A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words

Our last post showed you some of the great designs Perkins kids created for our t-shirt art supply fundraising project.  Of course, there were many, many more, but we couldn't put them all on the blog.  Admiring them would take up your entire day.

We did, however, want to give today's space to some artwork devoted to a special subject.  Several students decided to use their drawings to reflect upon a subject that has been on all of our minds--sad thoughts, but also a celebration of our friends, families and city.  

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I Know a Place To Go...

Last month we reported on the need for our students, everybody actually, to know how to calm down and focus.  As we mentioned, it sometimes takes practice finding a quiet place inside ourselves.  One way to practice is to have a quiet place out in the world, where you can go to breathe deep. This has been especially true around Boston recently.

Some of our second graders wrote about the quiet, calm places they can go and relax.  

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Common Core Has Many Uses

This is one of the new Common Core standards for second grade.

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Ms. Murphy's class is learning how to use research and evidence to support their opinions about history, animals, and other topics.  They are also learning that this Common Core Standard W.2.1 is very important in daily life.  One assignment they had was to write their parents and try to convince their mom or dad about something using reasons, logic, and evidence.

Are you convinced?

 

It's Never Too Early to Start Planning

The students in Ms. Haney's first grade class have started to think about their future.  Their assignment was to think about the jobs they might want to have when they grow up.  Who knows, things might change between now and then, but here were some of their current thoughts about their careers that interest them.

Remember,  you can click on any picture to make it larger.

Some kids immediately thought of going into professional sports:

 

Others leaned toward medicine:

 

Still others saw their answers right in front of them!

 

 

Then there were the kids who were still keeping their options open:

 

Good luck, first graders.  We hope you all find and fulfill your dreams.

Helping Hands

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How do friends help friends?  Actually how should people treat each other?  Mr. Pelletier's second grade class came up with their ideas in words and pictures.  They had a lot of lovely, caring ideas.  Take a look at their helping hands tree.

We're All Special!

We're all special in our own ways.  Mrs. Haney's class understands this.  They have picked some of their best qualities to practice writing, composition, and introduce themselves to the world.  So here are just a few of the special kids in our first grade...

Root, Root, Root for the Home Team

June 7th was Mentor and Educator's Day at Fenway Park. So Team Michael J. Perkins School decided to play ball!



































Wait...who is up there on the Jumbotron ? It's our own Ms. Meadows! She is one of the educators being honored on the field. Ms. Meadows has taught in the Boston Public School system and at the Perkins for many years. She is retiring this June. She's so great, we would retire her number--if she had one!
































However wonderful, Ms Meadow is only one star from our team. Here she is, back in the dugout with Ms. Muenkel, another retired All Star, Ms, Dewire, and high-scoring Ms. Alert and Ms. McDonough. In the upper row, our temporarily benched Ms. Murphy (ready to play again in September).
















Ms. McDonough, our computer teacher, brought her family to help cheer on Team Perkins (and the Red Sox).






Art teacher, Ms. Yazbeck brought her nephew.














Thanks to our manager, Principal Brawer, we all had our red t-shirt uniforms.










But we already knew we were a team!

A lovely night for us and all Red Sox fans--the Sox shut out the Orioles, 7-0.

A New School for a Day

Once a month for much of the school year, the seventh graders from the Solomon Schechter Day School in Newton came to the Michael J. Perkins School in South Boston. They came to work with our first and second graders on things like reading and writing. A lot of other things were learned in the bargain--for both groups.

At the end of the year, it was our turn to pay the Schechter kids a visit.

It was a busy day. Our kids saw some things they had never seen before, for example, signs in Hebrew letters. What did they say!?!




Perkins kids paired up with their yearlong partners to create a book about their days. Some of the things they wrote and illustrated were perfect examples of their similarities and differences.















Look at this page, for example, where the kids are writing about how they start their days at school. The Schechter kid, who attends a private school devoted to religious and academic studies, says that he begins his school day with prayer.

The Perkins kid says that they go get the breakfast crates, eat in their classrooms, then get to work. Schechter kids eat breakfast at home.


While they are chatting, the boys also learn that they both like to play basketball.


Meanwhile, another pair is busy working on filling in how their education has made them want to have a particular job when they grow up. Or, at least the Perkins kid is because she has lots of ideas. "I want to be a doctor, no, a nurse...wait I have more ideas...a scientist..."

She is writing as fast as she can.

"I wouldn't mind being a teacher at the Schecter School," she adds.










"I like the fact that they seem so mature for their age," says a Schechter kid about his Perkins acquaintances.

"I think this school is cool because it's so big and they have a room just for music," says a Perkin kid.

What is another thing that all the kids like about the visit?











When the Perkins kids come to the Schechter, there is always pizza for lunch!