Dimensions | English (ESL) | Hearing Impairment | Math | Nurse | Psychologist | Reading | Resource Room | Secretary | Speech | Stud. Assistance

Dimensions, Ms. Carole Zeller
My time at Little Tor this year is: all day Monday and Wednesday morning. We are in a new location if anyone is looking for us. We are sharing the Music Room. We are looking forward to an exciting school year of challenging activities to sharpen our problem solving abilities and critical and creative thinking skills.
 
Both fourth and fifth graders have participated in Math Olympiad and Word Masters competitions. Our first Math Olympiad was in November; Word Masters, in December. We will have four Math Olympiads and three, Word Master competitions throughout the year. After the first Word Masters Competition, Clarkstown Central School District's Fifth Grade Students had the fourth highest scores in the nation. In the second round of competition, those students came in first.
 
The fourth graders have finished their unit on inventions and the inventive process. We attended a performance of the play "Young Tom Edison" at the Helen Hayes Performng Arts Center in November. They published The Inventors'Journal in February and participated in Clarkstown's annual Invention Convention in March. Two of our dimensions students, Jessie and Nick, won honors in their category.
 
The fifth graders have begun a study of the Stock Market and will be investing a hypothetical $100,000 in the market and tracking it. On January 15, our visit to the New York Stock Exchange was snowed out, but we were able to reschedule this trip for June.
 

English as Second Language TA, Mrs. Jone Vaicaitis
Check back soon for new information.

Teacher of Hearing Impaired, Mrs. Connie Knoebel
Many years ago, all children who had hearing losses were sent to schools for the deaf. Sometimes, they were able to learn to talk and read, but many times they never learned. Since the United States passed the Education for All Handicapped Children in 1974, sometimes referred to as Public Law 94-142, children who are hearing-impaired have been guaranteed an education in the "least-restrictive environment."
 
This has opened the doors for deaf children to be main streamed, that is, educated with their peers in the public school system. School systems must provide the equipment, teachers and support, so that learning may take place. Since that time, Clarkstown Schools has provided all of these things for deaf children and hard-of-hearing. Little Tor was selected as a school where a hearing-impaired resource room was started. Most of the staff has had the experience of working with hearing-impaired children, providing for their visual learning style, and are accustomed to wearing the FM microphones these children need to hear classroom instruction.
 
Little Tor also has purchased special musical instruments that can be played and "felt" by the deaf and has incorporated the use of sign-language into the singing of songs. A captioned decoder is provided for movies enabling deaf children to understand movies or videos.
 
The latest technology to assist hearing-impaired children at Little Tor involves the installation of four speakers in the classroom and the use of a FM microphone by the teacher. Because the teacher's voice is amplified just 10 decibels, these systems benefit all children.

Math Tutorial, Mrs. Bonnie Katz, TA
Check back soon for new information.

Nurse, Mrs. Kay Garvey
 
Health Office Information
1. Medication - requriements for prescription and non-prescription drugs to be given in school:
A. A written request from parent
B. A written order from a doctor
C. medication must be in it's original container
 
2. Call In - when your child will be absent or late, please call 639-6367 and leave a message on the answering machine.
 
3. Medical and Dental Exams - are required for all students in Kindergarten, First, Third and new entrants. School screenings will be done by a school doctor for those who do not return private exam forms.
 
Reminder: If a child is suspected of having a strep throat, the child should remain home until the result of the culture is back. Any student with strep throat must remain out of school and on medication for 48 hours. Any student returning before 48 hours must have a doctor’s note

School Psychologist, Ms. Rita Schmidt
 
Ms. Schmidt's Schedule for the 98-99 School Year
 
Monday - Little Tor Elementary all day
Tuesday - Woodglen Elementary all day
Wednesday - Little Tor Elementary all day
Thursday - Little Tor Elementary in the morning, Congers Elementary in the afternoon
Friday - Congers Elementary all day
 
Check out the district's psychological services web page for additional information about the department of psychological services and other articles of interest. http://www.ccsd.edu/pupilservices/psychological/
 
Information about specific topics related to elementary education and child development will be posted periodically. Requests for information on specific topics may be e-mailed directed to Ms. Schmidt via the faculty page of the Little Tor web site.
 

Reading Specialists, Dr. Sally Costa and Athena Demetriades
On February 10, across Rockland County, schools participated in the Rockland County Read In. For the entire school day, children and teachers were encouraged to read as much as possible. Children read books individually and many tachers read aloud quality literature to their students. The day was a success, and both the students and teachers emphasized athe importance of reading for pleasure.
 
On February 26, Little Tor's 1999 PARP (Parents as Reading Partners) hosted a program called "Reading is Magic." The program highlighted the magic and excitement children discover by reading books. The program kicked off a three-week emphasis on family reading.
 
On March 2nd, Little Tor students joined children all across the nation in celebrating Dr. Suess' birthday. The day ended in the Clarkstown Central School District's Family Literacy Night. This year it was an evening filled with various Dr. Suess activities, such as making a Cat's hat, Creating an Alphabet Book, Making and Experiencing Oobleck, Computer work with the Cat in the Hat, and many more exciting activities.
 

Resource Room, Mrs. Diane Brennan
The Resource Room program is designed to provide academic support for the students in our program. The teacher and teaching assistant work with the students individually or in small groups. We work closely with the classroom teacher to modify, adapt and reinforce the classroom program to best meet the individual needs of our students.

Secretary, Mrs. Eileen Savage
Mrs. Savage is a valuable source of information, assistance and support to the students, parents and faculty of Little Tor Elementary School. (914) 639-6365.

Speech, Ms. Kerri Prinz
Speech and Language therapy is a program that assesses and remediates a child's speech and language skills. Some of the areas that are addressed are:
Articulation
Language (Receptive and Expressive)
Voice
Fluency
Cleft Palate
Hearing Impairment
 
Speech sessions at Little Tor are on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. We use games and fun activities as we target our speech and language goals. Each child in the speech program is given a folder for homework. Parents are strongly encouraged to take an active role in the remediation process.
 
Because some of the basic skills of reading are essential to good oral communication, listening, and language development, it is recommended that parents read to their children. Here are some suggestions that you might try at home:

Make a habit of reading to your child and letting your child read to you every day.

Select an easy-to-follow, familiar stories for young children., A child will ask you to read the same story repeatedly because emphasis will be placed on different aspects of the story each time it is heard.

Ask your child to name objects in the story and to describe them. Have the chid describe the objects size, shape, composition, function, etc.

Have your chld listen to a sentence or paragraph and retell what you've just read in his or her own words.

Change the story slightly at times, or substitute an incorrect word. See if the changes are noticed and if your child can correct these errors.

Stop reading in mid-sentence, and let your child finish the sentence.
Read a sentence or paragraph; then ask your child to tell ou what might happen next in the story.