Ms. McPaul's and Mrs. Urban's first grade classes
visited South Taylor Environmental Park (S.T.E.P.).
Mr. & Mrs. Smith, retired teachers from Paynter
Elementary, guided and instructed the classes through
hands on activities. It was a great learning experience.
Posted
11/13/06
PES
- Annual Halloween Parade
Ghosts, goblins and ghouls, oh my! Paynter Elementary’s
annual Halloween parade was held on October 31st.
There is always a large community turnout to see
students and staff in their creative costumes. This
year’s staff costume theme was “movie
characters”.
Posted
11/13/06
PES
- Red Ribbon Assembly
As an extension
of Red Ribbon Week, Paynter Elementary 4th
and 5th graders went to an anti-drug assembly
sponsored by BW Council of PTA’s. The
speaker, Reverend Eugene Beard is an Assistant
Deputy Chief with the Office of the Attorney
General. He talked with the students about
the realities of drugs and how there is nothing
“cool” or positive about drug
use.
Posted
11/13/06
PES
- Scarecrows
In connection with the Social Studies unit “Working
Together,” Mrs. Noel and Mrs. Singleton’s
second grades worked together to make a scarecrow
for display in the school lobby.
Posted
11/13/06
PES
- Kiss the Pig
Paynter students were up to the challenge! Through
Market Day fundraising they raised over $7,000 for
the PTA. That was $1,000 more than last year. The
money will be used to continue to bring assembly
programs to the school, provide classroom fieldtrips,
and fund many committees that do so much for our
school. Because the challenge was reached, principal,
Mrs. DeFilippo and vice-principal, Mrs. Fusco agreed
to kiss a pig. Top earners Allison and Megan Boyd
helped hold the piglet while the principals puckered
up. A random drawing of names of those who participated
in the fundraiser gave 6 lucky students a stuffed
animal prize. They were Sarah Abbiatici, Kaylee
Wahl, Gavin Fedunok, Allison Perston, Danielle Wolfson
and Bryan Ihrig.
Posted
11/13/06
PES
- Character Assembly
As a continuation
of Character Education, Paynter Elementary’s
third, fourth and fifth graders enjoyed an
assembly entitled Commitment to Excellence.
The production, brought to Paynter by the
Council of PTA’s, uses popular music
and real-life stories to inspire students
to be their very best and to go above and
beyond.
Posted
11/13/06
PES
- Veterans Day
To honor Veterans Day, all of Paynter Elementary
met around the flag pole in front of the school
on Friday, November 10th. Principals, Mrs. DeFilippo
and Mrs. Fusco read patriotic poems. Many students
and staff dressed in red, white, and blue, held
flags while all said the Pledge of Allegiance, and
sang My Country ‘tis of Thee, accompanied
by Music teacher, Mrs. Kraus, playing the keyboard.
Posted
11/13/06
MES
- Halloween Parade
The students at McAnnulty Elementary School enjoyed
marching in the annual Halloween parade. The students
and the staff had a wonderful time parading around
the school as the parents enjoyed observing the
vast assortment of costumes!! Cookies and coffee
were served to the parents as they waited for the
children to parade.
Posted
11/22/06
PES
- Choir Practice
Paynter’s
fifth grade choir, under the direction of
music teacher Mrs. Kraus, is already hard
at work practicing holiday songs. During the
week before winter break, these 12 children
will be singing in Paynter’s lobby in
the morning as students come into the building.
They also have some public performances scheduled,
such as at Easter Seals in Wallace School
on December 18th.
Posted
11/22/06
PES/MES
- Miss Utterly
On November 13th and 14th, Rose Ann Lederer from
Schneider’s Dairy presented a nutrition education
program to the kindergarten, first and second grade
classes at both Paynter and McAnnulty Elementary
Schools at the request of Jay West, the district’s
Food Service Director. As a professional ventriloquist,
Mrs. Lederer uses her special talents to introduce
and teach the youngsters the five food groups using
the new food guide pyramid. Following the lesson,
Mrs. Lederer introduces her friend, “Miss
Utterly the Cow” to the children. Miss Utterly
interacts with the youngsters through story telling
and songs that are very entertaining to the children.
At the conclusion of the show, Mrs. Lederer allows
the children to come up front and say goodbye to
Miss Utterly with a hug.
Posted
11/22/06
MES
- Decorating Gourds
McAnnulty second graders in Miss Pavelka's class
each decorated a gourd. They brought them back to
school and shared them with their classmates. They
had snowmen, Sponge Bob, Gary from Sponge Bob, people,
and many different types of animals. Students then
created a Venn Diagram to compare their gourd to
a gourd that was created by Mrs. Pavelka's (Miss
Pavelka's mom) fourth grade students in Keystone
Oaks School District. Students used their Venn Diagram
to help write comparing sentences. What a fun way
to practice descriptive and comparison writing skills!
We hope you enjoy our class picture of our gourds
on pajama day!
Posted
11/22/06
WES
- Writing Process
Two Whitehall classrooms have joined together
in the Writing Process. As Mrs. Keffer’s third
graders learn this process, Mrs. Holmes’s
fourth graders help with brainstorming, revising,
and editing. The children are having fun while learning
from each other!
Posted
11/22/06
MES
- Gingerbread Houses
Several classrooms at McAnnulty Elementary have
begun their holiday preparations. Mrs. Hustava's,
Mrs. Milsom's, and Ms. Rosso's classes enjoyed creating
gingerbread houses to put on display at the PPG
building in downtown Pittsburgh. One student’s
mother brought in all of the edible materials needed,
and that student’s father baked and created
the real gingerbread houses that were decorated.
With the help of Mrs. Peretin and Mrs. Bova (student
paraprofessionals) and two parents, the children
created spectacular gingerbread houses. The students
learned a lot and had fun, too. Stop by PPG and
see these wonderful gingerbread house creations.
Posted
11/22/06
MES
- Puzzle-People
McAnnulty students
in Mrs. Milsom’s second grade class
have been doing some really fun and exciting
things. With help from their student teacher,
Ms. Capuzzi, the class used creativity to
learn about being different and special. This
was demonstrated by making puzzle-people of
themselves with many different supplies –
including real digital pictures of their faces.
After they were finished they looked at everyone's
puzzle-person and were able to see how they
are all different and special in their own
ways.
Posted
11/22/06
MES
- Thanksgiving
Mrs. Milsom’s
second grade class at McAnnulty had a family
turkey project to help get into the Thanksgiving
holiday season. Each child was given a blank
turkey cut-out and was asked to decorate it
with their family. The creativity that the
children and their families put into these
turkeys is amazing, and the hard work really
shows.
Posted
11/22/06
PES
- Thanksgiving Feast
All of Paynter’s Kindergarten classes met
together for a Thanksgiving feast on November 21st.
To prepare for the feast, students made and decorated
their own vest or collar and headpiece. They also
personalized a placemat with colorful math-shaped
patterns. Before eating, they talked about what
it means to be thankful, and some students shared
what they were thankful for. The children used their
best manners, learned a song about setting the table,
and had a wonderful time interacting with students
from the other Kindergarten classrooms. Thank you
to all of the mom and dad volunteers who came up
for the feast and helped set up, serve, and clean
up.
Posted
11/22/06
PES
- ‘Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving
At Paynter Elementary, Mrs. Gorham’s and
Mrs. Hoover’s ELL students met with Mrs. Rellick’s
first grade class to enjoy a Thanksgiving activity.
After reading the story ‘Twas the Night Before
Thanksgiving as a choral reading, a few students
acted out the story with props for the rest of the
group. Students practiced listening and following
step by step directions to make their own turkey
out of candy corn, an Oreo cookie, a milk ball and
cinnamon candy. The “glue” to hold it
all together was chocolate icing.
Posted
11/22/06
MES
-Keyboarding Skills
Home Row! Home Row! Home Row!
What do these words mean? The students in second
grade know. This year, the students have added an
additional computer class to their already busy
academic schedule. The students have been learning
the proper keying techniques to help improve their
typing skills. The students have learned that typing
with home row may mean typing slower now, but in
the long run, it means typing faster in the future.
In addition to learning keyboarding skills, the
students are about to begin a unit in word processing.
Students will learn to format text using different
font sizes, styles, and colors; to cut and paste;
and to insert clip art! Can you imagine –
all in second grade?
Posted
11/22/06
Administration Building, 4900 Curry Road,
Pittsburgh, PA 15236
