Newsletter 5-31-12

The Green Meadow Gazette

May 31, 2012

Upcoming & Important Events:

·        Friday, June 1^st – Book orders due

·        Friday, June 1^st – Biography projects due

·        Monday, June 4^th – Biography costumes due

·        Tuesday, June 5^th – Field Day

·        Thursday, June 7^th – Wax Museum for Biography Project (1:15 – 2:00)

·        Tuesday, June 12^th – Walking field trip to Erikson’s (12:45 – 2:30)

Classroom News:

Hannah: Lately in cursive we have learned 3 more letters: uppercase X, V, and W. The way we write them in cursive is X, V, and W. The only letters are have left to learn are B, F, G, I, J, L, P, Q, R, S, and T, and we are done. We have already finished lowercase letters and we have moved on to capital letters and are almost done. It’s a good idea to have kids know more than one way to write.

Graham: Last week Ms. Little read us a book about colonial jobs. These are some of the jobs. The cobbler is someone that made shoes. Then there was the hatter which made hats. There was the blacksmith which made things out of iron. There was the pewterer which made things out of pewter. There was the tanner which made things from leather. There was the silversmith which made things out of silver. There was the cabinetmaker which made things out of wood. There was the clockmaker which made clocks. There was the miller which ground wheat. There was the wheelwright which is someone who makes wheels. Then there was a cooper which makes barrels. Then there was a barber which makes wigs. There was the tailor which makes clothes. There was a whitesmith which made things out of tin. For the game, I was a blacksmith.

Samantha: On Tuesday Mrs. Titus and Mrs. Ablard came in from Fowler to answer our questions after we went to Up Day. We asked all different questions. For example, Morgan asked where we go to get in the building. Mrs. Titus said we have to go in the side entrance with the 5^th graders. I did not ask any questions but other people did.

Lindsey: Last week Mr. Marc came in from the Library. We played bingo. I was on Team B. We had to do all of these games. We would get cards to get bingo. We had to answer true or false questions. If we got them right we got a card. If we got them wrong we wouldn’t get a card.

Thomas: Last week we did adding and subtracting money in Math. We practiced on the Smartboard and on our white boards. We did this because in life you have to add and subtract money. If you’re trying to buy something at Best Buy like a computer and a video game, you’d need to know how much it costs. If the computer costs $25 and the video game costs $0.99, that’s like a dollar, so total amount would be $26 or $25.99.

Aiden: Last week we started a new book called The Witches. It’s about a kid whose parents die and he now lives with his Grandmama. She tells him about witches. We stopped reading it because some people were scared. So we started reading the fourth book of A Series of Unfortunate Events instead.

Joseph: In Cursive we did the letters K, U, and Y. We got to listen to music when we did the sheet. When we did cursive at the beginning of the year everyone was excited. Once we finish the page in our packet we do practice. Practice is when we get an extra sheet with the letter we just learned and practice on it.

Brianna: On Monday it was Memorial Day. Memorial Day is to celebrate veterans who have passed. We normally have a parade and then we go to graveyards to celebrate how they fought for us and our country. So on Memorial Day kids didn’t have school and adults didn’t have work because it was a holiday.

Kyleigh: Last week Ms. Little’s class had Library. We checked out interesting books. We also went on the computer and played some fun games. I played a game called Create a Car. It made me learn how to build! Thank you for reading this!

Robbi: Last Thursday we went to Up Day. Up Day is when we go to the Fowler for 4^th grade buddies. We got to do a project with them in the classroom. We also had lunch with our buddy. The cafeteria is big so the way you get lunch is you walked into the big room and pick your lunch. We also had a 30 minute recess.

Morgan: In Writing we have to pick a poem for our class poem book. The reason we are doing this is because we want to have a book of all our poems from each person in the class. We picked one poem that we think is our best. Everyone gets to have one poem in the book.

Dorinda: Two weeks ago we finished reading A Series of Unfortunate Events #3 – The Wide Window. This week we’re reading A Series of Unfortunate Events #4. A Series of Unfortunate Events is a nice book and lots of people like it. There are 13 books in the series. Aunt Josephine got eaten by leeches in the third book.

Cara: Last week in Music we practiced our songs for the concert. We learned part three of the song. We also practiced our recorders. I am doing Beethoven. At the end of music some kids played the song in front of the class.

Rory: After Up Day we got brochures. The fourth graders made them. Mine was made by a girl named Kayla. It had specials like Gym, Library, and Art. And it had the field trips they go on, like Erikson’s and more! They had a map of the fourth grade hallway which was great because it will help me when I go to 4^th grade.

Henry: Lately in poetry people have been finishing the drafting papers and are doing final copies. So far I’m on my final copies. So far, I’ve written eleven poems. I’m not even done with all my poems. There are about ten more. My topic is soccer players. The only two players I did were Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. I also wrote one poem about Iker Casillas but that is the only poem I wrote about him.

David: This week we did spelling. First we put our words on cards. Then we had to pick something to do on the Smartboard. A friend and I were partners to practice our spelling words. When you practice with a partner, you give your cards to your partner and they say the word. Then you have to say to them how to spell it.

Kate: Last week we celebrated filling up the bulletin board with paws. We went outside to do it. At the celebration we got bubbles. Some bubble cases were orange and some were black. We also had a dance party and they gave us popsicles.

Vinny: Yesterday we went to Gym and we made some posters for our teams. We had to decorate them. The posters are for field day. There is one team called The Cucumbers. There’s another team named the Tiger Survivors.

Reese: Last week in class we made colonial job signs. There are tons of jobs. One is the hatter. The hatter made hats out of beaver skins. My colonial job sign said “The Mad Hatter.” I liked making the signs. It was fun!

Alonso: In Math we did grocery shopping. We had $20 to spend and we had these grocery magazines. We used them to look at the things to buy. We had a group of four or five people and we each took turns picking something to buy. We wrote it down on a piece of paper. We put the name of the item and its price. We added all the items up at the end.

Ms. Little:  Biography projects (timelines and paragraphs) are due this Friday, June 1^st. Costumes and/or props are due Monday, June 4^th.  Our “Wax Museum” for our biography projects will be Thursday, June 7^th from 1:15 – 2:00. Please contact me if you are unable to come at this time as there are times we will be practicing for other classes that you may come to instead. Enjoy the weekend.

Newsletter 5-24-12

The Green Meadow Gazette

May 24, 2012

Upcoming & Important Events:

·        Monday, May 28^th – Memorial Day (no school)

·        Wednesday, May 30^th – Field Trip to Middlesex Savings Bank

·        Friday, June 1^st – Book orders due

Classroom News:

Samantha: On Monday we started drafting our poems for our poem books. Our poems are all about one topic. My topic is nature and I have 10 or 11 poems. There are all different kinds of poems. For example, a ballad is one kind. I like the poetry unit.

Cara: In Music we learned a new part of a song. Then we sang it in groups. We practiced our assigned song on the recorders. We have assigned seats to sit. Some people sat in the hall and some in the classroom.

Hannah: The four choices in literacy are read to self, read to someone, work on writing, and spelling. Lately, in literacy, Ms. Little is keeping a list of people who aren’t behaving, and those people don’t get to choose what they do next time during literacy. She will choose what literacy activity you do first and what order you do them in. But if you behave, you will be able to choose what activity you do first and what order you do them in. I think it was a good idea to make a list of kids who are not behaving.

Robbi: Last week we played dodgeball. We played because we filled up the marble jar. I loved playing dodgeball because dodgeball is my favorite game in gym. We went to the gym during a time when Mrs. Hazel did not have other students and played with our class. I got out only three times.

Kyle: Last week we went to Library. I like Library because there are computers. My favorite computer game is Sugar, Sugar. Sugar, Sugar is a game where you get the sugar in cups. I also like checking out books. The books are really good. Some are also funny.

Joseph: Last week we had Gym. We played triple bucket relay. The triple bucket relay is something that we do for a warm up. This is how we do it: we stack 6 buckets face down, 3 on the bottom, 2 in the middle, and 1 on the top. Then we did the bone relay. We have to get a word out of the bucket and put it on a certain part of the body on the skeleton. The team that gets all the parts right first wins! But the team that gets all the bones right last or gets one wrong loses. Then you take a sheet that has a skeleton on it and the word you picked out of the bucket you put on the rectangles on the sheet. Then Ms. Little picks us up.

James: Last month we started Book 3 of A Series of Unfortunate Events. The Baudelaires just rescued Aunt Josephine but the leeches are attaching the boat. Count Olaf is going to get rid of Aunt Josephine. That is what happened and what will happen.

Kate: In Art we drew faces from a card. I got a jack. After that, we did an eye exercise. There are two hard ones. One of them is a horse and the other one is an owl. This is how you do the eye exercises. You get a paper and copy what’s in the first box. In the box there is a shape and then there is a shape over it.

Morgan: On Monday, Ms. Little read a book to us in Math. The book was called Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday. The book was a math book about money! As Ms. Little read, we were subtracting from $1.00 because Alexander was losing his money.

Reese: Last week in Poetry we wrote Shape Poems. What you do is you choose something about your topic. For example, my topic is seasons, so for my shape poem I wrote about Santa Claus. We made a list of 20 describing words or more. Then we would draw a shape of something related to what we wrote about. I drew a Santa hat. Then you would write those describing words around the shape. I liked making them. J

Vinny: Last week we compared some money in Social Studies. We looked at different kinds of money, regular (2012) money, and colonial money. Then we tried to sort them into different groups and talked about what was the same and different. The 2012 dollar has George Washington and the colonial money didn’t. The colonial money had a picture of a flag. They both had signatures and borders. I liked looking at the money.

David: This week we did Spelling. We got out new lists and we wrote our words on cards. When we were done making our cards, we picked a spelling activity from the list on the Smartboard. Some spelling choices are practice with a partner, write your words three times on your white board, write in rainbow words, or put your words in ABC order.

Brianna: Last week we did a reading thing. The reasons why we did it was 1. To be a better reader, and 2. To read and know what you’re reading about. We had to go with different teachers like Mrs. Corke, Mrs. Matthei, and Mrs. Enneguess, and we had to go to a different room.

Lindsey: Last week we went to Mr. Mehigan’s classroom to see a play. It was about Paul Revere. I was sitting in the front row. It was a very short play. I had a great time. I liked Amelia’s part. She did a great job as the narrator.

Graham: Last week in Writing Workshop we wrote free form poems. Free form poems are poems that you can write however you want. On a Ballad you have to have stanzas, a Mentiras has to be a lie, a Diamante has to be in the shape of a diamond, and so on.  And you can write whatever you want on a free form, and you can make it rhyme if you want. For example:

Sardines are very bland

But when they land

They’re canned.

Kyleigh: On May 21, 2012, Ms. Little’s class was collecting postcards and reading them during meeting. Morgan had a postcard from Hawaii and I received one from Paris. It was from my grandparents. People were traveling places and sending postcards because they wanted to help us fill up the whole map! And we did it! We filled the whole map! And more postcards can still be sent.

Dorinda: Last week Ms. Little read us The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere. It was a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Before we read the story, we acted out a play. I learned that Paul Revere married Sarah, and Sarah died, so he married Rachel. I also learned that Paul Revere’s ride was dangerous, and that Paul Revere was a silversmith.

Rory: On Monday we played Sparkle. Sparkle is a spelling game. It is when Ms. Little says a word like mouse. Then someone says “M.” The next person says “O.” The person next to them says “U” and two other people say “S” and “E.” Then the next person says the part of speech, like if it’s a noun, verb, adjective, or adverb. If that person is right, then the next person uses the word in a sentence. The person after that says, “Sparkle!” And the person who is sparkled has to sit down.

Thomas: Yesterday in Math we were reviewing how much each coin was worth. We also did adding and subtracting with money. A penny is worth 1 cent, a dime is with 10 cents, a quarter is worth 25 cents, and a nickel is worth 5 cents. There is money all over the earth except it’s not all the same.

Alonso: Last week we had 1^st grade buddies. It was one of our last times with our buddies. I had a great time. We read Frog and Toad. I thought it was funny. I wonder when it will be over. I think it’s fun to have reading buddies.

Aiden: Last week in Cursive we learned uppercase H, N, and M. M looks like this:  M. N looks like this: N. H looks like this: H. I like cursive because it’s a different way to write.

Henry: Lately in Social Studies we have been learning about Colonial times and money. So we made our own money. Mine is called Henry Socks. The value of my money is 7 dollars. The colors on it are black, purple, and magenta. My money is square shaped also. We did this after we compared colonial money to 2012 money.

Ms. Little:  Homework assignments are going to become less frequent for the remainder of the school year. Your child will be responsible for reading 20 minutes, studying spelling, and working on their biography project each night, but will not always have a worksheet to complete. Please let me know if you have any questions.  Enjoy the weekend.

Newsletter 5-17-12

The Green Meadow Gazette

May 17, 2012

Upcoming & Important Events:

·        Friday, May 18^th – Book orders due

·        Thursday, May 24^th – Up Day

·        Monday, May 28^th – Memorial Day (no school)

Classroom News:

Lindsey: On Monday, May 14, 2012, our class had an assembly. Dorinda, Kyleigh, Robbi, Rory, Skylar, Reese and I sang about being kind, safe learners. We had to sing in front of the whole school. We practiced before we left. It was fun.

Kyle: We are reading A Series of Unfortunate Events #3 (The Wide Window). It is a very good book. It is funny, too. It is funny because Count Olaf keeps following Sunny, Klaus, and Violet. Right now they found a note from Aunt Josephine who is their guardian.

Morgan: This week Ms. Little read a book about Paul Revere. The book was called And Then What Happened, Paul Revere? The book was about Paul Revere’s ride. We read it after we acted in the play.

Thomas: In Math we learned about measuring. We learned about feet, inches, and yards. There are 12 inches in a foot. There are 3 feet in a yard. We practiced measuring on the Smartboard.

Joseph: Once in cursive we learned how to write the uppercase E. It took a while to finish it but we all did. Ms. Little showed us how to do it. It’s like this: you make a little check mark, and then a curve. Then you make a loop and another curve. Then when you finish you raise your hand and Ms. Little comes and checks off your packet page. Then if you have extra time you can do a page of cursive words, names, or letters.

Kyleigh: Yesterday in Ms. Little’s class we were writing Clerihew poems in Writing Workshop. A Clerihew poem is about a famous person.  You write two lines, put a line break, and write two more lines. You need to make each set of lines of your poem rhyme.  So if you want to write a Clerihew poem, then take my advice.

Aiden: This week in Gym we played Doctor Dodgeball. How you play is you pick a doctor and when someone gets out the doctor has to tag them back in. If the doctor gets out you have to make a basket in the basketball hoop. When everyone’s out the other team wins. I like dodgeball because you get to throw balls at people.

Kate: In Music we learned a new song. We also worked on our recorders. I’m working on Beethoven’s Symphony 9. Here are the other options of songs: The Lion Sleeps Tonight, Pop Goes the Weasel, The Saints Go Marching In, and that’s it. We can work in the hallway to practice.

Dorinda: Yesterday, Morgan received a postcard from Boston. Tara, her mom’s friend, sent it to her. In the postcard it said that Tara was going to get married in Hawaii. We have already received a couple of postcards from Hawaii. We have received a postcard from everywhere in the United States.

James: Last week we had to take math MCAS. On the MCAS we compared fractions. We also compared sums. And we added and subtracted. That’s what we did on the MCAS.

Graham: This week we had a presentation about Paul Revere. Everyone had a part in the play. My part was Paul Revere Jr. Paul Revere Jr. only had one part. I learned that Paul Revere liked playing cards with his sister. He was 15 years old and he was the only boy. After the presentation we went to second recess.

David: This week we did Spelling. We got our spelling list and we wrote our words on cards. Then we chose something to do for spelling. We could practice with a partner, write our words three times on a white board, or write colorful words for rainbow words. Some of my words this week are bring and swing.

Alonso: Last week we took a reading test with Mrs. Adamson. It was pretty easy but I did not finish. I hope I get a good score. I think we all got good scores. You have to read the sentences in the test and then choose the answer that makes sense. You have to circle one bubble to finish the question. For example: Ben (saw, went, new) home. You would circle went.

Vinny: Last week we went to Library and we did Type to Learn 3. We typed things like this “FJ FFJ.” And then we got to the final challenge. In the final challenge, you keep on typing but there are more letters. You have to type without looking at the screen.

Henry: Lately in poetry we are writing Mentiras. In Spanish, Mentira means lie. We have to do at least one stanza, and a stanza is four lines. A Mentira poem is all lies and no true stuff. I wrote two Mentiras. Also, each of my mentiras are four stanzas long.

Reese: On Monday, May 14^th, we read Time for Kids. We read with a partner. It was about Earth Day. After that we worked on a paper. Most people didn’t make it to the paper. I learned that hippopotamus horns are worth a lot of money.

Brianna & Samantha: On Tuesday for Math we read a book called How Big is a Foot?  The book was about feet, human feet and measurement feet. The reason we read it was because in math we were doing measurement. In the story there is a king and a queen. It’s the queen’s birthday so the king wants to make her a bed and measures with his human feet. He didn’t get it right. Then we, as a class, had to figure out why the king’s feet weren’t accurate. The other person who measured was too small.

Rory: Last week we saw a movie called A Series of Unfortunate Events.  It was rated PG, but Ms. Little sent home a permission slip to see the movie.  The movie was really funny. My favorite character is Sunny. She is one year old and she loves biting stuff. Violet is the eldest. She is an inventor. Klaus loves to read. They get caught by a person named Count Olaf and he’s a really bad person. If you want to hear any more, you’ll have to see the movie.

Cara: We had Yoga with Samantha’s mom this week. We worked with a partner. We did a pose called the boat. It was fun but complicated, too. You had to hold your partner’s hand, put your feet together, and then lift them inside your hands.

Hannah: Lately, in Art, we have started our drawing unit. It sounds a little bit weird because we have been drawing since kindergarten. But so far in our drawing unit we have learned things like the writing posture techniques like starting by drawing the eye or eyes. We also learned the families of art, which are the dot family, the line family, the circle family, and the curved line family. It is cool to be learning a whole different kind of drawing.

Robbi: On Monday we had an assembly in the cafeteria. Some people were singing. The people that were singing were Dorinda, Reese, Rory, Kyleigh, Skylar, Lindsey, and I. Mrs. Bator read a story called Once upon a Time. I liked the book. There were some teachers who acted out the stories Mrs. Bator read from the book.

Ms. Little:  Homework assignments are going to become less frequent for the remainder of the school year. Your child will be responsible for reading 20 minutes, studying spelling, and working on their biography project each night, but will not always have a worksheet to complete. Please let me know if you have any questions.  Enjoy the weekend.

Paul Revere 5-15-12

On Tuesday our class participated in a special Social Studies activity! We had a visitor from the Paul Revere House in Boston. Each of us had an opportunity to be involved in the play about Paul Revere and his family, which included many of the events that led up to the American Revolution. 

Newsletter 5-10-12

The Green Meadow Gazette

May 10, 2012

Upcoming & Important Events:

·        Friday, May 11^th – Dismissal at 11:25

·        Friday, May 18^th – Book orders due

·        Monday, May 28^th – Memorial Day (no school)

Classroom News:

Joseph: Last Friday we went to Music. In Music we practiced the recorder. We did it because of our concert. First we had to choose our recorder song. Then we had to practice it.

Hannah: Last Friday there was a first grade concert taking place in the cafeteria. All of the first grade classes were participating. Some people in our class were planning to go to it until we figured out that we couldn’t go unless we had a note from our parents that allowed us. It was disappointing to not be able to go to the concert but there will still be other things to go to.

Dorinda: Last week Ms. Little gave us MCAS practice worksheets. We had a whole week to do the worksheets. On Monday we checked the answers. We did MCAS practice worksheets because the real MCAS is on Wednesday, May 9^th and Thursday, May 10^th. We usually do MCAS practice worksheets every time we have MCAS.

Rory: Last week on Friday we read our stories in front of a camera for WAVM. It was fun. I read my essay. It was called Gymnastics Can be Fun but Dangerous. It was dedicated to Isabella Angelone and Emma Rubio. They gave us little microphones. It was taped in the Excel room. I got a little nervous.

Cara: We finished reading A Series of Unfortunate Events. What happened last was Violet got Mr. Poe thinking that Stephano was actually Count Olaf. She found evidence in Count Olaf’s suitcase. Klaus found evidence in a book. At the end, Count Olaf and the hook handed man got away. That’s what happened in book 2 of A Series of Unfortunate Events.

David: In Math we were measuring to the nearest ½ and ¼ inch. We used rulers to measure pictures on a paper. We lined up the 0 on our ruler with the picture to see how long each thing was.

Alonso: Last week we made our May calendars. I think I made a plain one. I got two calendars because I lost one. Sometimes we get them after the month has started. I wonder why we get them after the first day of each month. I can’t wait until I see everyone’s calendar.

Kyleigh: Last week Ms. Little’s class wrote poetry. Some of the types of poems we wrote were acrostics, cinquains, and haikus. What I’m here to talk about is ballad poems! Ballads are poems that have some kind of beat to it. Many ballads rhyme but they don’t have to. While you are writing this kind of poem you need to write from your heart, mind, and hand.

Kate: Last week in Library we learned about a new website. If you want to use it at home then you have to pay for it. It is a typing website. On the website, there are levels. Most people are on level 2 or 3. There are mini games, too.

Henry: Last time we did poetry in Writing Workshop we were learning about Diamante Poems. The reason it’s called that is because when you write one it looks like a diamond. I wrote two Diamantes about two soccer players. The rules of a Diamante are: write the first name of the person on the first line, then two words that describe the person on the next line, then three –ing words, then four nouns related to the person, then three words that describe how the person felt about the things they did, two more describing words, and then on the last line, the person’s last name.

Graham: Yesterday in Art we made little fold up books. You fold them like you fold a fan to flip through the pages. My character’s name was Biddybob. It was hard because my book was falling apart on me. I only got one page done. Then we went back to the classroom.

Samantha: On Tuesday we switched desks for MCAS. I am in a row with Morgan, Kate, Kyleigh, and Aiden. The next row is Cara, James, Joseph, Thomas, Brianna, and Daniel. Another row is Rory, Henry, Dorinda, Hannah, Lindsey, and David. The last row is Kyle, Graham, Robbi, Reese, Vinny, and Alonso.

Brianna: Last Thursday we had visitors from the Middlesex Savings Bank. When the bank people came in they taught us about money. They showed us money that was around a long time ago. And they told us a lot about different kinds of money.

Morgan: Last week we all signed a t-shirt. The t-shirt will say 2012 graduates. We will get these shirts at the ice cream social in June. An ice cream social is a party where we watch a video of pictures of us from kindergarten to 3^rd grade.

Robbi: Last Tuesday in Gym we played dodge ball. We split the class in half. If we got out we would have to do 5 jumping jacks (head shots count). Some people got aggravated because some people kept throwing balls at the same exact people. I can’t wait to play again!

Reese: Last week we went to the lunchroom to watch Mrs. Messina’s class play. It was about the Little Red Hen. It was very funny. I liked when the pigs put on sunglasses. I hope Mrs. Messina and the parents of the students in her class love it.

Aiden: Last week we filled up the marble jar. We got to pick what to do and we picked to play dodge ball. We do not know when we are playing dodge ball yet. I like playing dodge ball because you get to throw balls.

Kyle: This Wednesday and Thursday we are having MCAS. On Tuesday we separated our desks. I think it will be hard. I think the fractions will be the hardest. I hope it is not as hard as I think it is.

James: Last week we took a fraction test. On it we compared fractions. We figured out the mixed numbers. And we compared mixed numbers. That’s what we did on our test.

Thomas: This week we won’t do spelling or have homework. We don’t have to do those things because we have MCAS. Our only homework is to read for 20 minutes each night.

Lindsey: On Monday our class had three Literacy choices to choose from. They were read to self, read to someone, or work on writing.  I chose to read to someone. I read to Rory, and I read him A Series of Unfortunate Events. I read for thirteen minutes. It was awesome.

Ms. Little:  Homework assignments are going to become less frequent for the remainder of the school year. Your child will be responsible for reading 20 minutes and studying spelling each night, but will not always have a worksheet to complete. Please let me know if you have any questions.  Enjoy the weekend.

Newsletter 5-3-12

The Green Meadow Gazette

May 3, 2012

Upcoming & Important Events:

·        Friday, May 4^th – Dismissal at 12:30

·        Wednesday, May 9^th – MCAS testing

·        Thursday, May 10^th – MCAS testing

·        Friday, May 11^th – Dismissal at 11:25

·        Friday, May 18^th – Book orders due

Classroom News:

Lindsey: Last week we finished listening to A Series of Unfortunate Events. Violet signed a paper that made her and Count Olaf be married, but Violet is a righty and she signed the paper with her left hand, so it didn’t count. At the end, Count Olaf said to Violet, “I’ll be back.”

James: Last week we put fractions on a number line. We played a game for it, too. We rolled dice, and then we put them on the line and wrote the fractions. For example, if we rolled a 6, we would write the sixths between 0 and 1. I liked it.

Robbi: This week we have an MCAS math packet for homework. We had to finish the packet by Monday. We also had to do this because we have the real MCAS test next week. During the real MCAS, we also get to chew gum. I hope I do good!

Aiden: Last week we started reading the second book in A Series of Unfortunate Events. The book is called The Reptile Room. It’s about 3 kids whose mom and dad die. They have to live with an uncle named Dr. Montgomery.  The book is by Lemony Snicket.

Cara: We did poetry this week. Ms. Little brought in new objects to observe with our senses. One of them was a bahama fizz candle. It smelled so good! She also brought in a sea urchin shell. It felt really cool. She also brought in a bowl that I think Ms. Little said she kept her earrings in. Then we wrote our observations in our notebook, and turned our observations into poems. For example, I said the bahama fizz candle smelled like the beach. Did I mention it smelled good? That’s what we did in poetry.

Vinny: Yesterday we went to gym and we played dodgeball. To play dodgeball you throw balls at people to try to get them out. When you get out, you have to do 5 sit ups or 5 jumping jacks to get back in. And then you get back in and keep playing.

Alonso: Last week we read Time for Kids. We learned about sugar. Did you know that sugar is found in a lot of foods?  I think you should check what you’re eating. Try eating good snacks like fruit.

Reese: Yesterday in class we learned about the Boston Tea Party. The two things I learned is that the colonists stopped paying for tea and other items from England because of the taxes. I also learned that when they threw the tea in the water, it did not stay on top of the water. I loved the story.

Kyleigh: Today, Ms. Little’s class received a postcard from Maine. A girl named Ashley sent us the postcard. It was very nice of her. She used to be in Ms. Little’s class last year!

Henry: Lately in Writing Workshop we are starting something new: poetry. In poetry, sometimes you need to have line breaks. Line breaks are when you pause. You have to pretend sort of like there is a whole sentence on the line even if there is only one word. Like this:

I

said

hi.

You would pretend there are words there and don’t say anything, just wait like 3 seconds.

Graham: Last week in Writing Workshop we had to pick a theme for all the poems we make. I picked food because I like food. Then we talked to our partners to tell them which theme we chose.

Dorinda: Yesterday we wrote Cinquain poems. There are five rules for writing a Cinquain. The first rule is you have to write a one word title on the 1^st line. The 2^nd line is 2 words that describe the first word. The 3^rd line is 3 words that are actions. The 4^th line is a feeling phrase. The 5^th line is a one word synonym for the title. When we were done writing our Cinquain, we could make another Cinquain or we could make an acrostic poem. I liked writing Cinquains because it was easy.

Hannah: Lately in Math we have been adding and subtracting fractions. What you do is you get a partner, a white board, and two dice. Either you or your partner goes first by rolling the dice. Then, after you roll the dice, you take the two numbers you rolled and make them into a fraction. After you’re done, your partner goes, but they only roll once dice, and keep the fraction’s number on the bottom the same. Then you add or subtract the fractions, but you only add or subtract the numbers on the top. You leave the bottom number the same. It will probably help later in life to know how to add and subtract fractions.

Samantha: On Monday we went to Art. We started a drawing unit. We drew a lion to practice. Then we started a practice page to warm up our eyes. We used our idea book to sketch a picture. The picture is going to be ironed onto a bag. The bag will hold art supplies.

Kate: In Cursive we learned uppercase letters C and D. On one of the cursive practice sheets there were names. On the D practice page were D names, like Dorinda, David, and Daniel, and on the C page was Cara’s name. I almost finished the whole practice sheet. You had to finish the D page to go out to recess.

David: In Math we learned about mixed numbers. Mixed numbers are a whole number and a fraction. For example, 1 5/8 is a mixed number. We played a game about mixed numbers to practice.

Rory: Yesterday we had writing workshop. We were writing Cinquain poems. When we finished, Ms. Little said we could make an acrostic poem. I made one about New Year. An acrostic poem is when you pick a topic and write down the side of the page, and then you write on the letters. For example:

Nice

Exciting

W

Y

E

A

R

Joseph: Last time we went to Library we read about people that invented things. We read about Ray Croc. He invented McDonalds. I forget the rest of their names but they invented frozen vegetables, jeans that lasted longer, and cars. But best of all, we learned about the person who invented Hershey chocolate.

Thomas: Yesterday we switched seats. Every month we switch seats. If a person in your group is bothering you then they get separated from the group.  This time we could pick who we want to sit with, and it’s ok if you’re with your friends.

Morgan: In school we are doing a biography project. We had to pick a person that made history and find a book about them. We have to pick the right book that’s appropriate for us and read it. Then we have to make a timeline. The timeline will have important things that they did in their lifetime on it. Most of the work is going to be done at our houses. Also, it will be is a wax museum. I am going to be Helen Keller.

Ms. Little:  Information about the Biography Project was sent home with your child last week. Please let me know if you have questions or concerns about the project. Also, your child will be taking the math portion of the MCAS next Wednesday and Thursday. Please make sure your child goes to bed at a reasonable time each night, eats a good breakfast each morning, and arrives at school on time each day. The only homework for next week will be to read each night for 20 minutes. Enjoy the weekend!