Monthly Archive for November, 2008

Lower East Side Walking Tour

Published on November 20, 2008 in Field Trip and Immigration. 0 Comments

Your walking tour of the Lower East Side takes place on Tuesday, December 2nd. We will leave after math class and take a bus to the Lower East Side Tenement Museum.  After our program there you will meet the parents who are coming along at the museum’s visitor’s center and head off on your walking tour.

Your job during this two hour tour is to see what you can discover about immigration past and present in this area.  Be sure to take notes, photos, and collect business cards, flyers, menus and anything else that may give you more information.  You will use all of this back in school for our online guide book.

Each group has been assigned a lunch stop and one other place to visit.  Remember what Pauline Frommer told us about her research for guide books. It is important for you to see what you can learn about the restaurant  for others.  (Don’t just say it is “yummy.” Give us a sense of what it is like and what the food is like for others — even those whose taste may be different from yours.)

Groups are also encouraged to see what other places are along the route that we may want to add to the guide book. Keep your eyes peeled, cameras ready, and pencils on standby! There are all sorts of interesting shops, buildings (especially ones that have gone from one use to another — say a synagogue that is now a church), and monuments.  You are the first class to do this map and so we are counting on you to make it really worthwhile for others to use!

Everyone should go to these two places before or after lunch depending on how close your restaurant is to them.

  • Guss’s Pickles
  • Economy Candy

Here are the group assignments:

Group 1

  • Angel Orensanz Synagogue
  • Katz’s
  • Dessert place of your choice

Group 2

  • Essex Street Market
  • El Castillo De Jaqua
  • Dessert place of your choice

Group 3

  • St. Patrick’s Cathedral
  • Mexican Restaurant
  • Dessert place of your choice

Group 4

  • Buddist Temple
  • Kebab House
  • Dessert place of your choice

Edinger House Described

Published on November 18, 2008 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Today we were very honored with a visit from travel guide expert Pauline Frommer, mother of one of our classmates. Pauline did a fantastic lesson to prepare the class for their trip to the Lower East Side in a couple of weeks at which time they will be collecting data for their own onine guide.

After talking about what made a good guide book entry (verb over nouns, how to best write a recommendation, etc), Pauline asked the students to write a brief (two sentences) description of Edinger House for an audience of prospective parents, Here are the results.

Edinger House is big, colorful, and filled with books. It has a lot of ladybus and everyone is happy.

It’s fun because there are a lot activities going on and you get to know your classmates very well.  Also there are a lot of books you can read and Ms.Edinger can help you find books. (She is also very nice.)

Edinger House is very colorful and when you’re here it sort of feels like home. Also it has lots and lots of books.

The room is filled with books and smells like not so fresh air.  It looks like a classroom. It has all of our projects and our laptops so I think it is a wonderful classroom.

Ms. Edinger’s room is filled with books, kids, art work, and desks.  Ms. Edinger is a spectacular teacher because whenever you need help with finding a book or anything at all she is on the job!

Room 909 has books everywhere you look. There are desks put together to look like tables.  In the center of the room there’s a rug with a rocking chair.

Room 909 is on the 9th floor. There are a lot of books and ladybugs for good luck.

My classroom has a lot of books in it.  My teacher always finds the right book for you.

It smells like erasers and its nice and cozy.  It is filled to the top with education and reading. It is My Room.

The Edinger House is always full with fun projects of work on the wall. The theme is ladybugs which symbolize hope and peace.

Room 909 is a very energetic room. It is the perfect room for your child if your child is a very jumpy child that likes action.

Edinger House is a place where there is no limit to reading. Edinger House is where you can be creative. Edinger House is where books are everywhere you look.

This room has all the school supplies you would every need.  It has atlases, many educational books, a schedule, a board that has lots of our homework on it so we don’t lose track, computers, a mural, a smartboard, and lots of teaching things.  There’s a lot of learning in here.

The classroom is a room with a fair amount of space with a lot of fresh air. The room is full of books and ladybugs with a spot full of pillows.

When you walk in you feel like you’re home because of all the pillows and you get your very own desk. You can smell all the pages of the books and hear laughter through the walls.

How Many Days To America?

Published on November 17, 2008 in Buddies and Literary Salons. 0 Comments

Today for Literary Salon we did a class reading of Eve Bunting’s picture book,  How Many Days to America? We had hoped to do this with our third grade buddies, but we weren’t able to coordinate our schedules. So instead we did a podcast for them.  We hope they listen to it and them perhaps will do one for us!  Then we can listen to theirs while looking at the whole book.  It is a perfect book to read right before Thanksgiving, especially when studying immigration.  Here is our podcast:

 
icon for podpress  How Many Days To America?: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The Graveyard Book Mural

Published on November 17, 2008 in Special. 0 Comments Tags: , .

After listening to me read aloud Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book the class made a truly spectacular mural showing the various places of the book.   I did a post about the reading, the kids’ responses to the book, and our mural at my blog, educating alice. I let the author know about it and he posted my email to him on his blog:

Hi Neil,

My 4th grade class has created a quite splendid (if I do say so myself) mural of The Graveyard Book. I’ve a post with some images from it and their responses to the book here:
http://medinger.wordpress.com/2008/11/14/in-the-classroom-the-graveyard-book/

I loved the mural — and even more than that, I loved the description of reading The Graveyard Book to a fourth grade audience. Thanks so much!

After that thousands came to visit the blog!  (On Saturday 4,128 came by!) Scroll to the end of the post to read the comments some of them left.  And here is the mural for you, your parents, relatives, and friends to enjoy. It is truly wonderful!

Independent Proofreading Strategies (No Individuals To Help)

Published on November 12, 2008 in How To.... 0 Comments

Handwritten Work (such as your journal letters)  No Computers to Use Either

  • read it over slowly (even quietly out loud or backwards)
  • when you see something that doesn’t look quite right:
  • use a dictionary
  • atlas
  • some spelling issues may be helped by sounding out, but not all
  • use base words to help spell bigger words
  • use books to help
  • look at the directions to see if the word you need to know is already written

Computer-Typed Work

  • run spelling/grammar check
  • Read over carefully for meaning and sense. When you see something that doesn’t look quite right:
  • use a dictionary (online if you can do it quickly, otherwise use a book version)
  • atlas (ditto)
  • some spelling issues may be helped by sounding out, but not all
  • use base words to help spell bigger words
  • use books to help
  • look at the directions to see if the word you need to know is already written

Letters to the President Elect

Published on November 6, 2008 in General and Uncategorized. 0 Comments

The class has been studying the amendments in Law class with Dr. Stecher. Yesterday, the day after the election, Dr. Stecher invited the children to write to President-elect Obama, Joseph Biden, or another official from one of the three branches of government about their favorite amendment. Here are their moving efforts to our soon-to-be new president. (These were first drafts, from the heart, so please excuse spelling and other such errors.)