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Please find attached an updated version of the Fourth Grade Edition of the CPA Newsletter. We inadvertently failed to give credit to some students for their work and have now rectified this, Don't forget to enter the crossword competition which is open to all grades. Parent assistance is encouraged! More details can be found at the end of the newsletter.
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Cornelia F. Bradford School PS16 Newsletter
April 9th, 2021
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Welcome to a special CPA Newsletter-Fourth Grade Edition! Get ready to read all about the amazing things happening in fourth grade. This newsletter has been written, edited and organized by the PS16 Student Council.
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Our Fourth Graders have been working hard and continue to thrive since logging on to 'Zoom School' back in September. The school year is flying by and our students have been learning so much. Our Fourth Grade Teachers; Mrs. Talalai, Mr. Cook, Mrs. Mistretta, Ms. Adalla, Ms. Golombos, and Ms. Bigger have certainly gone above and beyond and we cannot thank them enough for all of their hard work and dedication to our boys and girls. They have truly made the virtual experience educational and fun and we continue to be amazed by them.
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The CPA is proud to recognize our fourth grade representatives of the PS16 Student Council;
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Room 306 President - Urja Patankar
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Room 306 Vice President - Vihaan Joglekar
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Room 307 President - Adeline Faison
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Room 307 Vice President - Kabir Shah
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Room 308 President - Roma Das
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Room 308 Vice President - Eli Zorola
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Our fourth grade student council representatives invited their classmates to submit articles for the newsletter. The articles could be anything the students wished to write about. Everything you will read in this newsletter has been written, edited and proudly shared by the students of fourth grade (9 and 10 year old's!!) The CPA Team are very excited that our students are able to use this newsletter to amplify their voices. It is an absolute honor to read their words and see how much effort they have put in to creating this newsletter. A special mention must go to Kabir Shah and Urja Patankar for really going above and beyond. Thank you Mr. Sigler for encouraging our student council to get involved and be engaged.
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Vihaan Joglekar told the CPA that he very much missed participating in the raffles held throughout the school year. Vihaan and his friends Sheel and Aarav have created a crossword competition. More details can be found in this newsletter!
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This is going to be a year none of us forget. The YEAR OF THE PANDEMIC, CORONA-YEAR, COVID-19-2020 whatever we call it, it will be something we talk about. It has been a very difficult year but we at PS16 will get through this year. We will make it to 2021-2022 school year.! We are lucky that all of us are doing well and we are able to learn virtually. Virtual school is not easy but our school, teachers and parents are helping us get through it. We have definitely increased our vocabulary with Covid-19 with words such as pandemic, vaccines, lockdown, asynchronous, quarantine.
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Covid positive is something we do not want to hear but I am referring to the positive side of virtual school due to covid that our teachers have experienced. I interviewed them and this what they had to say about what is one positive thing about virtual school:
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"I no longer have to commute to work. The time I used to spend traveling is now spent preparing for my day." - Ms. Talalai
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"I love that you guys are getting a chance to really show your technological skills!" - Ms. Mistretta
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"I am able to teach my whole group Math lessons to 15 students at a time. This way when I'm meeting with one group; Ms. Williams and Mr. Mikhail can meet with the other students that need assistance." - Ms. Warrington
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"I LOVE not having to commute and find parking!" - Ms. Bigger
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"I get to wear comfortable pants, like sweatpants or jeans, because no one sees them. :)" - Mr. Cook
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I agree with all the teachers! I love that I can be in my pajamas and sleep in longer!
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The Spelling Bee is one of the competitions I have always looked forward to participating in. We were given words till the 8th Grade to learn. I sincerely practiced all my words many times in the day. As the competition started I was very nervous, however I gained confidence after I started getting my words correct. Overall I really enjoyed my experience as I learnt new words and the Icing on the Cake was that I earned a 3rd place and made my teachers, classmates and parents proud!
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Anshuman Bagaria holds his Spelling Bee Trophy
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Easter! It’s the best holiday ever! But we know almost nothing about its history and origins. So, now let’s get hopping and learn all about Easter!
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Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus and the defeat of death and the hope of salvation. Surprisingly, it turns out that Easter actually began as a pagan festival celebrating spring in the Northern Hemisphere, long before the advent of Christianity. (Pagan means worshipping idols instead of God.) The celebration got its name by a pre-Christian goddess of spring, named Eostre.Some Easter symbols include rabbits, eggs, candy and chocolates, hot cross buns, butterflies, chicks, dogwood trees, easter lilies, and more! The Easter Bunny however, seems to be the most popular. This famous rabbit hops from house to house, delivering chocolate eggs to all the children. And it seems that Easter is a pretty popular holiday! About 80 percent of American adults celebrate Easter, with the average person spending $140 in the holiday that includes lots of Easter Eggs and stuffed Easter bunnies. Overall, Easter is a fantastic holiday, with so many wonderful things to celebrate. See you next Easter!
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When the students of Room 308 shared with Ms. Bigger how disappointed they were that PS16 would not be holding their annual Spring Hat Parade, she decided to hold one via Zoom. The boys and girls created beautiful hats and enjoyed showing them off to their classmates. Congratulations to Eva, Ruhaan, Sara and Swarit!!
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Here are some vocabulary terms we use everyday in virtual school. The words have a meaning but what do they really mean?
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“Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times… but only if someone remembers to turn on the light.” - Albus Dumbledore
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What does this quote mean? It is a quote from Harry Potter by the Hogwarts headmaster, Professor Dumbledore. All quotes have a secret meaning inside of them, especially quotes from Harry Potter. In order to define this quote we need to break it into parts.
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First, let's pay attention to the phrase, “even in the darkest of times”. You probably have already guessed the meaning. It is emphasizing negative times in life. For example Covid-19 was a devastating time at first. We can’t see each other at school and we are doing virtual learning now. Also, many people are dying from Covid too. That is an example of a tough and negative time.
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Now that we have understood the first part of the phrase, let's talk about the second phrase, “but only if someone remembers to turn on the light” This means that one has to work for things to come true. For example, more people are working to fight off covid and they still are. All of our first responders, especially our doctors who are caring for the people who are diagnosed with the virus. The delivery workers are also working very hard to deliver out food to us. Our teachers, who are making sure we get the best of knowledge and not left behind. They all deserve a great thank you. But even words are not enough to express our gratitude to them.
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Now the final phrase, “Happiness can be found” means that you will get a great reward. Like now we have the vaccine for covid which can save thousands of lives and there is also a ray of hope we will be back to in-person learning soon.
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In conclusion, the phrase means, that even if there is a tough time that is impossible to defeat, you will always get a great reward and beat it if you work hard. To sum up the example, I can say that at first covid was a devastating time, but then people worked hard to fight it and now we have the vaccine which is making almost everything better.
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The pandemic called Covid 19 has affected many people. For more than a year students had to do virtual learning. Virtual learning is a lot different than in person. Some may prefer virtual learning because we get breaks while others prefer In person so they couldn’t face they many obstacles in virtual learning or get to have their supplies right in front of them. Either way we are still getting the education we need.
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As I said before, virtual learning caused many types of problems. Not everyone had the best internet meaning they could either glitch out or get kicked out. Before the pandemic we wouldn’t face these conditions. During in-person learning we had most of the stuff in front of us and not on the screen. There are some bright sides about virtual learning though. Usually students had to take a short walk or use a car but in virtual learning we could just sit in a spot ,take out a computer and be ready 30 minutes before class even starts! 4th graders in 306 as well attended a program called LSC fun Friday's (liberty science center fun Friday).On top of that most students in 4th grade get to do many fun activities on most Fridays or occasions. If we were in person we would still have fun but we wouldn’t be able to do some activities occasionally. The bright side of in person learning are that students wouldn’t have to look at their screen for about 5 hours. Now it’s time to see what some students in the 4th grade would rather have “In-person learning(without covid-19 existing) or virtual learning (with covid 19).
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First up is a 4th grade teacher Mrs. Talalai!
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She answered the following questions “Would you rather have In-person or virtual learning”, ”Why did you choose that learning experience”, ”Do you want to have that learning experience forever and why?
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She had said “I would prefer to have learning in person. Although I think we have adapted very well to virtual learning, it does not compare to having the students in your classroom. There are so many things that are more difficult to address virtually and we're always contending with technical issues that interrupt our lessons. Furthermore, there are various distractions when learning from home that we can eliminate in the classroom. I would much prefer to have learning in person in the future but it is nice to know that we are capable of learning virtually if the situation ever arises again. Hopefully not. ”
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Last up is another 4th grade teacher Mr. Cook!
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He had answered “In-person is much better for all us. The reason why I say this is because the student’s peers or friends need to learn how to get along the right way! Students may have adapted very well to having virtual learning but they need to learn how to make friends in a friendly condition (going in-person).The next reason why I would like in-person better is because we could see every students work physically and instead of making them sharing their screen like we would do in virtual learning. I would like to have this learning experience forever because we could teach our students physically.”
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The importance of women history month is celebrating women’s accomplishments and encouraging girls to reach their goals no matter if they are like boys or girls. We celebrate women history month because it reminds ourselves of the accomplishments of women throughout the years to our culture and society. From science to politics, it is a chance to reflect on the amazing women who lead the way for a big change. Women history month began when a group of women decided they’d had enough of being pushed to the side and having men’s achievements being the focus always.
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Since lots of women were famous, I will tell you 3 of them and what they were in the country. Shirley Tolentino was the first white woman to be the judge in the U.S.A. Mary Mcleod Bethune was an American educator, stateswoman, philanthropist, humanitarian and a women’s rights activist. Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly over the Atlantic ocean in 1928.
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Also, Jimmy Carter had announced the week of March 8th 1980 as the first national Women’s history week. Women’s history month was expanded to Women’s history month by the U.S congress. Similarly, every year our students of PS 16 also celebrate Women’s History month by creating different types of projects out of which the teachers chooses the best one and that project is awarded. This year students of 4th grade had created the slide for any one woman who had great achievements and accomplishments after facing many discrimination from the society. So, finally I just want to say that everyone in this world should always respect and encourage womens for the hard work they do for society.
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There are many amazing books in this world! If some of you are trying to find a new book to read, you came to the right place!
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I would definitely recommend Blended by Sharon M. Draper. It is about an 11- year old girl named Isabella who is mixed race, her mother is white and her father is black. Since her parents are divorced she has to switch houses every week so she feels split in half. She also feels more split in half because her mom calls her Izzy and her dad calls her Isabella. Throughout the book Isabella struggles to define her identity.
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Another book I would definitely recommend is Out of my mind, by Sharon M. Draper. It is about a 10 - year old girl named Melody who has Cerebral Palsy. Melody is incapable of controlling her body and speaking her mind because of Cerebral Palsy. Although she is a very intelligent girl she struggles communicating her feelings and thoughts.
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The last book I would recommend is The one and only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. The book is about a silverback gorilla named Ivan who lived in a cage at a mall. He performed at a circus at a mall along with other animals, including his friend Bob the dog.
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From 1 to 5 I would give Blended and Out of my mind both 5 stars! I would give The one and only Ivan 4 stars! I definitely recommend reading Out of my mind first because March is Cerebral Palsy awareness month.
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Do you like virtual schooling? I am pretty sure everybody here hates it… or maybe not. It’s your opinion. There are ups and downs about being virtual. Like for example, if you are bored with your environment, you can quickly change your Zoom background image. Then again, sometimes the internet doesn’t cooperate. - Manasa H
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Virtual School is hard. Almost 50% to 90% of people have sore eyes while looking at the screens. So to help, here are some tips for sore eyes:
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- Close your eyes for a minimum of 5 to 10 seconds.
- Every 1 to 2 hours, focus on an object about 15 feet away.
- Rub your hands together and put your hands on your eyes for 5 seconds then blink your eyes 5 times.
I am pretty sure that we are all excited for in person school, but some parents will not be sending their children to the building. What happens to the children that don’t return to school? Well, the teachers have to handle both! I think we should appreciate what our teachers do just for our learning! - Manasa H
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How are the students going to be safe when they return to school?
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Student’s going back to school have been thinking about how they will be returning to school and remaining safe. Here is a list of things we have learned about our planned safe return.
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- Their will be a hand sanitizer station where we can wash hands
- Every student and teacher will have their temperature taken
- If a student is sick they will be sent home to continue learning virtually
- Everyone will have a shield on their table or desk
- And most importantly everyone will be wearing a mask and stand 6 feet apart
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Returning to In-school learning was a hard decision to make for our parents and school administrators. They have to think about our safety and we know there are concerns about increasing covid cases in Jersey City. We don’t know if the plan will work but, we will find out when we return! - Swara T
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April Yay! My favorite month from all 12 months is April! In April there are so many days to celebrate! Not just any days, awesome and great days! In April there are about… there is no number to say, there are just so many holidays! You’ll get to know a few of them! So let’s dig into the BEST topic which is... All About April!
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Now this 1st one, is a little bit of a comedy day it’s called… April Fools Day! On April 1st it’s April Fools Day well this is for every year but, this year 2021 the silly and comedy day is on April 1st, Thursday! April Fool’s Day is also known as “All Fool’s Day” or “Foolish Day.” This is a day to play jokes and pranks on your friends and family. Although this is a day for fun, it is not a holiday, and so businesses and schools respect normal working hours. A tradition that is celebrated in several countries, the origins of April Fool’s Day remain mysterious until today, and it is unlikely that we will ever know its true history. In the year of 1582, France officially changed their calendars from the Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar. It is believed that the news of this change didn’t travel to everyone, and also some people weren’t so happy with the change, thus many continued to celebrate the new year at the end of March into April 1st, These people became the target of many jokes and pranks, and others would begin to mock them when they saw them. April Fool’s remains quite a popular day still, with people enjoying taking part in it for a good laugh during this happy day.
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Yes, Good Friday is officially and finally here! Good Friday, also known as Holy Friday, is celebrated on the Friday before Easter( on April 2nd) Good Friday and Easter Sunday follow the flexibility of the Passover date on the Jewish calendar, as Catholics associate Jesus’s Last Supper with Seder.In this way, Good Friday always falls somewhere between March 20 and April 23.The date on which to observe Jesus’s death and resurrection has always been a topic of much debate. Up until the 4th century, His Last Supper, Death and Resurrection were all celebrated together on one day.
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World Party Day, also known as P-Day, on April 3rd, encourages everyone in the world to join together in a big celebration of life. This unofficial holiday promotes universal fun and harmony, with the aim of creating a better and happier world. All over the globe, people gather at their own parties to enjoy music, food, drinks, and games, to spread joy and togetherness. It is also likely that there will be a big party happening near you.
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Get a group of friends together and go celebrate life, by dancing, shopping and having fun!
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Easter is a Christian holiday that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The Friday before Easter is called Good Friday. It is the day that Jesus was crucified on the cross at Calvary.Easter day moves around on the calendar each year, but is always on a Sunday. It is celebrated on the first Sunday following the full moon after the vernal equinox. It can occur anytime between March 22nd and April 25th.Many people go to church on Sunday to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. A lot of people travel to visit with family and relatives over the Easter weekend as well. After church there are often family reunions and large meals to celebrate the occasion. In addition to the religious celebrations and significance of the holiday, there are some secular traditions. These include the Easter Egg Hunt. Tradition says that the Easter bunny hides eggs for children to find each year. In the United States these eggs are often candy or chocolate. Kids search for the candy, usually outdoors, and put the candy and eggs they find into their Easter basket. Other traditions include the Easter Egg Roll at the White House, Easter baskets with chocolate Easter bunnies, decorating hard boiled eggs, and Easter lily flowers. There is also a large Easter parade that takes place in New York City each year.
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Earth Day is celebrated internationally on April 22. It is a day to educate people about the issues affecting the planet and to raise awareness for and celebrate the efforts in place to protect the environment.As a global observance, it sometimes extends to a week-long celebration, aptly named Earth Week, and the celebrations are coordinated by the Earth Day Network across 193 countries.Usually on this day schools and environmental agencies will organize events and activities that aim to protect the planet, such as planting trees, picking up trash on roads, beaches, and parks as well as promoting the benefits of recycling.As this is a day to bring awareness to the necessity of protecting the planet, many people will sign petitions directed at governments about the emergency of acting against global warming and the destruction of the planet.
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Only tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth on April 30, because it is National Honesty Day. This day encourages us to be truthful and straightforward in our lives and promotes honest communication in politics, education, and relationships. April is a month that starts with pranks and lies, on April Fool's Day, and ends with a day that reminds us all of how important it is to be honest in all aspects of our lives.This day is all about honesty and being truthful, so try to uphold that and be someone who is honest. However, don't let this be an excuse to be cruel, being honest and truthful is also about being kind.Let this holiday teach you how to be more transparent and open up to someone you've been wanting to tell something to. And don't forget to come clean about any lies you might have told.You can also take this opportunity to ask a question of someone that you've wanted to know the answer to for a long time. Just make sure that they know what day it is today.
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Let’s wrap this all up by learning some facts about April! I hope this sounds good and you're ready to learn some new things! Oh what did I hear? TRIVIA! You guys want Trivia?!?! Oh yes sure! First, the facts then the trivia! Are you ready? “ Yes” Say it louder! “ YES” Oh Boy, LOUDER! “ YES!!!”
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- It is the second month of spring.
- In the Southern Hemisphere, April is the same as October in the Northern Hemisphere.
- The diamond of April symbolizes innocence.
- The Boston Marathon is held during April.
- In Ancient Rome the month of April was sacred to the goddess Venus.
- April Is Named for Aphrodite.
- April's Zodiac Signs Are Four-Legged Hooved Creatures.
- April's Honorary Flowers Are Daisies and Sweet Peas. .
- The Diamond Is April's Birth Stone.
- Poet William Wordsworth Was Born in April.
- Noah Webster Copyrighted the First Edition of His Dictionary in April.
- Leonardo da Vinci Was Born in April. ( He drew Mona lisa)
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Which month is the second month of Spring?_______________
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Who was a polymath and born in April?_______________
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What is April’s Birth Stone?_______________
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What is April Fools Day also known as?_________________
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What should you tell on April 30th?________________
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What is World Party Day also known as?
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When is Good Friday?______________
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When is Earth Day?_______________
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Who drew Mona Lisa?______________________
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All you need is a piece of clear construction tape and your voice. So first you put the tape up to the door at about the halfway height of your victim then stick the tape(the tape must be exactly half of the victim and must be taped to both corners of the doorway). After you do this call your friend and say “hey I just learned how to control the wind” once you complete this step tells them to come so you can show them. When they come stop them immediately at the doorway and tell them your first act of demonstration will be to block them from coming into the room. Tell them to come and act like you are charging up an energy ball and as soon as they step into the doorway act as if you are letting the energy go like “ hyah ” and when they walk through the door they will feel the tape holding them back and be like “what”. Then after a few seconds reveal the prank.
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Hispanic Heritage Month was from September 15th 2020 to October 15th 2020. We celebrated by working on a ELA project. We had the option to choose from a list of things like create a menu of traditional foods from a Hispanic country, write a biography detailing the life of a Hispanic hero like Roberto Clemente, Cesar Chavez, or Dolores Huerta or create a travel brochure or create an acrostic poem using the word, “Heritage”.
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I chose to create a postage stamp to honor the life and achievements of a Hispanic hero! I selected the Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dali. I also created a video to present my stamp.
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Today we are going to go over the steps of making an Easter egg hunt. Step 1. make or buy eggs (It can be any material) and make sure to make or buy a golden egg. Step 2. You have to then fill in the eggs with whatever you want or whatever kids want and put the best thing in the golden egg. Step 3. If you have a backyard, hide all the eggs in any spot and hide the golden egg in a spot where no one will suspect. Step 4. Now enjoy by finding all the eggs with your friends.
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Me: So how is virtual learning going on this year?
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Student: Good! We do a lot of projects and cool assignments! We also have a bunch of meet and greets on special occasions. When we test we always have to have our camera on. For math tests we do them on Think Central which is a Math platform, where we do our math homework and practice math problems. And that's basically it!
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Me: Great! So do you get together with friends on zoom when you have free time after school?
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Student: Yes, we meet everyday after school to do homework together!
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Me: Nice! Well I hope you are having a great day and we will see you later!
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Student: Okay! See you later!
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Check out this cool video as fourth grader Sheel invites you all to join in his scavenger hunt around your home!
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Be careful! There are germs everywhere! It's because of the Covid-19/Coronavirus! To help you avoid the virus listen to my suggestions.
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First wear gloves or use a wipe to touch anything and always wear a mask when you are outside.If your mask is loose get a tight one so germs don’t get inside. If you can, go outside only if you need to. I know it’s hard but it's to keep you safe!
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Special thanks to Room 306 students, Aarav, Sheel and Vihaan for designing this crossword puzzle. Please email your answers to ps16cpalogin@gmail.com. We are unable to receive emails from school accounts. One winner will be selected to receive a $10 Amazon gift card! Entries close on Friday April 16th. Good luck!!
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Birthday Greetings to our Principal, Mrs. Watkins Williams, who celebrates her special day on April 13th.
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Meals continue to be distributed at MS4 on Bright Street. JCPS are also operating a "Meals on the Bus" program where meals are available to be picked up from set locations. Bus 6 Route is the closest for our school. Meals can be picked up on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 12:20pm from the bus at our school corner.
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If your child will be absent from school you should email your child's teacher AND our school Community Aide. Ms. Claudia can be reached at croyster@jcboe.org
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The calendar for the 2020-21 school year can be found here. School will be closed from Friday, April 2nd through Sunday April 11 for Spring Break. School will reopen on Monday April 12, 2021.
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Interim President - Jessica Smith
Interim 1st Vice President - Jackie Cox
Interim 2nd Vice President - Angela Park
Interim Secretary - Maeghan Robertson
Recording Secretary - Leanne Kerr
Interim Ass. Treasurer - Shaili Marwaha
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Please support Concerned Parents Association of PS16, a 501(c)(3) organization, through your Amazon account. Login to Amazon Smile, link your account and select “CPA of Ps16 - Cornelia F Bradford” as your charitable organization. Through Amazon Smile, 0.5% of every purchase will be donated to CPA of PS16.
**UPDATE** You can now participate in Amazon Smile through the Amazon App on your phone! Update to the latest version of the Amazon Shopping app on your phone. Under 'Settings' tap on 'AmazonSmile" and follow the onscreen instructions.
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Boxtops for Education is online now! Download the Box Tops app, find your school as “Cornelia Bradford Elementary 16”. After you shop, simply scan your store receipts to find participating products.The app will automatically credit your school's Box Tops earnings online.
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Useful Links
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