November 2004                                                                    First Issue


Enjoy this first edition of the Durkin Digest!

This newsletter will help families and friends better understand all of the activities and events in which their third graders have been involved. The newsletter will be published every couple of months to provide the opportunity for students to share in their own words the school and class activities they have found most interesting. Topics will be chosen together as a class and then several students will write the articles for each addition. By the end of the school year, every student will have contributed at least once.

In their own words, here is what our class has been up to: 

Ed Takes Estabrook by Storm
By Ian
     Ed Carroll, the channel 4 weatherman, came to the Estabrook library on November 17, 2004. He came to talk so all the third grade classes could learn about weather. He explained by drawing on the whiteboard.
     He talked about hurricanes, lightning, and thunder. But the most interesting things were tornadoes and hailstones. When the wind is blowing up, hailstones go up and then down because of gravity. Each time the hailstone goes up and down, it gets a new layer of ice. When it is too heavy, it falls. Tornadoes happen when hot air meets cold air and they spin in a circle. First they spin vertical, then horizontal. Then it becomes a tornado.
     We learned a lot and had a good time. It was one of the best events in school so far.
 

Dancing From 1850 to 1960
By Erin
     The whole school loved the assembly performed by Idy and Bob Thomas. They danced dances that were done during the time between 1850 and 1960.
     I think the favorite was the "Jitterbug". It was crazy (No, super crazy!). There were flips and cartwheels, etc. They called themselves "The Kamikaze Jitterbugs".
     There was a dance called "Hip Hop" that had a few flips. It was the kind of dancing that we do now- you know, normal outfit, jazzy music, etc. It was cool.
     Another was a dance that African Americans did in Vaudeville.   It was not formal. It had bent knees and arms, and the body was bent a little low.
     I thought that it was a great show, and I learned a lot about dances.
 

The Flying Peach
By Manny
     James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl, was one of our read aloud books. We liked listening to this story about a boy named James. The book tells about James meeting huge insects in a giant peach. The peach takes a journey from England to New York. Here is a description of some of the characters in the book.
      Centipede is a pest, is mean to everybody, and every time James says something smart, Centipede always says something mean. James is the smartest and nicest boy in the crew. Miss Spider is nice and has long legs. She makes their beds out of her web. Earthworm is slimy, blind, and big. Ladybug is nice and sweet, and she is red and black.
     Room 25 loved this great book!
 

The Half-A-Moon Inn
By Thomas
     In the story The Half-A-Moon Inn, by Paul Fleischman, there is a boy named Aaron who is mute. Aaron cannot speak.
Aaron lives with his mother. One day, Aaron's mother leaves Aaron at home because she thinks he is responsible enough to stay home by himself. Aaron's mother says she will be home at noon the next day. She says she will have a present for Aaron's birthday.
     Overnight, it starts to snow. The next day at noon Aaron's mother is not home, so he goes off to find her. On the way he finds a ragman in a wagon. The ragman drops him off at The Half-A-Moon Inn. Miss Grackle, the mean innkeeper, changes his name to Sam and makes him do chores and light fires for her.
     We can't wait to find out what happens next!

Wolf Hollow
By Billy
    The whole third grade studied wolves so we went to Wolf Hollow, in Ipswich. We found out that wolves look like dogs (except for their pointy ears) because they are related to them. One fact we learned is that a mother wolf brings food to her pups in her stomach. The owner of Wolf Hollow fed the wolves cheese. The alpha wolf, the leader, is named Denali. Jelly, another wolf, bit off the pant pocket of one of the other Wolf Hollow workers! We also went to the gift shop. Then we went back to school.

The Math Thinkers
By Noelle
     Hello. I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Noelle Sacco, and I'd like to explain Minute Masters, which is something that we're doing in Mrs. Durkin's class.
     A Minute Master is a math quiz that must be completed in 90 seconds. It is a sheet of paper that includes 18 math problems. Each sheet is made up of either addition or subtraction problems, with no combinations of both. If all of the answers are correct, Mrs. Durkin will put a little cute smiley face on the paper!

My Number 1 Magazine, TFK
By J.J.
    My class reads "Time For Kids" every Friday. It gives us lots of information from around the world. The best article I read was called "A Big Turtle Comeback". When I read the title on the cover, I was curious about how Mexico's program saved their sea turtles. I read the article and it showed me the answer. That's why I like TFK magazine.