Lowell Mills

Did you know that we have a National Park just 20 minutes away from Burlington?  The Lowell Mills are a perfect location to learn about history and especially immigration.  Girls came from New England farms to work the looms, turning cotton into cloth.  Lowell has had immigrants from countries all over the world whose traditions and culture shape the town today.  We did an assortment of hands-on activities to familiarize ourselves with the immigration process and the lifestyle of those who lived in Lowell.  



Do you know your name?  That is one of the questions that immigrants were asked upon arrival at Ellis Island.  The fourth graders received a passport with information about their new identity.  They were asked to learn their name and where they were from.  The "immigration officer" who was Pauline, our tour guide, rang a bell and stamped each child's passport to show that they were allowed to stay.

What is your name?

Where are you from?

What year did you arrive?

Next we discussed where we were from.  We broke up into our groups based on this information and began to unpack a bundle of artifacts. These items were things that reminded of family and friends, tools that could be used in their new home, clothing, items that demonstrate traditions, and religious artifacts.  Our task was to set up all of the items from the bundle as a museum would, so we had to look for patterns of items that could be categorized together.

After lunch, we acted out a scene from a town meeting.  Each fourth grader received a role card and an article of clothing.  The town meeting was about what to do with some unruly Irish teenagers and whether or not building a school would help solve the problem.

Finally we got to see where the "Mill Girls" worked, ate, and slept.  

We learned a lot and had an outstanding day!  Thank you to Pauline of Lowell Mills.  Thank you to Mrs. Miner for chaperoning and sharing photos.  Also, thank you to Mrs. Scali, Mrs. Proel, and Ms. Armstrong for chaperoning and helping out.

Soles4Souls

Pine Glen Student Council Fundraiser!

    Have shoes hanging out in the back of your closet taking up space? Soles4Souls can help solve that problem for you!

Soles4Souls is a foundation that donates new/gently used shoes to people in need.   Shoes donated are shipped to people whose communities have been destroyed by disasters. Some of these disasters include hurricanes and tsunamis. This fundraiser is a great way to give hope to people who have lost everything!

What to donate:

• Sneakers
• Boots
• Dress Shoes

    *All gently used*

When to donate:

We will be collecting donations until Wednesday, January 18th.  

Where to put donations:

Donation boxes will be located outside the gym. If your shoes have laces, please be sure to tie them together before placing them in the box.  

For more information, check out the Soles4Souls website https://soles4souls.org/  or ask a student council member!

Mystery Guest Readers Week 1

Throughout the month of December we have Mystery Guest Readers come in and read aloud a picture book to our amazing fourth graders.  Some are winter or holiday-themed, while others are simply favorites.  This is such a wonderful opportunity to share amazing literature and for the fourth graders to hear others read aloud with expression.  Check out the photos from our first week of readers!

Mr. Lyons was our first reader.

Mr. Lyons read Tree of Cranes by Allan Say

Assistant Superintendent, Mr. Larkin shared a true story about Jackie Robinson.

We made a lot of connections to history and baseball in Testing the Ice by Sharon Robinson.

Ms. Sacco, the reading and writing coach, shared a book with amazing illustrations.

We really liked the message of The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by William Joyce.

Mrs. Conlon was our first parent and she definitely surprised Mia!  We really liked the soft pages and message of One Snowy Night by M. Christina Butler.

Scholastic Book Fair

The Scholastic Book Fair is coming to Pine Glen the week of December 12-16.  

Our class will be doing a preview to browse books on Monday, December 12.

Our purchase date is Thursday, December 16.

You can also order online at

http://www.scholastic.com/bf/pineglenelementaryschool

There is a 6.25% sales tax on all purchases.

You can volunteer to help out by signing up at https://goo.gl/forms/PKjzVVKDB8azGbED3

An Awesome Week of Collaboration in the Books

It started off with Rocket Day.  The Science Center shared their knowledge and assistance with us so that we could blast off the rockets we have built over the past few weeks.  

Tuesday we had flashlight reading with our Kindergarten buddies in Ms. Parnell's class.  

Wednesday Ms. Fallon dressed us up for the Green Screen to become the Statue of Liberty and Mr. Donoff took our photos.  

Friday Ms. Pavlicek returned to our ELA class for some Creepy Crawlies to bring some nonfiction knowledge to our reading of the fiction stories How to Eat Fried Worms and Cockroach Cooties. We got to hold Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches and Red Wigglers.

We earned all of our Hoot Cards to receive the next incentive...Pajama Day!  Lots of sports PJ's were present. Matthew, Nicholas and I even matched.  

3...2...1...Blast Off!

Halloween, Crazy Hat Day, and Rocket Day!  What better way to start off the week?  Ms. Pavlicek shared how inventors got their ideas for flight from nature and in the environment around them. We observed a hawk named Ella whose wings demonstrate this inspiration.  Ms. P. then showed us how our rockets will demonstrate thrust using a Rocket Car.  Then it was time for us to blast off our own Rockets.  Thank you to all of our parents who spectated and volunteered, making this an incredibly success final Rocket Day.