We had a wonderful Spring Program. Elementary students danced to Shout to the Lord, with streamers. The middle school danced to Go Fast, and high school danced and ministered the songs that they did in Hawaii. The high school electives also danced to I’m Free.
Mrs. Rosario
Field Day
Students had fun doing relay races with obstacle courses. They also did their annual physical fitness test. At the end of the school year we had a field day in the gym.
Mrs. Rosario
Poetry
For writer’s workshop we have been studying different types of poetry and the different things that inspire poets, such as people, objects, places, and nature. During this unit we took a class trip to the Botanical Gardens. Students were able to see firsthand how and why poets get inspired by nature as they experienced it themselves. When we returned to school students wrote a poem about what inspired them the most on our trip (flowers, trees, insects, fish, ponds) in whatever form they liked: haiku, rhyming, free verse, etc.
The connection- at the end of our units of science and writing, students wrote poems about the life cycle of a butterfly.
Miss Laforest
Butterflies
Fourth grade has been making a science and writing connection. In science we have been exploring the life cycle of butterflies. We have observed and studied 20 butterfly larvae (caterpillars) and watched them eat and grow until they went into their chrysalis, where most of their metamorphosis takes place. Finally, the beautiful butterflies emerged and we released them outside to find new habitats.
Miss Laforest
Iroquois Confederacy
This month in Social Studies we are studying the Native Americans of New York State. After learning about their history and lives, 4th grade is now becoming members of the Iroquois confederacy. Each student has been given a Native American name, is part of one of the 5 tribes of the confederacy, and has a role in it- clan mother, council leader, respected elder, or storyteller. Next, we will be having a council meeting in which the tribes will be given situations they have to decide on and vote about. Every member gets to share their opinion first. Finally, our storyteller will share stories they have made up that teach a lesson.
Miss Laforest
Medieval Times
Students are studying Medieval Europe and taking a closer look at how a feudal society works. Not only are we revisiting a time of kings, queens, knights, serfs, manors, and castles, we are also seeing how some of the laws we would eventually use when forming our own country came to be. As a culminating activity students create a shield for their own family and describe what symbols and colors they used and what they each represent.
Miss Laforest
Fly Me To The Moon
In November we visited the Museum of Natural History. While there, we saw a space show at the planetarium in which we became astronauts that were traveling from earth to the moon. We got to see the moon up close and even the dark side that is never visible to us on earth. We also explored the museum’s exhibits of African and North American mammals. This let us see what the animals we have studied about, as well as what their habitats, actually looked like.
Miss Laforest
NYC Fire Museum
Students had fun on our trip to the New York City Fire Museum. While there we learned about how the first fire brigades and departments in New York formed. We got to see up close antique fire engines and gear, as well as a 911 memorial. We ended the trip having to escape safely from a room on fire and describe all fire hazards we found while going through it.
Miss Laforest
Go Kidney Beans
This month in Science is we studied the plant cycle- from seed to adult. First, we diagramed the parts of a seed and then planted beans to watch them grow. This was part of an experiment in which we followed the scientific method in order to figure out which bean sprout grows the fastest (this year the kidney beans won!). The class had to form hypothesis’, observe and collect data daily, then form a conclusion about whether or not they were able to confirm their hypothesis or not.
Miss Laforest
Olympics
During the month of December, our 4th and 5th grade students competed in their very own Olympics. During the Olympics students had the opportunity to compete in a wide array of events ranging from the flexed arm hang to the hula-hoop and relay races. These were just some of the events that the students could participate in. Not only did the Olympics offer students a healthy way to compete, but they learned the value of teamwork and good sportsmanship.
Mr. Wong