Our First Week of Journalism

3_little_pigs__wolfLast week, the Fourth Grade began to learn how to write newspaper articles. The students were able to use their Google Drive accounts for the first time to write articles about a story we all know! Our class wrote a little bit about the experience so far.

Imogen said…

In fourth grade have been writing news articles. Before this in journalism we learned about the five w’s and one h:  who, what, when, where, why and how. Charissa told us that all of the answers to these questions will be in the first paragraph. We also learned that almost all news articles are like an inverted pyramid. The first is the lead of the topic then the most important details then the less important details, then the least important details , then the closing of the article.
After these became familiar we started reading articles and finding the 5 w’s and 1 h. One of the articles we read was the three little pigs. This was the article we had to make. We had to use the 5 w’s and 1 h. We also had to use the same story and the same ending. It felt like we were real reporters! It was easy and fun because this story is familiar. We could be creative and choose the names and the setting. We changed the story a little  to make it our own, this was my favorite part. It was like we were going to put these articles in the news paper. It was our first project on our Google Drives, it was also the first article that we EVER made. We are excited to make more articles.

Gray said…

My favorite part of journalism is writing the Three Little Pigs because I love tech. And that I had to make up the story as I went and making the story funny and giving characters personalities. I was just having fun in general as I was going and hanging out with my friends doing it. I liked helping others doing the blog and the story. And learning more about the computer as I go. And that I can practice touch typing and get a lot faster. And getting to make up my own version of the story I personally really enjoy.
We’ve been doing this for about two or three weeks. We’ve been doing this because it is faster than having to hand write it and because we are going to be journalists this year and writing about the Three Little Pigs as if it was a real newspaper.

Cecilia said …

4th graders are learning about the 5w’s and an H. Because knowing what’s going on in the lower school is important information, Dan and Tara’s 4th grade have taken on the challenge of writing articles for the whole lower school explaining the curriculum to whoever stops by to reads the articles in the hallway.

First we read some articles about events like the assassination of president Abraham Lincoln or the warning of a global pork shortage. DT4’s class then learned about the lede in an article and how to start with the breaking news to grab attention and then slowly work your  way to add the smaller details like an inverted pyramid

Then of course we kept talking about the 5 w’s and an H. WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE ,WHY, AND HOW.We usually have these 6 in the first paragraph but sometimes just 4.

That’s it for now and please read the articles when you get the chance.           

Milla said…

We have been working on our first article the Three Little Pigs, we’ve been doing it in our Google Drive accounts. We started on October 13 and continued the next day. We the 4th grade are doing this because we are doing journalism and this is just the beginning of journalism. My favorite part of journalism so far is getting to do in our Google Drive accounts and getting to type it on the computer!! I am so excited to keep going in journalism.

Mia said…

In 4th grade one of the things we have been learning is journalism. We are writing a recreation  of the story the Three Little Pigs and we have been working hard on it. In our stories we had to keep all of qualities of the original story, but just make it in a different way. What I love most about journalism is getting to write and to make or recreate a new story . I have loved journalism so far  and can’t wait to learn more in  journalism.

Luca said…

When we started the Three Little Pigs I thought it was going to be easy, but I was wrong. It was really fun. My favorite part of journalism is that now that we are older we can use computers so our writing goes faster. The class has been reporting and writing stories about the Three Little Pigs. We have been using the 5 W’s and 1 H. They are who, what, where, when, why, and how. We have been using Google Drive for this work for the past week. We have been using desktops or Chrome Books.

Wyeth said…

My favorite part of journalism is  writing the Three Little Pigs because I get to pretend that I’m writing the newspaper about the famous story about the Three Little Pigs… well 2 little pigs that get eaten by this big wolf and one little pig who is smart enough to build his house of brick. We have been doing this for two or three days. We have been doing this because my reading teacher Charissa is teaching us to write efficiently and write newspaper articles.

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We look forward to sharing more of our journalism adventures as the year goes on!

LREI Alum Faith Holsaert visits the 4th Grade!

img_9207 On Friday September 17th, former LREI student Faith Holsaert came to visit our class. Faith attended LREI from the fours until 6th grade. During her time here, she invited the music teacher, Charity Bailey, to live with her family when she was in the fours. Charity lived with her family for many years. Charity had trouble finding an apartment in the neighborhood because landlords would not rent to African American people. Faith told us about living through the landmark Civil Rights legislation cases of our time and how deeply her time at LREI impacted her view of the world.

We learned so much about what it means to fight for equal rights. During our Q and A, our class asked lots of great questions about her life. Below are some examples of questions we asked.

Sophie: Did you know Martin Luther King?

Faith: I did meet him, in planning for the march on Washington. I was living in Georgia registering voters.

Luca: How was LREI different then and now?

Faith: The rooms are confusing to me even! When you’re on Bleecker, there’s Little Red and then two houses. It was very narrow building, but we did have the roof.

Samuel: What happened to your music teacher? Does she still live with you?

Faith: She died when I was in my 30s. She ended up moving to a different part of NYC, she had taken a job teaching in Scarsdale.

Samuel: Who was the president when you went to Little Red?

Faith: Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower.

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The next school day, we wrote Faith some thank you notes. Enjoy reading a small sampling of the thoughtful letters the students wrote.

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Our Thoughts on the First Week of School

Welcome to Dan and Tara’s 4th Grade class! Our first week of school was an exciting one, filled with new experiences, community building and getting to know each other again after a long summer. Read on to find out some of the things that surprised, confused and delighted us at the end of our first week.

jasiri

Jasiri: “I was surprised that we had math as a half group activity and had it at the same time before. Also, I didn’t know that we would have those desks with pockets in them. I like them!”

samuel

Samuel: “I was surprised when we had math twice, and I wasn’t expecting to have Lower School Gathering on the first Friday. When I first heard we would be having it I was worried about who would be the MC.”

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Leo: “I was surprised that on the first day of school we had these big posters all over the room! Shouldn’t we start with nothing on the walls? I’m surprised that we had all these big things on the third day of school.”

dash

Dash: “I was surprised that we had math and tech mixed in half groups. I did enjoy how things just like, things went straight on continuing from third grade math.”

imogen

Imogen: “On the second day of school it felt like the middle of the year. Last year it took a long time to get where it feels like we are.”

wyeth

Wyeth: “I’m glad that some of my friends are in the class.”

mia

Mia: “I’m happy that a lot of my friends are in the class. And I was kind of freaked out that there weren’t any MC’s for Lower School Gathering and I was really surprised about that.”

luc

Luc: “I’m surprised that math is kind of like a little harder but kind of more interesting than third grade math and I feel like everyone’s being a lot more steady now. Last year our class were the last being called for recess and now we are all getting called at the same time. We are more steady.”

lily

Lily: “I kind of feel like when I think of school, I usually think of this classroom, and sometimes I get mixed up because we were in third grade for so long. I’m kind of already used to this being our classroom.”

sophie

Sophie: “My favorite thing about 4th Grade so far is that we get to talk about the presidential election. And it’s weird because like Lily I got used to this classroom really fast. I thought that we would have desks but that’s not until middle school but I like the pockets.”

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Freya: “I really like that we have great teachers, and it was nice to give people hugs after the summer.”

chase

Chase: “I was surprised that doing the [greeting] handshake was really hard because it’s really hard not to mess it up.”

oliver

Oliver: “I’m really happy that we have such great teachers and I’m happy with all the independent reading we are getting and that math is a lot more challenging.”

harlan

Harlan: “I agree with Chase!”

milla

Milla: “I’m glad we get to read a lot, it’s fun and I agree with Oliver.”

beckett

Beckett: “At first I was scared to go into Fourth Grade but now I’m really happy that I have such great teachers.”

luca

Luca: “I’m really happy to have a teacher that likes the Mets!”

mayers

Mayer: “I feel the same as Luca. And I really like the math we’re doing so far.”

cecilia

CC: “I’m shocked that we’re talking so much about the election. And I’m happy we have great teachers, I was happy we got 10 minutes on the roof and I like independent reading.”

gray

Gray: I’m kinda surprised that we weren’t the MC’s for Lower School Gathering today and I enjoyed poetry and I’m glad to see my friends.”

zach

Zach: “On the first day of school I felt like I was in kindergarten again because I was in third grade on the fourth floor and then I went back down to the second.”

That’s all for now! We can’t wait to have a wonderful year.