Middle School Updates

Hey everyone! How are you? I'm doing great. Still working at BrainPOP and having lots of fun. Do any of your middle school teachers use BrainPOP? Eli says hello (well, not really, but I know that's what he means when he makes his funny little sounds!), and is going to be 1 in a few weeks! I can hardly believe it!

Please share updates about how you are doing in middle school! What are your favorite classes? How many hours of homework do you have? What are your teachers like? What books are you reading? Tell us!

Miss you guys heaps**


**Allisyn

*Graduation*

Hi guys! I am SO proud of you! It was really amazing to see you graduate. Eli was very impressed. I'm sorry I didn't get to see all of you and give you big hugs and say hello to your families afterwards. Eli really, really needed a nap and got kind of cranky. You know how it is. But I would love to keep our blog going so we can always find each other and see what everyone is up to.

Hayat and Serina, thanks for the great blog comments! Keep writing:)

Have a super fabulous, fun-filled summer before... MIDDLE SCHOOL!

Love you guys!

**Allisyn

*newest member of our class!*

SO good to see you guys yesterday! Even though Eli slept through it, he loved being around each and every one of you. I miss you terribly and am so impressed with how grown up you look. But I really love that you are still goofy and loving and fun. You are the best class EVER!

*4th grade rockstars*

Today, we got to enjoy an assembly performed by Lloyd of the Deedle Deedle Dees, who writes amazing songs about American History. Afterwards, he came up to our classroom to work on writing a song with us abouhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gift spies from the American Revolution.

Check out our work in progress!



Also, be sure to check out The Deedle Deedle Dees website, where you can buy a cd and learn more about them!


Thanks, Lloyd.

*update*

*Hey everyone! It's hard to believe we're almost into May already. I wanted to give you an update on what we're studying these days and what's to come!

In math, we just finished up a unit on DECIMALS. For the next month or so, we'll be getting into FRACTIONS -- a very fun concept to investigate! Please be sure to ask your child about what they've been doing in class.

We are working on Social Issues in book clubs. Students brainstormed a list of issues that affect 4th graders, and selected their top choices to read about and discuss in book clubs. We've got book clubs reading articles on bullies, parent problems, sibling problems, environmental issues... It's a fantastic unit! After we finish up, we'll be moving into Historical Fiction. This ties in perfectly with...

Social Studies! Our last two big SS units are Colonial Times and The American Revolution. We have many field trips planned in May that will help bring these topics to life. Please keep an eye out for the permission slips. We will also have a "Living Museum" that you'll be invited to in June so students can share their research with you. Hope you can join us!

The kids are dying to get back into cursive, so they will be adept at upper and lowercase letters by fifth grade! We have been publishing fabulous poems for the POETRY unit that we're in. This year, we're studying more sophisticated poetry techniques, like alliteration, metaphors, and similes. We have a very gifted group of writers!

That's it for now. We'll try to post some student work in the next few weeks. Enjoy this great weather!


**Allisyn + class

*poetry*

*Please enjoy these poems our class has been studying and performing! Feel free to share any of your favorites with us too.

Clickbeetle

Clickbeetle
Clackbeetle
Snapjack black beetle
Glint glitter glare beetle
Pin it in your hair beetle
Tack it to your shawl beetle
Wear it at the ball beetle
Shine shimmer spark beetle
--Glisten in the dark beetle
Listen to it crack beetle
Click beetle
Clack beetle

Mary Ann Hoberman

Dreams

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with Snow

by Langston Hughes

**SNEAK PEEK -- next week's poem!*
Where Do You Get the Idea for a Poem?


Where Do You Get the Idea for a Poem?
Pippety
Poppety
Peep.
Does it shake you awake?
Do you dream it asleep?
Deep into your tiny head does it creep
And pop from your pen when you are not aware
Or leap from your pocket
Or fall from your hair
Or is it just silently
Suddenly
There?
In a beat
In a breath
In a pause
In a cry
One unblinking eye
That stares from the dark
That is deep in your head
Demanding attention
Until it is written
Until it is rotten
Until it is anything else but forgotten
Until it is read.

--Karla Kuskin

*whogoslavia?*

Talk about explorers! Our very own India is travelling to the Balkans. Please visit & comment on her family's blog as she documents her adventures and shares them with us.

www.whogoslavia.blogspot.com