Blogs, Blogs, and More Blogs!

We wrapped up 2016 with collaboration with our Kindergarten friends in Mrs. Parnell's class.  Our Animal Projects began in November with determining the difference between living and nonliving things.  Then, we picked an animal and did research together to prove our animal is a living thing.  Next, we wrote scripts of questions and answers and made masks to show disguise ourselves as the animals.  Finally, we became movie stars in our own animal videos!  The last day before vacation was our viewing party.

Aaron, Nehemiah and Evan as owls

Check out Mrs. Parnell's blog for more awesome pictures of our activities.

http://pineglenroom101.blogspot.com/2016/12/k-4th-grade-animal-project-viewing.html

As a class, we decided that PERSISTENCE will be a resolution of 2017.  Although some things may be challenging, we will work hard and try again as many times as needed to find success.  Ms. Marcus tasked us with building a structure using 30 gumdrops and 30 toothpicks that could hold two Social Studies text books.  It was definitely a challenge, but we persevered and learned how to work together to try difference things.  Though we may not have all been able to hold up our text books, we definitely enjoyed the process and look forward to demonstrating persistence in the future.  Please click on the link to the Ed Tech blog in order to learn more about the task and to watch a fun video of our attempts.

http://www.bpsedtech.org/2017/01/05/persistence-in-coding/

Mr. Lyons has featured 4th graders on his blog multiple times in the past few weeks.  We have had multiple Students of the Week from Room 207.  He also put some photos of our Cultural Day on his blog. 

http://pineglenprincipal.blogspot.com/2016/12/grade-4-cultural-day.html?m=1

Finally, I wanted to share some memories of September - December of 2016 in Room 207.

 September

 Penny Chemical Reaction

 Multiples Math Game

Writer's Notebook Fashion Show

 Rocket Day!

 We built these!

 Group Work during Social Studies

 We are all connected during Morning Meeting

 

We work all over the room.  Do you see Tremont?

4th grade loves PJ day!

 Student Council speeches

Marshmallow Flippers

 Becoming the Statue of Liberty

Using the Green Screen

 Lowell Mills lunch

December concert

 

Mrs. Eagar (formerly Ms. Hayes) a Mystery Guest Reader

Mackenzie's uncle, Harry, who serves in the Air Force and went to Pine Glen came and read to us

Mrs. Lynch read to us and did a fish activity.

Tremont is ready to learn more. Are you?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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.