from the students
R5 Delight
Imagine you are back in fourth grade. Out you go to recess, and you run like crazy, playing and screeching with all of your heart. Then you tromp in to lunch—great sandwich, Mom and Dad! Now your energy is out and your stomach is nice and full. What do you feel like doing? Cozy reading, of course!
After lunch each day, we do R5. That’s read and relax, reflect and respond, and rap. The fourth graders’ reading journals have been like dessert for our minds. Enjoy a few tidbits yourself . . .
Alyssa: Today I read on the computer. I read about the Olympics. My favorite athletes are the divers in China. They are little and good.
Tylor: I like Jack and Annie because they read a book about dinosaurs, and then they find a Pteranodon!
Danny: Geckos lick their eyeballs and keep them clean.
Phalen: I learned that an alligator snout is wide and a crocodile snout is more of a point. Also, alligators weigh up to 550 pounds and crocodiles up to 400 pounds.
Cody: Our state freshwater fish is the brook trout.
Madisen: I read that people from the Gulf Coast to Indiana are picking up from a hurricane.
Kelsey: “Foxes are very finicky about food. Gorillas never grumble about golfing.” I shared these words from the author because the words are funny. My favorite funny word was gorilla.
Kayla: I read a legend of a man named Ginja who caught on fire. He rushed into the river to put the fire out, but the heat had blistered his skin. Ginja became the first crocodile.
Our Favorite Things About Fourth Grade . . . So Far
Tylor: I like the joke book I am reading! “What did the porcupine say to the cactus? Are you my mother?” Ha Ha!
Phalen: I like when we are reading and we write about it.
Cody: My favorite is recess because I love ball tag. It is fun when you throw the ball and when you dodge the other players’ throws.
Madisen: I like R5! In R5, it stands for read and relax, reflect and respond, and then rap. I’m proud of my reading journal entries.
Alyssa: I’m enjoying THE GREAT ADVENTURE in every way! We get to do a lot of activities like Dolphin and Fish, Fox and Squirrel, and Predator and Prey.
Kayla: I like R5 because you get to share the things you’ve read to other people and see what they think about it.
Danny: I especially liked designing my pennant, and I put cowboy boots and a lasso on mine.
Kelsey: We get to read and write, and we get to have visitors in our room. We get to have math every day, and I like that it’s just the right amount of hard for me.
Fourth Grade Hopes and Dreams Excerpts
Kayla: Nature is the number one thing I want to learn about, and so much about animals. I love to read different facts about animals. I hope to be a wonderful artist.
Cody: I would like to fly a helicopter one of these days.
Kelsey: I want instruments in the school because I love music. I hope to learn to play the guitar.
Madisen: I hope we learn lots of animal and science information because I want to be a veterinarian.
Alyssa: I hope that my family gets to come into my classroom. I hope we get to do a lot of singing and gymnastics.
Phalen: My hope is to be a pet store worker. In fourth grade I need to learn math and money. I will use math to know how much food to feed the pets.
Daniel: My hopes and dreams for fourth grade are to learn about old western cowboys. If I want to be a cowboy, I would need to have arms strong enough to hold the tope tightly when a cow is on the other end and hold onto a horse when it rears up, so I hope to get strong this year.
Tylor: My hope is to be a teacher. I want to learn math. I want to do homework. I also would like to be a gym teacher.
Abenaki Boy
(a team story inspired by Mary Lyn Ray’s Shaker Boy)
by the fourth graders
Long ago, when the land that is now New Hampshire was very young, Squirrel Climber was born in his Abenaki village. Squirrel Climber was very adventurous, right from when he was born. One day he crawled from his fur mat out of his wigwam and was touching the canoes. Another time when his mother was preparing dinner on the fire, he crawled right into the woods. When she found him, he was quietly watching a fawn with awe in his eyes. She scooped him up and brought back to the wigwam. Even then, everyone knew Squirrel Climber was an adventurer. When Squirrel Climber was a boy, he liked to hunt and fish. One day when he was hunting, he saw a deer by the stream. When he aimed his bow and arrow at the deer, all of a sudden he started shaking and got really nervous because it was his first hunt. Still, he was able to bring home a deer for his family to eat that day. He was willing to try all of the tools and ways to fish. Sometimes he fished with his dad using the wooden weirs that stretched across the stream to catch the fish. Sometimes he fished alone using his spear. Sometimes he fished with his tribe using nets. Wherever he went, he made his family laugh. He admired the many animals of the forest. He found treasures around every corner. All of the Abenaki boys had many chores. Squirrel Climber enjoyed making an adventure of every job. For example, one time he was stacking wood in his own way so that he could use the stack as stairs to reach the highest branches of the trees. He would look at bird nests, examine the buds and leaves, and scurry through the branches like a squirrel. Squirrel Climber grew and was soon old enough to learn to make canoes. When he started, he didn’t exactly know how. He knew to use an ax, but on his first try, he just chopped and chopped. He got in trouble for that. But later he learned how to burn out the center of the birch tree and then use the ax to gently shape the canoe. He took many trips in his canoe down the beautiful rivers in the land. He explored islands and animal trails and lakes. As he followed one trail, he heard a huge animal, and following the sound, he discovered a growling bear. He watched for a long time from behind a tree. One morning, Squirrel Climber learned to bend branches to make the round shape of the wigwam. He gathered branches, birchbark, and cured furs to cover the wigwam. On his first try, the smoke filled the wigwam when he lit his fire, so later he left a hole for the entrance and one for the fire smoke to escape. He continued his great adventures as an Abenaki man. He had the chore of adding wood to the fire whenever it was needed for the women to cook the squash and pumpkins from the garden. Even if the chore was boring, he would use the time to daydream about his next adventure. Squirrel Climber became a leader in his tribe because of his wisdom, confidence, and curiosity. His tribe would follow him anywhere. He would tackle any problem with creativity. Once when they needed to get across a swollen river to follow the animals they needed for food, it was dangerous. He gave them the great idea to use branches and roots to help them get across the raging river safely. His tribe trusted Squirrel Climber and his adventurous ideas. And when he was an old, old man, he would take long walks and remember his adventures. When he felt lonely, he would go in the woods and take a little walk and remember the things he did as a child, a young man, and a tribal leader. He would tell stories of his adventures around the fire to the children of the tribe. And as he told his adventures to the eager children, he would dream of more adventures to come.
Kickoff–Team Recycle!
About RiverDay: by Cheetah
This is all about NH RiverDay, a day full of rivers, action, dancing, and going near the rumbling waterfall.
As soon as we got there, it was amazing! We all went to our stations. I couldn’t believe my eyes. We were at RiverDay! All week I was waiting for this. My friend Camper Woman and I were at the Bear station, and it was so cool. Can you guess what I did next?
My favorite part about NH RiverDay was Macroinvertebrates because it was so cool to get to go into the water and pick stuff up to find out what it was.
My second favorite was Lacrosse. It was a game I had never played before. Mr. Hanley was there!
My third favorite was Winter Ecology. We got to play a card game, and we also got to pet a bear.
My fourth favorite was Butterflies. We learned about all of the butterflies. My favorite is the monarch butterfly because of its magnificent color.
At the end, we had the most excellent powwow. We went around the perimeter and danced. What a day!
NH RiverDay: by Camper Woman
Guess what I did on Friday, October 19th? I went on the greatest field trip ever! I went to New Hampshire RiverDay in Bristol, New Hampshire. My dad came, and my friend Cheetah was in my group. Our group was called the Bears.
Our first stop was Macroinvertebrates. Here we waded in the Smith River and found crazy things in rocks and on top of the rocks. I discovered a water penny, as round as a seashell.
Then, our next session was Lacrosse, taught by Mr. Hanley. It’s when you have a piece of equipment that has a net at the top of the stick, and you fling a ball back and forth with a friend. Zip, went the ball when my dad threw the ball to me! Swish went the ball when I caught it in the net. I tried to zing it back, but it bounced off the ground, and then my dad caught it.
Then after lacrosse, we had snack. After snack, we went to Winter Ecology. We learned abut how some animals adapt and how they hibernate. Then we played a game. You had a snapshot and a sentence. You had to match with someone who had a snapshot or sentence that matched your snapshot or sentence.
Last but not least, we went to the butterfly class. We made posters about butterflies. Then we added all of the posters together to make one big poster.
After that, we had lunch with our class. After lunch, we had the pow wow. All the classes joined in, made a big circle, and danced. My favorite was the friendship dance because everyone was trying their hardest.
New Hampshire RiverDay rocked out of this world!
NH RiverDay: by Kool Kat
I thought NH RiverDay was very exciting. Everywhere I went, it was peaceful. The river was flowing softly and reminded me of the wind whistling. The fluttering leaves were comforting to me. One side of the leaves was brown and the other side was orange, and reminded me of the sunset. I was relaxed there. Profile Falls is now one of my favorite places. I think we should go to the river at least once a week.
My favorite part was when we got to go in the water. Splash! Under the rocks there were little tiny water bugs no bigger than a crumb. I saw a catfish that was about five inches long. It was greenish brown and had stripes.
My super-super-duper favorite part was when the Native Americans joined in. I could feel the drumbeats on the big drum, and the man said our hearts should be beating the same time as the drumbeat. Everything came together when we started stepping to the drumbeat. Instead of a couple hundred kids, we sounded like a thousand. I loved it when that happened. I loved it when we all gathered together and danced at the pow-wow.
One of my other favorite parts was the nice, sweet smell of nature in the air. You could also hear the crunch, crunch of crispy leaves under our feet when we walked. It sounded a little like crumpling the wrapper of a candy bar. I got to pet a bear, even though it was stuffed.
All this is what I loved about NH RiverDay at Profile Falls.
NH RiverDay Plays the Waterfall: by Slithering Snake
The waterfall is coming down, splashing water to water. It’s springing off from the waterfall. Splash, splash, splash. There are rocky, slippery hills. The water is going faster and faster, then the water is rising up higher. NH RiverDay is springing into action.
In Native American Art and Music, I learned how to make a necklace. While I was crafting my necklace, a tribal leader showed us and played for us the flutes. There were flutes made from 1600 to 1950, and he played them to us. It was beautiful.
Then we went to the woods, and we learned a lot about maple trees. They can live to be up to 700 years old! Wow! Not every tree that was cut and living can grow back. If there is a river with a tree on the side of the river, don’t cut that tree down because if you do the whole side of the river can collapse. It would be like an avalanche.
Thank you, workshop leaders, for NH RiverDay because you helped us have fun. I liked the whole day, but especially that waterfall.