Boston is located at 42N71W. It is the capital of Massachusetts. It is on the Atlantic Ocean. It is a big city with many kinds of people who live here. When you come to Boston (if you can), you will see libraries, schools, hospitals, colleges, museums, cars, trains, and people. In one section of Boston is Chinatown. Boston has many historical places. It was settled in 1630 by people from England. There is a Freedom Trail in Boston which has sites related to the 1700s. Boston has cold weather in the winter. Boston has the Celtics basketball team, the Bruins hockey team, the Red Sox baseball team, and the Patriots football team. (written by Malieka B. and Michael S.)

Our school is the Joseph Lee Elementary School in the Dorchester section of Boston. It is very big. It has almost 700 students. It doesn't have separate rooms. It has pods. They are big rooms that have 6 separate classroom areas. Our school has a big gym near the end of our part of the building. The other part of the building has a swimming pool and a theater. We have a computer lab, an art room, a music room, a cafeteria, and a library. Our building services kindergarten through grade 5 with programs for ages 4 through 11. We have regular education and special education programs including early childhood and autistic classes. (written by Hannah R.)

In our school we have many special programs. At Art, we talk about things that we did and then draw them. At Physical Education, we learn about keeping fit and staying in shape. We also play different sports and games. We have other subjects like Music, Computer, and Spanish. At Spanish, we learn songs and letters. In the computer lab, we type letters and retrieve files. At Music, we sing songs, do dances, and play games. When we are with our classroom teachers, we do things with mathematics, social studies, science, writing, and reading. (written by Paul T.)

In our class we take lots of field trips for learning. This year we have already been to the Old State House, Faneuil Hall, Granary Burying Ground, Children's Museum, Paul Revere House, New England Aquarium, and USS Constitution. In our class we have pen pals in Japan. (written by Michael S.)

The 4th graders of Marjorie Duby

Tuesday, 7 January 1997 12:10:46 EST

Hi

We had fun with Looney. We have a good picture of us with Looney! We really like Looney Lobster. We are a team of grades 1, 2, 3 and 4 with four teachers. We are called Summit House. It is cold out today. It started to snow this morning. We are enclosing a picture of our class. (Jessica)

Wednesday, 8 January 1997 14:24:52 EST

This morning we went on the Internet and we saw your home page. Looney was surprised to see his home page. We're going to take Looney out on the Nature Trail. It's going to be fun for Looney because it's supposed to snow tomorow. Today is very cold. It is two degrees and it is windy and snowy. (Samantha and Tiffany)

Friday, 10 January 1997 12:22:51 EST

Hello. Looney has had a fun time here. We are about to send Looney to his next school. Have you gotten any snow yet? We have gotten a lot of snow. Do you know how much we got? Six inches of snow! Can you believe it? We are sad to send Looney on. Bye. (Elise & Tiffany)

January 13 - 17, 1997 - Northeast Harbor, Maine

Mount Desert Elementary School
Mrs. Graves' 5th graders
[Looney Lester 01 - 176 miles traveled]

Friday, 17 January 1997 08:58:36 -0600

Happy Friday!!

Looney arrived safe and sound here in Mankato!! Our weather was so cold yesterday the governor cancelled all classes in the entire state. Looney was safe and warm inside our local post office. He appears to be in good shape after his journey.

Our weather at this time of year is always cold, but not THIS cold. The temperature right now is 20 degrees below zero. Yesterday the winds were very strong and at times the wind chill was near 80 degrees below =( There are snow drifts almost 15 feet high in many places and lots of roads are closed because they are drifted in with snow. Today is going to be less windy but will stay very cold. We will keep Looney inside where it is nice and toastie!!

Have a wonderful weekend, my class will start sending messages on Monday morning!

Your friend in Minnesota, Mrs. Boettcher

Monday, 20 January 1997 15:36:10 -0600

Subject: Looney's first day in Room 121!!

In reading, Looney learned about compound words. He had fun. He also read a book called "Fish."
In unit he learned about wellness and sickness. He had fun in unit.
In math, Looney learned about common multiplication and we did a work sheet. Looney helped everyone. He had an excellent time in math!!!
In computer, Looney played a game called "Measure Works." He had fun!!!
Looney had a lot of fun, because I showed Looney around the Library!!!! Looney was fun to play with.
Looney went to Reading with Ben, to Unit with Cody, to Media with Steven, to Math with Jessica and to Computer with Sam!! Looney is helping us make quilt squares for Martin Luther King Day!
Our weather has warmed up and Looney will get to go outside and play with us tomorrow.
Mrs. Boettcher's Class


Tuesday, 21 January 1997 17:00:09 -0600

Looney is off to another great day here at Washington Elementary. He will be spending the day with the following students: Reading with Dusty; Unit with Nacia; Math with Julia; Music and Physical Education with Josh

Hi. My name is Dusty. I took Looney to Reading. We had lots of fun. First we started up a play called "Monsters Due on Maple Street." Then Looney and I went back from Reading.

Hello. My name is Nacia. I took Looney Lobster to Unit. We did a worksheet called "Health Decisions For The New Me." I had fun. I hope Looney did too.

Hi! My name is Julia. I took Looney to math today. In math we learned how to "Divide" like, 17 divided by 6. We used blocks to help us. We had a lot of fun!

Hidee Ho neighbors! My name is Josh. Today in Music/Physical Education Looney played "Around the World." He also played Half-Court Press. In Music, Looney listened to "The Messiah" by George Fredric Handel.

Until tomorrow, Mrs. Boettcher's class

Wednesday, 22 January 1997 16:01:36 -0600

Looney has really seen some terrible weather during his visit. Today there are blizzard warnings out and the wind chills are going to be very cold again by tonight. We are thinking about making Looney a coat for his journey when he has to leave us. We do not have school on Friday but Mrs. Boettcher has promised to take Looney with her to our school district offices and introduce him to all the big wigs in our school system. She might even take him to lunch with all the teachers!
We had an ice storm last night and everything here is coverd with ice. Ben, in our class, fell down while sliding and had to leave school to go get five stiches in his forehead!! Looney is spending some extra time with Ben today to try to keep him cheered up.
Hi. I'm John. We learned about comparison and contrast in reading today. Looney and I did page 65 in my Landmarks book. We had a great time.
Hi. My name is Jesse. I took Looney to Unit. We had lots of fun. We did a worksheet. We did cutting and glueing and talked about exercize and riding bikes. We had a great time. Bye.
Hi. My name is Ryan. I had Looney in math. We learned what mean and range is. Looney really likes math. He really likes addition (because it's so easy.) I really like Looney!!! We were gonna go sledding tommorow at Sibley Hill which is the biggest hill in Mankato!
Hi. This is Dan. Looney had fun in gym. He learned how to play basketball. He learned how to dribble. He learned how to play Lighting.

Note: These are responses to questions we were asked from Boston.
This is Dusty again. Dusty is a nickname for Dustin, and I'm a boy. Also Unit is when we change rooms to study health, social studies and science. We go to the rooms of different teachers together as a class.
The project we are working on right now is a service learning project. We are making a video tape of each of us reading a children's book. We are going to donate our video to a hospital across the street from our school.
We don't have dog sledding in Mankato, but we go sledding, snowmobiling, make snow forts, go down hill skiing, cross-country skiing, play hockey and go ice skating. We have had to be very careful this year because it has been so cold outside.
Bye for now!

Thursday, 23 January 1997 17:13:31 -0600

Subject: Our last day with Looney =(

Looney and I went to reading together. Looney learned how to read. He had a lot of fun. He went to the library in reading class. Looney and I had fun in Unit. We learned health. (Shannon)

Hi. I'm Ben. Looney had fun in gym. He learned how to dribble a basketball. It's my birthday today. Also, in Music, Looney learned how to sing a song called "Alabama Gal." He had fun.

I'm Shanda. Looney went to Math with me. He learned how to divide by zero. He had fun with me.

This has been a great week. The time has gone much too fast! Mrs. Boettcher will send our final entry tomorrow!!

January 27 - 31, 1997 - - North Kingstown, RI

Davisville Elementary School - North Kingstown, RI
Dianne Shamirian's 5th graders
[Looney Lester 02 - 440 miles traveled]

Tuesday, 28 January 1997 14:21:19 -0500

Looney Lester has arrived at North Kingstown.

Thursday, 30 January 1997 13:09:43 -0500

Looney has been with us for several days. We are sending this message through another teacherŐs email because we had trouble with our account.

We have a lot of news to share with you about Lester.

On Tuesday, January 28, 1997, I took care of Looney Lester. Lester was reading a book. The book is called "A War with Grandpa." I think he liked it a lot. I enjoyed reading with Looney Lester. (Anel)

Hi. My name is Nick. I had Looney Lester for Math Lab. Lester and I did problem solving. Lester learned some new strategies for fraction word problems. He liked Mrs. Walsh, the math teacher. She loved him too. I think he is very good at math.

Shaun writes, "I brought Looney Lester to a storyteller assembly. The storyteller told about Martin Luther King. We even had a picture taken with the storyteller and Looney. Not only did our class learn about Martin Luther King but Lester did too. It was a lot of fun."

We have had a lot of rain. We are hoping to get snow this weekend.

Looney has been loved and tickled.

Tuesday, 30 January 1997 19:11:07 +0100

Note: Mrs. Shamirian's class was very determined to get these messages to us. They had trouble sending the messages through their account and sent them through Mrs. Pfeil's Fourth Grade Class.

We are having a great time with Looney Lester. We really want him to stay a little longer. Is this possible? We want to show and tell him more about our school and our town.

When I had Looney Lester, I read a book. The book was called "The Fighting Ground" by Avi. It is a great book. Lester sat on the corner of my desk from 10:30 to 11:15 A.M. I enjoyed our time together. (Dan)

I did my math work with Looney Lester. We were doing well. Lester had a great time learning multiplication. Lester even wanted to do some of the multiplication problems. Lester left me and went to see Dan. (Brian R.)

Lester had fun sitting with Liz. He met her new friend, Ducky. Ducky is a koosh duck. Looney Lester learned about the digestive system. We had a lot of fun together. How old is Lester?? (Liz)

Today, I got to hold Lester at lunch and for indoor recess. It is 20 degrees outside and too cold with the strong wind to be outside. Lester watched me eat my lunch. What does he it?? When it was time to be quiet in the lunchroom Lester put up signs with all of us. He knew we had to be very quiet. At indoor recess, we worked on finishing up our model of the digestive system. We had a great time. (Stephanie)

We will have some messages tomorrow!!!

P.S. Is there anything in particular you and your class would like to know about North Kingstown, Rhode Island.? Unfortunately, we are not going on any field trips in the next few weeks but we could send some photos of our recent field trip to Historic Wickford, a small village within our state.

Looney Looney is worried about Larry. He wanted to know how Larry was enjoying his travels.. Lester sends his love to Larry and to Ms. Duby and her students.

He really wants snow!!! So do we!!!

Mrs. Shamirian's Fifth Grade Class c/o Mrs. Pfeil's Fourth Grade Class and their disks.

Tuesday, 4 Feb 1997 19:19:52 +0100

This message was not received and was resubmitted from January 31.

This morning Looney Lester and I went to the quiet table to work on my Young Authors' book. Looney was a big help. He helped me draw a ghost house. He drew the top and I drew the bottom of the house. He loved holding the pencil and drawing. After we finished the ghost house, we started reading a book about rattlesnakes. Lester really loved the part about ratlesnakes molting. He told me about lobsters and how they can regenerate. It is exciting learning about Looney Lester and his friends. (Steven)

First, Lester and I cut out fraction pizzas. We colored the pizza. After that was done Lester and I wrote a story. Then we went around the room measuring things with our magnified inch. We had a terrific time. (Tom)

Lester sat on my head watching while Dan and I did a digestive system experiment. Dan and I had to do a swallowing experiment. Dan had to eat two crackers and I had to use a stethoscope to listen to how is sounded when he swallowed the cracker. Then I had to drink juice to see how that sounded when you swallow. Then we had to time how long it would take for the juice to hit the stomach. Lester was listening too. We listened to Looney Lester swallow food too. I hope the picture we took comes out well. We had a great time learning with Lester. (J.J.)

Dear Friends, My time with Brittany was really interesting. First, we cleaned Brittany's desk. What a mess!! Now it is spic and span.! After that Mrs. Walsh, the math lab teacher, came in and gave us a paper with a lot of triangles on it.
To form a square, after cutting the triangles out, you have to match a mulitplication fact with a product. For example, one triangle would read 2*4 and another triangle would read 8. That would be a match. Lester loved math time.

Last, I sat on Brittany's head while she had silent reading. Her head is nice and comfy! The book she was reading was "Stephanie, Never Trust a Flamingo."

Tuesday, 4 Feb 1997 18:49:01 +0100

Today Lester and I watched a filmstrip on the colonies. Lester sat on my clipboard and watched the filmstrip.We learned that 60 out of 500 people died of sickness and hunger during the colonial times. Also we learned that boys and girls went to different schools. After the filmstrip we listened to what the teacher said. Then I gave Lester back to the teacher. (Jessica)

When I held Lester, we did my journal together. Then we sat on the carpet and did math with paper pizzas. We had to find out what numbers could fit in one fourth. We were trying to find equivalent fractions. (Joshua)

We will be sending more messages on Wednesday. Lester is being afterschool today, February 4, 1997.

Tuesday, 4 Feb 1997 19:12:50 +0100

Looney Lester is on his way to Mr. Jones and his fifth grade class. He was mailed at 3:00 Priority Mail. We have truly enjoyed our time with Looney Lester. We have several messages today and a few for Wednesday. We hope every class enjoys Looney Lester as much as we did.

Lester learned a lot on his last few days with us in North Kingstown, Rhode Island.

Lester and I went to Math Lab. Today I worked at the writing center. Lester wrote a word problem for you to solve. Good Luck!!

If I, Lester, had 348 shrimp and my brother Larry wanted 3/4 of my shrimp. How many pieces of shrimp would I have left if I gave Larry what he wanted?? (Liz) P.S. In answer to your question, Koosh Duck is a koosh with a duck's head, webbed feet and a tail. A koosh has elastic thin bands connected in a ball. (Liz)

Today I got to hold Lester all morning. He stayed with me during a Science test and through Social Studies. We learned more about the southern colonies. (Heather)

Here is some information about our area in answer to your questions: North Kingstown is an historical village. It is crowded in the summer especially during the Art Festival, Air Show and when many visitors are walking the streets soaking up history. Newport is two bridges away from North Kingstown. It takes about 20 minutes to get there. There are great mansions there. We might go there on our field trip in May. Would you like an update on Rhode Island then?? Rhode Island may be small but we have a lot of history. A lot of tourists come to see the many beaches in Rhode Island. It is quieter in the winter because it is colder and less people are walking around. We have had very little snow which is normal for Rhode Island, but we love lots of snow, even blizzard conditions!!

Signs are raising your hand when you see the aide do it. It means to listen and look at the aides. They have something important to say.

Tuesday, 6 Feb 1997 14:58:00 +0100

A few final messages about Lester's stay in North Kingstown, Rhode Island.

Looney Lobster went to music class with me. Looney Lester has a great singing voice. Looney and I learned the song "Ode to Joy" by Beethoven. I wish he could stay longer but we have to share. (Danielle)

Hi, I'm Cynthia. Lester and I went to physical education. Today in class we were juggling scarves and stress balls. Stress balls are stretchy balls. Lester and I had our picture taken. Lester was happy to Mrs. D'Abrosco, our teacher. Lester had fun with the whole class. Bye.

Looney Lester and I went to the library. Lester helped me look up things in the almanac. I had to fix the band on his stomach because it was coming off. (Matthew)

When I had Looney Lester at my desk for the science and spelling test, he helped me cover the paper so no one could see my answers. (Cherie)

Goodbye Lester Love, Dan, Tom, Anel, Shaun, Liz, Danielle, Heather, Steve,Stephanie, Irene, Brian, Bryan, Nicole, Corey, Matt, Cherie, Cindy, Jessica, Brittany, J.J, Joshua, Nick, and Mrs. Shamirian.


[ Practitioner classpage was located at http://lee.boston.k12.ma.us/rc328sb/D4.html | Boston and Global links | Joseph Lee School | Inquiry Unlimited ]

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Last modified: September 15, 2005
Copyright © 1997 - Marjorie Duby.
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