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April
2004 Third
Issue
Our Masks and Pinch
Pot Art Projects
By Andrew
In this article I will tell you how we made masks and pinch pots in
art. First we got supplies for the masks. Some of the main supplies
were paper mache, oaktag, and yarn. We put modpog on our masks to make
the mask shine and sturdy. Making the masks took a long time. Step one
was to plan your design. Step two was to paper mache a paper plate.
The last step was to paint and to decorate them. Then the masks were
displayed in the hall.
We also made Native American pinch pots. We made them
out of natural clay. We used many tools. The coolest one was the
scraping tool. After we were done making the pinch pots, the art
teacher fired them in a 2,500° kiln. Then they will become hard.
It was hard work, but fun.
Papa Tells
Chita a Story
By Jamie
On April 5th we got our new reading book. The first
story we read was called Papa Tells Chita a Story, by Elizabeth
Howard. In the story, Papa tells his daughter, Chita, a story about
when he was in the army. Chita knows the story but she wants to hear
it again. In the story, Papa helped out the Americans in the war
against the Spanish. He was on a mission to tell the other Americans
to send more soldiers.
On the way, he saw a huge snake, but the horse,
Majestic, zigzagged through the grass and scared the snake away. He
was hot and wanted to cool down so he went into a nearby swamp. He
told Majestic to go home. When Papa got in the swamp he saw an
alligator watching him. Papa swam under the alligator and made it to
the other side. He climbed a few hills and found a bird's nest. He lay
down and took a nap. When he woke up he found a gigantic eagle. He
stumbled down the hills. When he was almost at the bottom, he saw a
camp! It was the Americans! He had completed the mission. The colonel
read the message and sent over more soldiers. Papa won a medal for all
his hard work. Chits hugged him for all his bravery. We can't wait to
hear the next story.
States and Capitals
By Natalie
In our class we are studying states and
capitals from all the United States. Each person in our class got to
study two states, and when the class is done, students will share
their states with the class. For example, the states that I got were
Kentucky (its capital is Frankfort), and Hawaii (its capital is
Honolulu).
For states and capitals we even have tests. I think the
easiest test so far was the one when we had four to study. The easiest
state in that region was Austin, Texas. So far in states and capitals
we have done four regions. For the test you have to match up the
states and capitals. I like the test a lot when there's not a lot to
study, and I am sure other people would think that too. Well, I really
have to go now but I hope you loved my article!
All About the MCAS
By Samantha
What is the MCAS? Well, MCAS stands for the
Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System. MCAS tests what each
student, from third grade and above, has learned at school. MCAS also
tells the teachers what they need to teach each student.
In preparation for the MCAS, we, at the third grade
level, did five or more practice tests. In our MCAS test booklets, we
each had different stories to read and there were three stories per
session. The MCAS took three days and we only took them in the
morning. We also had to use number two pencils. I had to read the
stories very carefully, for I didn't want to miss any questions. We
answered the test questions by filling in the little bubbles. I
thought taking the MCAS was fun. I hope I got everything correct.
Weighty Words
By Samuel
In class we have been
reading a book called The Weighty Word Book. The Weighty Word Book is
a book made to teach people new and long words for each letter of the
alphabet. Each word has a story to help you remember it. Soon in class
we will do Weighty Word Bingo. It's just like Bingo but instead of
calling out letters and numbers, they call out words from the Weighty
Word Book.
One of the words is laxity, which means to be sloppy
and lazy. The story was about a city called Slack City. The people of
the city were very lazy. One day there was a hurricane and the sign of
Slack City was blown off. A painter painted on the words Lack City
instead of Slack City so the readers will remember the word laxity.
Here are all of the words from the book:
•Abasement - when a person is lowered in position or rank
•Bifurcate - when something divides or separates into two parts
•Coruscate - to glitter, gleam, sparkle or flash
•Dogmatic - being stubborn
•Expedient - when a person takes the easy way out
•Felicity - great happiness
•Geriatrics - to care for elderly people
•Heresy - when someone goes against the beliefs of his/her people
•Ingratiate - when someone tries really hard to please someone
•Juxtapose - to place side by side
•Kleptomaniac - when a person steals something they can afford
•Laxity - when people are careless and forgetful
•Misdemeanor - when someone has broken the law
•Nonconformity - when someone does not fit in
•Ostracize - when someone is left out or excluded from a group
•Paradox - to think something is impossible, but it's really true
•Quixotic - to dream an impossible dream
•Raucous - to be loud and noisy
•Scintillate - to sparkle or twinkle
•Truculent - to be fierce and cruel
•Ubiquitous - to appear everywhere at once
•Vacillate - to not make up your mind
•Winsome - to be charming, cheerful, and bright
•Xenophobia - to hate or fear strangers
•Yammer - to hear loud non-stop talking
•Zealot - to believe your own invention is the best in the world
The American Revolution
By Brendan W.
We are talking about the American Revolution.
We read this book that told us about the American Revolution. The book
is about people that had fought in the American Revolutionary War, and
about their lives.
Some Patriots did not like the British King. They
wanted to rebel, so they dressed as Indians. They started to dump tea
into the harbor. The British King was mad. This was called the Boston
Tea Party. The British King was mad at the Patriots so he sent out his
600 British soldiers and they tried to capture Samuel Adams and John
Hancock, who were the leaders of the Patriots. The British soldiers
fought against their enemy in Lexington (they were called minutemen).
There were 80 minutemen! 600 verses 80 is not very good!
We also talked about some other facts about
colonial times during the Revolution. People in colonial times had to
make their own clothes, but not us! We buy our clothes. It is really
hard to make your own clothes!
There were hard things to do in the American
Revolution or there were easy things to do in the American Revolution.
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