Meet Miss Caddel

Russell Sage College student Sheena Caddell is finishing up her seven-week placement as a student teacher in Mrs. Kolodziej's fifth grade class. The young Amsterdam native has been a bright addition to East Hill. "Miss Caddell has shown wonderful promise as an elementary school teacher. She has a bright future," said Mrs. Kolodziej. Miss Caddell will soon move on to a first grade student teaching assignment in one of Albany's magnet schools.

Smith swims away from competition

(January 2007) Fifth grader Quinn Smith showed swimmers from throughout the Capital District what they can expect to see in the Nellis swimming pool for a long time to come—his wake. Quinn captured his second consecutive meet championship trophy for boys age 9-10 at the Albany Starfish Invitational Swim Meet held at RPI January 13-15.

Quinn, a member of the Canajoharie Crocodiles Swim Club, won nine out of ten events on his march to the title. Over three days, he collected 197 out of 200 possible points. His 200-yard individual medley time just missed the meet record by .17 seconds.

 

Showing off their photo albums are (front row) Sierra Vosburgh, Devin Manuel, Brianna Slater, (back row) Alyssa DiLorenzo, Smanatha Cook, Zachary Ouderkirk and Brianna Valenti

A Weekend in Your Life

(December 2006) How many times did we have to write one of those "What-did-you-do-over-your-summer/weekend/vacation-essays"? Thanks to the PTA Enrichment Committee that age-old project took on new life as fifth graders recorded their weekends on film!

Each student was given a disposable camera (with film developing) and a small photo album. Students were then instructed to photograph their weekends as if they were photo journalists. They used index cards to describe each photo's content. The index cards were place in chronological order with their corresponding photos in the photo albums.

Each album was unique, a reflection of the student who created it. Paul Wolberg's album portrayed him canning pears, doing chores, playing cello, pumping gas, eating out, doing laundry, and sleeping in a chair. Somer Timerman's album included photos of her reading on her bed, playing flute and piano, having fun with friends, eating pizza, playing with her cats, and attending church with her cousins. Ruben McFarlane selected scenes from a swim meet, playing football outside with his family, lighting candles in church and relaxing on the couch with his brother.

Mysterious Mummies

(November 2006) Brianna Slater, Paul Wohlberg, Ruben McFarlane and Rebecca Custer-Slater were magically transformed into mummies their classmates and some help from ordinary toilet tissue!

The 18 children were divided into groups and were given about fifteen minutes to come up with their original designs. Two of the mummies were positioned with their arms extending forward and the other two had their arms down by their sides. The only rule they to to follow was that the tissue could not cover the nose and mouth.

Move over Jack, we have our own beanstalks

	Some of our fifth grade "Beanmasters"  display their personalized Scarlet Runner Bean growth charts. (click on an image to see a larger picture.)
Mrs. Parry's class - Noah Watson, Shawn Rivers, Joe Winsman and Kara Garrsion		Mrs. Dopp's Class - Deacon Weaver, Quinn Smith, Madison Herrick, and Shelby Mead

(November 2006) Visit a fifth grade science class and you will find that the old fable "Jack and the Beanstalk" has come alive. Modifying equipment received from Cornell University, students planted Scarlet Runner Beans in inverted two-liter soda bottles. The seedlings quickly grew into vines that climb strings and measuring tapes suspended from the window casing. Students care for their plants daily and carefully chart their growth.

First graders become characters in their own storybooks

(September 2006) First graders in Ms. Linda Peters class were recently interviewed by fifth graders from Mr. Joan Kolodziej's class. The fifth graders collected information about the likes and dislikes of their first grade friends. (full story and photos)

Quilt Tells A Story

(September 2006) Some fifth grade students at East Hill School in Canajoharie recently completed a fabric paint quilt depicting many important objects found in THE CAY, the first novel the students read this year. Each fabric square was sketched first and then painted with fabric paint. (full story and photos)

4th grade takes a ride on the canal

(June 2006) Fourth graders boarded the Erie Canal Boat to take a closer look at the canal and to learn more about the history of central New York. The New York State Waterways vessel took the class through Lock 17 in Little Falls and made a stop at the General Herkimer Home.

Move over Bill Nye—Meet the 5th grade science guys and girls!

(May 2006) What is quicksand? Why does ink run on paper? How do airplanes fly? What are crystals? What are fossils? Can lemon juice really "explode"? Will static electricity really generate a spark? (full story and photos)

4th grade Character Day—an annual tradition

(May 2006) Have you ever wished you could be a character from one of your favorite books? Perhaps you would be the athlete in a biography, a secret agent in a spy thriller, or the heroine in a Victorian novel. (read more)

East Hill "emigrants" pack for the journey

(May 2006) Imagine that your parents announced that your family was moving—not just to a new house or a new town, but to a new country! And because space would be limited on the ship that would take you to your new home, you could only pack five items. What would you take? (full story and photos)

Read it! Read it!

(March 2006) East Hill students celebrated Parents As Reading Partners (PARP) March 13-24. The program encouraged students to read 15 minutes each day over the two week period. Free reading time, special riddles, special clothing days, and creative buttons and bumper stickers kept everyone focused on the importance of reading. (photo gallery)

A little bit of Broadway!

(March 2006) Members of Mrs. Parry's 5th grade class took on a sizable project as they tackled their own original production "Just off the Coast of Australia." Working with student teacher Miss Murphy, the group wrote the script...(full story)

Hansel and Gretel take over Great Room

(March 2006) How do you keep three hundred elementary school children focused and attentive for an hour? You put them all in the East Hill Great Room and call in Hansel and Gretel!

The Tri-Cities Opera Company of Binghamton, N.Y. kept students spellbound as they twice performed Engelbert Humperdink's opera "Hansel and Gretel" on Friday, March 3rd. Magnificent music, wonderful costumes, and simple scenery brought the famous Brothers Grimm fairytale to life—leaving even the youngest in silent wonder. (full story and photos)

Mushing at East Hill

(February 2006) How do you hold an assembly about sled dogs when the ground is bare of snow? You hold it in the parking lot on modified bicycles that imitate a traditional dog sled!

Three members of Outlaw Dog Sleds visited East Hill School treating 4th graders to a real-life lesson in dog sleds and dog sled racing. Despite the lack of snow, Gary and Gar Morey and Clayton Thomas shared what it is like to race dog sleds. (full story and photos)

East Hill shares gift of books with hurricane victims

(February 2006) Imagine going to school and finding no books in your library! For many students in our nation's Gulf Coast area, that is the reality. The powerful hurricanes destroyed schools and flooded libraries leaving children with few books to read.

Working with HFM BOCES, area schools began an ambitious campaign to collect 10,000 books to ship to gulf region students. East Hill parents and children collected hundreds of books to contribute to the cause.

Penpals, pudding & poetry—fifth graders are busy

(February 2006) The fifth grade classes have been busy with California penpals and snowmen, "pudding math" and poetry. Read about some of what they are doing. (full story and photos)

Smithsonian Institute opens at Canajoharie’s East Hill

(December 2005) With great excitement, students at Canajoharie’s East Hill School attended the eighth annual opening of the school’s “Smithsonian Institute.”

The institute is the brainchild of second grade teacher Suzanne Duba. Her students collect items for display, create the artwork and signs, and staff the exhibits. (full story and photos)

Federated Garden Clubs of New York recognizes seven local poets

(November 2005) Seven Canajoharie sixth-grade poets were honored by the Canajoharie-Ft. Plain Garden Club for works they had submitted in the club's annual "Special Project for Youth Poetry Contest." Open to all students from preschool through twelfth grade, this year's contest required each entrant to submit a poem related to "our gardens." (full story)

No you can't eat your math—at least not until you finish your assignment

(November 2005) Probability can be a challenging concept. But, throw in jellybeans and Skittles and suddenly it's fun!

Recently, pairs of fifth graders tried to determine the likelihood of a particular outcome. Placing different colored candies in a bag, they tried to predict the probability of randomly selecting particulars colors and combinations of colors from the bag. Suddenly, theory became real-world. And edible too!

The mathematicians were winding up their review of material for the first administration of the New York State 5th grade math assessment. Students involved in the class were Katherine Rockwell, Nicole Bunker, Evangeline Wilcox, Kendall Robbins, Kayla Bowerman, James Ward, Joshua Kost, Nicholas Taylor, Ryan Blair, Hanna Rockwell, Ashley Andrews, Bailey Pitonza and Ben Kane.

False face projects teaches 4th graders about native American peoples

(October 2005) Mrs. Nare's and Mrs. Sullivan's social studies classes recently completed a project making "false face masks" as part of their study of People of the Eastern Woodlands. Using papier-mâché, students created their own versions of the ceremonial masks used by Iroquois people. Through their work, the students gained a better understanding and appreciation of this unique culture.

East Hill hosts 5th grade science fair

(October 2005) All 5th grade students recently took part in a science fair held in the East Hill gymnasium. Students presented a wide variety of experiments and demonstrations for younger elementary school students.

One popular stop was a soap-making demonstration. Spectators were given the opportunity to help produce glycerin-based soaps in various shapes and colors.

5th grade visits Cooperstown

(October 2005) Combining their American History studies with real-life, 5th graders traveled to Cooperstown to visit a number of early European and Native American site. The annual field trip allows students to see and touch a little of what they would otherwise only read in their textbooks.

Canajoharie 5th graders making a difference

(September 2005) On Friday, September 23rd, East Hill fifth graders finished packing up the "Kids School Days Boxes" they had assembled to be mailed off to Oklahoma City, Ok. for students effected by Hurricane Katrina. The effort is part of Feed the Children's Kids' Stuff USA. (full story)

5^th graders find new friends in California and Tennessee

(September 2005) Two groups of fifth graders have found new friends. Through an Internet site for classroom teachers, students from Los Angeles, Cali. and Gallatin, Tenn. (a suburb northeast of Nashville) have agreed to be pen pals with the East Hill students and to correspond by way of snail-mail during this school year. Although the project has just begun, Mrs. Kolodziej's and Mrs. Gutowski's classes have already discovered a few things already about their faraway friends. (full story)