Hello 2012

3/12/12

I am so happy for all of my students who made the honor roll and earned A's in E.L.A! To celebrate their hard work , they were all treated to delicious ice cream. They work so hard for their excellent grades!

2/14/12
I am so blessed to teach the most wonderful 6th graders ever! I was definitely showered with love by my students this valentines day. My students showed me how much they appreciate me by treating me to an assortment of chocolates, flower, cards, and candies.

Happy Holidays!

On Friday, 12/23/2011, the Christmas Spirit could be felt throughout Pod 6d. Students were all smiles in their Christmas colors. As most families do to celebrate the holiday season, we had a holiday feast where students feasted on a variety of different chicken dishes, macaroni (students loved Alanna of 607's cheesy macaroni dish), chips, cakes, juice, and soda. The delighted students also showed off their artistic abilities by decorating their very own eatable "Christmas Tree" (made out of sugar cones, m&m's, sprinkles, and vanilla frosting).

After eating, we all went to the library where the gift unwrapping celebration commenced!
Students were individually called to receive their gifts. The only instructions were that they could not open their gifts until everyone had received their gifts. Once everyone received their gifts, we counted down to 10 and the gift-opening-madness began!

The energy in the library was so positive and uplifting--it exemplified the spirit of Christmas.

I would like to thank all who made this holiday celebration so memorable for my students and I. I can think of nothing better than to leave for the Christmas break on such a positive note.
Thank you to everyone who donated a gift to this year's Secret Santa gift drive.

Thank you Ms. Reiss for hosting us in the Library and helping with the set up and photography.

Thank you to Mr. Awumey, Mr. Rosario, Ms. Tiller, Ms. Perez, Ms. Ramirez, and Mr. Mello for being so cohesive and helping make this a special holiday for the kids. I could see the joy on all of your faces and I am sure the kids felt your holiday spirit as well!
Thank you so much Ms. Outerbridge for affording us this opportunity to celebrate the holidays together as a 339 family. My students, pod, and I all appreciate you allowing us to build and maintain our relationships with each other. This was the most memorable holiday celebration that I have been a part of to-date!

Happy Holidays from Ms B on Vimeo.

Koran By Heart

The students in Pod 6D are exploring issues of identity in nonfiction texts. What better way to create cognitive connections to this theme than to go see a documentary in which young kids are exploring their own identity! On Tuesday 11/01/11 , 31 selected students embarked on a journey to lower Manhattan to the Tribeca Cinema to see the documentary, "Koran By Heart."
The inquisitive students learned a lot about Muslim culture and explored issues of identity that exist across religious and cultural boundaries.

Not only were the students treated to free popcorn but they were also treated to an engaging Q&A after the movie was over. We had a great time and look forward to going again!
Special thanks to Rachel Miller and Tribeca Cinema for making this possible!

It's good to be back!

I am so excited for the 2011-2012 school year! For starters, Pod 6D had a lot of success with Curriculum Night. We had a packed classroom of involved parents and guardians. I distributed progress reports, school calenders, and introduced myself and my course expectations. There was a brief Q&A afterwards. I am really happy to meet so many parents whom I hope to build collaborative relationships with as we work together with their child.


Standard 1: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for information and understanding. Locate and use school and public library resources, with some direction, to acquire information

I was very pleased to observe how excited the students in Pod 6D are about going to the school library. These excellent listeners were all ears as Mrs. Reiss, the librarian, demonstrated how students can find books, the procedure for borrowing books, and how to distinguish different genres. They were all smiles when it was time for them to take their photo ID picture for Mrs. Reiss' computer database. Afterwards, I had a group of students ask me if they could start taking out books tomorrow.

I am so happy to see my former 6th graders wearing their 7th grade burgundy uniform shirts. I had a wonderful time teaching and building relationships with my students last year and wish them the best of luck in their studies this year. Last year even though it rained heavily during our end-of-year trip to Lake Compounce, we still had a great time! Here are some photos from the 6th grade trip last year:

Think Before You Drink! Sugar Campaign.

Every year I.S 339 holds a global learning reception referred to as "Dot-to-Dot." Dot-to-Dot allows students and teachers at 339 to work on a project centered around one central theme. This year's D2D theme is "Change."

When deciding on what project we should create with this theme in mind, it was a no-brainer. Looking around the school it is easy to see that students are consuming high amounts of sugar. Most of this sugar consumption is in the form of soft-drinks such as soda, juices, and energy drinks.

The truth is, many students at 339 do not know nor understand the detrimental effects of high sugar consumption. It was our Pod goal to inform the school about the harmful effects of sugar so that students and faculty alike will begin to think before they drink!

In order to incite diet change in students we chose to make a public service announcement warning students about the dangers of sugar. We worked with Vivianne Njoku--a Tribeca Film Institute teaching artist. Vivianne came out to 339 and gave a workshop to 10 students about filmmaking and creating public service announcements. As a result of her instruction and clever film shots, the students created a great public service announcement.

Public service announcement encouraging people to think before they drink:

Think Before You Drink! from Ms B on Vimeo.

In Pod 6D there are many talented students who enjoy acting and being in front of a camera. I decided to put these awesome skills on display in a film about the harmful effects of sugar. The short film, The Highly Ferocious High Fructose, follows 4 sugar villains who look like ordinary people but have a secret agenda. Their sinister goal is to get the otherwise sugar-free students of 339 addicted to sugar. They plan to wreak havoc on the school by causing students to be distracted in class, hyperactive, and ultimately show physical symptoms of sugar consumption. The Highly Ferocious High Fructose personifies sugars that we consume on a daily basis--Maltose ("Mother Maltose"), Brown Sugar ("Brown Sugar Momma"), Powdered Sugar ("The Powerful Powdered Sugar Momma"), and High Fructose ("Ferocious Fructose"). The goal of this film is to show students that sugar may look sweet and innocent but it is actually harmful and can cause serious adverse effects to their well-being.






The Highly Ferocious High Fructose:

The Highly Ferocious High Fructose from Ms B on Vimeo.

New York City Relay Champions!

If you see any members of the 6th grade track team please congratulate them for a job well done!

Our 6th grade track stars raced into FIRST PLACE in the city championships on June 4th! Words cannot express how proud I am to teach some of the most athletic 6th graders in New York City.

The 6 grade boys relay team came in 1st place with a RECORD BREAKING time of 50 seconds. WOW!

Congratulations to the boys of Pod 6D for doing an exceptional job:
Nelson Santana: 1st place in the 100M race.
Pedro Ramirez: 2nd place 200M race and 2nd place in the Shot-Put.
Albis Almanzar: 2nd place in the Long Jump.

You are all amazing athletes! Keep practicing and you will continue to make everyone very proud!

If you are interested in joining the track team please contact Mr. Martin at martin@is339.org or Mrs. Hameed at hameed@is339.org. Thank you to Mr. Martin for the photos and for the wonderful job you do coaching and being a mentor to our star athletes.

Proud Avid Readers!

This school year classes 608, 607, and 609 borrowed more books than any other classes in 339! While reading is not a competitors sport, it definitely feels great to know that the students in Pod 6D know the importance of reading and are utilizing the school's library on a weekly basis.



In January, Pod 6D launched its silent sustained independent reading program. During the time allotted for silent reading, students can either read a book from the class library or read a book checked out of the school's library. The students in Pod 6D enjoy the time to settle down and immerse themselves in a good book.



Because of their dedication to reading and utilizing the school library, our amazing librarian, Mrs. Reiss, honored a select group of students from Pod 6D with an ice cream party on Friday, June 10th. What better way to cool down in the heat than eating a bowl of ice cream?



The students who took out the most books and did not lose any books were awarded with ice cream and a certificate which welcomes them to the "Avid Readers Club." As their ELA teacher, I also received a certificate and a warm letter of praise (see below) from Mrs. Reiss! Thank you Mrs. Reiss!



Shout-out to the Avid Readers. The following students took out the most books, were the best behaved during silent reading, and do not owe any books to Mrs. Reiss. For their accomplishments, they were awarded a certificate. Keep reading!

1. Sulemane (609)
   
   
2. Bryant F (609)
3. Justin E (609)
4. Mark L (609)
5. Adnasia S
6. Mariam K (608)
7. Amanda R (608)
8. Terence C (took out the most books) (608)
9. Dejone P (608)
10. Ronald I (608)
11. Austin A (607)
12. Akim T (608)
13. Kennisha P (607)
14. Myesha W (608)
15. Raymond L (608)
16. Anllelina N (608)
17. Genava S (607)
18. Habulai S (608)
19. Isha N (607)
20. Prinscilla A (607)
21. Albis A (607)
22. Erica H (607)
23. Dunaisha W (608)
24. Alejandro H (607)
25. Devinaire M (607)
26. Keanu N (608)

From Mrs. Reiss:

June, 2011

Dear Ms. Bentley,

I am writing this email to applaud you for promoting reading and literacy among your students. All three of your classes, 607, 608, and 609 borrowed the most books from the school library during the 2010-2011 school year.

Your students demonstrate enthusiasm towards reading and enjoy selecting new books. By encouraging students to visit the library on a regular basis, you

have imparted a sense of the importance of independent reading to academic success. Congratulations and thank you for your support.

Ms. A. Reiss,

Librarian