Christina's Class

Are You Ready For The State Test?

5/1/2017

Are you ready for State exam? I hope so! April in Christina’s class was about continuing to prepare for the BIG three days. We mostly divided decimals through engaging Math games. We also changed fractions to decimals. The practice exercises in Dreambox and Khan academy gave us opportunities to keep applying what we know. Our goal was to raise our percentage in Khan. In class, we used problems from past State exams for our exit tickets and sometimes we think them through with Christina. At this point, we’re ready to get all the rest that we need to think well and do well in the coming exams. Don’t forget to have sharpened pencils, an eraser, and the patience to go step by step, show your work, think carefully first of what’s ‘known’ and unknown’ in a given problem. All the wonderful tips and reminders we have been hearing and doing! Just think, when the three days of mental EXERCISE is over, we will enjoy two weeks of no homework. Right, Christina?

Sophia Martinez
502

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March

5/1/2017

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In Christina's class this month, we had a lot of practice adding and subtracting fractions and we were also introduced to multiplying a whole number by a fraction. We also learned about the sides and angles of different quadrilaterals such as the square, rectangle, rhombus, and trapezoid. As usual, Khan Academy videos and Dreambox helped a lot in making learning easier and more lively. But my favorite way of learning something and getting to practice it is still playing a game with a member of the family.For a change, I got to play 'Rolling, rolling, rolling' with my Dad instead of my mom. (What did not change is, I still won!) We had to roll two dice and make a fraction out of the numbers that come up. For example,one cube is 4 and the other 6. The fraction is 4 / 6. Then we had to find an equivalent fraction on the chart and mark it. And the goal or the way to win is to get 3 in a row.That was fun!

Sophia Martinez
502

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February

3/14/2017

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February was a short month. It went really fast! But Christina kept us learning and practicing Math skills through interesting games. There is always chance, challenge and goal. Remember the game that helped us improve division and indirectly review multiplication? (Because how can you even divide without knowing your multiplication tables?) There was that game where each one had to pick one bone shaped paper had a number. That’s chance! (You don’t know what you’ll get.) On the top right of the paper bone, there was another number between 1 and 12. You had a piece of paper that had 12 boxes. If your bone said 32 and the number of the top right was 4, you had to divide 32 by 4 and the answer (8) was the next bone you had to look for. That’s challenge in remembering your multiplication tables. Anyway, you kept doing this until all 12 boxes were filled. That was the goal. Here was another chance, challenge and goal: exit tickets when we come in. There was a multiplication problem and the problem had at least 1 to 3 errors. There’ s a chance that you get a hard one. The challenge was that you had to do the problem correctly and explain the error. Lastly, you had to show a strategy that can be used to know that your answer is correct. I guess the goal was to show you understood the problem and how you solved it. Lastly, we added fractions by converting them into money. For example, 1 / 2 = 50 cents = 50 / 100 and 1 / 10 = 10 = 10 / 100. There’s always a chance you have not used money enough to be quick in it. So it can be a challenge. I like that it brings together something you use in daily life (money) and fractions. It’s like learning through everyday Math and that’s a cool goal. Did you also enjoy the chance, challenge, and goal playing with a member of the family in one part of homework? It’s fun that you can win or lose. There was always a chance you’ll pick difficult numbers between 1 and 10. Then you were challenged to put them in the right boxes so you can follow the set rule in comparing fractions. For example, “larger fraction wins” or “fraction closest to ½ wins. It was a delight to set the goal of winning by following a rule. Of course, I won!

By Sophia M

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January- The New Year!

2/13/2017

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In Christina’s class we began the NEW year with a NEW website for getting more exercise in fifth grade Math skills : Castle Learning. I must admit that I like Dreambox more because it explains when you make mistakes in solving problems. But like Dreambox, Castle Learning does help to make homework and learning livelier. This first month of 2017 was all about división. We practiced partial-quotients division and standard long división. I like how doing partial-quotients división again and again makes me better and better in estimating partial answers especially after playing five to seven games of Seth’s game with my mom Wasn’t that a cool way to get better at división and have a good time with another member of the family? (Hey, I won!). In Seth’s game, there are constraints and then numbers between 0 to 9 are picked at random and entered into the boxes. The constraint can be “largest remainder” or “even number quotient.” And it helped to know “divisibility rules” to be smart about where to put the numbers you picked. We learned those rules too! For example, a number is divisible by 2 if the last digit is even and is divisible by 3 if the sum of all the digits is divisible by 3. Of course, quotients can have remainders and we also learned when to ignore them, round them up, make them fractions or use them as the answer. Did you like the "remainders game?" I did! There were boxes with numbers which make a path to the end. Using our initials, we moved around the scoreboard depending on the remainder. For instance, if you’re on a box that has the humber 32, then you pick a card with the number 5, you divide 32 by 5 and get 6 r 2. So you move two spaces. And if there is no remainder you stay where you are. There is no limit to learning through games in Christina’s class! The month ended with taking time to draft thank you letters to the kind and generous persons who donated ipads so we can look up things in the internet, log on to Math websites, and learn in more enjoyable ways almost everyday. Writing ‘thank you’ felt good.

Sophia Martinez
502

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DECEMBER

1/3/2017

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In Christina's class this December, we went over 4th grade Math skills like multiplying two digit numbers and three digit numbers. We were taught several different strategies such as those using the distributive property and the traditional strategy. Coming back to 5th grade Math, we learned how to multiply decimals by a whole number that isn't 10, 100, or 1000. We also learned how to add and subtract decimals by first aligning the decimal points. It was fun to play a few Math games to improve our multiplication, decimal, and rounding skills.

Math wasn't just work, work, WORK! We all had the holiday spirit on! Including Christina!!!! She spared us from a Math packet for a whole week. Now that's a great teacher. Also, on the last day of school for 2016, we had a free day! We snacked on chips and cupcakes and played an enjoyable game with Christmas related questions. It was a great month in Math class. Happy Christmas and Merry New Year! Or is it the other way around???

Sophia Martinez
502

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Stretch, Bend, and Work Out

12/4/2016

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We’ve been wearing thick jackets more and more in the past weeks. But our minds didn’t need jackets! They continued to stretch, bend, and work out in Christina’s class. We practiced writing the same value in words, fractions, decimal numerals, expanded form, and standard form. We learned to move decimal points and shift digits when multiplying or dividing numbers with decimals by powers of ten. We used place value charts to demonstrate our understanding of place value and learned the relations between digits with different place values. We also compared numbers with decimals. Didn’t Dreambox and Math games make things more alive, interesting, and fun? Also, didn’t it help a lot that we are given steps to follow in solving problems? We have to identify the known and unknown, make a plan, carry out the plan, make sense of the answer. It helps to be more organized. Finally, Christina allowed us to rest from decimals and fractions so we can just enjoy turkey, stuffing, family, friends, and more hours to sleep and play.

Sophia M
502

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Dream Box

11/27/2016

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Dream Box is an amazing website. It teaches math in a very fun way. It also helps you get more extra credit if your grade is low. We have been working on Dream Box for a long time now. Most of the fifth grade uses it and we all think that Dream Box is great. Dream Box has games such as elapsed time, place value: decimals, order of operations, etc. In my opinion I really think that Dream Box is the best math website I ever used. Dream Box is just like a video game but better because like I said it teaches you math. Don't you just love Dream Box? I know I do!
By Sarah Badr
5-501

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Math Excitement

10/4/2016

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September in Christina’s Math Class was enjoyable. We started out by using Math to get to know each other. We made our nametags on graphing paper, found the area and perimeter of each letter, and colored it. We used Math equations to say something about ourselves in “Figure Me Out” posters. For example, “25÷5= my grade level.” We also shared summer souvenirs with the class.

Then we were given challenging worksheets to complete. They woke up our Math skills especially if they slept a bit during the summer. We had to solve problems from everyday life like the one on combining discs with different weights on a 45 pound bar, the one on making combinations to equal eight wheels, or the one on figuring out which deal is better for an allowance for twelve weeks. The work made us practice multiplication, addition, subtraction, and division. Additionally, we watched a video to help us review what we know about place value. We also learned interesting number patterns such as the spiral and Fibonacci patterns.

Finally, Christina told us about “Class Dojo”. This is where she keeps track of our class behavior. She gives points for class participation, being on task and much more. Are you excited about grade five Math? I am!

By Sophia Martinez, Class 502

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Fifth Grade

10/2/2016

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Fifth grade is the most important year in your life. It decides whether or not you are going to middle school, but it is also the most fun here at The Renaissance Charter School. See here in the Renaissance we’re all about you: your safety, and your education. We do a lot of projects. We go from the classroom to a lot of trips you surely don’t want to miss any of them. (We went to the Intrepid last year. It’s a war ship that was used in World War 1] but we’ll get into that later. We only ask for a positive attitude, work, and respect. We always make sure that there is someone to help when in need. No bullying is expected. This is a bully safe zone. For the fun stuff we have a lot to do like soccer teams and basketball teams after school. I can go on forever. For example we have Lil’ Sizzle when we go on a week of free trips as well as Nature’s Classroom.
Here we care!

By Nicholas Zichichi
Fifth Grader 501

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SEPTEMBER...

10/2/2016

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Over the past month, we have worked hard on projects and have learned many different things. Each day, in the morning, we work on a problem after we pack up. In our morning meeting, we go around in a circle saying first, our name, then we tell how we are feeling that day. If we have time, we play a quick game.

In our class, there are four groups. These groups are A,B,C, and D. Usually, A and B are split into one group while the other group contains of groups C and D. When we are split into groups, one group (Group A and B or group C and D) will use the computers, watching someone teach math or solving math equations while the other group goes to a separate room and work on paper.

Each week, we are handed a packet full of math problems for us to complete by the week. Some problems can be easy, but most are tricky.

Another thing in class is Class Dojo. Class Dojo is a website that grades the children in our class. There is also a section for the whole class, so if everyone is participating, our teacher will give the whole class a point. Parents can also check how good their child is doing at math, and see what they need to teach their child to stay focused on class.

To conclude, we are doing well in math and I think we can keep it up if we try hard enough.

BY THOMAS LEAHY
FIFTH GRADER- 502

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Because of Winn Dixie

6/25/2016

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Last Friday, June 17th, the 3rd grade class at The Renaissance Charter School performed a school play called Because of Winn Dixie. This is a play based on a book. We didn’t do the whole book because we couldn’t fit the entire thing in the ½ hour. Mostly we performed the parts about community. This play was put together with MOG, Rebecca, Christina, and the rest of our class. MOG is the Metropolitan Opera Guild. Two MOG people came to the class to work with us through the school year. The first one was Brandon and the other one was Joel. They were both really helpful. Together we wrote songs, added scenes, and ended up with the play.

Annel was the dog, named Winn Dixie, Tyler was Oscar (aka Opal in the book), and Alfred was the mouse, etc. Christina and Rebecca, the dance teacher, worked with us by helping us to create the scenes. Brandon and Joel worked with us on the lyrics.

We performed the play 3 times. All 3 were in the auditorium. We showed the play to the K-4th grades once, 5-6th graders, and then to our relatives. The best performance was for the 5-6th graders, because we did the best job for that show.

A lot of people were very nervous but we practiced a lot and it ended up pretty good! Honestly, I didn’t know what we were doing until the last few days, when it all came together and we got the costumes and props ready. Then it all made more sense. I like being on stage. It was fun!

I hope everyone has a great summer!

Check out our photos and video!

Casper Hoffman
Class Reporter

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Nature's Classroom

5/22/2016

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Nature’s Classroom was awesome! Everyone loved it, and I can tell you why.

When we arrived, on Monday afternoon, a lot of people were sick from the bus ride, either really sick, or just sick of being on the bus. (I’m still feeling jet-lagged). But we recovered pretty quickly when we saw Silver Bay. It was a nice place - everything was perfect, except for the mud pit that half of the class fell into on Tuesday morning! :) In all of these books, they say that mud is really sticky. And that was the truth in the case, though I think it’s usually not. This mud pit, was epic. Once we were good and stuck, Raymond had to pry us out, leaving some shoes in the mud. The shoes had to be ripped out afterwards. Whoa. Good thing no one got hurt.

That day was hard to top, but over the next few days we all had activities like Predators vs. Prey, animal dissection (which has ruined sausage for me), hikes in the woods, and great meals. We were starving after all of our adventures. We had transition time between every single class, when we could do practically anything! We learned from our very first day, don’t go near that mud pit. I have no idea where they got that fetal pig to dissect. I both loved and hated dissection, it’s hard to explain.

Not only our teachers helped us. Nature’s Classroom instructors, like Hawk, Snax, Poe (nephew of Jack Black!!!!!), Lego, Two Socks, and CD were there. They led our activities, field groups, and Silver Bay. They even ate with us, sometimes. I thought it was super cool that Poe’s uncle is really the actor Jack Black. They both have awesome jobs.

The hotel where we stayed was nice and not nice. It was fancy, and we had fun with our friends, but sometimes the doors got really jammed. You should hear what happened to the 5th graders getting locked in their room! My brother is in that class, and he told me about it. That was crazy.

It was an awesome experience, and I can’t wait to go back in 2017. Thanks, Christina, for being a mama for all of us all week long! We owe you big time!

Casper Hoffman

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Christina Is Back!

3/14/2016

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CHRISTINA IS BACK!!
Casper Hoffman
13 March 2016

Our 3rd grade experienced the strangest couple of weeks! Our teacher, Christina, was absent for almost 2 weeks, and that was the first time we’d ever been away from her for so long this year. It turns out that she had hurt her back, and had to miss a lot of school to recover. We missed her like crazy, but we had a nice substitute teacher named Heidi. Heidi made a list of the well behaved and poorly behaved kids and this let us see how we were doing all week long. The students with good behavior got rewarded with class money for their class bank accounts. This was a good idea because the students were judged as individuals and how they acted. Christina came back to our classroom on March 10th, last Thursday. She seems to be getting better and she was happy when we greeted her. On Thursday in class she read through the behavior chart and fortunately no kids’ names were on the poor behavior list.

On Friday we met with Brandon from MOG and started to make songs for the play. We were actually writing the words to the songs, and rhyming them. I enjoyed making the beginning of one of the songs. I’m pretty sure a lot of other people did too, because we had to make rhyming words in almost every sentence which is really fun. Luckily we didn’t have to rhyme as much as Dr. Seuss, though! Frog, bog, and log all rhyme with MOG, but I think we should stay on topic.

We’re so happy that Christina has returned to Room 306, aka. 3rd grade!

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So Much Snow!

2/1/2016

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By
Casper Hoffman

Last Saturday 1/23/16, we had this epic snowstorm, when 34 inches of snow fell in Jackson Heights, the most in the whole city, according to New York Magazine’s Daily Intelligencer. The storm was called Winter Storm Jonas. It was so snowy, that people were lying down in the street! When can you do that in NYC?!

Snowstorms seem pretty rare in New York City, especially ones that snow more than 2 feet! The city and the mayor did pretty well, but the streets in Jackson Heights weren’t cleared for a very long time, mostly the snow just melted and plows didn’t come. There’s still some snow under the cars, and maybe some on the side of the streets, too.

Jonas was a great opportunity for us to have a day off from school, but by Monday it was clean enough to go. That was a bummer, but good thing we got some great sledding in on Sunday at a big hill in Woodside. There were lots of collisions during the sledding, especially kids slamming in to the adults at the bottom of the hill and knocking them off their feet.

Other activities in the snow were skiing, snowball fights, and building snow forts. My Mom told me that 2 guys built an igloo in Brooklyn and tried to rent it. That’s crazy. Winter Storm Jonas was a great time in my life, and I won’t forget that weekend. I wish it would snow like that every day.

Reference: http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/01/east-coast-begins-digging-out-from-blizzard.html#

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Class Trips

1/4/2016

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Hi everyone, I’m back. It’s Casper Hoffman, reporting on Christina’s 3rd grade class. I’d like to tell everybody a little bit about the past few weeks of school. Here are some of the things that the class has done.

First of all, there’s a new(ish) student, who’s name is Laszlo. He came to the class a few weeks ago. Its good to have 25 student again. It’s great to have him in the class, but of course we still miss Alex too.

Also, we’ve taken a few field trips. We went to see a real opera, Der Fledermaus, which was in English. Our class is doing a MOG, which stands for Metropolitan Opera Guild, just like Christina’s class last year. Last year her class made an play called “Maggie’s Handsome Sons”. My brother Felix was in the play. This year we are working on one called “Because of Winn Dixie”. Well, we haven't started practicing yet, but Christina says it’s coming soon.
We also went to many food restaurants a few weeks ago during Rensizzle week, during the first semester.

One other trip was on last Friday, when we went to “Under The Tangled”. It was about a girl who got lost in the forest, and her parents died in a forest fire. The girl survived and found some strange people. There was one boy who helped her, but he was one of the only other living things in the forest. About 1/2 of it was dancing and not words. I liked where it took place, because hiking in the woods is one of my favorite things.

Last week we also had a bake sale. Lots of parents and kids came and bought cookies, choco pies (which were delicious donuts encased in chocolate with marshmallow inside!! - I kind of got a big sugar rush from eating a few of those!!), and cupcakes. We supported the American Cancer Society with the money we earned to help our friend Ariel and her family.

Our holiday vacation week is coming soon, and I’m really excited. I can’t wait to hear about my friends’ vacations when we return in 2016.

Happy Holidays, everyone!
Casper

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MORE FRESH AIR and THE INTREPID

10/25/2015

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MORE FRESH AIR and THE HUDSON RIVER!
Our school, The Renaissance Charter School, doesn’t have outside places for students to get fresh air or relax. Even though most of the activities are inside, even recess, the students want to have more time outside. Sometimes our class goes to the park, but not everyday.

Some teachers are trying to get us out into more fresh air! The 3rd grade class took a trip to the Hudson River Park on 44th Street, near the Intrepid, a very big and old Navy ship. To get there we had to go on the subway. There were a few parents, too. The subway ride was crowded with all of our classmates and only one or two other people fit.

When we arrived, it was nice and sunny outside. First, we had a science lesson where we learned about brackish water. Brackish is a new vocabulary word. It means salt water and fresh water mixed. We watched the teacher test the Hudson River water for depth and temperature. He chucked a bucket into the river, on a heavy duty string. He missed the first 5 times, but then he finally got some water in it and tested it. There was a really easy 2 question test, and then we ate our lunches on the grassy field. I liked looking at the Intrepid, too. It even had cannons! It felt great to be outside.

I think getting us outside for fresh air is nice because it’s healthy and refreshing. I’m glad that Christina took our class on the trip. Maybe more field trips could help get us MORE FRESH AIR!
By Casper Hoffman
Classroom Reporter

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Classroom Community Rocks

10/6/2015

3 Comments

CLASSROOM COMMUNITY ROCKS!

I am part of the new 3rd grade class at The Renaissance Charter School. Our class has 24 students - it used to be 25, but one person moved out of the school. We’ll miss him! Our teachers are pretty cool! They are Christina, Carol, and Darryl. We know Carol and Darryl from last year with Renay.

We are building a classroom community because we want to all work together and not bully and not fight. A good classroom community will let us all be happy.

We’re doing all these wacky activities. We started with the Human Knot. We all hold hands and try to get each other out (untangled) by going under and over each other. The first time, it was a complete catastrophe, people falling all over each other; Oliver and I love that stuff!! The third time was really good.

It seemed like the class kind of worked together and kind of didn’t. We had some fun but the knot stayed tangled. We’ll play other really wacky games, but this one I’ll never forget. I think our third grade classroom community is going to be confusing and hard, but will get better and better.

CASPER HOFFMAN

CLASS REPORTER

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I went...I went...I went...BLAH

11/30/2014

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Writing for children always poses a problem. They sure can talk, but if you ask them to put pen to paper...all of a sudden, they have nothing to say. NONSENSE!

I definitely become the writing drill sergeant this year. And I'm sure my students will say..."CHRISTINA, NO MORE PERSONAL NARRATIVES!" I have them revising like college students during thesis season. Ok, maybe I have to tone it down...but I'm seeing progress!

Recently, we've worked on the idea of "Show Not Tell." Parents at home are like "Huh? This teacher is crazy!" Hey, if authors can do it so can my fourth graders. We are authors too! The goal is to really engage your reader. Have them on the edge of their seats wondering what will happen next.

What do we love to read? Our favorite books are action packed and make us feel something. So I say lets see what our favorite authors have done and lets mimic some of this in our own writing.

DAFT! (acronym)
"DAFT?"
"Yes DAFT!" Dialogue, Action, Feeling, and Thought are in every great piece of writing. Throw in some clever word choice, comparisons (simile and metaphors), well thought out bridge words, and a little attitude (tone), ban the usage of the words went and said, and you have yourself a great first draft.

What I have seen? Students playing around with font size, CAPITALIZING and underlining words to make the piece more dramatic. Students are "skidding," "dashing," and wiggling from one place to another! They sure love their sound effects with many interpretations of a fire alarm: "BEEP, BEEP, BEEP to Err Err Err to Wha Wha Wha!"

The ideas are there that's for sure! Next, we'll be using our senses to add more details, before we hit up organization and a little Writer's Polishing Session.

3,2.1, GO!

My Sweater Is Thinner Than Paper

Stiff Like Statues

Clouds Passing By In the Sky

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Morning Meeting

9/28/2014

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This year, every second and fourth Friday of the month, the entire elementary school is coming together for Morning Meeting, The hope? To build community across the grades. Each meeting will follow a familiar protocol: Greeting, Positive Share, Academic Share, and Activity.

So far we have met two times. We've learned the names of all teachers in the cluster, learned about respectful listening (thanks to fifth grade volunteers: Priya, Fiona, Destiny, and Veronica), practiced a new Good Morning Song (Thanks first grade), shared Rosh Hashanah traditions, and listened to some incredible fifth grade poetry. The teachers are already losing in the game Stump the Teacher!

As the year goes on, each grade will have the opportunity to host Morning Meeting. They will create the agenda, as well as invite the entire elementary community into their learning environment.

I'm excited for future meetings and the learning that is going on in each classroom.

Stay tuned,
Christina

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Autism Awareness - By Brandon

3/30/2014

2 Comments

On May 18, 2014 my mom and family will be walking in honor of me, Brandon Quiles, to help raise awareness for Autism. This walk will take place at Flushing Meadow Park in Queens. PLEASE take a moment to donate as a little as $1, $5 or more, to support this cause. Every little bit counts. My mom set up an account with Autism Speaks, so if you want to donate, reach out to Dawn Bowers Quiles @ dawnashleybrand@gmail.com for more information.

Also, April 2, 2014 AUTISM AWARENESS DAY and my sister's school is doing a fundraiser, if you want to bake or purchase food for mom to sell on Wednesday, we would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you in advance for your help,

Brandon & (Mom too!)

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Diary Of Ecuador

2/10/2014

1 Comment

January 30: We got off the plane. My grandpa came to see me and then we went straight to the funeral, but I don't like funerals because they are too sad. After the funeral, we went to the cemetery to bury my mom's aunt's body and I felt sad for my aunt, Tania, because she was crying. The person who died was Tania's mom. Once the cemetery was over, we went to Tania's house. Her house is gigantic.

January 31: Tania has a pool but the water was freezing, anyway I went in. It was lunch time and I had rice, lettuce, the skin of a pig and the meat of the pig...hahahahahaha...and THEN, I got sick...and did I tell you? I vomited on the plane because of the airplane food...

February 1st: I went to my great grandma's house. She has 2 birds. She has a cousin named Ramiro and he has a dog named Max. Max would stretch all the time and howl at the same time...my great grandma has tons of flowers and she made soup that was really good and rice with meat, salad and avocado....but for her is avocado filled with salt....hahahahahah....that lady does not quit on the salt! Then we went to another family member's house and my cousin and I played with the kids from the party. We played with spray foam. My cousin, the one who came with me from NY, teamed up and played with 6 other kids, we had to hit each other with the spray foam so me and my teammate had our own territory and our goal was to spray them in the eye so they can't play anymore…buahaha!

February 2nd: We went fishing but I was not feeling well so Tania gave me a pill. Then I went horseback riding and my favorite cousin, Andy, started weeping like crazy because it was his first time on a horse. When the horse started to move forward, Andy started to fake cry, I was laughing like crazy. I wish I caught him on video and yeah, I saw cows on the street. At night, I went to my cousin Kevin's birthday.

February 3rd: I saw the president, he was surrounded by guards who had horns that were blowing like crazy and on the other hand they were holding swords that creeped me out. We went to my mom's old school but sadly it was closed so I couldn't go inside and see it. I also saw this church that was made of gold, by now I would think all the gold would be stolen and all the artifacts would too, they must be guarding that church 24/7.

February 4th: I went to Mitad del Mundo. It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. There is a monument that has a line representing half of Earth, that is why Ecuador sounds like Equator. I had an amazing time and I even got to go inside. There were a bunch of artifacts, but we were not allowed to touch them, as usual. When we were heading back I got to go in the back of my cousins pick up truck and I felt so alive!!! Did you know in NY that is illegal?

February 5th: I stayed in Tania's gigantic house and watched TV. In the afternoon I went to my third cousin's house and there was this little girl who kept touching my Ipad and made me lose everything in “Subway surfers.” My other cousin sang rap songs.

February 6th: This day my mom invited me to come to sleep in great-grandma's house, I could never be happier to go there. I ate tortillas and and I had some delicious rice. Then we went to this mall and guess what? My mom was in a deep need of a shirt for the next day because she only brought work clothes. My mom decided to go to the store called “Marathon.” Guess what? A shirt costs $65 and she said "I rather go shopping in NY.” That night we prayed together with my great grandma. We prayed for her to have a long life. My great grandma is hilarious. She was getting dressed and asked my mom whether her skirt matched the boots and at the same time her hair was so messy that caused my mom to laugh. She had just taken a shower.

February 7th: The next day we went to the Teleferic with grandpa. I never wanted to go, but my mom made me. I could've been in Tanias house but Noooo… my mom made me go to the Teleferic. I felt so annoyed. Oh and by the way, the Teleferic is a car on a wire that brings you very high in the sky to the mountain.

February 8th: We flew back to NY!(sobbing)…

Naidym

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Ordinary is Extraordinary

1/23/2014

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Our class was asked by The Jackson Heights Green Alliance affliated with The Museo de Barrio, and a local artist to collaborate on designing a mural on a wall in a local park: Rory Staunton Field.

After a meeting with Sam, from JHGA and Carlo, the artist, our theme: "Ordinary is Extraordinary: the Littlest Things that Make a Difference" has been decided.

My brainstorm:
English Muffin sandwiches; Sunday dinner; Monday yoga night; getting a glimpse of the moon; receiving a friendly email, text, or phone call; saying I love you; a good laugh; inside jokes; watching the sunset; cuddling; The shrill of "Titi" the minute Evie sees me; Hugs, besitos, and laughs from Avery and Evie, dancing and singing at the top of my lungs, the feeling of cozy sweatpants and clean sheets; a good hot chocolate; Siesta Key Beach.

The students' brainstorm:
How excited my my dog gets when you see me- Naidym
Singing the ABCs with my three year old brother- Priya
Snowboarding with my family in PA-Angelina
Going to visit Mexico and Argentina- Mimi
My mouse greeting me when I feed him -Fiona
Sitting down and reading all day- Fiona
Visiting my God family- Destiny
Drawing in my peaceful room- Elliot
Playing very long Piano and Violin pieces- Raneen
Going to a haunted house.- Angelica
Dancing with my baby sitter. -Fatema
Visiting my cousins in California- Liam
Hearing Henry laugh-Liam
Going to my grandmas house-Angelina
Playing with my cousin Brycie- Caiel
MLK party at Liam's house. -Darvin
Playing with my doggie- Veronica
Doing homework with my dad- Ruslana
Dylan!- Ivan
Seeing my lil cousin laugh- Chelsea
Going iceskating with my dad! - Estella
Playing with my cousin- Brandon
Reading books on the couch when it's silent.- Andrew
My family- Matthew
.
I'm curious what are the ordinary things that make the biggest difference in your life? If you like to share all ideas can help! Comment below.

Christina

1 Comment

Best Picnic Ever! By, Priya Verma

11/4/2013

2 Comments

Best Picnic Ever!

We went to a picnic as a class and we had lots of fun. This is just one of the super duper activites we do with Christina. A group of kids made a pile of leaves for Christina to jump into. We worked as a team and helped each other to build a large pile of leaves. Everyone took a handful of leaves and put it into the pile. Eventually someone figured out that we could use plastic bags to gather up as many leaves as possible. All of a sudden, "Wooooooooosh!" The wind blew away some of the leaves. "Everyone cover the leaves!’’ Fiona screamed. We all ran to the leaves and covered the pile with our bodies. Even though the wind blew away some our leaves, we were still able to make a big pile. "It's time to go!" Christina shouted. She rushed over to the pile of leaves. Christina was surprised by how big the pile of leaves was. She waited until everyone was there and then……bssshhh!! Christina hopped into the leaves. We all jumped in with Christina. It was a blast. I thought this was the best part of the picnic for me and I think Christina thought this was fun too!
We Love Christina!!

-Priya

2 Comments

Best Sports with Liam Collins

10/23/2013

2 Comments

Sometimes You Need a Little "Hep" In Your Life

9/30/2013

2 Comments

Ready! Hep!

The first time I heard those words, my toes were clenched to the edge of a twenty-five foot high platform with the upper half of my body completely over the edge.

At that moment, other ideas of birthday gifts to give a friend were racing through my mind. A sweater? Dinner? A movie? Sure! Tea? Nothing says I love you like tea, but what was I thinking with the idea of trapeze lessons?

Heights! I hate heights. The fact that I was securely fasten and hooked to twenty five different mechanism didn't ease my anxiety. Surely, I must have tricked my mind to think that this activity would be fun, when really it may just be the reason I died so young.

Climbing a ladder is absolute torture for my friend. In my opinion, I was getting her back for laughing about my unreasonable fear of fish. "I'll give her unreasonable" was my thought. And yet, there I was with my legs buckling, my heart racing, and my teeth jittering questioning why I put myself in situations like this. She bravely survived round one. (Carla 1- Trapeze 0). With a little bit of my ego in the way, I clenched so tightly to the bar that my fingers turned purple.

"Ready! Hep!"

So what did I do?

Scroll down....

Needless to say, I've now decided to join the circus!

Christina

2 Comments

Are You Ready For The State Test?

March

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Stretch, Bend, and Work Out

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Because of Winn Dixie

Nature's Classroom

Christina Is Back!

So Much Snow!

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MORE FRESH AIR and THE INTREPID

Classroom Community Rocks

I went...I went...I went...BLAH

Morning Meeting

Autism Awareness - By Brandon

Diary Of Ecuador

Ordinary is Extraordinary

Best Picnic Ever! By, Priya Verma

Best Sports with Liam Collins

Sometimes You Need a Little "Hep" In Your Life

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