By Freddie and Benjamin

Being in fourth grade is a full time responsibility, you are a role model for the Lower School. All of the other kids look up to you. Some fourth graders are excited for middle school because you get dessert sometimes and chocolate milk during lunch. Some are worried because there’s more homework.

10 people in Deborah and Jake’s class are excited for middle school, 2 are worried, and 2 feel differently. Jake, one of the teachers is excited for the fourth graders to go to middle school because he’s excited for the next step in the fourth graders lives.

To some people middle school is a whole different life.  People are literally doing everything different.  You do not have to walk with your class, you have to do homework over the weekend and things like that.

Middle school can be a big scary place, but if you like homework you’ve got no problem! So you should start to like homework and try your hardest.

In middle school it is like you are not the oldest and not the youngest so that means you have to work really hard but not to hard.  You also have to be ready to be only a big buddy and to get ready for the second stage in your life.

By Jack Elliot Lille Yerington and Elijah Frederick Harris
The 4th graders are working on a play for the lower school and their parents. So far they have created seven scenes. They are working really hard on the play. They have written the play with some guidance from the teachers. Their music teacher, Aaron, taught them how to play and sing the songs. The kids have their own orchestra. They are playing a song called Vevo. The children have their own parts in the play. A student named Eli is a thug. A student named Jack has a lot of roles. He plays a policeman, a little boy making artificial flowers, and a child who is really poor. A student named Johnny is playing a cutter in the sweatshop/ factory scene. Eli said, “This is so exciting.” Jack really liked watching the other people in the play rehearse. A student named Olivia said, ” I think that the play is really good so far and it could use a little more work. It’s good though.” A student named Emily says, “It could be worked on a lot more and some kids are forgetting all their lines. It’s still going really well.” The 4th graders got split up into 4 groups and they worked on it within their groups. When they were in second grade they did something very similar, they did a Brooklyn Bridge play. They have been doing Social Studies skits and plays since second grade. In conclusion they are having a lot of fun working on the play and they say you should come see it.

Tuesday May 20th -6 pm
Class Picnic

Friday, May 23rd
Field Day – 1 pm dismissal

Monday, May 26th
No School – Memorial Day

Wednesday, June 4th-9 am
Fourth Grade Play

Tuesday, June 10th-8:45 am
Moving Up Ceremony

Wednesday, June 11th
Last day of school
Regular dismissal

On May 2nd, Deborah and Jake’s 4th grade class went to a naturalization ceremony. They took the six train to get there and thought it had a cool green circle. The 4th graders met a guy named Jimmy. Jimmy works for security at the courthouse. He was joking and said, “The judge gives fifty dollars to people when they shake her hand.” DJ4 went into a big room and that was the room where they did the ceremony. It took a lot of time before it started. They had to say the Pledge of Allegiance. Then they said, “I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” The parents who went on the trip said, the boys liked the trip better than the girls.

The kids on the trip were really good at sitting still and being respectful to the Judge and the people helping her. The kids got booklets in their seats and they read part of them. Also there was an immigrant there who had a tie with the American flag on it. After that the 4th graders went to a park across the street to have lunch and play a little bit. There they saw the 10th graders who went to their school. After a little while they went back to school. Gus Dotson said, “I think both were equally fun.” Jack L.Y. said, “The trip was really interesting, I liked it better than the park.” When they got back to their school they were very tired because they had been walking all day.

BY JOHN GRIFFIN COOK, ELI FREDRICK HARRIS, AND JACK ELLIOT LILLE YERINGTON!!!!!

Due Monday: Write about your impressions of this book so far. Some things you might want to consider are:

-How would you describe the main character?
-Does the main character have any big problems?
-What do you think might happen next?
-What would you do next if you were the main character?
-If you are enjoying the book, what specifically do you like about it?
-Have you made any connections between things that have happened so far in the book and things that have happened in your life?

We will celebrate poetry in a variety of ways this month, including daily poetry readings. The basic idea is to share a favorite poem but the way in which you decide to share your poem is up to you. Possibilities for the format of your share include: dramatic reading, recitation, stop motion film, graphic novel, audio recording with accompanying painting or art project, reading with a follow-up reflection or activity devised by you, reading plus a special snack related to your poem, reading plus a field trip to a place related to your poem, and so forth. The sky is the limit. If you can imagine it, you can do it. If you decide to create a follow-up activity to go along with your poem, please give us a heads-up so we can plan accordingly. If you have questions or big ideas about this fun and exciting project, please feel free to email us. Here is the schedule for the poetry share:

Monday, April 7: Emily and Cooper
Tuesday, April 8: Piper and Jack
Wednesday, April 9: Olivia B. and Freddie
Monday, April 14: Tilda and Zach
Tuesday, April 15: Olivia P and Gus
Wednesday, April 16: Polly and Ben
Thursday, April 17: Lila and Kate
Monday, April 21: Margaret and Eli
Tuesday, April 22: Johnny and Colette
Wednesday, April 23: Dora and Oni
Thursday, April 24: POEM IN YOUR POCKET DAY
Friday, April 25: Meadow
Monday, April 28: Make-up day

Here is a link to the People of the Lower East Side website. From the main page, look for your child’s tenement friends, click there, then click on their individual portrait to be taken to their personal blog. Enjoy!

http://www.tinyurl.com/lreiles

All year we have been talking about what it takes to be productive in school. More recently, we decided to focus on the idea of persistence. Is persistence necessary to be productive? Is persistence necessary in order to learn? Does persistence lead to prideful experiences? We decided to begin to notice when we are persistent. The list that follows is a snapshot of recent persistent moments.

We have one photo to illustrate the concept of persistence – it is of Gus building a bench. When Gus noticed an unopened box from Ikea in our classroom one morning, he begged to open it. A few hours later, a red bench was made…by Gus. It took a few tries and some false starts but Gus persisted and now we have three new popular jobs on our job chart, “Bench Warmers.” Thanks Gus!

Other equally significant examples from students:

I was persistent when:

I did my homework.
I worked hard on my Asch building poem.
I worked on Really Red in Tech.
I did four pages of math for homework.
I was in art making a newsie out of clay.
I was making a Valentines Day card for my little buddy. It took me two tries.”
I read a lot.
I made a sketch (of a scene from the Lower East Side).
I did the math challenge.
I did extra work that was due on other days.
I worked on the tenement building in shop.
I played “Close to 1000” in math.
I turned in my homework every day this week.
I got to school a little early.
I did Charissa’s homework.
I was doing math. There was a way I couldn’t figure out but I kept on trying and got it!

Last week, our study of the the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory culminated with a visit to the former Asch building, located next to Washington Square Park. Here are some examples of the students’ poems that the visit inspired.

Protest
by Olivia Rose Bagan

I’m just a 10 year old girl

Walking
And walking
And walking.

On a hot summer day in April 5th on 1911
I walk past my old factory.
Burnt as it is.
Boring and burnt.
Till I see the other side.

100,000 women striking for better conditions in factories.
Yelling
And yelling.
I join them
Yelling
And yelling.

I hear sirens
Bee-do!
Bee-do!
Bee-do!

Police make their way through the crowd.
Breaking bones.
Crack!
Crack!
Crack!

I want to run.
But they finally reach me.
They grab me and everyone else
And shove us in a paddy wagon.

So warm.
People breathing down my neck.
Finally out.

Handcuffs around my wrists.
Click!
Six broken ribs
Ow!
Ow!
Ow!
Ow!
Ow!
Ow!

Thrown into a cell.
Locked.
I hear someone coming…
Click!
Click!
Click!

The union leader,
Bails me out.
I see Mama and Papa too!
I run.

Hugs,
Kisses,
Love,
Family.

Home:
Stuffy,
Warm,
Dirty,
Stinky.

But as long as I have my parents
I’m fine.
Because the most important thing in a family is:
LOVE.

THE END!

Untitled
by Cooper

Darkness emerges from the building.
Light then sorrow then pain.
Crack shatter boom.
Some live,
some die,
some are reborn,
some are undead.
So many things going straight through my head.
Again.    

Scene
by Zachary Cappadocia

Walking home
feeling bad
hearing screams
when seeing

seeing windows
big and small
but puffs of smoke
out to tall

seeing a firetruck
people fall
feel dry and
kind of small

black smoke finale
pouring through
people ran
very confused.

The Fire
by Polly

Loud people screaming
fire burning all around
a horrible place that is scary and weird,
146 people gone forever,
picketing people,
screams and shouts,
orange, red, yellow
fire, fire, fire
burn, burn, burn,
police,
oh-no,
gone.