Luray Caverns, Here We Come!

December 2010 Editors– Alexandra Albaladejo, Saima Syeda, Petya Yaneva

Contests of the Month!

Great poem, Clay Page!

Mind Growing

Educational

Active

Dashing

Opportunity Willing

Hard Working

For ALL Kids

Amazing Students

Nobody Is Left Out

AnD All That Spells…

MEADOWLAND!!!

Keep submitting ! A comic, a

drawing of your favorite animal,

or a poem of your own.

Send in a summary of your fave

book, but do NOT tell the end-

ing. We want to know how many

people will read the book after

seeing your summary!

Meadowland’s first newspaper, by the students, for the students

.

Before

Q: How do you feel about the trip?

Kente: I am excited to go to Luray because it

is a long trip, and I want to go in the maze.

Matthew: I think it will be fun, and I will learn

a lot of things.

Zachary: I feel good, and I think it will be fun

because it’s a field trip.

Q: What do you think you will see at Luray

Caverns?

Kente: Rocks!

Matthew: Cave formations.

Zachary: Crystals and rocks.

Q: Do you think the trip will reflect on what

we are learning in school?

Kente: Yes, because we are learning about rocks and minerals.

Matthew: I think we can tell what rocks are in

the caverns because of what we are learning.

Zachary: Yes, because we learned about rocks,

and I want to learn more.

Q: Do you think the curriculum your students have

learned will help them identify rocks and minerals?

Ms. Thiele: Absolutely, because we have learned

about sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks, and we identified rocks with a digital microscope.

Q: Do you think your students will behave during

the trip?

Ms. Thiele: Yes, I do, because they are going to be

engaged in what we are doing.

Q: How do YOU feel about the trip?

Ms. Thiele: I’m looking forward to learning new

things.

5th grade reflects, before and after their new adventure

By Jorge and Matthew

After

Q: How do you think the trip was, after

your experiences?

Kente: It was awesome! I never knew the caverns were that fun!

Matthew: It was fun seeing the stalagmites

and stalactites.

Zachary: Good!

Q: What was your favorite place?

Kente: My favorite place was Dream Lake.

Matthew: Dream Lake, because of the way

the water was so clear that you can see the

reflections of the rocks.

Zachary: My favorite place was the maze!

Q: How was the garden maze?

Kente: It was really fun! I was one of the first ones there.

Matthew: It was really fun to try to escape

and get to the goals.

Zachary: Good and great, because it was

challenging.

The Mysteries of Harris Bur-

dick is a great book. It is definitely a

classic, because it has been about 36 years since it was written and it is still

popular. Also, no matter how many

times you read it, you never get bored.

The main thing that makes this book a

classic is that it is missing the actual

story. All it has is suspicious pictures with captions. That’s why it makes you

use your imagination. For example,

there was a woman sitting on a flying

chair in Kansas. Just by looking at the

picture, people can create their own

stories. It’s like creating your own adventure! I think this book is a clas-

sic because people in future genera-

tions will enjoy it and find it interest-

ing.

-Sachit Gupta

Mr. Spar’s class speaks out on

The Mysteries of Harris Burdick

Page 2

Meadowland’s first newspaper, by the students, for the students

Yes! No!

Is it a Classic?

I don’t think this book will ever be a

classic and never was a classic! It

made almost no sense and was very

confusing. It was boring, too. It made the reader really think about some-

thing that had very little writing in it.

It was exciting how there was just a

bunch of pictures.

There was almost no story to

go with the pictures. I don’t think it should even dare to call itself a book!

I would advise everybody not to read

this book. I don’t think this book

should ever be in public again.

The only good thing about the

book is that it’s short. If it were any longer, I wouldn’t be alive! The book

was revolting to me. I would never

read it again. It was the worst book

ever!

-Vu Mai

The Polar Express by Chris Von Alls-

burg tells us that if you just believe,

Christmas can be magical! A boy

goes to the North pole aboard a

magical train called the Polar Ex-

press. He asks Santa for a bell

from 1 of the reindeer. The bell is a

magic bell that can only be heard by

those who truly believe. This story

is well written and enjoyable to

read. In fact, the book is better

and easier to understand than the

movie! I especially liked the illustra-

tions. There are lots of interesting,

realistic pictures. Overall, I give it

a thumbs up!

-Jonathan Harman

Fourth Grade Program is a Smash!

Bingo Night

B-13 and it’s not the channel, it’s Bingo!

Bingo takes place once every school year.

This year’s was held at the P.E room on

November 12 from 6:30 to 8:45 p.m.

There were about 264 people at Bingo

Night. I’m really not sure how many peo-

ple won prizes because so many people

have won that it’s amazing. It’s finally

getting to the last bingo card and the

prize for this one is 100 dollars, so of

course everyone is getting restless and

rowdy. This time, they have to finish

the whole board. When the winners came

up, it was only two kids. But everyone

had fun!

Dear Charger, Why do you just stand in the cafeteria watching us?

I love to see all of your smiling faces.

Page 3

Did you know…? By Christian Calma

…the sentence, “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog”

uses every single letter of the alphabet??

…TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the

letters of only one row on the keyboard??

…a snail can sleep for 3 years??

…rubber bands last longer when they are refrigerated?

Zareen: Why did you wear

lipstick to school??

Alison: Because I have a

makeup test!

ASK CHARGER ADVICE COLUMN By Nour Berrached and Victor Bolanos-Bautista

Dear Charger,

I have a problem that I hope you can help me with. My class is getting ready for a big test in science. Are there

any study skills you can suggest for them to use at home?? I want them to do their very best!

-Charger Fan

Dear Charger Fan,

You can read the study guide, then give it to your mom or dad to quiz you. Another way you can study is to make

acronyms to help you remember things. Another way to study is to make up songs that are about the subject. That’s what I do! Get lots of rest and eat a good breakfast!

-Love, Charger

MUSIC MANIA! By Marie n Victoria

Marie: Have classes been improving since the beginning of the

year?

Mrs. Gerdes: Yes! All classes have improved.

Marie: What will students be learning soon?

Mrs. Gerdes: 5th graders will learn 2 new notes on the recorder.

They will also become composers! 2nd graders will learn about

brass instruments and will be performing 2-part instru-

ment ensembles. And 1st graders will be learning about

orchestra instruments.

Marie: Are any grades learning to play instruments?

Mrs. Gerdes: 4th and 5th play recorders. And ALL grades play

ukulele!

Dabb Blab

They found Luray Caverns awe-

inspiring. Someone in the class got a

“cave kiss”. That means water

dropped on their head! For Ameri-

can Education Week, students dem-

onstrated hands-on algebraic equa-

tions and played decimal games.

This newspaper is printed on

environmentally responsible paper.

If you have dreams of being a fa-

mous singer, here’s your chance! If you like to

write songs, put your original lyrics in the bin in

room 11. It must be made up by you and has to be school appropriate. If you are lucky, it will be

published in the newspaper!

Trussell Trivia

By Filiz Sahin

For American Education Week,

Ms. Trussells’s class did math centers.

The first station was Math 24, then Study

Island, and 2-digit math problems. The

teachers and parents helped the kids.

Their class had a visit from a soldier who

was in Afghanistan. Check out the picture!

The picture shows a soldier with Afghan

boys. Their classroom is filled with love!

Raines Report

By Saleem Shaikh

For American Education

Week, they worked in math cen-

ters. They are also working on

Jamestown study guides. A field

trip is planned to Gunston Hall,

George Mason’s home. How excit-

ing!

Raines Report

By Saleem Shaikh

For American Educa-

tion Week, they worked in

math centers. They are also

working on Jamestown study

guides. A field trip is planned

to Gunston Hall, George Ma-

son’s home. How exciting!

Redskins Robbins

By Futhallah Hamed

One thing on their minds is that

classmate Vincent moved to Cali-

fornia. They hope to soon hear

from him! They did math games

during American Education

Week. Four students passed

Mustang Math in November.

Good work!

Murray Magic

By Ashley Acorda

Once upon a time, there was a teacher

named Ms. Murray. Wait! We’re in

the REAL world! So…anyway they are

taking a field trip to the National Mu-

seum of History in March. Ms.

Murray’s class is learning multiplica-

tion, division, and economics. They will

finish up November with a turkey per-

suasive essay. Check them out hanging

in the hallway!

Stubbs Story

By Ashley Acorda

Do you know Mrs. Stubbs? Wow! In

all, she has 47 Kindergarten students! Her

class is taking a beautiful field trip to Great

Country Farms in the spring. Mrs. Stubbs’

class is learning about patterns, Pilgrims,

counting, sounds and words. For Thanksgiv-

ing, they actually had a real feast like the

Pilgrims did! Mrs. Stubbs’ class is working

on a special project; they’re making a Native

American bag. Sounds fun! Well…that’s the

Stubbs Story!

Decker’s Hard Workers

By Shashwat Bhushani

Mrs. Decker’s class is learning

about Native Americans, the

tribes, the food, transportation,

and their homes. On Veteran’s

Day, they had 2 special guests,

Mr. Miniaci and Mr. Comi (Aidan’s

grandfather). Mr. Miniaci talked

about being a Marine, and Mr.

Comi talked about being in the

Army.