A Year of Writing by Our Students

The Year So Far
Paul G, 3rd grade                      September, 2009 
3rd grade is a lot of work. There is less time to play and more work to be done. Spelling is easier and reading is harder. It is good to see all my friends.   Instead of taking rocks home this year I take acorns home so I can throw them. This year I want to take guitar lessons instead of flute. I am really excited about chess. Recess is a lot shorter to me. The bus ride is better than last year.

All About My Field Trip
Aidan F, 3rd grade                        November, 2009
My field trip was at the Fish Hatchery. At the fish hatchery we went to see trout and salmon. By the way, there were about 1755 fish. A lady told us about turtles and this is the story. One night some teenagers broke into the 70 year old turtle raceway. They took the turtle and ran. He weighed 80 pounds. They kept dropping him and he died. Then we took a hike. James and I slid down lots of dirt. We had lunch at Heckscher Park and had a great time on the trip.

Our Hike
Morgan M, 4th grade                       October, 2009
When we got to the trail the ground was very rocky and wet. I did not mind. We had to mark the trail we went on by compass. Molly, Sarah and I were in a group. We saw mostly deciduous trees on the farm and conifers in the woods. In the woods we saw an old hay barn, tractor and car. Then we stopped at the library. We walked across the street to go to Billy Joel Park. There was a water fountain that people get their water from. We tried the water and it was very good. Then we went back to eat lunch. After that we went to the DNA lab. In the DNA lab we watched a movie about Long Island. In the movie it showed the glaciers making Long Island. It also told us that when the British came to the people’s houses they took whatever they wanted. In the movie they told about most of the history of Long Island.

Haiti
Noah S, 5th grade                          January, 2010
My favorite part of the year was when we had our Haiti Relief fundraiser event. I did Twister, bought items, and basically ate. The food was mostly homemade, and all of it was delicious. We had a talent show for the second part of the event. Nick and I did, “Are You Smarter Than Us?” I thought it was way more fun than I expected. We asked questions like, “What are the colors of the rainbow?” or “What is a score.” A few questions we asked stumped everybody but most didn’t. The Modica family won.

Snuggle Lumps
Anna R, 5th grade                           January, 2010
Yesterday at our fundraiser for Haiti I made Snuggle Lumps. They were very popular. Most people wanted the patterns polka-dot, pink dragon or purple dragon. We made $22. So many people came that I got a little dizzy. I’m so happy I was able to do that. It made me feel good inside.  Altogether we raised over $3,000 to send to Haiti.

Read to Succeed 600 Minute Reading Program
Anaelle R, 2nd grade                   January, 2010
Read to Succeed is a fun reading program that encourages children from kindergarten to when you are an adult. You will need the skills to know science and math technology and other things too. Read to Succeed is all about fun and reading 600 minutes or more from 1/13/10 – 2/23/10. You have to get more points than other people to win. As you read you get points and at the end the one with the most points in each class gets a book, and award, and everyone gets a ticket to Great Adventure. I have heard that it is a fun place but I have never been there. I’m not a ride person anyway. However I love to read, so bundle up and keep reading!!!

Read to Succeed
Ava M, 3rd grade                                   March, 2010
Well of course we all had Read to Succeed. We all found a favorite character in a book we read. So we all dressed up as that character you liked the most and on stage people had to guess who you were. I was a cat from the Jack and Annie book Mummies in the Morning. In my opinion the book was really, super great.  All the people were really fun to watch them tell about their characters and see how they dressed up. 

Jump Rope for Heart
Cosette B, 3rd grade                             January, 2010
We have Jump Rope for Heart to keep our heart pumping. We do this because we do not want to die of heart attack. We jump rope, jump on a trampoline, and do the Chicken Fat Dance. The best part of Jump Rope for Heart was synchronized jumping. Everybody’s acts were great. The pattern I made up with Melanie and James was left-right-triangle your legs. Everybody clapped after we were done. I think they liked us. Ours had a beat to it like this 123, 123 and so on.  I had a great time there and a fabulous time answering questions.

My Trip to Ellis Island
Katie D, 5th grade                                         March, 2010
My mom woke me up at 6:00 A.M. I got ready and went to Zeke’s house. We drove to Huntington Station. We got on a train. We ended up in Battery Park. From there we took the ferry. The boat ride was very short, and I was parched, so I got a bottle of water. On Liberty Island, we went through air puff security. Lauren and I went in a little booth that shot out air puffs to check for explosives. I don’t see why anyone would want to blow up the Statue of Liberty. We went up the pedestal. I was the first one up. I think that was the first time I’ve seen the Statue of Liberty. I thought it would be much bigger. I had pizza, Snapple, and fudge for lunch. Next, we went on a boat to Ellis Island. We went to a museum. Lauren, Sophia, Mrs. Modica, Guba (Karen), and I were in a group. Lauren, Sophia and I had little pamphlets with questions in them. You found the answers in the museum. When you finished, you got a cool badge. We didn’t finish, but we got the badges anyway. I don’t think anyone finished the pamphlet, actually. I got a harmonica in the gift shop. We got back on the boat, went through Battery Park, and got on a subway, then the train to Huntington. I loved this field trip!

Earth Day
Quinn, 4th grade                         April, 2010
The large, round earth has perfect positioning as it orbits the great, bright sun. There’s ripe food to eat and cool water to drink. What more can the wondrous, powerful earth provide? Sweet fruit for the taking, a fire with flickering flames, and a family to love and care for. Earth makes the life forces walk and eat, and the squishy mud scrunching under your feet. Hail the beautiful world and the Earth Day coming on.

Earth Day
Sophia R, 6th grade                              April, 2010
My favorite part of Earth Day was the recyclables. I made a long train of cars with Lauren, Katie, Anna, Natalie, and Francesca. In the afternoon we moved woodchips. We brought them up by the Library and Bayview. I used a sled to move them, and then pulled Collin up the hill. I had a great time. For recess we went to the beach by the new playground. I went in the marsh  at recess;  I slipped and my feet got dirty but it was a fun recess.

Earth Day 
Micaela C, 2nd grade                            April, 2010
I made a turtle for Earth Day. His name was Alex. I made him out of egg carton, plastic and paper. I felt a little sad because he did not have legs. His face was made of a corner of egg carton. I think he was really cool. I love making recyclables! We all brought fruit for snack. Out of all the fruit we made a fruit salad. We had healthy fruit for lunch! We put blackberries and more. I love fruit salad! We spread woodchips also. We used sleds to spread them. It was tiring. I found mold and lots of spiders and bugs. I really love spreading woodchips!

My Favorite Day of the Week
Shannon C, 2nd grade                          April, 2010
My favorite day of the week is Wednesday because I like school and art. The best time is at 3:00 because that is when art starts. But I also like school time too. I do not really like homework but sometimes it is fun, like math or experiments or something else. So you see I really like Wednesday even if there is homework.

How To Do Well On A Test  
Sarah S, 4th                                April, 2010
To do well on a test you need to prepare. You can prepare by studying every day and by going to sleep early on the day before the test.  Wake up a little early and study a bit, then eat a good breakfast on the morning of the test. To prepare is very, very important. When doing your test you need to underline all the key words. You need to read the test carefully. Slowly too. You should underline the answers in the passage too. Underlining is good because then you just look and get the answer. Once you finish your test you should do C.U.P.S. You should read over your work. You should fix it if needed. You should add or subtract what is needed or not needed and lastly you need to hand your test in. (Ed. This was about the lead up to the 4th grade ELA.)

Earth Keepers
Molly F, 4th grade                                May, 2010
I love Earth Keepers! I am learning so many things. My favorite adventure so far was hiking in the unexplored territory. We used E.M.’s diary and followed one of her adventures. We read a passage and hiked where she hiked. We found things like her hiking stick. It was great!