Art plays a vital role in the life of a child by developing a form of creative expression, which results in a feeling of accomplishment and enhances self-worth. It also promotes the development of good taste. The child is guided to grow in this way by relating art to many subjects and by providing opportunities to work with such media as paint, crayons, clay, and paper. Art experiences not only enrich the school curriculum but promote skills and art appreciation as part of everyday living.

Art Teachers: Jessica Marciana  (jmarciana@nmerrick.org) and Cinzia Emmerich (cemmerich@nmerrick.org)

New York State Standards - Art

"Music is a world within itself With a language we all understand With an equal opportunity For all to sing, dance and clap their hands"

-Stevie Wonder

The North Merrick music program provides a variety of "hands-on" musical experiences designed to encourage self-expression, creative performance, and acquisition of major musical elements, such as rhythm, harmony, melody and notation. Through opportunities to sing in small or large choral groups, learn musical notation, and listen to a variety of the finest forms of musical expression, students come to learn about, enjoy and appreciate the world of music. In addition to stimulating the intellectual and emotional growth of students, the music curriculum is designed to contribute to the students' understanding of our American heritage. Every student has many opportunities to "sing, dance and clap their hands" in our music classes, junior and senior choruses, and sixth grade theatre arts productions.  Your child’s music education utilizes a menagerie of music education philosophies such as the Orff, Dalcroze, Gordon and Kodaly methods.  We would like our students to be "tuneful, beatful and artful," in other words, people who will appreciate and/or participate in music for a lifetime.

Mission Statement:

The goal of our music classes is to develop a well-rounded musical student. We strive to impart a sense of rhythm, pitch, instrument/vocal technique and music history to all of our students.

Classroom/Vocal Music Teachers: Craig Willis (cwillis@nmerrick.org) and Rebecca Southard (rsouthard@nmerrick.org)

 

The  English Language Arts/Literature program promotes an appreciation for all types of literature. The English Language Arts teacher works cooperatively with the classroom teacher to link reading and writing skills in all content areas.  An in-depth study of specific genres, such as poetry, historical fiction, autobiography, biography, memoirs, etc., in addition to newspapers and magazines, will provide students with an understanding of various writing styles as well as serve as models for students' composition development.  Library and research skills are also key components of the program. Book selection, library procedures, and the use of reference materials, including electronic resources, are an integral part of this course of study.

The English Language Arts/Literature program is designed to enable students to become articulate speakers, responsive listeners, skillful readers, effective writers, and resourceful problem solvers who are prepared to be contributing members of our democratic society. 

North Merrick schools have implemented the Teachers College Reading and Writing Workshop curriculum through significant staff development on the different units of study. In addition to learning the skill of practical writing, students are adopting a very process-driven approach to writing, including drafting, editing, and revising their writing. 

New York State Standards - ELA

 

ELA Beliefs and Philosophy

Shared beliefs about learning to read, write, speak, listen, view and represent in an ELA program:

The English Language Arts Program in the North Merrick UFSD is a reading and writing program that integrates speaking and listening. It is informed and guided by the New York State Standards for English Language Arts and is integrated into all content areas throughout the day.

In reading, students are taught the conventions of print and how to utilize multiple cueing systems to become fluent readers in a print-rich environment. The study of phonics, structural analysis, and word work are essential components of decoding instruction. Skills and strategies are taught in a meaningful context using authentic texts. As early as kindergarten, students are taught metacognitive skills. They employ these thinking skills in their search for meaning as they listen and read. They learn to utilize their prior knowledge to predict and to make sense of what they read. Students receive direct instruction in comprehension skills such as finding the main idea, retelling, comparing, inferring, and summarizing. From the earliest grades students are taught to listen and read for information, to reread for clarification, and to monitor their own understanding as they interact with the text.

In writing, students are taught to convey their ideas by utilizing a specific writing process. First, they are immersed in a genre through their reading. Here they discover the features of the genre, as well as the craft techniques used by authors. Next, they collect and develop related ideas in their writing folders or notebooks and experiment with styles introduced by teachers and mentor authors. Then they draft and revise their writing pieces, testing out various possible alternatives modeled by teachers. The editing process, which involves the correction of grammar and conventions, is then enacted. Students publish a final draft and celebrate by sharing their work with an audience that may include peers, parents, teachers, and/or administrators.

The Balanced Literacy approach engages children in a variety of reading and writing experiences that model powerful examples of effective literacy practices using fiction and nonfiction texts. Children learn in a supportive environment where lessons are designed with appropriate scaffolding to meet the needs of all. A gradual and anticipated release of responsibility from teacher to student moves learners along a planned continuum on their journey toward independence.

The elements of a Balanced Literacy approach are as follows:

• Read Alound
• Shared Reading
• Guided Reading
• Independent Reading
• Word Work
• Shared Writing
• Interactive Writing
• Writiing Workshop
• Independent Writing

The Essential Elements of an Effective English Language Arts Program

A comprehensive ELA program incorporates listening, speaking, reading, and writing. It is comprised of the following elements:

A literate environment

• contains a well-stocked classroom library that includes a variety of fiction and nonfiction books and periodicals which are organized by levels, authors, topics, and genres. The classroom library changes regularly according to the subject area being studied.
• is print-rich with charts, lists, labels, word walls, etc.
• contains prominently displayed student work which is changed regularly.
• contains literacy centers that include reading, writing, and content area materials.
• includes a meeting area with instructional resources.
• incorporates the effective use of technology, such as interactive whiteboard, Elmo, Kidspiration, Inspiration, and various internet resources.

Read Aloud (The teacher reads aloud carefully selected materials to the whole class.)

• occurs on a daily basis.
• exposes students to quality literature.
• supports comprehension.
• employs think aloud strategies to develop metacognition.
• promotes concept and vocabulary development.
• familiarizes students with book language, a variety of genres, and story structure.
• promotes accountable talk and meaningful book discussions.
• models the reading process, fluency, and expression.
• includes multiple readings of same text.
• provides models of quality writing to influence student writing.
• gives access to literature, language, and information that may be beyond student reading capability.
• occurs across the content areas.

Shared Reading (The teacher and the class read enlarged texts/individual copies together. The teacher reads aloud at a rate that allows the students to join in.)

• develops fluency.
• develops word identification skills through semantic analysis, structural analysis and phonetic analysis.
• facilitates the understanding of print features such as dialogue, punctuation marks, footnotes, glossary, line breaks, stanzas, etc.
• provides opportunities to model the reading process.
• occurs across the content areas.
• provides models of quality writing to influence student writing

Guided Reading (The teacher works with a small group of students, usually no more than six, who are reading at about the same level. The teaching point is determined by the group's need. The students have individual copies of the text and independently read, orally or silently, as the teacher observes, coaches, prompts, and evaluates their performance.)

• occurs in small, flexible groups determined by student needs based on various assessments including DRA, running records, and student/teacher conferences.
• utilizes texts from a variety of genres.
• supports reading skills and strategies.
• provides opportunities to demonstrate effective reading strategies.
• promotes independent use of these strategies.
• develops comprehension through questioning and discussion.
• enables students to interact with instructional level texts.

Independent Reading (Students self-select books at their independent reading levels. They take responsibility for working through the challenges of the text independently. During conferences, the teacher's role is to observe the student's reading habits, acknowledge his/her efforts, and teach the student.)

• enables students to make choices and take responsibility for their own reading.
• occurs daily on all grade levels.
• facilitates choosing “just right” books and completing a reading log.
• includes ongoing assessments to inform instruction such as student/teacher conferences, DRA, running records, and informal observations.
• requires weekly conferences between teacher and student.
• provides opportunities for students to practice the reading skills and strategies previously taught.

Literature Study (The teacher works with small heterogeneous groups of students who have similar reading interests. Together, a text is chosen, reading and writing tasks are assigned, and students meet to talk in depth about what they have read.)

• immerses students in quality literature.
• engages students in accountable talk (attentive listening and responding to other students).
• provides opportunities to share responses to books and dialogue with others.
• encourages higher level thinking through deep discussions (Bloom's Taxonomy).
• encourages respect for many points of view.
• supports reading skills and strategies.
• enables students to utilize their knowledge with story elements from a variety of genres (character, setting, problem, mood, atmosphere, resolution, point of view, voice) to deepen comprehension.
• develops students' metacognitive skills.
• builds the connection between reading and writing (discussing of author's craft).
• provides models of good writing to enhance student writing.

Oral Reading (Students read texts out loud to a variety of audiences for various purposes - for practice, for fluency development, for presentation, and so on.)

Oral reading may include:

• partner reading.
• reports.
• writer's workshop celebrations.
• choral reading.
• reader's theater / plays.
• story sharing.
• running records.

Content Area Reading (Students read materials that are related to the various content areas such as math, science, and social studies.)

• occurs in guided reading, shared reading, and read aloud.
• includes multilevel texts and a variety of sources such as magazines, articles, internet sites, picture books, fiction and nonfiction related texts.
• promotes understanding of expository text features and structures.
• requires students to utilize reading strategies.
• provides opportunities to gather, understand, analyze, synthesize, and use information.
• affords practice in using graphic organizers (KWL, Venn diagram, compare/contrast lists, semantic mapping, etc.).

Word Work (Students have opportunities to recognize and use letters and words, as well as understand their meaning.)

• enables students to understand that words are composed of sounds and syllables .
• fosters an understanding of visual and auditory patterning and how to identify patterns in words.
• encourages students to recognize that larger words often have recognizable parts within them, and that "chunking" assists decoding.
• supports the retention of sight words listed on word wall.
• empowers students to become competent decoders and encoders .
• includes making words, guessing the covered word, word wall activities, and rhyming activities.

Listening (The ability to understand, organize, synthesize, and apply information that is heard.)

• provides opportunities for students to focus for different purposes and for an extended period of time.
• enables students to follow directions that involve a few steps.
• empowers students to respond appropriately and critically to what is heard.
• makes it possible for students to take notes that record the main ideas and most significant supporting details of a text that is read aloud.
• allows students to paraphrase what they have heard.

Speaking (There are two aspects of speaking, one that focuses on the content of what is spoken and one on techniques.)

• entails learning the rules of speaking and listening such as taking turns.
• enables students to understand the relationship between oral language and print.
• gives students practice in the use of standard English grammar and conventions.
• provides opportunities to respond to questions.
• facilitates oral reading of literature.
• supports active engagement in classroom discussion including the formation of an opinion using textual evidence.
• is practiced during book talks, literature studies, and whole and small group instruction.
• is practiced during oral presentations including show and tell, reporting, interviewing, Power Point, etc.

Writer's Workshop/Independent Writing (Students have time each day to write, revise, edit, or publish their writing pieces. Students become purposeful authors with an awareness of audience. They have the opportunities to write in different styles and genres. Teachers assess and establish daily teaching points based on assessment.)

• follows a specific writing process.
• highlights features and characteristics of different genres.
• inspires students to read texts and notice author's craft.
• provides opportunities for students to write in a variety of genres and across content areas.
• includes weekly conferences between student and teacher.
• enables students to make connections between reading and writing.

Shared Writing (The teacher and students share the composing process. The teacher acts as the recorder. By recording on chart paper/white board what he/she and the class want to say, the teacher reinforces concepts of print.)

• demonstrates how writing works.
• provides opportunities to draw attention to letters, words, and sounds.
• enables student ideas to be recorded.
• creates written language for the classroom.
• produces texts that children can read independently.

Interactive Writing (The teacher and students compose, with the teacher “sharing the pen” with students at strategic points. There is an added emphasis on teaching conventions of written English. When the teacher invites students to write on the chart paper/white board, he/she has an instructional goal, related to these conventions.)

• demonstrates concepts of print and how words work.
• affords opportunities to hear sounds in words and connect them to letters.
• helps students understand “building up” and “breaking down” processes in reading and writing.
• provides opportunities to plan and construct texts.
• increases spelling knowledge using multiple strategies.
• produces texts that children can read independently.
• creates written language resources in the classroom.

Along with school districts across the country, North Merrick uses the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA)™ in kindergarten through third grade. This English Language Arts assessment is an extremely useful tool because it provides our teachers with a wealth of information about how each of our students is developing as a reader. After administering the DRA, the teacher knows the Independent Reading Level of each student in the class, as well as her/his strengths. It also provides valuable information for the teacher on how to improve each child's development as a reader.

Parents are informed about their child's Independent Reading Level on the report card in the fall and in the spring. The flyers below describe the range of typical reading levels for each grade. The flyers contain helpful suggestions on how parents can help their child improve as a reader.

The skills necessary for students to learn to read well are supported by sound curriculum decisions and instructional strategies. The five components of effective early reading (e.g., grades K–3) instruction are as follows:

1. Phonemic awareness, the understanding that the sounds of spoken language work together to make words;

2. Phonics, the relationship between the letters of written language and individual sounds of spoken language;

3. Fluency, the ability to read text accurately and quickly;

4. Vocabulary, the words one must know to communicate effectively;

5. Text Comprehension, understanding what one is reading.

North Merrick utilizes the McGraw-Hill Treasures Reading Program for grades one and two.   Teachers participate in staff development to integrate best practices in balanced literacy into this scientifically research-based reading program. 

The mathematics curriculum is grounded in the newly adopted New York State Next Generation Mathematics Learning Standards. The standards reflect revisions, additions, vertical movement, and clarifications to the current mathematics standards. Instruction will continue to emphasize the mathematical process with a focus on the Eight Standards for Mathematical Practice. North Merrick will also continue to support Math and Movement activities that add a kinesthetic component to mathematics instruction. Students will engage in problem-solving and critical-thinking activities while exploring divergent ways to solve problems. Mathematics instruction will balance conceptual understanding with procedural fluency, which enable students to successfully transition to middle school, high school and beyond. Ongoing assessment of student work will guide instruction and serve as a tool to differentiate instruction and meet the needs of all learners.

New York State Standards - Math

 

The physical education program is designed to promote the health and enhance the quality of each student's life by providing opportunities to attain athletic skills, understand individual and team sports, and develop sportsmanship behaviors necessary to participate in and enjoy physical activities. Adapted Physical Education (APE) is offered to students with motor delays or other disabilities that preclude them from participating in a general physical education class. 

Physical fitness and sports also promote teamwork, skill and enjoyment for everyone. What we learn at play is the importance of a positive attitude and the rewards of fair play. Through moving and learning, we teach the importance of fitness and involve students in regular, vigorous activity. We strive to offer a fun, comprehensive physical education program to foster social skills that enhance cooperation and opportunities for students to pursue health and fitness throughout their lives.

New York State Standards - Physical Education

Teachers: Camp - James Barton (jbarton@nmerrick.org) and Karen Nolan (knolan@nmerrick.org); HDF - John McDaid (jmcdaid@nmerrick.org); OMR - Thomas Biggin (tbiggin@nmerrick.org) and Michael Riggio (mriggio@nmerrick.org; District - Jason Smith (jsmith@nmerrick.org) and Ryan Walsh (rwalsh@nmerrick.org)

Let's Move

Choose My Plate

The science curriculum is based on the New York Learning Standards for Science (NYSSLS). Core ideas build on one another as students progress through grade levels and are grouped into the following four domains: Physical, Life, Earth and Space, and Engineering. North Merrick enhances the program by integrating STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) instruction at all grade levels. The North Merrick science program also incorporates computer coding and Lego Robotics units at various grade levels. To further expand on core ideas and cross-cutting concepts, students in first grade will hatch chicks as part of an Embryology unit, second graders will take trips to the beach to collect marine life as part of a Marine Life unit, fourth graders will manipulate stream tables as part of a problem-based learning unit culminating with a "Save the Beach" activity, and sixth graders will delve into engineering and physics as part of a Buildings and Structures unit. North Merrick has most recently adopted the National Geographic Science program to further immerse students in real-world science practices.

New York State Standards - Science

 

The New York State K-12 Social Studies Framework is designed to prepare students for college, careers, and civic life.  The social studies curriculum is based on inquiry-based learning, big ideas, and a strong research component. North Merrick utilizes the Putnam Westchester BOCES Social Studies/ELA units of study to support and enhance social studies instruction.  The district also integrates a strong literacy component to the social studies program. Students will read and study historical fiction, examine primary and secondary sources, and research, analyze and interpret various documents and text related to social studies coursework.

New York State Social Studies Framework

The district’s enrichment program for gifted students serves fourth through sixth graders in which students work within groups and individually in an accelerated academic environment. The students develop research skills and expand independent thinking, critical and evaluative solution finding, and creative problem solving. Each student’s interests, talents and varied learning styles are addressed in an atmosphere that fosters intelligence, risk-taking and a growth mindset.

Teacher: Mara Karfinkel (mkarfinkel@nmerrick.org)

#soarwithwings