Volume 4: Issue 2
August 14, 2020
From the Screen of Ms. Small’s Class:
We can’t believe ESY has ended already! We had so much fun these last 6 weeks.
We learned new skills, went on scavenger hunts at home, read many interactive books and visited
many new places on our virtual field trips, including the zoo and the fire station. Some skills we
worked on were identifying our colors and shapes, counting, labeling objects and so much more!
We even got to do yoga each week and attend a virtual magic show. We had a fun-filled virtual
summer, but now it’s time to take learning back to the classroom!
From the Screen of Ms. Douglas’ Class:
This summer, ESY has been extremely different from what we have experienced in the past. I miss the days of hugs, trips, sharing snacks, and dancing around the classroom together. This summer could not be possible without the help of all of the Moms, Dads, Aunts, Grandmas, and siblings. I would like to shout out to all of the adults who have logged on and sat with our students ensuring they receive one to one instruction from the teachers. Alan Perez Marinez logged on for every session and dad did a super job ensuring Alan sat and participated. Zadkiel really seemed to enjoyed sitting and doing his lessons from his chair in the kitchen and great job to grandma for reinforcing with a delicious lollipop each session. Amy's mom and sister sat with her each week giving her cheers, shouts, and "Bravos" every time she got an answer correct. My new Friend Arthur cried a little less each session and we started to get some great learning time in. So THANK YOU to all the adults! Great job and we could not do it with you!
From the Screen of Ms. D’Ambrisi’s Class:
The fun never stopped during ESY for our preschool students. Little smiling faces engaging and growing each day. We had so much fun practicing colors, numbers and shapes! We even practiced spelling our name. Our teachers used fun videos and songs that helped us to interact with them. Activities to support pre-school students to develop social awareness continued to be infused throughout academic and related services time together. Each little ray of sunshine increased eye contact and being able to listen to and follow directions independently. Many of our preschool students were also able to learn to make choices and got to pick songs they wanted to listen to. It was so exciting to watch this skill develop!! We have to give a big shout out to our parents for continuing to actively participate to support their children through play to learn and grow. Social awareness has been the focus of our activity time together. We listened to silly and exciting stories with our friends and we had fun doing yoga with Miss Amy and our parents!!!! We are talking up a storm and are ready for September…..watch out preschool, here we come!!!!!!!
From the Screen of Ms. Brandao’s Class:
We had so much fun learning, and achieving our goals throughout this
summer. We shared virtual adventures and lots of laughs each and
every day. I am super proud of my boys and all they have learned, we
haven’t lost anything except a couple teeth!
From the Screen of Ms. Cantaffa’s Class:
Throughout our time in the second half of ESY, we have participated in some great
activities. We continue to participate in interactive one-on-one zoom lessons with our teachers and work
in groups with our Speech, Occupational Therapy, and Physical Therapy teachers as well. The students
have done an amazing job of participating and engaging in the lessons. We have been practicing skills
such as following directions, listening to our friends, and practicing to raise our hand. We have also been
working with Ms. Lisanti to identify our emotions. We have been reading and doing activities all about
camping during our last two weeks. Our favorite book we read during that unit is “Just Me and My Dad”
by Mercer Mayer. We look forward to the new school year ahead!
From the Screen of Ms. Parker’s Class:
This summer’s ESY was unlike any that we’ve experienced before. They were asked to adapt to a new
way of learning and interacting with teachers and technology. They have all done so amazing and were
so eager to learn! We did activities that included math, reading, life and social skills. Student’s love
learning with interactive boom cards and listening to read alouds. The students and parents were able to
adapt to this new style of learning and I appreciated that so much. We had a very successful summer of
learning and growing!
From the Screen of Ms. Krummich’s Class:
As ESY comes to a close we have enjoyed learning in a new way! Learning about bugs,
all about camping and visiting the circus. We took a virtual camping trip and learned ASL signs to
describe what we saw on our camping trip. We have worked hard on meeting our goals and having fun while learning. We moved our bodies to help us learn new sight words and build counting fluency.
Practicing our letters and numbers have prepared us for the school year to come! We have had a great time this summer and wish everyone a happy and healthy start to the school year!
From the Screen of Ms. Lisanti’s Class:
Social & Emotional Learning was running in full speed the last 3 weeks of
ESY! Students continued learning not only about the different emotions/feelings, but also
how to manage those feelings and emotions. Students were able to recognize what makes
them happy, what they are proud of, and also what helps them calm down. Students
watched the “Emotions” episode from Story Bots as well as playing an SEL Virtual
Scavenger Hunt!
From the Screen of Ms. Leonhardt’s Class:
Mrs. Leonhardt’s class did an excellent job participating in virtual learning this
summer. We continued to have online field trips, yoga sessions, story time, and individual
learning sessions. During the second half of ESY, we explored the Amazon Rainforest,
Yellowstone Park, and the Smithsonian Zoo. We were even able see a magician perform
tricks during a virtual magic show! Students were able to practice and maintain skills during
the summer with the support of teachers and related service providers. We look forward to
beginning the school year!
From the Screen of Ms. Mielcarek’s Class:
We have continued to work on our social skills and practicing different skills we
will need to have when we go back to school! The boys have done an awesome job this
summer practicing and mastering their skills! We participated in yoga every Monday with
Ms. Krumich’s class and Ms. Amy! I am so proud of how well they have adjusted to online
and been able to complete 30-40 minute lessons! We have also built on our
communication skills and practiced having a conversation with one another. It’s been a
great summer!
From the Screen of Ms. Napoli’s Class:
ESY this summer has been unlike any other, but together we have made
everlasting memories. Outside of academics, we have taken virtual field trips, participated
in virtual yoga classes, worked on feelings and how to stay calm and happy. One of our
virtual trips was to an animal shelter, where we were shown how these animals are cared
for and loved every single day. We have come together as a team and set positive goals,
made responsible decisions, and still be productive in our daily lives.
Enjoy the rest of your summer!
From the Screen of Ms. Fowler’s Class
After hard work during academic sessions, Mrs. Fowler and her students
take a break and do some interactive drawing together. We all look forward
to this time to be silly and create something wonderful together while we
are still apart!
From the Screen of Ms. Wiggs’ Class:
Summer and camp is coming to an end, but it is safe to say everyone enjoyed it. The
academic learning, activities and virtual trips were some of the major highlights this summer. The
students were engaged and focused as we worked on reading and math skills. The timeframe that
they sat through instruction increased from the beginning of the summer until now, which is
amazing. The virtual field trips made the students feel like they were actually at these places. The
Disney and Six Flags virtual trips were the student’s favorite because they were able to see what
the different parks and rides were like. We had a great 6 weeks of ESY, and the students will have
a great upcoming year.
From the Screen of Ms. Terraccino’s Class:
As ESY is coming to an end, our class has been taking some time to go on “vacation.” We have gone on virtual trips to Disney’s Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, gone on several rides at Disney and Universal Studios, and read about amazing beaches around the world. Our class enjoyed learning about the different beaches and
creating our own beaches. Some of our favorite beaches we learned about were the Bowling Ball beach in
California, the Pink Sands beach in Bermuda, and the Tiny Star Beach in Japan. The students had many fun ideas for their own beaches including a Pizza beach and a beach with a real bowling alley!
From the Screen of Ms. Haynes’ Class:
Well, we have reached the end of another successful ESY! This ESY was different from any other because it was entirely virtual! The students had fun with virtual visits to the Popcorn Park Zoo to check out the animals, and Great Adventure where we took a virtual ride on the Superman roller coaster at Six Flags, Georgia. We explored more books, comic books and videos on Epic. We
completed more than 250 math problems in IXL.
Students were encouraged to try the sites independently. They could choose any available book on the Epic book website
www.getepic.com. Students worked to refresh math skills at www.ixl.com in expanded notation, number patterns in multiplication, identifying geometric shapes, interpreting bar graphs, and working through multi-step math problems in addition, subtraction, and multiplication. Students also wrote a daily message about the day. In the past few weeks we wrote about heat waves, rain, a tropical storm, and the terrible power outages that resulted from the storm.
Pedro is to be commended for nearly 100 percent attendance. Wesilly is to be commended for including his younger sisters in his lessons. A special thank you goes to the parents, who made sure the students logged on and did their work. Both students worked hard to keep their skills sharp and ready for September!
From the Screen of Ms. Barone’s Class
My students have excitedly joined our Zoom meetings every morning of ESY. Not only did they learn about reading and math but we traveled around the world through our computers. One of our favorite lessons was completing a science
experiment. During our meeting, everyone had a banana at home, a baggie, cold water, and rubbing alcohol. After smashing the banana and adding the ingredients we put it in the freezer. By the time our lesson was complete, we were able to see the banana's DNA. Each child was able to see what DNA looked like which really helped conclude one of our units.
Our weekly cooking shows were a lot of fun. We concluded the summer with a dessert unit in which the students made Rice Krispy Treats, Pudding Pie, and Icebox Cake. The Middle School students really had fun doing Yoga, watching a magician perform on Zoom, learning MAPPS with Mr. George, and participating in Life Skills lessons. It has been a fun and successful summer!
From the Screen of Ms. McIntyre’s Class
LBMS ESY students continue to learn about Social Emotional Learning.
We have learned about the five competencies consisting of; self-management, self-awareness,
social awareness, responsible decision-making and relationship skills. When the students participate
in individual academic sessions with their teachers they continue to develop a deeper understanding
of their feelings and emotions. I have observed the strong connections the students have made with
one another throughout the program and know their relationship skills will continue to blossom. It
has been a joy to work with the students throughout the summer and we have all adapted to virtual
learning!
From the Screen of Mr. Fackenthal’s Class
Fractions, and money, and scavenger hunts, oh my! We have been working so hard these last few
weeks of summer camp. Most importantly, we have been having a lot of fun too. We have been learning about
fractions using cookies and pizza. We have also been learning how to do mathematical operations with money.
Most importantly, we finally finished our book about the Kinder Family going to the amusement park. One of the
highlights has been our Friday whole group scavenger hunts. Students get to see all of the friends that they didn’t
get to see in person this summer. We did a fun little scavenger hunt activity to spark some great conversations
among the students. I know the students are excited to get back to school and see their friends again. I am going
to miss them!
From the Screen of Ms. Rienzo’s Class
Our class is always smiling and ready to learn each morning! For the second half of ESY, Nigel and Emilio have been focusing on using new vocabulary when answering questions about main ideas and pulling textual evidence from the text. We have been bringing our own books to class where Emilio has taught me about dinosaurs and Nigel has taught us about the
different colors of the rainbow. When we need a break, we watch clips from Monsters Inc University on Disney Plus. In math, the boys have been practicing their basic multiplication facts and adding and subtraction of fractions. We have continued to meet at 11 AM each day to work on our daily living skills and to stay active. I will greatly miss these guys!
From the Screen of Mr. Hampton’s Class:
As ESY 2020 comes to a close it is the perfect time to reflect on some of the
progress that was made throughout the summer. We look back at all the fun we had
together during our individual zoom meetings and whole group zoom meetings. We
listened to incredible motivational stories of people who have dealt with a lot of adversity in
their lives. We discussed the skills needed to deal with challenging times, and discussed
ways each of us have overcome an obstacle. Even though we were not in person with
each other, everyone was able to connect, share feelings, and learn. Now it is time to turn
the page, I wish everyone a safe, happy, and healthy school year.
From the Screen of Mr. Boyce’s Class
Over the past few weeks our students have been discussing several current event topics. These
topics have ranged from the BLM protest, to the COVID response, and other topics. This past week
was no different, as we discussed how people can vote. In the group the students discussed the
voting process, how someone becomes eligible to vote, and they discussed “mail in ballots”. The
students performed remarkably and treated each other with respect while they were debating the
topic.
From the Screen of Ms. Gooch’s Class
The HS students are loving Summer Camp! In the last three weeks, we continued to work on social and living skills, all from behind the screen. We covered topics such as Theme Park etiquette, reading Nutrition Labels, and Campfire Safety.
Theme Parks are now open, but people must take certain measures of protecting themselves and others. We discussed proper ways to communicate with other park guests or employees to express our needs and wants. We practiced what to do in certain scenarios when we need help.
The HS students also practiced reading Nutrition Labels. We were able to compare and contrast ingredients and how to determine healthier food options. Mrs. Gooch-Alcott shared her secret of eating Chick Pea Pasta instead of regular pasta, and how it almost tastes the same!
Lastly, for the theme week for camping, the teenagers explored how forest fires can be prevented when setting up camp. Smokey the Bear paid a visit to explain how people can be mindful of their environment and precautions to take when making a bonfire, even in their own backyard. We learned that we should always be with an adult and to clear the space of flammable objects such as sleeping bags, leaves, and sticks.
The HS students were a blast to work with the last six weeks. They made the best of the circumstances we were under, and were able to have fun and learn. September is going to look different, but the students are eager to get back!
