From Sea to Shining Sea
4th graders from the King School have been using the library for the past month to research the five regions of the United States. By choosing one state to study within each region, students have learned about the incredible variety of places and people in our country. 4th graders are creating Power Point presentations to tell others about what they’ve learned, but we wanted to be able to share their new knowledge with a broader audience.
Today we read some of Buster’s Postcards from around the country, and learned about blogs, bloggers, posts and commenting. We’re eager to start an online conversation of our own, about the regions of the USA. Stay tuned for new posts from our guest bloggers!
Young Authors
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. School has many young authors. All year students have been writing and publishing their work. These three authors asked to have their published books placed in the library for others to enjoy. They wrote and published their work with the help of Ms. Elizabeth Mayhew.
From China to Guatemala
On April 25, the Amigos 4th and5th graders had a wonderful author visit with Amelia Lau Carling. Ms. Carling is from a Chinese family which immigrated to Guatemala from China during WW2. During her childhood she was spoken to in Chinese, but she and her siblings responded to their parents in Spanish. Her own children encouraged her to write about her unique childhood experiences in her two books, La Tienda de Mama y Papa (Mama and Papa Have a Store) and Alfombras de Asserin (Sawdust Carpets) 
Cambridge: How it came to be our city
The Amigos 3rd graders have been learning about the history of our city. Ms. Kit Rawlins from the Cambridge Historical Commission has been showing them slides and teaching them about the history of Cambridge. She presents three lessons to the students: Settlement of Cambridge, Immigration to Cambridge, and the history of African-Americans in Cambridge. The third graders have had wonderful questions for Kit. Ask them what they’ve learned about Cambridge. Did you know Rindge Towers stands where a clay pit for a brick making factory once stood? Or that Lechmere Station used to be the site of a glass making factory and a meat packing factory? Thank you Kit for giving us a different perspective on Cambridge.
General George Washington lived in this Cambridge house for a winter.
Down on the Farm
The King first graders, junior K and kindergarten students had a visit from Farmer Matt of Drumlin Farm in Lincoln. The first thing the students told him was that he didn’t look like a farmer! Poor Farmer Matt. By the end of the visit he had them convinced. Students tasted carrots and lettuce, played a game about a tomato’s journey from farm to store, and peppered Farmer Matt with questions about farms. We’ve been reading non-fiction books about crops and farm animals along with some fun farm picture books to prepare for this special visit. The visit was a gift from CitySprouts. (Open House for CitySprouts garden at King/Amigos on May 30 at 2 p.m.) We’re realizing that it’s one thing to look at pictures of chickens, but it would be much better to see the chickens scratching in the dirt. We’re planning a fieldtrip to Drumlin Farm or one of the other area farms, Codman Farm or Wilson Farm. We’ll let you know which farm books were hits with the kids and teachers.
