Week 11 in Parkinsville

This week was amazing in Parkinsville we started a researching  something that we wonder using the Nexus7s like I did most expensive car in the world, Olivia  did what seals evolved from, Will did the most expensive pet, Austin did when will the world end, Chase did how many people are in the world. In library we learned about the Dewy Decimal System of Classification. We added and subtracted decimals. We did two quick write (we get a prompt from a book and get five minutes to write about any thing). We did a opera in music. We did six on six in gym with Ms. Pachuta. In art we made the final touches on our project. In guidance we had a gallery walk with poems and chose our favorites. We hope you continue to read and stay updated. Stay tuned!

Weekly update

Written by Patrick
Edited by Olivia

Mrs.Wolinsky asked Google for a grant and won with 2 other classes around the globe receiving 25 brand -new Nexus 7s! And she chose us to use them! A Nexus 7 is run by Google, competing with the best selling i-pad! This week we have been exploring our new apps that we have downloaded for learning. Nexus 7s rock!

On the same day the rollout came we also visited the Longfellow House! The 200 year old brick house was donated by the last member of the Longfellow family to the Maine Historical Society in 1903 (I think this is what the guide said). It was fun seeing how they did things we do now without electricity. The kitchen had nothing besides a table that we use today. The second floor of the house caught fire and they rebuilt and added a third floor. The wallpaper was not the original because it would have been way too old and stinky but still furniture and instruments were original.

Math!!!!!! We started unit four which looks at decimals. Two nights ago the homework we had let us cut out the pieces of magazines that included decimals in all ways. From money to temperatures to weight there are decimals.

This has sure been an out of the ordinary week! We got new technology, had a field trip to learn about old technology, and we started using the awesome decimals.

I wonder what next week will bring???


Note from Mrs. Parkin:

Last week I handed out book order fliers to the children. I am extending the deadline for orders to this Monday, December 10th, in hopes that we can drum up a few more! In these days of budget hardships, your orders through Scholastic Book Clubs earn our class bonus points, which I can then use to purchase books for our classroom at no out-of-pocket cost to me. 

Planning on giving books as gifts this holiday season? Please consider ordering them through Scholastic! They will arrive before vacation and, if requested, I will make sure your order stays hidden away from prying eyes :) Misplaced the order form? Order online by clicking here. All online orders earn you a $5 off coupon for a future order!

The Nexus 7s are here!

Today was a VERY exciting day-- we rolled out the Nexus 7 tablets to the students! It was amazing to see the curiosity on their faces and share in their infectious enthusiasm. 

Lilly's reaction upon taking her tablet out of the box.

Several people came to help us this afternoon: Mrs. Wolinsky, Mrs. Barr, the instructional technology integrator at YHS, Mrs. Lane, and YHS alum Ben Morse. Special thanks to the parents who were able to drop by: Camden's dad Erik, Ned's mom Carolyn, Xan's mom Whitney, and Carter's mom Amie (with little sister Meredith!).

Mrs. Barr helps Kate set up her tablet

We started by creating name labels to go on the outside of the case. Next, students unwrapped the cases, which was surprisingly exciting to them! Finally, they were able to start getting to know the tablets themselves. By the end of the afternoon, students had downloaded about a dozen educational apps from the Google Play store. We even had some time for exploring the different apps! The room buzzed with students excitedly sharing what they were learning.

Students watch as I use the Elmo to model how to change the settings on the tablet

 Tomorrow during morning meeting, we will work together to develop common agreements about using the tablets. Mrs. Wolinsky will join us for this discussion. Our goal is to create a contract that will be signed by all students and parents.

Stay on the lookout for updates as we discover more about how we will use the Nexus 7 tablets to transform learning in our classroom!

 

Weekly Post

Written by Maddy and edited by Madison

At the beginning of the week some people stayed in at recess to help design a poster for the Falmouth Elementary School. This is because the second grade teacher Mr. Grover died over the weekend. All of us each decorated a paper balloon. On the next day, Lilly and Madison glued and put the poster together. Then Mrs. Parkin delivered the poster to Falmouth Elementary School. 

Also, we finished editing our personal  narratives with Mrs. Parkin.

Then, we learned how to do algebra with open sentences.  

We also did a page of broken calculator. Which is where you have a broken key on the calculator but you can use any other key. It's very hard because you don't know what the answer is. We also took the Unit 3 assessment. Then we started the unit on decimals.

Our awesome review

Written by Odin and Edited by Madison 

On Wednesday our special was Guidance. And in Guidance we worked on teamwork by designing our own picture.We each had a colored crayon and we can only use that color on the picture. It's a picture of anything . Also we learned about number story's and how to figure out if they're true or false. At the end of the week we had a substitute and her name is Mrs.Garneau. Then, with Mrs.Garneau we had a writing prompt and the prompt was about your least favorite food and a character who was trying the food for the first time. Also, we did extra math which is basically studying our math facts.We practiced our math facts on times attack. Then we had Discovery Math. For spelling we worked on adding prefixes and suffixes. All throughout this week and next week we will be having conferences with Mrs.Parkin and she will be typing our personal narrative. 

Weekly Post

Written By Harrison Edited By Madison and Emma


This was a great week in Parkinville. Last Monday, we did awesome stations to help edit our personal narratives. Last Tuesday we had our first Mock Election. Our winner was our very own... President Obama. 
On Wednesday we talked about what to do if we were stuck with a knew book. Also we learned about division.
We had our multiplication facts test. Also, we had our addition and subtraction extension facts test.
On the thirteenth we did Algebra for instance, 8+y-3+m=17. Some of us had conferences this morning. Also, we finished editing our personal narratives (they're almost done)!

In conclusion we had a lovely couple weeks in Parkinville!

Election Day Update

Today the citizens of Parkinville exercised their right to vote! Harrison, our Blogger of the Week, will have more details for you about our Mock Election in Friday's post. In the meantime, though, please ask your child for details about this exciting project that we worked on with Mrs. Colfer's third grade class. I have also included a video below, courtesy of Patrick.

Tonight's homework will extend the student's thinking about the election. Instead of a math study link, students should watch at least 20 minutes of election coverage on TV or online. They can do this tonight or tomorrow morning. They should jot down what they're hearing and noticing on a piece of paper that they will turn in, and they should be ready to discuss the results tomorrow.

-Mrs. Parkin

A Very Exciting Week :)!

Written By: Austin Blogger of the week

Edited By: Emma  

It was a fun Monday. We learned about the storm and we started a new unit in math.  We also did our times tables in math because we're starting a new unit on multiplication. We cut multiplication triangles out of our math journals so that we can practice at home. We also learned new words in math: factors, multiples, prime numbers, and square numbers. We also learned how to make a multiplication and division chart for homework.

We also finished The One and Only Ivan this week. The One and Only Ivan was one of my personal favorite books. It was a little sad at the end, but I guess Ruby was happy. I thought Ivan's happiness was a little bit in the middle because he wanted to be with a family and maybe he thought his family wasn't as comforting as Ruby's family. But he was also very very happy that Ruby had a great new home. If I were Katherine Applegate (the author), I'd let Ivan and Ruby see each other a lot.

We learned a ton about presidents and the election. We are going to vote next week on Tuesday. Unfortunately they are not going to be real votes because we have to be 18 to vote, but this is a mock election. I learned about the Electoral College and I learned about how candidates need 270 votes to win.

In conclusion, it was a very fun week!

An Amazingly Exciting and Packed Week!

Written by: Emma and Parker 

It has been a very packed week in Parkinville.  On Monday we went to the Portland symphony! It was amazing I definitely would go again. On Tuesday we went to the book fair, there are too many books in the world to choose from. On Wednesday there was Chorus which was exciting because we are starting to work on harmony in fourth grade. Thursday, we went to the Portland Museum of Art and saw the Winslow Homer exhibit and went on our final visit to the book fair.  Today we had a substitute in the morning and in art. But then our awesome teacher Mrs. Parkin came back to the full alleyways of Parkinville and we are going to finish up the week with the auction!! It was an awesomely full week of fun and buses. We are definitely looking forward to another week in Parkinville!! 

Weekly Update

The last couple of weeks in Parkinville have been very exciting!  We had three citizens graduate from desk rental!  The three lovely citizens are...  Madison W., Parker, and Patrick!  We are looking forward to the book fair and writing more in our personal narratives!  The book fair will be next week on Tuesday and Thursday.  Also, the symphony orchestra and our field trip to the National Gallery of Art will be on Tues. and Thurs.  We also finished the lovely and exciting book Chasing Vermeer!