Callie received our cards!

This message was from Callie's mom, Kathryn for all of you:

Cure For Callie ~ Callie LOVED her goody box! She looooves all the drawings & cards...we go through each & every one....she really liked this one in the picture...it said "Have a Melty summer"....lol & was a dragon blowing fire! She LOVES dragons! The cut out cards were fun too...we played a game guessing what each was....the hand & popsicle she thought was pretty cool! THANKS SO MUCH!!!  It's so awesome what you guys have done for her!
***If you click on the words "Cure for Callie" in the post above, you can see her Facebook page!

Last Day

Today is our last day of school.  We will take some time to look back on the year and share our "A to Z of Fourth Grade Memories".  Enjoy a relaxing summer.  Remember to stop down and say hello next year!
Your fourth grade teachers,
Mrs. Dowd and Ms. Mazzeo

Move-Up Day

Today our fourth graders had a chance to get a sneak peek of fifth grade. 

 First, they met up with a fifth grade buddy in the hallway.

Then they had a chance to practice opening up a locker.

 They visited Mrs. Lurz classroom and learned about their summer reading packet.

They visited Mrs. Kimball and found out about the summer math requirements.

 Once the kids were back downstairs in fourth grade, they seemed much more confident about going 'upstairs' to fifth grade.

Last Week of School

Monday - $2 due for Friday's Pizza Party! Mrs. Nemeth will be sending home artwork that your child completed this year.

Tuesday - Desk Clean Out Day!  Students will be cleaning out their desks and bringing home some of their school supplies.

Wednesday - Luau Lunch,  NJ T-shirt day, and Fifth Grade Move-up Day!  Students will be changing into their NJ t-shirts when they arrive to school Wednesday morning.  Students will "move up" to 5th grade for about an hour to learn about what it's like to change classes and open lockers.  The kids will bring home projects that they worked on throughout the year.  At 2pm, we will have our "What Would you do for Reading?" sliming of Mrs. Saraiva and Mr. Kenney!  Mr. Magnuson will be 'kissing a cow'!  The teams for field day will be announced at the end of the day Wednesday!

Thursday - 12:30 dismissal - Field Day!!! Please put on sunscreen in the morning before coming to school.  Kids should wear bathing suits:  Girls - one piece or tankini suits are acceptable with shorts and t-shirt over it - NO BIKINI SUITS;  Boys - bathing suit trunks with t-shirt.  Kids should wear sneakers - NO FLIP FLOPS or SANDALS since there will be running events.  Bring a towel!

Friday - 12:30 dismissal - LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!  Awards ceremony at 10:30  We will have our "Goodbye to 4th Grade" pizza party and share some of our 4th grade memories.

School is still in session until June 15th!

Just a quick reminder that although the weather feels like summer, we are still in school until June 15th.  The kids are still learning new information and we are still teaching :)   We don't want the kids to fall behind this late in the year, so please check their agenda books nightly to see what homework needs to be completed.  Thanks for all your cooperation and support!

Ocean Night - Thursday

This Thursday is Ocean Night at OCS!

Come on out and see our Kelp Forest with the animals we researched!

Make a sea otter!

Enjoy the evening with your family!

Spring Concert

The Spring Concert is this Wednesday, May 16th at 6pm.
Students should come to Ms. Mazzeo's room at 5:30, but please do not come earlier.  Ms. Mazzeo and Mrs. Dowd will not be here before 5:30.  We are looking forward to hearing all of the wonderful singing voices and listening to the students play their recorders.

See you then!

Ways to Sleep Better at Night

In honor of our NJASK testing next week, our students came up some ways they could get a better night sleep.  Here are their ideas:

Use earplugs.

Go to sleep early.

Don’t eat sweets too close to bed.

Get all of your energy out earlier.

Ask parents and siblings to be quieter at night.

Shut off the lights.

Close the bedroom door.

Take deep breaths.

Count sheep.

Snuggle deep into the covers.

Cuddle with my pets or stuffed animals.

Listen to quiet music.

Do a lot of activities during the day.

Don’t have any sleepovers before tests.

Sleep in a little later.

Don’t drink any soda after dinner.

Stare at the ceiling or wall.

Read a book in bed.

Don’t bring an ipod or cell phone to bed.

Close your eyes and think happy thoughts.

Drink warm milk.

Think about things you like to do.

Cereal Box Commercials

Now showing...what you've all been waiting for... your commercials!!!

Click here to view the commercials

Happy Earth Day!

What are you doing at home to reduce, reuse, and recycle?

Cure for Callie bracelets!

Callie's mom, Kathryn, sent us Cure for Callie bracelets!!! 

Here is our class saying "Cure for Callie!"

For more information about Callie Cheer, you can check out her Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/cureforcallie

Callie received her cards!

I received an email from Callie's mom.  She said Callie received her latest batch of cards from us and was so excited!  Her mother, Kathryn, sat with Callie and read each card to her.  She especially loved the 'little bitty bunny card" and all of the drawings you all did for her.  Callie said,  "Awwwwwweeeee Mommy look!  A baby bunny!"  She was excited to see a 'bunny dragon' drawing, since she loves dragons.  I have a special surprise for each of you when we get back to school on Monday.  Callie and her mother sent US a package!  Here is Callie's picture with the 'window jellies' that we sent in her package with the cards.  Look at how much her hair has grown and that sweet smile :

Liberty Science Center pictures

The kids see the Statue of Liberty from the bus!

We made it!

The Hoberman Sphere greets us in the entryway

Test your strength!

Who is the strongest?

Walking the beams

Way up high!

Getting ready for the hurricane simulator

Getting the raincoats on

Inside the simulator

Hold on tight during the 70 mph winds!

Blasting the ball from one machine to another

Huge fish!

Horseshoe crab

Ms. Mazzeo checking out the Forces of Change

Swim turtle, swim!

Hello, bearded dragon!

The New York skyline from the observation deck at LSC

Liberty Science Center

This Wednesday, we will be taking our fourth grade field trip to Liberty Science Center!!! The bus will be leaving at 8:30 and heading to Jersey City to explore LSC.  We will even get to see an IMAX movie called Tornado Alley!  Be on the lookout for our pictures to be posted this weekend!

MEASURING WITH A PROTRACTOR

Click here to measure with a protractor online!

CANAL EXTRA CREDIT PROJECT - DUE DATE CHANGED!

Since we will not be in school this Friday, March 16th, we are changing the due date of the Canal Extra Credit Project to Monday, March 19th.

CANAL EXTRA CREDIT PROJECT

You have watched videos and read about canals in New Jersey and around the world. Now it’s time for you to create your own canal. Are you up for the challenge?

Use your book and watch the videos from our blog site to review how canals work. Be creative – use any materials you want to create your canal – twigs, clay, play dough, building blocks, legos, etc. If you don’t want to make a 3D model, you can also make a drawing of how a canal works. Your family can help you, but the majority of the work should be done by you.

For your project, you should include at least:

One lower level
One upper level
A lock
A boat

Your project doesn’t need to use water to show how it works, but it should show how a lock works in a canal.

The number of points you can earn will depend on how well you are able to demonstrate how a canal works. You can earn up to 10 extra credit points. Remember – family members can help, but the MAJORITY of the work needs to be done by you.

We will have a class demonstration for anyone that brings in a canal.

How canals work

Miami Erie Canal Boat Ride at Providence Metro Park

Canal Boat - Have you ever wondered how a canal lock works ?

Science Weather Projects

The students created amazing weather cloud projects! The boys and girls had to 'watch the sky' and either take photographs or draw the different types of clouds they saw over seven days. Here are the completed projects:

Cards for Callie

Callie feeding her baby sister Sienna

Today our fourth graders reviewed the "CORRECT" value traits of Courage and Empathy when we discussed our school donations for Pennies for Patients and the upcoming St. Jude Mathathon.  We had a chance to make some Valentine cards today for a very special little princess named Callie.  Three year old Callie is in remission from leukemia and is finally home after four extended stays at the hospital for chemotherapy.  We watched a sweet video that was put together from her parents, Kathryn and Ryan.  Feel free to check out the Cure for Callie Facebook page or click here to watch her video.