School Bullying

Stopping School  Bullying

We have read an article from Newsela called, “Stopping School Bullying with Orange T-shirts and a Music Video.”                                                                                    

Kids and teachers at Stratford Middle School in Bloomingdale, Illinois are trying to stop school bullying. They are handing out Stallion Medallions to kids when doing an act of kindness. These coins could be traded for prizes. A boy named Ronan was bullied then started a club to stop it. He also starred in a music video teaching respect.

The kids in this article feel hopeful because with the clubs, t-shirts, and the music video bullies are less likely to bully. My reaction to this news is that it is letting more people know about how bullies make others feel. I think this article will help decrease bullying. Also, this article shows the bullies how they make the people they’re bullying feel (sorrowful and scared). Now that the bullies know how they make others feel there is a better chance they’ll stop bullying.

We just finished reading a story called Tuesday of the Other June. In this story a girl named June gets bullied by another girl named June. The bully repeatedly teases June. At the end of the story June finds courage and stands up for herself. Tuesday of the Other June  and “Stopping Bullying with Orange T-shirts and a Music Video” are similar because in both pieces of text a kid was bullied then found a way to stop it. Both kids solved their problems without fighting.

By: Jacob  Bernstein

Cyber Bullying

Cyber Bullying

Many of you guys are probably familiar with the term bullying. Since the internet has gotten more popular there is a new type of bullying. It is called cyber bullying. It’s a bullying that takes place on the internet. The bullying takes place on social media sites, text messages, chat, and other websites. Examples of cyber bullying are mean texts, emails; rumors in emails were posted on social media networking sites, such as embarrassing pictures, videos, websites, or fake profiles. Children commit suicide, kill each other, don’t go to school, receive poor grades, have lower self-esteem, and have health problems as a result of cyberbullying.

   STOP BULLYING NOW!

And start loving! Be nice people!!!  

By Kate A & Kiley G

Super Bowl XLXIII

Super Bowl Sunday

This year the Super Bowl is February 2^nd. The two teams facing of this big event are the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks. The Super Bowl is being played at MetLife stadium, home of the Giants. For Russell Wilson, the Seahawks quarterback it’s his first time this big game. For his 2^nd season as a QB at the age of 25 in the NFL he’s doing great. In the pre-season the Seahawks had the best record. They also have the best defense in the NFL. Some good players on the Seahawks are RB Marshawn Lynch, WR Golden Tate, and WR Percy Harvin. The Seahawks will be trying to win their 1^st Super Bowl. For Peyton Manning, the Broncos quarterback he’s been arguably the best quarterback in the NFL.  This Year Peyton Manning broke Drew Brees‘s record for the most touchdown passes in a single season with 55. Some good players on offense are WR Demaryius Thomas, (Peyton Manning’s favorite target) WR Eric Decker, and TE Julius Thomas. The Broncos will be looking to win their 3^rd Super Bowl. Be sure to watch these two teams of the year face off in Super Bowl 48.

By: Claire, Alex, and Jake

p.s. We think Denver will win.

The Winter Olympics

The Winter Olympics 

By: Jake, Claire, and Alex

The Winter Olympics are starting up Friday February 7^th. This year is the first time Russia has hosted The Winter Olympics. The Olympics are happening in Sochi, Russia. Other countries that have hosted the winter Olympics are The United States, France, Austria, Canada, Japan, Italy, Norway, and Switzerland. These are the top 15 USA memories of the winter Olympics…..

15. The first gold medal in Winter Olympics history was won by an American in speed skating.

14. The women’s hockey team won America’s first gold medal in hockey since the 1980 Miracle on Ice.

13. Jack Shea became the first athlete to win two gold medals in one Winter Games (500m and 1,500m speed skating).

12. Button revolutionized his sport while becoming the first American figure skater to win gold.
11. Fully recovered from a career-threatening fall at the 1979 World Championships, Mahre -- the 1980 Olympic slalom silver medalist.
10. Skating to Tchaikovsky, the graceful 19-year-old, Peggy Fleming enchanted the crowd and a worldwide TV audience. Handily averting America's first gold-medal shutout in Winter Olympics history, the five-time U.S. and two-time world champion won by 88.2 points and became an enduring star that had a huge impact on the popularity of her sport.
9. Brian Boitano skated the performance of his life, becoming the first American skater to land a triple axel.
8. Jimmy Shea became the first U.S. athlete to win gold in men's skeleton.
7. America's 46 years without an Olympic bobsledding medal ended when this unlikely pair, Jill Bakken and Vonetta Flowers roared out of obscurity to win the inaugural women's event.
6. Eddie Eagan became the only athlete in Olympic history to win gold at both the summer and Winter Games.

5. The speed skater's long-sought gold was one of the most emotional moments in Olympic history. Dan Jansen skated a touching victory lap with his daughter Jane, named after his sister who died, to whom he dedicated his medal.
4. Bonnie Blair became the most decorated American athlete in Winter Olympics history.

 3. In one of the most dominant performances in Olympic history, Eric Heiden, 21, became the first athlete to win five individual gold medals in a single Games, summer or winter.
2. Often called "the forgotten miracle," the U.S. upset vastly superior Canadian and Soviet teams. Their 3-2 win over the Soviets came with a Cold War backdrop, and their 9-4 rout of Czechoslovakia secured the gold. 
1. In arguably the greatest moment in U.S. sports history, when a gritty, talented team coached by Herb Brooks and made up mostly of college players upset a Soviet powerhouse that had dominated world hockey and whipped them 10-3 in an exhibition a week before the Games.

There’s some information about past winter Olympics.

4th Grade Google Forms

4^th Grade Forms

By Amy & Alyssa

The 4^th graders all made forms using Google Docs. The site with all the forms is called What Do You Think? A form is a “survey” on the computer that people can put responses on. Some examples are:

Desserts by Amy, Gemstones by Alyssa, Holidays by Jung-Jai, Ice Cream by Saffron, Favorite Design by Anthony, and Fruit by Grace. To get on, you go to Google Chrome, enter your username and password, and go to What Do You Think?  if you are a 4^th grader. If you aren’t, just go to the Turtle Island Blog and you will find 2 surveys- vintonturtleisland.blogspot.com. Hope you respond!

Fudge the Fish

Mrs. Welch's Fish, Fudge!!!

This is a video of some chess moves that you can try!  By Alex and Andrew

            Mrs. Welch’s Fish Fudge

Mrs. Welch’s class has a fish named Fudge.

He is orange fish with black and white spots. We got him on Halloween. He is orange with black and white spots. Fudge is a gold fish. Every year Mrs. Welch’s class gets the fish from Mrs. LeFavre’s pond. Last year Mrs. Welch’s class had two fish, Snowflake and Kudoodles. Mrs. Welch takes care of Fudge.

 Goldfish  Facts

Some Goldfish can be taught to recognize classical  music. Goldfish don’t have stomachs. It is easier to feed them in small portions rather than one huge portion. Some people say goldfish have a memory of few seconds but they actually have a memory of about 3 months.

                             By Abby & Isabella

Vinton Chess Club

J:)Vinton School is having a chess club. All third and fourth graders are welcome. Come on Wednesdays at recess. COME TO TURTLE ISLAND!! Have fun! :)

By Alex Almagro & Andrew Li

Winter Club

 By:Kate,Alex,Claire,Jake,andKiley

Mr. Kronish is inviting 4^th graders from each class to go either cross country skiing or snowshoeing at recess time. The 1^st day of Winter Club Mr. Kronish taught the kids how to get on the equipment and also how to ski and snowshoe.

When you ski, you pretty much just slide your feet and push with your poles. When you gain speed you can to a double-pole and slide. Cross country skiing is very challenging, but once you do it a couple of times you get the hang of it.

Some epic fails when cross country skiing includes Jake Bernstein going into a split and not being able to get up. Another fail is when Claire Greene lost her shoe.

When you snowshoe, if it is deep, you can walk on top of the snow. Jake Bernstein thinks snowshoeing is kind of boring because when the snow isn’t deep it’s pretty much just like walking. Snowshoeing is very easy- all you need to do is walk!

The Winter Club is very fun and we hope Mr. Kronish chooses you to join!     

                     Mrs. Gile’s Preschool Class

In Mrs. Gile’s class preschoolers learn to use scissors to cut

strips of paper.   Also, they learn how to write their names.

Recently, for homework, they had to make Gingerbread men. The Gingerbread men are on display on a bulletin  board

across from the office.

They even made big red barns. The red barns were above the preschoolers lockers.

          They are learning their ABC’s and how to count to 20.

          In gym they do races, shoot colorful playground balls

into mini basketball hoops, and dance with kids in older

grades.

By Caitlyn Moon  

Christmas and Hanukah

      In Christmas they use a tree with ornaments.  People who celebrate Christmas are Christian people. Christmas lasts for one day. Santa comes on Christmas Eve night and people give him milk and cookies. People decorate their house with holly.

 In Hanukah they use menorahs and put 8 candles on them. Hanukah lasts for 8 days. Hanukah is a Jewish holiday. In Hanukah you eat latkes. Most people play with dreidles.

In both holidays they use decorations. They also each have songs to go with their holiday. Both holidays are in winter.

By   Clara Shangold & Lily Helphinstine

Giraffes

When giraffes are two weeks old black tufts of hair are growing from the little horns. They swish their tails around when they walk. They clean their coat with their long neck. They know it’s their mom by her special pattern on her coat. When they see lions hunting, they move on. In one year I am so tall I can reach to the treetops!

By Ben Semenza, Grade 1