by Baylee Hayes

The 4^th grade students are learning about what it was like to live in during the Colonial time period. They selected different roles for their new families. They are also journal writing about farming and what happens each day. They are having a lot of fun.

Kinsley May in Mrs. Davis-Louis’s class said, “ I like making journal entries.’’ Molly Womack said, “ I love making toys that children played with during this time period.’’ Kyla Tangen, said “ I love being in groups.’’ They also had displays out in the hall by their classrooms of different colonial pieces. It was like a museum.

As you can see the fourth grade is learning quickly.

by Baylee Hayes

There are six new books called Ivy and Bean. The first one is about Ivy and Bean first meeting. The second book is about when there is a ghost in the bathroom and they have to get it out.  Book number three is currently checked out.  In book number four Bean is stuck with her sister, Nancy. Now she has to figure out how to get away. In the fifth book Bean is in trouble and Ivy helps her figure out if she is bad or not. And finally, in the fifth book they join ballet but have to be squids and plan to drop out.

If you want to know more you will need to read this series. Kinsley May in Mrs. Davis-Louis’s class said, “I have one in my backpack right now. They are my favorite books ever.” Mrs. Svarda said, “ New books are great for people looking for a new series.”

There is one other new book called Tum-Tum and Nutmeg that is about two mice that don’t know what is coming in their next three adventures. Go to the library and check these new books out!

by Benjamin Nelson

You may of heard about Chimerica around the school. It is a school-based program where students in the Discovery School video conference with Chinese students in Beijing, China. Chimerica is a program that Mrs. Jones started with a lady named Wenyan Zhou. Last year Mrs. Zhou appeared at her door and asked if she could do math classes with her class. Mrs. Jones agreed. Soon enough, Mrs. Zhou figured out that Mrs. Jones had been to China. Then they figured out that the Chinese government would pay for a teacher to come to the United States to teach language, culture, dance, etc. of the Chinese. Hopefully, this will happen next year.

Chimerica is also for leadership. Next year Mrs. Jones will be working with the Chamber of Commerce and Leadership Rutherford. They will be bringing in good leaders like the Mayor so students at DSRR can “pick their brains” and learn to be good leaders.

The goal of Chimerica is to teach children to get along with the Chinese and other cultures, since the U.S. has many business partnerships with the Chinese. It is very beneficial to the Chinese as well. Many Chinese students are learning English, and they are able to practice it on us. When we video conference with them, we tell them about our cultures and they tell us about theirs. During the last video conference, we told them about some of our cultures and celebrations in the fall (like football and Thanksgiving) and they told us about some of their many festivals (like the Lantern Festival). The students that do these video conferences are volunteers from each 5^th and 6^th grade class. We hope to see you at our next video conference.

Dr. Linda Gilbert (left) and friend.

by Baylee Hayes

The Discovery School 5^th grade is warming up their voices in music. They are practicing their song to sing for Linda Gilbert, the new Director of City Schools.. On Thursday, January 21^st they will head over to Black Fox Elementary. They will sing at 5:20 pm, and then again at 5:30 pm. The songs they will perform are called Look to the Future, Reach, and Power of the Dream. It talks about what we should do to make the future better. So if you want to hear this amazing song go to Black Fox Elementary on January 21^st.

This week 5^th ranked Discovery School boys hosted Mitchell Neilson Elementary. This was a great game. The toss-up was won by Mitchell Neilson, but Discovery scored first. They got two free throws and scored both times.  It went back and forth, keeping the score close.  Then we made an impressive shot which happened to be a three-pointer making it 8 to 5. Soon after it was 10 to 8 and we were trailing. Then two players on Discovery were injured– #23 and #20. After a moment, they were okay.

Our chance to turn the game around came with a couple of free throws. We made two points and the score was 10 to 10.  But soon the score was 17 to 12. We continued to hang in there. The score at the end of the third quarter was 29 to 31.  We were winning!   The 4^th quarter was tight.  29 seconds and a timeout was called.  We were trailing by 2.  With fifteen seconds to go, #23 tied it up 35 to 35. The crowd was going crazy.

Time ran out and the game went in to overtime.  Two minutes were placed on the clock. Mitchell Neilson was the first to score.  They continued to dominate.  In the end it was 40 to 38—MNE’s favor.  What a game! Even though Discovery School didn’t win it was a great game.

Mrs. Stacey Burt, 6th Grade Teacher

     This month’s Spectacular Teacher is Mrs. Burt. To begin, Mrs. Burt has a Masters degree in talented and gifted plus she is going for a three-year program next fall to get her Doctorate in the same field. When she gets her Doctorate she will become Dr. Burt. Although she likes teaching she hasn’t thought about becoming a principal.

         One crazy thing about Mrs. Burt is that she has he DJ license (let’s disco.).  She has also flown in micro gravity (Zero G), she had two pet skunks when she was a kid, her favorite color is green, and she is one of six children. This is Mrs. Burt’s second year teaching at Discovery School. Last, she loves sixth grade and is planning on staying for as long as there she can.

“Going Green is very important & this school is trying to make a difference,” said Dr.Clark.

Look around at all of the recycling bins; they are everywhere. Many schools do things to be green but we are trying to do the most. Here are a few ways we help the environment. We have recycling bins around the school for plastic and aluminum cans.

Every teacher has a box in their classroom where they recycle paper. Students pick up the paper from each room once a week and deliver it to the large recycle bins. We have a large outside, recycle bin for aluminum cans. And, there is so much more we do to:

1. Reduce

2. Reuse

3. Recycle

If everyone helps the Discovery School will be greener than any other school. Please do your part to help make our planet green.

We all know that the H1N1 flu and regular flu are going around. We also know it is hard to keep it away. But with these Do’s and Don’ts you and your friends can be germ-free!!

Do’s:

*    Do wash your hands after you go to lunch, use the bathroom, or go to a different class.

*    Do use GERM-Z™ often.

*    Do cough in your elbow.

*    Do sneeze in a tissue.

Don’ts:

*    Don’t touch your nose, eyes, or mouth.

*    Don’t touch others.

DS Boys Huddle Around Coach

On November 5, 2009, the Discovery School boys basketball team went up against Cason Lane Academy. The game took place at Discovery School. Discovery was the first team to score. The score was 2 to 0. Thanks to a long shot it was 5 to 0. Soon it was 7 to 0, 9 to 0 and 11 to 0.  It went on and on.  Discovery was dominating. Discovery was doing great on defense.

Patrick Blair moves down the court

But Cason Lane began to come back, keeping the score close. The fans were going crazy. Cason Lane’s girl’s basketball team was leading cheers. Everyone was on their feet.  Discovery went on to win 27 to 21. Up until the last second, it was really a nail bitter.  Great job, Discovery School.

Coach Jason Page celebrates

From top:

friendship, friend, talk, and Halloween from www.chinese-symbols.com

A few nights ago, Discovery School held an exciting video conferencing session with a third grade class of Chinese children from Beijing Primary School. This is called Chimerica, for China and America. Chimerica is a fun, educational experience where Discovery School students learn about Chinese customs and we show them about us.

On this night, Thursday, November 5, 2009, we exchanged holidays, sang songs, and introduced ourselves to the Chinese. Everyone enjoyed themselves and we all had lots of fun learning about these 3^rd grade Chinese students, too.

The Chinese students introduced themselves to us. They also showed us many of their traditional holidays from their culture, such as the Dragon Boat Festival and the lantern festival.

Several fifth grade Discovery students introduced to the Chinese many of our fall and Halloween traditions and customs, like trick-or-treating, dressing up, pumpkins, jack o’ lanterns, bats, and the beautiful changing leaves in fall. We sang them two traditional songs called “The Ghost of John,” and “Skin and Bones.” We also shared about how we celebrate Thanksgiving and watch football. Three sixth graders introduced themselves as well, using symbols to represent them.

Along with the introductions, many people performed incredible musical acts. Two Chinese students played us songs on their violins, and one played a traditional Chinese zither. One fifth grade group of boys from Discovery also sang food-themed songs to the Chinese students.

We had a blast on this night, and if you didn’t get a chance to attend, we hope to see you at our next meeting. We will have a great time!