Author Day: Wednesday, June 20

Families are invited to attend Room 16's "Author Day" on 6/20 from 1:30-2:30.

Students are working hard finishing up their final pieces of writing and organizing their writing portfolios in an effort to present the best of what they have written in the past year. 

We know you will be entertained!

Next week is Spirit Week!

The following events have been planned for Spirit Week, from 6/11-6/15:

Monday: wear something from your favorite sports team

Tuesday: Wear your Be the One t-shirt, or green and white

Wedensday: Wear your pajamas to school

Thursday: wear patriotic colors (red, white and blue)

Friday: mismatch, crazy hair and cafeteria Mix it Up day



Tomorrow is Field Day!!

Please remember to wear sneakers!  Each grade has a different color theme.  If possible, fourth graders are to wear white t-shirts.  The weather looks like it's cooperating for us to have a fabulous day!

Field Trip tomorrow to the Blue Hills Weather Observatory!

Please wear sneakers and dress for hiking in whatever weather is expected.  We plan to leave at 8:35 and return at approximatly 1:45.

The Wax Museum comes to Room 16!

Something very special occurred in Room 16 today... the room was transformed into a Wax Museum full of a diverse, famous figures.  Our first grade Reading Buddies who visited the museum entered a completely dark room filled with statues ranging form Queen Elizabeth I to wrestler John Cena.  Once in the darkened room, first graders  were able to shine a magical light onto the statues making them come to life!  The statues would tell all about themselves, then freeze once more.

Let me tell you that I could not be more proud of the incredible performances these fourth graders gave today!  Every single students knew their characters history, their accomplishments, and many fun facts that they could easily share quite often without even looking at their notes.  Their costumes and props made the museum very realistic and exciting for our first grade visitors.  It was a huge success because the fourth graders made it so!  Well done!!  PLEASE see the pics and flics page for pictures of each statue.

Our Time of Chicks

Take a "Peep" at what's been happening in the 4th grade!

In the past weeks, we were given the opportunity to be part of chick hatching.  An incubator with chick eggs was in our room for several days while the eggs slowly hatched.  We could even hear the chicks chirping from inside the eggs!  48 hours after hatching, the chicks were moved to their "brooding box" where they were safe with food, water, and a heat lamp.  Students cared for the chicks for about a week, keeping them clean and playing with them in the classroom.  It was amazing how quickly they grew! 

MCAS on Tuesday

On Tuesday, March 20, fourth graders at Fox Hill will have the Long Composition portion of MCAS.  This can be one of the longer days of MCAS for many children as they are asked to write a narrative essay from a prompt.  Students need to work through all of the stages of writing that we have been practicing: brainstorming, planning, writing a rough draft, editing/revising, adding SALT, and finally writing a final draft of their essay.  For some, this task will take most of the day.

Because it is a "marathon," we allow students to make themselves comfortable on that day, even bringing slippers and wearing pajamas if they'd like.  They can chew gum if they bring it from home as well.

I strongly encourage parents to make sure that students go to bed early on Monday night, get a good night's sleep, and eat a hearty, healthy breakfast on Tuesday morning.  They will break for snack and it would be very helpful if the snacks they bring are healthy snacks that will keep them focused and working hard.  This is a long day and we need to do everything we can to make it as comfortable as possible!

Personal Assitant for the Day!

At the recent fundraiser auction, Joey won the opportunity to be Mrs. Wood's Personal Assistant for the Day!  Some of his responsibilities were to plan the morning work, write the morning message, run the morning meeting, help teach classes and assign students homework.  As payment, Joey and two friends were treated to ice cream at School House Ice Cream.  What a fabulous Personal Assistant he was!

Running a game of "Alibi"



Ahhh, it's nice to have an Assistant!

And finally, the ice cream reward!

The Patriots Send a Thank You!

Room 16 received a package yesterday straight from the New England Patriots!  Just after the loss of the Superbowl, kids in our class wrote to members of the Patriots team letters of support.  Our goal was to offer some advice on how they might handle their defeat, and perhaps share a similar experience that we have had.  Yesterday, in response to our letters, the Patriot's organization sent every student in our room a team picture and a Patriot's pencil.  Also in the package was a pennant that now hangs above our classroom door. 

In part, the enclosed letter reads, ".... thank you for your support of the team!...The Patriots recognize the importance of hard work, dedication and teamwork...We hope that each of you will strive to exemplify these values in your schoolwork, since education is very important to success in life...we loved reading your thoughtful letters!"

This made for an exciting Leap Day!

Valentine's Day

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and Room 16 will celebrate at the end of the day with a snack, a story, and an activity. Students may bring in:
- an extra snack for themselves to have at the end of the day
- Valentine cards for everyone in class, or none at all

*** I found out after kids left on Friday that students are not able to bring in cards with candy attached or candy to give out to kids. If any comes in, we've been asked to send it back home.

I'm sorry for the confusion this late notice has caused!

Shiver me Timbers!

Using a Pirate Dictionary, students have been busy writing original pirate stories!  To accompany their written stories, the scallywags in room 16 created their own pirate videos using an app called Toontastic on the ipads.  Ask your pirate what they thought- were their videos treasures or should they walk the plank?  Pics to follow.

Be the One Teacher's Dance

At long last, the dance is here!