularies and websites in the
Whitehouse School’s World Language website.
Saludos, ~Señora de los Santos
[email protected]
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2
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