THE BRIMMER EYE Wacky Weather By Miley Chen (3) and Zayna Rosen (2) Features The weather has been constantly changing this March and April. There has been rain, sun, fog, and even snow! Did you know on April 1st, it was 69 degrees and then three days later it was below freezing and snowing?! It was like a late April Fool s Day joke from Mother Nature! Most people got 5 to 7 inches of snow, but the town with the least amount of snow was Milford, MA with 2.8 inches. Can you believe it? A few days later everything heated up again, reaching 53 degrees. After that, on April 8th, it was hailing! Then it went up to 60 degrees again. On April 12th, it rained and it was 59 degrees. All the teachers we interviewed thought this weather was crazy! After looking at weather charts, we agree with that this weather has been extremely chaotic and out of the ordinary. Massachusetts weather is very unpredictable! We interviewed Ms. Hickey and Mrs. Murray and asked about their dream weather. Ms. Hickey said, "My dream weather is partly cloudy and 75 degrees. Mrs. Murray said, "My favorite WHAT S INSIDE: COOK S CORNER EXPLORE THE DIVERSE MEALS LS KIDS EAT AT FUNNY PAGES A HAND-DRAWN COMIC BE THE TEACHER LEARN ABOUT A NEW SUBJECT FROM YOUR FELLOW STUDENTS FEATURES IN-DEPTH REPORTING ON THIS SPRING S WACKY WEATHER SPORTS SECTION THE 2016 SUMMER OLYMPICS OPINION A PASSIONATE PIECE FROM YOUR PEERS SPOTLIGHT ON THE CLASSROOM WHAT WE RE STUDYING!1
would be sunny because it is more fun to be outside. We hope you enjoy a more pleasant, predictable spring! Sports The 2016 Summer Olympics By Alice Dalton (2) and Sloane Brzezinksi (2) The opening day of the summer Olympics is Friday, August 5, 2016. The opening ceremony takes place in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Even though few Brimmer teachers or students have seen the Games live, we are all excited to tune in this summer! Gymnastics is one of the sports that will be a part of the Summer Olympics. Even though Brazil is hosting the Olympics, the women's gymnastics team will not be in the competition. Brazil got bumped back by the Netherlands to ninth place and the Olympic judges only want the top 8 teams! The three categories that will be judged in the Olympics are artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, and trampolining. For artistic gymnastics the women do vault and floor exercises for 30 to 90 seconds. Rhythmic gymnastics is a short routine that you do with five or more people. It includes hoops, balls, ribbons, and ropes. For trampolining, gymnasts do acrobatics on the trampoline, doing backwards somersaults and twists. The US is sending a strong women s gymnastics team to this summer s games, in addition to many other teams filled with amazing athletes. You should watch and cheer for them all! Spotlight on the Classroom Reading Aloud By Ginger Biederman (2) and Ema Claire Luzckow (2) Read Aloud is when a teacher reads a book aloud to their class. Most Read Alouds happen at the end of the day. In second grade, we sit in our chairs to listen to our teacher use great voices to bring the story to life. In first grade, we sat on the rug and had time to relax our bodies at the end of the day as we listened to Roald Dahl classics. Grades One through Five have Read Aloud. Read Aloud is important because you need to have a great imagination. Books by Roald Dahl and other silly authors are good books for Read Alouds because they are very imaginative.!2
They are fun to listen to and students enjoy the silly humor. Roald Dahl is a very good author because in his books he writes with a lot of expression. Read Aloud is a fun time for students of any age. We interviewed some people about their favorite Read Aloud books. Ms. SG says, "My favorite Read Aloud book is Danny Champion of the World." Adrien (2) says, "My favorite Read Aloud book is Matilda." Thacher (2) says, "My favorite Read Aloud book is The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles." Ema Claire's favorite Read Aloud book is also The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles. Ginger s favorite Read Aloud book is The Odyssey. Mr. Stattel likes the book The BFG because one of the main characters, Sophie, is very brave, confident, and nice to the BFG and his students always laugh when he reads it. Mrs. Clamage s favorite Read Aloud book is Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester. Ms. Guirakhoo's favorite Read Aloud book is King Solomon's Ring by Konrad Lorenz. Zayna's favorite Read Aloud book is The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles. We like Read Aloud because you can learn so many things and it also helps you develop a great imagination. It is wonderful to listen to a good Read Aloud book like The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles. We hope you have learned more about Read Alouds! What is your favorite Read Aloud book? Cook s Corner Brimmer at Home: What Our Students Eat By Edan Zinn (5) and Aliya Joshi (2) The foods that we eat are an enormous part of our diversity and culture as Brimmer students. Why, you ask? There are many answers. Food in general gives you energy for the day. The types of food that students eat is also very important. This is because food often reflects the culture of Brimmer families. Our food culture is a very important part of our lives and it is something that we do not want to let go of or keep to ourselves. We want to tell you more about it! Let's look at some examples of the foods students eat at home. Dominic, Grade 5, has ancestors from Greece: I eat green beans with meat and rice, which is a traditional dish from Greece. Liesel, Grade 2, is from Germany: I eat a special type of bread which is from Germany." Our students eat a very wide variety of foods at home, as well as at school. The aim of the Global Connections lunch program is to educate students about each others cuisines. The program appears every month on the menu, although Brimmer's everyday menu has some diverse dishes as well. In Global Connections, some cuisines featured have included Vietnamese cuisine and Russian cuisine. Some examples of Vietnamese foods at Brimmer include: Bahn Mhi, Vietnamese fried rice with chicken, and other delicious side-dishes. Some examples of Russian foods at Brimmer include: kotlety, mashed potatoes, and other scrumptious sides.!3
Why is this diversity of foods at Brimmer important? We believe when talking about diversity, people often overlook food as a part of the culture and diversity here at Brimmer. Brimmer celebrates and shares the richness of our experiences through food. Our classmates are embracing and encouraging differences by talking about how cool the different foods we eat are. Therefore, the food that we eat at home and at school is an important part of our lives. Opinion The Top 10 Movies of 2015 and Early 2016 By Kolja Westhues (5) and William Apen (3) In 2015 we saw some amazing movies. We also were lucky enough to watch some incredible movies that have come out earlier this year. Below are our top ten favorite films; if you want to see a great movie, you should try these! 1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens: this movie broke records and it made Star Wars fans cry. RATED PG-13 2. The Good Dinosaur: a movie about a dinosaur that acts like a human taking care of a human that acts like a dinosaur. "I like The Good Dinosaur because I thought it was charming and cute, said Mrs. Clamage. RATED PG 3. Avengers Age of Ultron: the Avengers face an enemy of their own creation, Ultron. RATED PG-13 4. Inside Out: Riley's emotions help her survive San Francisco. RATED PG 5. Batman V Superman: a fight between Batman and Superman that also introduces the DC cinematic universe to characters like Wonder Woman, Flash, Aqua Man, and Cyborg. RATED PG-13 6. Zootopia: an adventure about a bunny trying to solve a crime with a fox. RATED PG 7. Ant-Man: a movie about a criminal-turned-hero saving the world. RATED PG-13 8. Fantastic Four: a reboot of the Fantastic Four series we loved it! RATED PG-13 9. My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2: another comedy about our favorite Greek family. RATED PG-13 10. Jurassic World: a sequel to the Jurassic Park franchise. "I like when the dinosaurs escape, Ryan Hurst (3) told us. RATED PG-13 We asked other Brimmer teachers and students about their favorite movies of 2015 and early 2016. Ms. M loved Into the Woods and Owen W. (5) picked Ant-Man, one of our favorites! The movies in 2015 and early 2016 changed movie universes like the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) and the DC Cinematic Universe and also created new worlds and favorites like the ones on this list.!4
Be the Teacher Face Your Fears: Animals of the Amazon By Reggie Hesselbein (2) and Charlie Chiuve Vinci (2) In second grade, we are studying Brazil. Brazil contains many amazing and, to many people, scary animals. We are here to educate you so you will be able to face your fears. We are telling you about these animals because some people are trying to kill them because they think they are dangerous; in fact, the animals are more afraid of you because you look so big to them. So, if you re afraid of rattlesnakes you should not be that scared because they are way more afraid of you. A rattlesnake s brain is as small as a pea! Let s learn more about the rattlesnake: Area: North and South America Habitat: mainly grasslands, scrub bush, rocky hills, deserts, swamps and meadows Food: baby alligators, lizards, mice, rats, squirrels, rabbits, and some birds Size: 1 to 8 feet Babies: hatch from eggs held inside the female, then come out of her body. Now let's talk about the harpy eagle, another fearful creature! Area: southern Mexico to northern Argentina Habitat: Rainforests Size: 35 to 41 inches tall Babies: the chicks are covered with feathers and their eyes are closed when they first hatch. Tobias and Thomas (K) are afraid of scary snakes, like the rattlesnake, and said they would run away if they saw one. Michael (K) is scared of lions and tigers and he would run away. Ryan (3) said he was scared of sea snakes and he would run away. Mr. Stattel said he is afraid of fire ants and would run or scream. Mr. Fuller is afraid of bears and would yell and make a loud noise if he saw one. Ms. Beech is afraid of bears and she said she would try to make herself big and yell at the bear. Because these animals are really scared of you, we re trying to talk about them so that if you visit Brazil and encounter them, please avoid their habitats. You shouldn t be afraid you should not try to kill them or call for hunters to get them. You should walk away and let them be. And that s why we are talking about these animals!!5
About the Paper and Meet the Staff: The Brimmer Eye is Brimmer and May s lower school newspaper, written, edited and produced by students in grades 2-5. We hope you enjoy reading about our passions, both inside the classroom and out! STAFF: Edan Zinn Ginger Biederman Adrien DiPietrantonio Zayna Rosen William Apen Miley Chen Ema Claire Luczkow Thacher Purdy Alice Dalton Sloane Brzezinski Kolja Westhues Reggie Hesselbein Rohan Suresh Charlie Chiuve Vinci Aliya Joshi Ms. SG Ms. Pappas!6
Ginger Kolja Edan Ema Claire Alice Charlie Sloane Kolja!7
The Fun and Funny Pages March Madness: Syracuse vs. Virginia By Adrien DiPietrantonio (2), Thacher Purdy (2) and Rohan Suresh (2)!!8 And Syracuse moves on to the Final Four!!!!!