Goodbye Friends

Dear Fourth Grade Families,

Fourth grade sure was easy!

It's finally here-summer! This school year sure has been one for the record books. Today, I officially give you back the same child from the fall, a few inches taller, a few months wiser, and much more mature. Although this growth would have happened anyway, it has been my pleasure to watch and be a part of their year. I am overwhelmingly proud of each and every one of them.

One last thank you to all the students for their continuous hard work this school year. You rocked it and we had so many laughs along the way! Thank you also to the parents, grandparents, and relatives for all your support and encouragement from home, as well as, all our faithful blog followers.

Enjoy your days at the beach and nights by the BBQ. Don't forget to post your summer adventures on our summer padlet or send me an email jklipfel@middletonps.org with what you are up to. I love nothing more than getting notes and postcards too! This summer, don't forget to READ, READ, READ. Need a book recommendation or want to chat about a great read, just send me a message. You know I LOVE talking books.

We have truly lived, loved, laughed, and learned together this year. I wish it could continue but each and every one of you is ready for next year. Remember, I will always be interested in your future, wherever you go, whatever you do. Your joys and sorrows, I will always be happy to share, so please make sure to keep me in the loop for many years to come. Until we meet again!

Love always,

Miss Klipfel

Comic-Con 2025

Deep in the halls of Howe-Manning, students have been showing their true superpowers. By day you know them as Howe-Manning 4th-grade students but when problems arise they turn into superheroes. Some are able to leap Howe-Manning in a single bound while others are able to stop a speeding monkey. They are all here to eliminate crime one diabolical villain at a time!

Over the last month, students have been preparing for Comic-Con. Students reviewed parts of plot and watched clips of past and present superheroes/villains to then create their very own. Check out all the published 4th grade comics here.

Dressed from head to toe students, families, and friends met to share all their SUPER work for our annual Comic-Con event. This year we added a new tradition, and students made their own wooden medallions. In collaboration with Artovation, students designed and drew their medallions, then used the Glowforge (laser cutter) to actually create them out of wood. Thanks to the MPTO for helping us fund this amazing new collaborative project. 

State House

Written by guest bloggers Shawn & Joey

The State House was so fun to visit. Let me tell you ALL about it! First, we went on a bus from Howe Manning to the State House. When we arrived at the State House we saw… The GOLDEN Dome! It was so shiny and did you know that the golden dome is made out of 23k Gold. Did you know that more than a thousand people work at the State House?

When we went into the State House we had to go through security and there were big gates in front of the State House to keep it safe. There is a nice beautiful garden in front of the State House. When we got through security we had to walk up so many stairs. Then we went under the Golden Dome and under the Golden Dome is the Senate room.

Representative Jones got us special permission to go into the House of Representatives Chambers. The House floor is where the House of Representatives works to make laws and take votes. We even got to sit in the House seat.

After that, we took a picture on the grand staircase with both representatives and Senator Tarr. Then we headed over for a picnic in the Boston Public Garden and for a ride on the swan boats.

 It was a great day in our state's capital.

Patagonia 360

Written by Guest Bloggers: Maya & Penelope

Miss Klipfel's class went on an unexpected expedition today! Miss Klipfel told us to get our passports and run to the airport…“We're going to PATAGONIA!” she announced excitedly. Well, we didn’t actually go to Patagonia but we got the next closest thing. Patagonia VR!!! 

Miss Klipfel put each kid in expedition partners each with their own VR headset. Then you got to choose a video from four different Patagonia locations. Once you finished the 360 video from one location you had to solve the puzzle that went with it.

There were super fun activities to go with each location! For the first stop, Staten Island, in the VR we saw a king penguin and then went to the Lighthouse at the End of the World. After we read a passage about Staten Island to learn about the conservation work happening there then filled in the sentences. For each word, there was a circled letter and all of the circled letters would make a word. On the second stop, Karukinka National Park, the activity was a puzzle to learn more about plastic pollution and how it's impacting Patagonia. When you finished the puzzle it gave you the next clue word.

The third stop, National Geographic Explorer, which is the ship Miss Klipfel lived on, we got to see the library, the observation deck, bridge and stood on the bow while in the Chilean fjords. After we had a Patagonia map and you would answer questions like, if you were to go from Ushuaia to the Pia Glaciers would you head North, South, West, or East? Right next to the answer was a symbol and that symbol had a letter and those would make up the next word. The fourth stop was the Bernal Glacier, the activity that went with this was a mystery picture. So you would have to answer math questions about how climate change is impacting glacial recession and adding to sea level rise. Every time you got the answer right you would get a part of the picture which gave us our final word.

We put all four clue words, explorer, curious, empathetic, and empowered into the Google Form to earn our cool Patagonia Explorer Badge. Check out the website Miss Klipfel made here with all the activities on it. 

We still can't believe how real the VR felt like we were really standing in Patagonia and even felt like the elephant seals were coming right towards us. Lots of us liked the waterfall in Karukinka National Park and being able to stand on the bridge with the captain and see how the ship navigates. We are so lucky we got to go to Patagonia with Miss Klipfel!