Brief Bio: My education includes a dual degree in Early Childhood Education and Human Development from Boston College and a Masters degree in Reading Specialization from Kean University.  After having grown up in Long Hill, I started my teaching career at Gillette School as a first grade teacher and remained there for ten years.  During this time I became a mom and realized that a part time position would really help balance my life.  Fortunately, I had the opportunity to become part of the staff at Millington School as a Basic Skills Instructor.  I have really enjoyed working in this job share position with Mrs. Michele Spinello.                                                                                            I can be reached at (908) 647-2312 x2005 or by email at dminerva "@" longhill.org.     I check my email daily from home on days I am not working.  Due to my part time position, there may be a short delay in getting back to you.  However, I will do my best to return your calls within a 24-48 hour time period. I encourage you to contact me at any time with any questions or concerns you may have. Expectations: My job is to provide your children with a safe environment where they feel comfortable enough to make mistakes and take risks.  I will work with them to acquire the strategies they need to become more secure in their abilities and thus increase their self-esteem.  Most of all I hope to see smiles on your childrens' faces as they continue to grow, learn and be successful on their journey of education. Daily Homework: There will be no formal homework in Basic Skills.  However, there may be concepts that your children need to review at home.  In this case we will send the information home in an envelope marked BSI.   Please understand that this program is meant to support your child's learning and build their self-esteem.  It is not intended to create more stress at home from added assignments and responsibilities. If anything, it is intended to relieve stress by providing yourselves and your children with an additional academic resource.  Basic Skills News: Language Arts Pull Out classes for 2nd and 3rd grades Students continue to strengthen their comprehension and fluency skills by reading short stories and providing written responses. Some skills we will be focusing on include sequencing, problem/solution, drawing conclusions, and inferencing. Students will participate in meaningful discussions, learn to mark passages in order to find specific details, and use background knowledge to draw conclusions and make inferences. Students will work independently, in partners, and as a small group to complete various activities.  These activities will include participation in educational games that focus on the above mentioned skills. As part of the Writing component, students are reinforcing the idea that all sentences must contain a subject and a predicate to be complete. They are using this knowledge to construct responses to questions from stories they have read.  In addition, the students are being introduced to learning how to "show" ideas in their writing rather than simply stating the obvious.  This requires them to provide many details and use a variety of words to describe what is happening so the reader can draw a picture in their own mind. This will enrich their writing skills and be a foundation for us to continue to build on.   Math Pull Out classes for 2nd and 3rd grades The concept of Touch Math continues to be reinforced daily through any addition or subtraction activities.  The students have learned about a system of dots that can be placed on numbers 1 to 9 that can be used as a tool to help with computation.  We will be sending an envelope home that contains flash cards and an instructional information sheet to keep as a reference. Please continue to encourage your student to utilize the dot system when they are not able to recall a fact from memory. Of course, all students should be continuing to work with flash cards at home to memorize their basic facts. Students will also be given a short timed practice drill sheet at the end of each session to help them become more adept with their computations.      Push In Instruction in Language Arts, Math, Writing for 4th and 5th Graders BSI teachers have been working with the students in the classrooms to support their learning. Sometimes we circulate and help students individually and other times we work with a small group to concentrate on areas of difficulty.  We are really enjoying being in the classrooms and helping the students with their assignments. We follow the lead of the regular classroom teacher and focus on the skills the children need to learn and apply.       Cool internet websites             www.aaamath.com www.aplusmath.com www.funbrain.com  www.coolmath.com www.multiplication.com