Bookworm Buzz

Dear Reader,
The Sweethearts of Rhythm, by Marilyn Nelson, and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, tells the story of the all girl inter-racial swing band of the 1940s. I LOVED THIS BOOK!!! Liv and I were looking for a book about famous female trombone players (Liv plays the trombone) and discovered this picture book. The story opens in a pawn shop in New Orleans, LA on the eve of Hurricane Katrina. The instruments begin to talk to each other after the owner locks the door for the night, and soon realize that they were all part of the same swing band during World War II. Each instrument tells the story of its owner in the form of a poem. Each poem is titled after a jazz or swing standard. All of the poems, when linked together, tell the history of the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, and the issues they faced as an inter-racial group prior to the civil rights movement of the 1960s. At the end of the book, dawn is approaching, and the instruments begin playing a tune together as Hurricane Katrina arrives on their doorstep. This was a very moving tribute to a little known aspect of American History. Here is a clip of the band performing. Read this with a parent, they won't want to pass this one up!
Read on, readers!
Love,
Mrs. W

A Big Bite

WOW! What a busy week. We have finished reading Charlotte's Web and taken the last theme test in reading. Also, we have read over 1,000 books as a class this year. During the next few weeks we will be reflecting on the progress we have made in reader's workshop and will be setting goals for summer reading. In math, we are working on chapter 11 and the test will be this Friday. We are working on String Art designs and tied our shirts for Tie Dye Tuesday. All of the electricity teams were able to make a motor run, and light a bulb with a switch this past week, and we will be building an electromagnet this week. The US EXPO was a great success (see the pictures below). Great job everyone! In writing, we are finishing up the final district writing prompt for the year and are preparing our poems for the Poetry Coffeehouse. Our coffeehouse will take place on Wednesday June 9th at 9:00 a.m. in the classroom. The Poetry Bands will start practicing this week. There will be an open mic time at our coffeehouse, so bring a poem to share! Fourth grade is coming to an end quickly, not much time left!
Have a great weekend.
Mrs. Williams

A Big Bite

On Thursday, May 27th, we showcased our Social Studies portfolios at the US EXPO. Thanks to all of the parents who were able to come in and see all of the fantastic work that the children did. Mrs. Lussier's 1st grade class was so impressed, that they each wrote a paragraph about what they saw and what they learned, and then they read their paragraphs to us. Great job 4th AND 1st graders!

A Big Bite

This has been a very busy week for us and it is not over yet! I thought it would be best to tell it in pictures and video. We have had the recorder concert, Patty's celebration and began getting ready for the EXPO. Enjoy!

Spotlight Archives

Here is Jules at her dance recital. Let the sun shine!

A Big Bite

It was a very productive week in room 23. We finished practicing for the math MCAS which starts on Monday(Session 1) and Session 2 is on Tuesday. We learned about magnetism in science and made magnet mazes. That was fun! We learned about the Navajo of the Southwest and about other famous people from this region. We are on chapter 15 in Charlotte's Web and Charlotte has begun her master plan for saving Wilbur's life. We are continuing to read silently in the "Zone," and will soon start setting goals for summer reading. We made good progress in writing by finishing some poems and starting some free writing. In Open Circle we are continuing to talk about e-mail, texting and cyber bullying. We also want to talk more about friendships, especially since our friendships may be changing as we get older. It is hard to believe that there are only 5 weeks left in the school year. We have many fun activities planned and we should stay busy right up until the end! Keep up to date with all of our events with the Important Dates gadget on the right. Have a great weekend, it sounds like everyone has some fun things planned, including relaxing!
By,
Bryan and Mrs. W

A Juicy Nibble

Our day with Mrs. Cronin!

A Big Bite

What a creative week we have had in room 23. Ms. Liz came and helped us write some very beautiful poetry. We can't wait until she returns in June for our Coffeehouse! Math MCAS practice has continued and we have one more week to get ready. We have begun our travels in the American Southwest, and we are learning about electricity and magnetism in Science. The tile project is on Monday and Mrs. Hess helped the students prepare for this project by painting in Art class on Thursday. Charlotte's Web continues to be enjoyed by everyone, we just can't get over how "gullible" Wilbur seems to be. He has just learned that Mr. Zuckerman is fattening him up so that he can turn him into crispy bacon at Christmas time. What will Charlotte do? How will she be able to save him? One thing is for certain, we all agreed that one quality of a true friend is that they stick up for us and don't let other people say mean things about us, or to us. Great job everyone!

Have a wonderful weekend!

At the Core

May 4, 2010

Dear Parents,
For the past several years, the fourth grade has had the opportunity to work with an “Artist in Residence”, Barbara Cronin. The fourth graders create a ceramic tile with the artist in their classrooms. The tiles are then mounted on the walls around Kennedy. You can find some of our tiles in the lobby, the library, the hallway outside of the nurse’s office, and in the hallway near the cafeteria.
This year, students will be painting tiles which correspond to both social studies and art. They will be painting totem poles which resemble those made during art class and our study of Canada. Students will complete a “rough draft” of their tile in art, and then paint it with our artist. We are grateful to the Kennedy PCC for paying for the materials for this project, and for Mrs. Cronin for donating her time.
As this is a one day event for your child’s class, this is a project which cannot be made up. For your information, Mrs. Cronin will be at Kennedy on May 10th and 11th. Each class will paint a tile on one of these days. If your child is absent on the day his/her class is painting the tiles, there will be no make-up day.
We are looking forward to another great tile mural!

The Fourth Grade Team

Proposed Schedule:
May 10th: Mrs. Adams & Mrs. Williams
May 11th: Mrs. Mecklenburg & Mrs. Merten