The Value of Conversation

Beth Anne Brennan

Lower School Head

This Thanksgiving, after a vivacious and delicious meal, my friend Steve pulled me aside in the kitchen.  He smiled and said how reminiscent this holiday had been to his own childhood.  He delighted in hearing my father tell the family stories of past holiday celebrations, including the details of the “cast of characters” sitting around the table and the shows we put on as children for our very proud parents and relatives. 

“Hmm?” I thought. Nice to hear, of course, but I never really saw it this way.  For Steve, our lively discussion around the Thanksgiving table was a treasure. For me, time spent talking was a typical occurrence in our household.  As a family we have grown used to joining my father in the living room, sitting on the couches, engaging in conversation.  And my father is a pro:  he instinctively knows the right questions to ask and listens with genuine concern to all of the details and topics of interest in our lives.  He offers advice, shares a story from his life experience that adds substance and meaning to the conversation, and makes positive observations that encourages us all to want to stay engaged. 

Now, not everyone’s like my father, I realize.  He’s had years of practice.  Yet, given the time to reflect upon the festivities of this past weekend, the heartwarming union of family and friends, I think Steve has the right perspective.  Conversation is a treasure.  In this regard I consider myself lucky.  I grew up in a household that valued conversation and made it a priority.  Now, today, it is easy for me to see the gains of having parents who wanted to talk with me as a child.

You may be thinking “that was then,” right?  After all, these days it seems it’s tough to find the time.  Most of us have very scheduled and hectic lives, along with family-wide access to the various media channels that draw our attention.  It is a facet of the era in which we live, but we have to keep in mind that the time we spend disconnected or disengaged with the members of our family, with our children in particular, we not only miss those moments that enrich our lives and allow us to bond with our kids, we also lose the opportunities to develop their character through conversation.

Engaging your children in conversation not only expresses your love by showing interest in who they are and what they have to say, it also provides them with a model for listening, speaking, and asking.  Among other things, conversations also teach children to absorb or form opinions, frame perspectives, and develop empathy.  Although it may not be easy to initially connect with your children, perhaps provide them with a topic of mutual interest and encourage them to carry on lively discussions by sharing their ideas or asking questions.  And stick with it; try not to give in to any initial grumblings or indifference.  Try not to succumb to the “easy way” by handing/allowing them a device when they jump in the car or sit down for dinner. As an educator and as a mom, I can’t stress this enough: conversation is a critical social skill and part of child’s development that requires adult patience, modeling and practice.  So the next time you sit down for a holiday meal, or any meal in fact, seek to find this treasure.  I assure you, it’s worth it.

EMS Students Ace National Language Exams

EMS Le Grand Concours winners pose with their certificates 

by Evan Brown
Director of Communications and Alumni


The Elisabeth Morrow School takes great pride in announcing that several 7th and 8th grade students attained national awards for their scores on national French, Spanish and Latin Exams.


This year, over 146,000 students participated in six levels and three categories of the National Spanish Examination. Twenty-one 7th and 8th grade EMS students attained national recognition in levels “01” and “1” (the highest and second-highest achievement levels ascribed to the test) in Regular and Bilingual categories.  National Gold Medals were awarded to 7th-graders Annika Kim and Pantelis Paliouras and to 8th-grader Justin DeRose.


In the National French Exam, nineteen 7th and 8th graders achieved levels “01” or “1” including 4 state winners, Casey McConville, Abigail Rivoir, Peter Shamamian and Justin Trout, attaining top-ten scores in New Jersey. Two National Gold Medals were awarded to 7th-grader Melissa Sweetwood and 8th-grader Casey McConville.


The National Latin Exam saw five Elisabeth Morrow students achieve the highest national standard, "Summa Cum Laude" (with the highest of praise): Joseph DeRose, Peter Shamamian, David Yang, Justin Trout, Sang Uk Park.


The National Spanish and Latin Examinations are standardized assessment tools forGrades 6 -12, given voluntarily by over 3,800 teachers throughout the United States in order to assess the proficiency and achievement of students who are studying these languages.  While the National French Examination (Le Grand Concours) is an annual exam and competition for grades 1-12 in all 50 states and abroad.  All of the language exams are certified by their respective teacher associations.

EMS Teachers Present at Annual New Jersey Educational Computing Cooperative Conference

Sandy Malko, Laurie Lester and Kristi Evans at NJECC Conference

by Dr. Allison Egert
Director or Special Learning Services


EMS teachers Kristi Evans, Laurie Lester and Sandy Malko recently presented Captivating the Young Using 21st Century Skills  which highlighted the use of iPADS and other mobile devices for teaching and differentiating instruction for students who may find reading and writing a bit more challenging.  With the help of Sarah Rolle, EMS Director of Technology, the teachers developed a website for their attendees that offered a few iPad references and a list of top 10 apps that are effective and engaging for students in first through fourth grades.  

Kristi Evans

For me, the presentation was a reminder that it's a dynamic time to be a teacher.  We are finding, both here at EMS and elsewhere, that digital engagement and literacy is promoting independent discovery and sparking an interest in students for acquiring the background knowledge necessary for understanding texts. iPad's are also further encouraging peer relationships and collaborative learning.  Mostly, however, they are just plain fun to use as part of the learning process–for students as well as teachers.

"High-Order" Reading

by Beth Brennan

Director of Early Childhood Programs

Recently, I read an article called "Using Higher Order Questioning to Accelerate Students' Growth in Reading" by Debra S.Peterson and Barbara M. Taylor,* from this month's issue of The Reading Teacher.  With regard to student reading, the authors stressed the importance of facilitating "high-order" discussion and writing to promote deeper thinking in students: So, in essence, teachers need to engage student readers beyond simple factual analysis and at more of an analytical, abstract or inferential level.

This is precisely the subject matter we tackle during grade-level meetings and professional development days at EMS.  Our teachers regularly assess to what extent they are engaging students in rich and thoughtful reflection, or to what degree their students are thinking critically about the reading.  The hardest part we find (perhaps for any educator) is having the willingness or confidence to move text discussions away from "teacher instructed" to "student centered." This is challenging; it is very easy to just provide answers, but it takes a great deal more effort to move students toward meaningful analysis or discussion. And, it is very important that we do so if we hope to promote and cement higher-order comprehension. 

* - This article is protected by copywrite and therefore not available via direct link.  A PDF may be purchased through the Wiley Online Library.  The abstract is available here.  If you wish to read this article, contact me and I will try to provide you with a copy

A New Touch: iPads Come To Kindergarten

“We were looking for a way to be more innovative with technology in Kindergarten, making it more relevant at an earlier age. 

I thought, what could we do?  How can we change things up?

And I came back to Beth and asked, ‘What do you think about this?’” 
~Sarah Rolle, Director of Technology

By Evan Brown
Director of Communications and Alumni

Winter 2012

October 2010

I am sitting in Dr. Lowry’s office in our weekly administrative meeting talking about the articles for the next Appletree publication.  In a lull, I utter the following suggestion: “What about a technology article, or a story about the iPads in Kindergarten?”
    The intersection of school and technology is not new and certainly nothing new for The Elisabeth Morrow School.  We have computers in every classroom, in our libraries and four tech labs.  Our students use technology for everything from constructing avatars, interacting within virtual worlds, producing multimedia projects, and online collaboration to video conferencing with students, teachers and speakers from anywhere on earth.  Using technology in a meaningful way is a daily fact here.

May 2011

I am standing in a Kindergarten classroom.  I have my camera, intent on collecting photos for publications.  I am looking for compositions and there is so much to see in this classroom: abstract paintings and murals, colorful manipulative materials, beaming smiles, children deep in thought or interacting with peers.  Visually, I see that the children are making Mother’s Day cards, but I am not fully gathering the nuance of the curricular objectives here; I am not seeing with “teacher eyes.”
    One group of children is working on forming letters, carefully rendering their lines and curves in pencil to mimic the models presented.  Another group is drawing, cutting and pasting hearts and happy faces on folded, colored paper, embellishing their cards.  From time to time, a couple of students are called over to another table to work with letter formation on an iPad, tracing the lower case and capital letters with their finger.  All the while, teachers are moving among them, guiding, prompting, suggesting and pointing out when a job is well done and why that is important.  At first glance, there is nothing unusual here; we all made such cards when we were in Kindergarten.  I can remember, many years ago, cutting out the models from a Sears catalogue, gluing them to bright construction paper and scrawling a warm message to my mom: “You are the best MOM.” Some of the girls in my class would make the “O” in MOM a heart.

Wait! iPads were nowhere in sight when I was in Kindergarten.

You Have to Start Somewhere

In the early 1970’s, only a few Kindergarteners occasionally had the chance to peck away at the keys of a calculator, maybe adding a sum if they knew what addition was all about.  The rest of us were given two red blocks, told to find two more red blocks from a box, asked to put them together in a group, count them, and then realized that, surprise, two plus two equals four.  Maybe it is not too different these days.  Physical objects, like blocks and Cuisenaire rods, still work exceptionally well in teaching math concepts to young minds. The difference is that teachers know that today’s young minds are born into a far more sophisticated age of personal technology.  Technology was not a major factor thirty-seven years ago, but today’s children need a very different skill set, a fact not lost on the faculty of Chilton House, home to Elisabeth Morrow’s Early Childhood Programs (ECP).
    When new technology enters a school, it is usually a top-down delivery.  The more mature denizens are likely to get the latest tools.  This is why it was so surprising to find the School’s first iPads in the hands of Kindergarteners.  ECP Director Beth Anne Brennan explains: “We want to use iPad technology in a way that has an authentic impact on young children, empowering their own learning, sharing with peers so they feel important and responsible.”
    Empowerment.  Cooperation.  Responsibility.  The Elisabeth Morrow School has always been very watchful and intentional when integrating technology within the curriculum.  For Elisabeth Morrow’s Director of Technology Sarah Rolle, bringing iPads into Kindergarten was about picking the best tool.  “Sometimes that involves technology and sometimes not.”  Ms. Brennan concurs, “We will always be grounded in child development here, but again, we need to ask how we can use technology in a way that is productive, engaging, meaningful, safe and fun, while protecting what Kindergarten is all about.
    Introducing iPads to very young children made sense physically, since the devices are a perfect size for little hands.  As Kindergarten teacher Rachel Simonson notes, “There are no peripherals to manage.  For most of the children, using a mouse effectively is still a challenge.”  The iPad works by touch, by pressing, swiping or dragging on the screen, allowing for a level of independence.  For Ms. Brennan, one of the more significant assets of adding iPads to the Kindergarten curriculum is their mobility. “We know that little children don’t easily move from one activity to another. Changing activities and locations repeatedly can make focusing difficult. Children do better when activities can ebb and flow within the borders of their classroom, and having the technology right here in the classroom supports this conviction.”
    Incorporating iPads into Kindergarten was not as easy as it might sound.  There was significant preparatory groundwork.  The Parents Association purchased the iPads in June 2010.  From there, the Technology Department “imaged” the devices, setting identical interfaces, protocols and apps on each device, which were then placed in the hands of the Kindergarten teachers. Throughout the summer, the iPads remained with the teachers. 
    Ms. Rolle explains, “I put on some apps for children as well as some for adults so the teachers would become comfortable with this new technology.  I experimented with a variety of apps, and if the teachers wanted to download more, that was great.  We held a training session in June, just to make sure they were comfortable when they left for the summer.  Once they were familiar with everything, we asked the teachers to look for apps that would be appropriate in their classrooms.”  From the beginning, teachers used a shared Google document to make notes about what apps were interesting, engaging or useful for specific activities.
    A trial run in the classroom came in the summer before the 2010-2011 academic year, when the iPads were introduced to Kindergarten teacher Janet Cohen’s Summer Explorations class.  Adds Ms. Rolle, “I sat down with her and the campers to see how they would respond when told, ‘This week you’re studying animals, now draw something.’  We learned quickly that the children needed to play first.  Although they could comprehend a drawing program and use their finger to draw, they just wanted to explore on their own.”
    In fact, as iPads arrived in the fall 2010, the teachers had to be mindful of their students’ enthusiasm.  “I was there with Michelle Goldstein on the first day,” says Ms. Rolle, “and it was the hardest thing.  She showed the iPad to everyone, and the teachers had to say what they always do, ‘you have to sit still, wait your turn and listen.’  The children rose to the occasion, showing us that they had the self control, despite the fact that there wasn’t enough time for everyone to get a turn that first time.”  Adds Ms. Goldstein, “They were all extremely excited. They all knew what an iPad was when they saw it. We needed them to understand how we were going to handle and use them. ‘This is how you hold it, this is how you turn it on, this is how you touch it.’  That was a concern for us.”
    “We had them use the devices while sitting on the floor,” said Ms. Simonson, “to eliminate a drop.  Or we had them use it in a nook, where it’s not easily stepped on.”  Beyond establishing the rules, “We found that the ones who were more comfortable with the iPads were really good at guiding the children who were not.  While there can be a fear that technology is isolating, we have not found that to be the case.  They like to see what others are doing.”
    Teachers made another important discovery.  Says Kindergarten teacher Annie Hur, “It brought a new excitement to learning.  When we introduced iPads for handwriting, the children yelled, ‘iPads!’  Then, we would say, ‘Well, we’re only doing handwriting.’  Although we had been doing handwriting since the start of the year, the iPads infused the task with a new excitement.”
    With this enthusiasm, the students started to share their experiences with each other and teach one another how they got certain results on the iPad. “That’s a big piece of our assessment,” adds Ms. Brennan. “The iPads have allowed our students to think about and share processes more, because it is not always about the end product.  Critical thinking develops when students share and practice what they see others have accomplished.  We are always going back to the process.”
    “They do that informally right now,” says Ms. Simonson, “One child will ask, ‘How’d you do that?’ and the other replies, ‘Oh, I went into Cookie Doodle and this is where I found this, and that is how I did it.’ Which I think is terrific.”  Ms. Brennan explains that teachers already sit, listen and note what children are saying when they are working.  “This is where we assess their higher-level thinking and problem-solving skills.  When children have the chance to be the teacher, it really has an impact; they are empowered by their own learning, and when they share it with other children, they feel important and responsible.”

What Comes Next?

Sarah Rolle says to me, “I think that it’s your call how you focus your article. You can keep it centered on the iPad, but I think that technology has ramped up in certain ways because the Kindergarten teachers have been in the computer lab with the kids.”  She is right: there is more to it than just iPads, and herein lies the story, at least for The Elisabeth Morrow School, and maybe for schools in general.
    Technologies, like the iPads and the interactive white boards recently installed in many classrooms, are injecting excitement into teaching and learning.  Having tools such as iPads in Kindergarten affirms our belief that technology has a place at all levels in our school.  It energizes students and teachers and revitalizes approaches to curriculum for students who live in a digital world.   The success of iPads in Kindergarten had led to the introduction of iPads into first- and second-grade classrooms and into the Special Learning Programs this fall.

Elisabeth Morrow Adopts a New Handwriting Program

by Beth Anne­ Brennan

Director of ­Early Childhood Programs



The topic of handwriting skills, fading within the curriculum of many schools, is often featured in newspapers and articles, and debated in educational circles across the country.  The faculty at Elisabeth Morrow weighed in on these debates, did some research, consulted with occupational therapists, and recently reevaluated our own teaching practices for developing the skills of handwriting.  We found that a change would be beneficial for all learners; thus the Handwriting Without Tears program was adopted this fall. 
Handwriting is an essential skill for children and remains the primary tool of communication for young learners. Poor handwriting has been linked to poor spelling, poor note-taking skills, and an aversion to writing in later grades (1).  Our goal in teaching handwriting in the Early Childhood Program is that it should be automatic (done without thinking about it), neat and performed quickly.   As well, our teaching should focus on the needs of all types of learners. We felt that the Handwriting Without Tears program provided a multi-sensory approach, designed to make fluent handwriting an intuitive skill. 
More than just pencil-in-hand, the program uses play dough, wood pieces to build letters, dry erase boards, chalk boards and songs about letters (order and rhyme).  The variety of materials enables our children to explore, manipulate, or play with letters during center time in school. Each of these materials has specific objectives in mind for the varying stages of handwriting development.  So far, we are finding that the techniques for instruction are uniform, meaning that letter formation builds upon basic shapes and strokes—a process that makes sense for teachers, parents and most importantly, children.    
The Handwriting Without Tears program has been in use for over thirty-five years and occupational therapists and educators have been steadily advocating its implementation as handwriting problems increase due to keyboard use becoming more prevalent.  At Elisabeth Morrow, the program has already met with favorable results.  One of our Kindergarten teachers recently commented on how much she loved teaching handwriting this year:  “The children are having meaningful experiences manipulating letters, and I am noticing that more children are having success transferring their learning to their written work.” 


1 Feder, K.P., & Majnemer, A. (2007). “Handwriting development, competency, and intervention.” Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 49, 312-317