The fourth and fifth graders recently wowed us with their puppet show book reports.  Each student chose a novel and created puppets and scenery to act out a conflict in the book.  The class was to guess the climax.  Their artistic talents and presentation skills impress us every time.

We’ve taken several nature walks to observe signs of spring.  We were excited to see raccoon footprints by the river, and, most recently, we observed painted turtles basking in the sun at the Wheaton pond.

The 5^th graders helped out at Wheaton College with the Relay for Life event again this year.  Along with Mrs. Corkum and Jeani, the class hung up all of the original artwork created by Pinecroft students to inspire the walkers during the overnight relay.  Co-chair of the Relay event, senior Elise Barrar, has worked at Pinecroft as an intern for three years.

 In Social Studies we have just completed our unit on the Civil Rights Movement, complete with a whole group reading of the autobiography of Ruby Bridges.  The unit followed our study of Maya Angelou and Langston Hughes.  Andy gave us a recording of his original music, which he composed to accompany the lyrics of “The Weary Blues,” a poem by Hughes written in 1925. The students are now completing their Angelou mimic poems based on her poem, “Life Doesn’t Frighten Me at All.”

Hello Everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving! I thought you would like to know that the 4/5 Classroom’s Ethnic Thanksgiving Lunch was a smashing success! A wonderful time was had by all! We are so lucky to have such an ethnically-diverse class and to be able to sample some delicious Thanksgiving dishes from around the world!

Our Thanksgiving table was decorated with lovely holiday tableware, and here is what was on the menu:

Turkey breast, homemade cranberry sauce, Chinese sticky rice (it is pronounced U Fun), roasted chestnuts, pomegranate, fennel, Irish soda bread (with Irish butter!) and sausages (a.k.a. Bangers), pierogi with sour cream, maple carrots, Chinese cookies, Chinese mango jello squares, English pudding and cookies, homemade squares and an incredible Apple Pie! There was also apple cider for our toast to friendship! Invited guests for our Feast included Jeani and Mrs. Arcand.

After our meal we made an adorable Turkey craft made of pinecones and foam feathers (which I am sure you have seen by now).

Thank you so much for the dishes you prepared which were not only delicious but educational too! It meant a lot to me to be part of this celebration, and I will keep the memory with me always.

Happy Holidays!

Lisa

What a fabulous group of students we have in the 4/5 classroom this year!

We enjoyed creating our get-to-know-me project: The Next American Idols. The students and teachers created album covers and song titles based on their own favorite hobbies, interests, colors, etc. Andy brought in some of his rare albums as models and shared the music with us on a portable record player. Most students had not seen a record album or turntable before! The projects are beautifully displayed in our classroom. Please come and check them out!

Our Houghton Mifflin language arts program and Columbia Writing Project provide a thorough language arts experience for the children. We’re excited this year to integrate science and writing whenever possible. You may have noticed that our weekly spelling words are going back and forth between science vocabulary and traditional spelling words. The students did a fantastic job on their first portfolio writing piece, comparing and contrasting plant and animal cells after having read about them, illustrated them in great detail and observed them under the microscope. Wow!

Our Houghton Mifflin science curriculum for the first part of the year focuses on The Life Processes: Cells, Plant Systems and Traits of Living Things. Weekly nature walks supplement our classroom experience. We have collected, analyzed and classified leaves and sketched interesting discoveries in our naturalists’ journals. On Tuesday afternoons, Mrs. Corkum and Mrs. Elia will be conducting a science lesson together, further integrating the two curricula. This upcoming Friday, Miss Anne will also be doing leaf studies in art class with the children. What a connection!

The first Pinecroft Pal Picnic of the year was a huge hit! Notes and letters have been “mailed” back and forth between the two classrooms, generating lots of excitement and anticipation! We look forward to many more activities together throughout the year.

We’re so impressed by the Wheaton intern “crew” working at Pinecroft. They bring a variety of majors and areas of expertise to our students, from math to music to Spanish and more. Phys. Ed. teachers, James and Chris, bring the right mix of enthusiasm and good sportsmanship to our weekly gym class.

Don’t hesitate to email us with any questions or comments. We’re off to a great start!

Hi 4/5 Families!

We hope your summer is going well.  We’re starting to get the classroom ready and looking forward excitedly to the coming school year! 

Our “veteran” Wheaton intern, Anna Littlehale, will be back this year working with the 4/5 students after a semester in Denmark and before she begins her student teaching in a local public school.  She brings her math expertise and enthusiasm for learning to the classroom.

In social studies, we will begin with the post-Civil War period and continue to the present day.  Science begins with Life Processes, starting with cells and their functions, moving to plant systems and traits of living things.  Students can expect lots of hands-on and project-based learning!

Language Arts will center around the Houghton Mifflin program along with the study of Robert Frost, Maya Angelou and other notable poets.  We’ll continue to build our writing portfolios with the Columbia Writing Project processed writing pieces. We look forward to integrating our areas of study with the arts wherever possible. 

Miss Anne and Andy will again work closely with us to correlate their plans with our classroom lessons. In Spanish class, students will continue to use their Converso Mucho workbooks, so if somehow your child’s came home in the end-of-the year baggage, please be sure to send it back in at the start of school.

 Pinecroft Pals will encourage our students as mentors as the children truly embrace the Pals activities and letter writing.  Our weekly classroom jobs foster a sense of responsibility and pride in our school. Some jobs are more favored than others, but all are a good learning experience for the children.

We’ll see you soon at the Ice Cream Social!

Bonnie Corkum & Liz Elia