Willow Lane News Update
6th Edition: End of the Year
The Willow Lane Duck's Name Was Donna
The Fourth Grade Camden Aquarium Field Trip
by Alexis
On June 1st all of the fourth grade students went to the Camden Aquarium (Adventure Aquarium). The whole grade got to ride on bieber buses. My friend and I were put in a group together. We went to every single exhibit that was in the aquarium. There were so many cool and interesting animals to learn about. I wish that I could have stayed there for another hour and petted more stingrays.
The stingrays that we petted did not have their stingers on. The lady that was telling us how to pet the stingrays said “We trim the stingrays tails every month, so that they don’t hurt anybody. It’s just like cutting your fingernails.” When I petted the stingrays at first the little guy felt slimy. The next time I petted one of the stingrays it was really soft.
I’m guessing that you would have never have thought that there was such a thing as a chocolate chip sea star. The sea star looks like a chocolate chip cookie. The main part of the sea star is like a chocolate chip cookie color and then the bumps on the sea star look like chocolate chips.
The Aquarium has two hippos. Their names are Button and Genny. They have a next door neighbor porcupine. They are all located in Hippo Haven.
This is a little weird but they have penguins just like a zoo. They have a lot of adults but one little baby penguin. The baby penguin was easy to tell from all the rest because of how fluffy it was. When the penguins went into the water you would think it would make a big splash. When the penguins went in they didn’t make a splash at all! It was just like us humans sticking our hands into water very quickly.
I made a scavenger hunt for all of the kids to do while they were looking at the exhibits. The sad part was that not a lot of kids did it. Some groups just didn’t want to do it and other groups made up excuses so that I wouldn't feel bad. I’m fine with groups not doing it, but would have rather had them just say, "No thanks". All in all, it was an awesome field trip!
Third Grade Chick Eggs
by Madison
Third grade is getting chick eggs! Each classroom is getting one incubator and 8 eggs. Mrs.Van Ormer’s class got a few extras. I interviewed Mrs.Merrill, and I asked her some chick egg questions.
A perfect hatch would be 40 eggs. An incubator works just like a hen. It keeps the chicks warm. Thirdly, third grade gets chick eggs to study embryology and the circle of life.
Mrs. Hayes from 4H Penn State Extension Courses Teaches Third Graders Embryology
Bye Bye Trout
1st Grade Inspiration
Mary Lee is Everywhere!!!
by Caroline and Madison
One day there was a shark swimming off the coast of Ocean City, New Jersey. It was two miles away from the boardwalk. Her name was Mary the shark, and she was 20 feet long. She did not harm anyone, but people are tracing her down right now, as you read this. Did you know that great white sharks can live longer than a human? Memorial Day weekend, on thursday, she swam really far, and it is incredible that she swam that far. I've never heard of something like that! What other stuff is there to know about Mary Lee, the twenty foot great white shark?! She is not getting caught, but just getting traced. What is happening right this second? You will not believe me, but Mary Lee is being hunted down by an Orca or killer whale! She is now in Maryland. Actually, no. She's in NYC! Also known as New York City. Please don’t move anymore!!!Art and Photography Contest
by Maddie
The art and photography contest passed. But I’ll tell you a little bit about it.
The art and photography contest is when kids make their best art work. Kids are not allowed to copy. At the art and photography contest not everyone gets a prize.The first place winners get a Rita’s giftcard. The song writing club performed a song.
I entered a couple of pieces.
From Multicultural Fair to International Lunch
To win the international lunch you had to go to open house. Well, I went to open house at my school, and I went in to the gym to witness the multicultural fair. There were dancers, and there were questions. I answered all the questions, and then I put it into a box. Then 1 to 3 days later the winners were picked, and I won! The people that were the winners had to go to room 210 to eat our lunch. It was good. It was a fun and awesome time.
The Cafeteria's "I Am..." Sun
by Mikayla and Hush
The sun in the cafeteria is made of descriptions of each student from the school. Hush asked Mrs. Vernon some questions, and this is what she had to say: Why did you make the I am... sun? "We needed 3 activities for No Place for Hate and that was the best one," said Mrs. Vernon.
The second question was who else worked with Mrs. Yeakel? Mrs.Vernon didn't know, but that's okay! The third question was why did you pick bright colors? Mrs.Vernon said, "Each kid got to pick there favorite color and they sorted them." The fourth question is are they doing it next year? Mrs.Vernon said, "New head teachers might do it next year."
Field Day
Everybody in the school did field day. Every grade did it on different days. In field day kids would go to the field and do different games. There was Sponge Bob, relay races, and much more. Some teachers were there, and adults came to help. All of this happened on the field.
Parents, Teachers, and kids were involved with this activity. It took place in the gym and the field. My second favorite game on field day is where there is food coloring in the buckets to put the water in and try to fill it up (it was a relay race). Did you know that Mrs. Krajcir has so much work that she lays all of the equipment out all night! I thought that was fascinating when we interviewed her.
We interviewed Mrs. Krajcir. We asked her some questions and we got answers. Why did you do field day for the whole school? And the answer was she thinks that it is only fair to include all the grades.
Eco Blast
By: MaKenzie Epting, Madison Sherwood, and Ashlyn Sherwood
Eco blast is where we plant plants and help out around the garden. Eco Blast is for students in grades 1-4.This club will start near the end of the year and go until the beginning of next year. There are only a couple days of Eco Blast when you finish the club next year. The people in charge of Eco Blast are Mrs. Folino, Mrs. Beson, and Mrs. Newton.
We had lots of fun making our butterfly garden and the regular garden. The regular garden includes tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, sunflowers, green beans, corn, egg plants, cucumbers, squash, herbs and flowers. Most of the vegetables that we grow are picked for lunch, like the lettuce, that was from the garden. The herbs Include: lemon thyme, spearmint, parsley, cilantro, basil, and more.
We made a butterfly garden because we learned a lot about butterflies and learned what they need to survive. We planted milkweed, colorful flowers, a shallow pool of water, and parsley.
We also previously visited Herbein's Garden Center, and learned a lot about plants. We learned that they water their plants by using a barrel for storing rain water. After they collect water, they turn on sprinklers that go into the ground, and straight into the roots. When we were there, we got to learn about different types of plants. We got to feel the texture of their leaves. Did you know that not just the bud of the flower changes? The leaves can change in size and texture too.
We had lots of fun this year and we hope you do to if you decide to join next year. It’s a great club to do if you enjoy gardening and getting a little dirty. You also can find lots of creepy crawlies like roly polies, worms, spiders and grasshoppers. We sometimes plant tiny plants and let them grow or we plant seeds and have them grow. Hope you join Eco Blast next year!
The Spring Festival
At the Spring Festival there were many fun activities. For example, there were games, food, rides, face paint and more! The Spring Festival was really fun! I wonder how many people were at the Spring Festival. From what I saw, I thought that there were a lot of people.
Who was involved? Well, a lot of people pitched in. People helped with bouncy houses, Menchies and lemonade. The lemonade was for diabetes. The Spring Festival was in the school gymnasium and in the parking lot. The spring festival started at 5 o' clock and ended at 8 30. Their was also a singer songwriter club that performed songs. When I interviewed Dr. Moyer, he said that their were no negative complaints. I also interviewed Mr. Peters, and he said that he started the singer songwriter club because he wanted the school to have a positive message. I hope you enjoyed my article!
Liquid Nitrogen Filled the Air Thanks to Air Products
The Liquid Nitrogen event was really cool. At first we were learning about liquid nitrogen. We learned how cold it was. The temperature is - 320 Fahrenheit.
Next, we did things with roses. It was who could grind it fastest. It was the girls against the boys and the girls won because they put theirs in liquid nitrogen. The liquid nitrogen froze the roses hard. The boys lost because the dads didn't do anything with their flowers.
The people that were involved was Kyle's dad, Garret, Kiley, Jayden, Connor and Kyle and Jaque. Garret's dad, Connor's dad and Kyle's mom. It happened in the lunch room. It began in the morning and ended at right before recess. It was really fun and we got ice cream at the end.
FAIRY TALE FOLLIES IS SO MUCH FUN!
by Juliana DeDona and Eli Gopen
Fairy Tale Follies was directed by Mr. Foster and Mrs. Bower. There were a lot of actors, and not that many dancers. It happened in the gym. The actors memorized their parts. It happened because Mr. Foster took theater classes. It took a few weeks to make the script.
The next Fairy Tale Follies will have time traveling.
We practiced every Tuesday afternoon and we performed at Wednesday in the the morning and Friday at night. There were 3 skits in FAIRY TALE FOLLIES! There were a lot of funny parts and funny events. The Cheetah and the Sloth, Cinderella and the World Cup, and the Fairy Tale News! Everyone danced to "EVERY THING IS AWESOME!" We all did our bows and danced some more with ribbons! I liked when the Fairy Goal Keeper was in the background with a spooky voice! Eli's favorite part was the dancing at the end! We hope you enjoyed our article, Fairy Tale Follies!!
Heigh Ho Heigh Ho Its Off To Work We Go
This is how much 3rd grade loves work. Mr.Weimann's 3rd grade class was involved. It happened from the first day of school to the last day of school in Room 212 at Willow Lane Elementary school. We did graphic organizers, projects, reports, I movies, tests, and Reader's Theaters. On the first day of school Nick asked Mr. Weimann if we would do a lot of work Mr Weimann said, " YES!!!" and we have worked ever since. The results were we learned a lot and we are ready for 4th grade. Nick is now exhausted and he wants to go home. However, Nick loved the year so much he wants to be with Mr. Weimann forever!!!
3rd Grade Writing: Persuasive and Opinion Pieces
My Favorite Field Trip
by: Luke
My favorite field trip was Mayfair at the Allentown fairgrounds. The art museum was amazing! One piece of art was about $5,000. Wow! We watched a puppet show. Then we ate lunch. Then, painted on a wall. After lunch we played life size chess. Then, we got on the busses and went back to school. Then, they called for bussers, walkers, and car riders.
"Best Field Trip"
By:Katelyn Butsavage
My favorite field trip this year was when I went to Allentown Fairgrounds. I had a wonderful time doing so many things with my friends such as painting a mural, watching a puppet show, and exploring different kinds of art. I also had a wonderful time there learning how to weave and how to hold a Violin.I hope that I can go there again to have fun and to have another memory not to forget with my friends and family."Richard Sherman"
by Loius Lichter
I think Richard Sherman (Seattle Seahawks CB) is the best football player in the NFL (National Football League) .He is an interception boss. In his career he has 1,238 career interceptions. Another reason is he won 4 Superbowls in his career. In each SuperBowl he has at least 40 interceptions in all the Superbowls.Lastly, is that his team has the best defense in the NFL. Everyone on his team is rated a 90 overall or higher rated by the NFL. That is why in my opinion Richard Sherman is the best football player in the NFL!
"Ice Cream Sundaes at School"
by Angela Tran
I think our school should sell ice cream sundaes. One reason why I think our school should sell ice cream sundaes is that it will make kids happier. Kids will probably like school more. Another reason why I think our school should sell ice cream sundaes is to reward good kids. It will make kids want it more and behave better.
Lastly, I think our school should sell ice cream sundaes because they are delicious. I’m pretty sure every kid [and teacher] likes a cold ice cream sundae! That is why I think our school should sell ice cream sundaes.
"Dodgeball in Gym"
by Simon
Dear,Mrs.Krajcir,
I think we should play dodgeball in gym!
You get good exercise and some people need exercise. A lot of people love dodgeball. A lot of people want to play it, too. Finally, you get strong for playing dodgeball because of the catching and throwing. I know because I play and I am strong! I really want to play dodgeball in gym!
"No PSSA's Until 5th Grade"
by Bella Desidereo
I think we should not start PSSA’S until 5th grade! One of my reasons is it would give us more time to practice. For example, it would give us to 2 years to practice and be more successful. Another reason is that the PSSA’S are hard. There is some stuff we don’t know yet. My last reason is that it is very frustrating for some people. When we start,i get so frustrated because i get all worked up. It might just be better if we start in 5th grade.
Can a Group Bully?
by Austin Martin
My name is austin and my favorite thing to do outside is kickball but sometimes kids make the teams unfair by putting the best kids vs the worst or unfair treated kids. That happens every single day we play kickball outside so it’s a group bullying so it has to
stop!
"School Year Thanks"
by Megan Motz
This year it was fun whats say thanks to our very good principal Dr. Moyer. Our school is very lucky not a lot of schools do this. Thank you parent volunteers for helping or school. And we supported a school in Allentown. Let’s say thanks to Dr Moyer and especially mr. weimann for the newspaper club. And thanks to mrs. vernon and mrs. yeakel for being head teachers. Also thank you to all the willow lane teachers for a great 2014/2015 school year!
What is the Willow Lane Newspaper Club all about?
My Last Year
Being a fifth grader in your last year in a school you’ve been in for most of your life, you see things differently than before. For example, how fun Willow Lane is. Willow Lane let’s kids do so much with their gifts, like the Spelling BEE’s and projects that let them use their strengths to their advantages. In third grade, it's way different than being in fifth. The biggest thing you're worried about is who you're playing with at recess and if you’ll be able to have a playdate with your best bud after dinner. In fifth grade you're worried about how middle school will be and if you’ll get that project finished on time. I also learned not to take this school for granted. Willow Lane has so many unique teachers and lets them have freedom with how they teach. Mr. Cooper taught with Ipads and technology and Mr. Peter’s teaches with music, while Mr.Weimann is teaching with a hands-on style, trying to teach manners and high standards, pushing his students to their very best, not just being compelled to teach the same way and by textbooks. So be thankful for the freedom you have in your classroom.
Mrs. Barr is Retiring!
June 4, 2015
To my Willow Lane Family (Students and Staff),
I want you to know how very much I will miss all of you. I love the special memory book that was made for me. Your notes brought (happy!) tears to my eyes and a smile to my face. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and pictures with me.
I truly hope we all remember and practice our Willow Lane motto all through our lives: be kind, careful, our best selves, and always show respect.
I wish you all the best of luck and many happy days.
Keep smiling!
With love and hugs (of course!),
Mrs. Barr J
The Willow Lane Newspaper Club
Email: mweimann@eastpennsd.org