It's Maine Composts Week!

And, our class knows how to compost! Hooray!

Up Close with the Salmon Eggs

Welcome back!

Deb Landry came in today for our egg traits and inheritance lab.

The students made predictions and looked for different traits- size, shape, color and structures.

Some eggs have hatched and surely more will hatch all week!

Tomorrow the children will write a conclusion about the eggs and their traits.

Have a peaceful evening!

Robots at Morning Meeting

First Motion & Design Challenge

May 15th News & Updates

Upcoming Events:
Thursday, May 12th- Releasing Salmon Fry in New Gloucester
Friday, May 27th- Grandparents' and Special Friends' Day
Wednesday, June 1st- Ice Cream Social and Basket Raffle

Here's what's happening in class:

From the Junior Library Guild

Math- It's all about fractions! We have finished Unit 7 and will begin our last unit which delves deeper into fractions.
Reading- We finished our unit on historical fiction. Most students enjoyed Woods Runner by Gary Paulson. We are now listening to The Secret Garden and doing lots of writing about the book.

Writing- We are wrapping up our unit on opinion writing. Students are publishing a letter or speech. We hope to have a publishing party soon!



Science- The salmon fry were released into the Royal River! Here is the link to the news story about it. The children are officially conservationists!

Social Studies- The class has been reading lots of articles in Maine Studies Weekly which connect to our read aloud and our science unit.

THANK YOU- We are grateful to our volunteers who helped us with the chickens and to all who have come in to work with students!

Science Today

Watch this video about heredity.

Check out these photos from our salmon project.

Our New Science Unit

The class has begun their study of life cycles, traits, and diversity. Much of their work will involve the observation of "Wisconsin Fast Grow Plants" which lived up to their name by germinating in just one day!

Motion & Design

Happy New Year! The class is excited for our new science unit and have completed their first design challenge. Tomorrow they will build the "standard vehicle" which they will use for a variety of experiments.

Apples & Basil

This week the class created applesauce from the tree outside our door and pesto straight from the school garden. During our reflection time on Friday, many students commented that these activities were their highlights. Enjoy the weekend!

Compost is Coming October 6th

The class is gearing up to help other 4th graders learn what they can compost in the classroom and cafeteria. They made wonderful posters that will soon be in YES's hallways.

Simple Machines

Ask your child about what s/he learned with Mr. Corbett today.

 We are grateful to the PTO for supporting these wonderful enrichment opportunities.

Peas and Radishes

The class planted peas and radishes on April 10th and they are growing well. We trekked out to the garden before recess to check on their progress. It was also a good opportunity to show the school garden to our new student, Stephan.

Let's hope the beautiful spring weather stays with us!

Brussel Sprouts

Keegan helped pull our giant brussel sprout plants out of the garden and the class carried them back to class.  We measured the tallest stalk- almost a meter (0.9m to be exact). Sprouts were snapped off the stalks and brought to the cafeteria, where they'll be roasted and served during 4th grade lunch. YUM!

Our Aerogarden

We may just need to have a salad on Monday!

The Mystery Apples

They come from the school grounds. They make great applesauce. But, what kind of apple are they? We hope to find out soon from John Bunker, an apple expert who lives in Palermo. We'll keep you updated. For now, enjoy these photos of applesauce making.

Garden Scavenger Hunt

The children explored the garden looking for gourds, pumpkins, brussel sprouts, onions, cucumbers, carrots, and potatoes. Soon we will harvest herbs to dry and use for tea.

Making Pickles

The class harvested cucumbers from the school garden and made refrigerator pickles.  The sweet pickle chips and sour dill chips will be tasted on Friday. Recipes are on the way!

Lima Bean Plants

Ask your child about her/his lima bean plant.  Our hope is that they reach the ceiling by June 14th!

Lighthouses

Today the 4th graders learned a lot about the history of lighthouses with our special guest, Mr. Corbett.  Ask you child what s/he learned.

Oobleck

For part of our celebration today, we read and made OOBLECK. Here is the recipe: Mix in one bowl: 2 cups glue, 2 cups warm water. Mix in another bowl: 1 cup warm water, green food coloring, 3to4 teaspoons of BORAX(laundry booster)- (more borax, more bounce, less borax, more slime). Slowly pour the green liquid into the bowl and mix- soon you'll have OOBLECK!