The Power Within

Dr. Montanez encourages students in grades 3-5 to believe in their "heroic" qualities.

The Power Within - PBIS assemblies foster the definition of Ellington PRIDE.  Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is an evidence-based framework for improving and integrating all of the data, systems, and practices affecting student outcomes every day. It is a way to support our school community to create the kind of school where all students are successful. The Power Within series is an educational and enriching set of assemblies where teachers and students alike can experience using positivity to attain goals and express their Ellington PRIDE.

Dr. Montanez teaches scholars about the effects of stress on the human body.

The Power Within Series, created by Mr. Cantu (PBIS Chairperson) is a series of workshops, geared toward scholars in grades 3-5. Scholars are motivated to believe in their super hero or “heroic” qualities. Qualities like positivity, respect and determination should be shared with the school community; classmates, teachers and family members. During this particular assembly, Dr. Evelyn Montanez, leader of Derek Jeter's Turn 2 Foundation in New York City, encouraged students to focus on the five virtues that our school upholds:

1. Positivity
2. Respect
3. Integrity
4. Determination
5. Excellence

With help from members of her team from Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital, Dr. Montanez shows scholars how to incorporate these positive traits in their everyday actions. She also reminded scholars to remain positive when they take tests. "Stress hormones in the body can affect your mood, body and test-taking skills", she says. "Negative thinking before a test, can release those stress hormones".  Students in grade 3-5 will be taking New York State Standardized Tests in March, April, May and June. The test dates are as follows:

March 25-26, 2020 - Grade 3-5 NYS English Language Arts Test
April 21-22, 2020 - Grades 3-5 NYS Mathematics Test
May 28, 2020 - Grade 4 NYS Science Test (Performance)
June 1, 2020 - Grade 4 NYS Science Test (Written)

Special thanks to Dr. Montanez for her continuous support of PS4 scholars and staff. For more information about her and the Turn 2 Foundation, click here. For more information about the Power Within Series, contact Mr. Cantu. For details about New York State and local tests that PS4 scholars will be taking this year, click here.

Pictured (left to right): Dr. Montanez, Mr. Cantu, PS4 scholars and members of the Turn 2/Columbia-Presbyterian team.

Important Dates - Testing

Elementary and middle school students in New York State take yearly State tests in core academic subjects to assess their mastery of the Common Core Learning Standards. Students’ test results are one of the factors that schools use to decide whether to promote a student to the next grade. Educators also analyze students’ test results to help determine which instructional standards to focus on, and to evaluate their programs.
The links below take you to pages with more information about each particular test that elementary and middle school students take; you can also read more about how subjects are taught in New York City on the Academics page.


English Language Arts (ELA): Students in grades 3-8 take this test on April 11 and 12.
Math: Students in grades 3-8 take this test on May 1 and 2.
Science: Students in grades 4 and 8 take the written test on June 4.

New York State English as a Second Language Test (NYSESLAT): Students in grades K-12 who receive ENL services will take this test on selected days from May 7 to May 18.


Read this parent guide that provides more information on student participation and the State exams. Translated versions are available in Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, French, Hatian Creole, Korean, Spanish, Russian, and Urdu. For more information about the NYS testing program at PS4, please contact the main office or speak to your child's teacher.

Rock the Test Pep Rally!

The New York State ELA Tests will take place on March 28, 29 and 30th. Our Rock the Test Pep Rally was a success! The scholars enjoyed all the fun planned activities by Mr. Ovalle and Mr. Keys. The pep rally included some memorable moments such as:

• the PRIDE song sang by the 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders, led by the talented Janelys R.
• the awesome dance moves from the America Scores Soccer team [choreographed by Mr. Keys and Mr. Ovalle] 
• a beautiful poem written and performed by Henesy J., about being strong 
• the amazing AAU basketball team [PS4 Duke Ellington's finest athletes]! 
• and let's not forget our crowd "risers" - Maurice H., Nasir H., and Lismaldy J. They kept us dancing the whole time!

Special thanks to all of our teachers, for all the hard work they have put in for our scholars to feel successful on their test! Students were in such good spirits and are ready to rock the test! For more information about our state tests, click here and check out the video below for some highlights from our Test Pep Rally!


Rock the Test from PS4M on Vimeo.

Learning Doesn't Stop While Students Are Testing

Students that did not take the ELA or Math Tests, spent time in the auditorium reading, singing and watching a movie.

Ms. Steinman (Speech Therapist) reads a book to students.

Elementary and Middle School students in New York State take yearly tests to assess their mastery in Common Core Learning Standards.  But, some students do not take the English Language Arts or Math Exams.  During these state exams those students who have been named as non-testable, who's parents have opted them out, or who arrive too late to start the test with their class are sent to the auditorium.

This year, Mr. Means and a team of student-teachers and support staff were able to plan educational activities for a time when only movies may been played in the past.  Last week's schedule went roughly as follows:

• morning announcements
• 30-minutes of music and singing
• 30-minutes of silent reading
• ONE movie shown in English with Spanish subtitles
• the lights on the right side of auditorium are left on for students who want to read or do work

Student-Teacher, Mr. Beller, works with non-testable students in the auditorium.

Ms. Williams, Occupational Therapists, reads to non-testable students.

Teachers and staff in the auditorium were very active educators.  From small reading groups to help with picking which film will be most appropriate for our whole audience (which includes students in special education as well as English Language Learners), everyone was focused on creating  learning environment for students that were not testing.

Special thanks to Mr. Means, our Music Teacher, and his team of student-teachers and support staff for making sure our scholars continue learning.  Thanks to Mr. Beller (student-teacher), Ms. Steinman (Speech Pathologist), Ms. Williams (Occupational Therapist), and Ms. Collado (Speech Pathologist).

Math Bowl - 2013

From April 24-26, 2013 students took the NYS Math Exams.  In an effort to encourage students to use the skills they have learned during the course of the year, students in grades 3-5 attended and participated in our annual Math Bowl!  Teams of two students were selected by each teacher to compete.  Each team had less than a minute to choose an answer to a math computation or word problem.  Audience members were also required to answered the same problems in their notebooks!


Congratulations to all the participants!  A special thanks to Mr. Ovalle and Mr. Keys who organized the Math Bowl this year.  Take a look at the collage below to see photos from the event!

This collage made with Smilebox

Changing State Tests For Grades 3-8

Learn more about the new Common Core standards and the changing State tests for grades 3–8!  Go to schools.nyc.gov or click here!

NYS Math Exam

Please be prepared for the New York State Mathematics Exam taking place April 25-27, 2012 (Wednesday-Friday). Here are some tips to help you do your best:

1. Get plenty of sleep
2. Eat a proper breakfast 
3. Remember the lessons that your teachers taught you 

Boys and girls, go to sleep on-time and wake up early.  On behalf of the editors of this blog, good luck to everyone; parents, teachers and most importantly students. We know that you all have worked hard to earn a high score.

For samples of the NYS Math Exam, click here!

NYS ELA Exam: April 17-19, 2012

Dear Parents,

On April 17, 18 and 19, the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students will be taking the New York State ELA Test.  In order for you child to perform to his/her full potential, make sure that your child:

• Gets plenty of rest the day before the test
• Comes to school by 8am
• Eats a nutritious breakfast before coming to school
• Brings two sharpened #2 pencils

Sincerely,
Delois White-Jones
Principal

For more test-taking strategies, click here.  For samples of ELA tests, click here!

Get Ready For the NYS ELA and Math Exams

Students in grades 3, 4, and 5 will be taking the New York State ELA tests from May 3-5, 2011. Click here for sample English Language Arts tests.

The New York State Math tests will take place on May 11 and 12. Click here for sample New York State Math tests.

For more information about these yearly tests, click here. You may also speak to your child's teacher. Keep in mind, there are many great websites for students that will improve reading and math skills.

Technology at PS4

Thanks to RESOLUTION A funding from our City Council and Manhattan Borough President, Scott Stringer, last week PS4 received a shipment of desktop computers! Every classroom received three new Lanovo Computers , a new printer, an ELMO document viewer and tables for all the new equipment! Some rooms have also had some upgrades. Room 100 (conference room) and Ms. Grimes' computer lab (room 213) now have a Smartboard and projector mounted to the wall. This new technology will support teachers and students as we continue to focus on 21st century learning. For more information on how technology is used in our school contact Mr. Polubiec at jpolubi@schools.nyc.gov.

It's That Time of Year - The E.L.A Test is coming!

In less than three weeks, 3rd, 4th and 5th grade children will be taking the ELA exam. This test each students' ability in reading and writing comprehension. Students should make sure that they get plenty of rest and have studied as much as they can. Parents should make sure that they help their children prepare for these exam by keeping distractions away from them. Teachers have been giving students all of the strategies they need to do well.

Here are the dates of the exams:

English Language Arts-April 26, 27, and 28
Mathematics State Exam-May 4, 5, 6