Last post for the year

We certainly ended the school year with a bang! Prairie Days was AWESOME! Thank you to the parents that helped out. We certainly could not have done it without you. The class picnic at the YMCA was also adventure packed. My favorite part was playing kickball - even though I got an out for my team (sorry, guys).

This morning we started our day by watching a slideshow of the year that I put together on snapfish.com - I will be emailing you all separately so that you can view it. It is set up this way to protect privacy and make sure that only our class can view it. Next we headed out to Field Day! Seeing Mr. Rodin in the dunk tank was a funny sight.

Our Class Day will be held on Wednesday, June 9, 2010. Fourth grade classes will be participating in this event. Students should arrive in their classrooms at 9:15 – please be prompt. Early arrivals will be available between 7:30 and 9:15 in the gym. Boys should wear a coat, button down shirt, tie and dress slacks. Girls should wear a dress or skirt and blouse and dress shoes – no sandal-like shoes that do not have a heel strap. Students will process and recess as a class. After the ceremony, fourth graders can be picked up in the lower division science room. Please inform a teacher when you come to pick up your child. No aftercare will be offered on that day.

I have tremendously enjoyed working with this class. I will see most of you this summer, and I know the rest of you will be working hard either at home or with Mrs. Foley as a tutor. Enjoy yourselves!
~ Mrs. Lawless

Hornbine Trip - 4B

Hornbine field trip - 4a

We will hopefully have more pictures up next week to showcase the trip that Sam, Nathan and Aidan take with Mr. M tomorrow. For now, enjoy these!

Hornbine Lunch

When we travel to Hornbine for a day of old-fashioned learning (Sammy, Grace, Alex, Jenna and Megan on Thursday the 20th and Nathan, Sam and Aidan on Friday the 21st) we will leave promptly at 8:15 and return at 2pm. Please arrive on time so that your child will have enough time to change into their costume.

We are going to try to make this day as authentic as possible. Please pack a lunch that does not need to be microwaved. Also, it should be packed in a cloth sack, basket or pail. If you can, try not to use plastic wrap, containers or utensils. Students will not get in trouble if they are unable to do this, but the more authentic, the better!

Remember - no nuts if you are going on the Thursday trip.

Some suggestions:
Water
Cornbread
Muffins
Bacon
Jerky
Potatoes
Carrots
Apples
Berries

Hmmm - good question!

So, I got an email from a parent today with a very good question:

"What exactly do I do for Prairie Days?"

The basics are: Prairie Days is from 11-1:30 on Thursday the 27th.

Teachers and students will be in costume - parent volunteers get lucky and do not have to!

Soon you will be notified of your designated assignment. The students will perform a song and dance from music class. They will then split into groups and travel from "old-school" event to event (e.g., cooking, Handball). Some parents will lead groups of children around and others will co-lead the events. A detailed email will go out to all volunteers.

Yesterday's field trip was pretty good! Ballard Park is beautiful and is directly across the street from Rogers High School in Newport. It is a pet-friendly place for a hike if anyone is interested. Although we were able to identify different types of rocks, half of the excitement was driving on Ocean Drive and passing the many mansions. Beth Donahue took some great pictures that will hopefully get uploaded to the blog shortly.

Next Thursday the 20th, Megan, Grace, Jenna, Sammy and Alex will attend Hornbine School with Ms. Sieminski's room. On Friday, Nathan, Aidan and Sam will get a chance to go with Mr. M's room. Hopefully on Monday I will let you know what this requires. The kids will wear costumes that day, which we are organizing here at school. I believe that the lunches are supposed to be packed in an authentic way - canvas bags perhaps??

Oh - and please don't tell the Hornbine School teachers that I am sharing this with you, but I snagged a copy of the spelling words that they will have at the Hornbine "spelling bee". Some of them are: remember, slate, quill, herbs and wrap. Just saying.....

Have a great weekend! ~ Mrs. Lawless

here's a link to Ballard Park!

http://www.ballardpark.org/07_park.html

Field Trip tomorrow

Hi Everyone,

Our rescheduled field trip to Ballard Park will take place on Thursday, May 13. We will leave promptly at 8:15. Please make sure that your child arrives on time. It is my understand that will may do some light hiking - clothes and shoes should be appropriate for such activity. We will bring lunch with us. Please be aware that a student in fourth grade has a life threatening nut allergy. When packing snacks and lunches for the field trip, please be aware that many pre-packaged food contain nuts or nut oils.

Mrs. Mitchell has written the following so you can better understand the purpose of this field trip:
Fourth grade has been studying Rocks and Minerals in Science and will be taking a field trip to Ballard Park on Thursday May 13th to enhance their experience. Ballard Park is located in Newport and is a 13-acre nature preserve that offers beautiful trails and abundant wildlife. Ballard Park is also the location of two former working quarries and all three rock types- igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic. Students will be able to discover glacial footprints and the many uses of rock on their visit.