Hi, I'm James Marek, the Star Reporter for the 4th grade. This is what's going on in class... We just finished reading 'Sarah, Plain and Tall' in reading and we had our first test for it. It is about Sarah, a girl from Maine coming to the prairie. She teaches Caleb and Anna many things about the seaside. Caleb and Anna teach her things about the prairie. Sarah stays until summer. Caleb thinks she is leaving but she isn't. We got our people for PA Day last week. My class already started to work on it. I have W.C. Fields who is a comedian. Our presentations are in 2010. I think we'll have it done soon though. We will research a lot at home and even more at school. Tomorrow is our Christmas show. 4th grade is singing a song called 'The Spirit of the Season'. We are with 3rd grade for it. We do that because of small class sizes. It's the first and most upbeat song. The show will be great! In math, we are continuing math drills and working hard on multiplication and division. Today we had a quiz about multiplying money and multiplying 3 digits by 1 digit and 2 digits by 1 digit. I like our math packets, which are due every few weeks. They have everything in them. Last week, we made newsletters on Microsoft Publisher for Bibles stories. We summarized 3 Christmas stories. We made a name for the newspaper. Clip art pictures complemented the words of our stories. We changed fonts and sizes too. It was the first time we used the program. In grammar, we learn about punctuation. Sentences are a main part too. Right now, we are working on possessive nouns. In spanish, there are school words and holiday words. We made an 'Acercada Mi' poster (All About Me). Our current focus is on Christmas words. Christmas is coming, so no more tests until 2010. I wonder what is next?! INTERVIEW WITH RAE RAE Q: What is your favorite part about 4th grade? A: We have a nice teacher! Q: Do you like how we do spelling homework always on looseleaf? A: Yes, I do because we don't have to take home a book. Q: What do you like to do with your spare time? A: Play outside on the trampoline. Q: What is your favorite subject? A: My favorite is math. Q: When do you do your homework? A: I do my homework after dinner. Q: What grade did you learn the most in? A: I learned the most in 3rd grade. Q: Do you like middle or lower division better? A: I like middle division better because we have Mrs. LaGrudda and we go on lots of field trips with the whole division. INTERVIEW WITH MRS. ESPOSITO Q: What subject do you like teaching the most? A: Science and Social Studies Q: Do you like being an assistant teacher? A: I like it because it is different. Q: What is the easiest subject to teach? A: Spelling. Q: What is the hardest subject to teach? A: Grammar. Q: Do you like teaching in the 2nd grade room? A: I like teaching in the math room more. Q: Is the lower division nicer than the middle division? A: It isn't nicer but it's much different.