Representative Andrew McLean Visits the 4th Grade

On Friday, May 16 Gorham's State Representative, Andrew McLean came to school to visit the fourth graders. He discussed Maine government and the role of a legislator. 

The students learned more about the three branches of government and what they look like in Augusta. He discussed how a bill becomes a law and how the House, Senate and Governor are all part of the process. He said his favorite part of his job is helping people. The students asked lots of great questions. 

Thank you Representative McLean for coming to visit us!

Blueberry Day

On May 9 David Yarborough from The University of Maine visited the fourth grades at Great Falls.  
He taught us all about wild blueberries. 

Here are some things we learned...

*Blueberry plants and certain fungi have a symbiotic relationship.

*Maine produces the most wild blueberries in the world!

*Wild blueberries are only found in Maine and Canada.

*Blueberry bushes turn red in the fall.

*There are many diseases that can harm wild blueberries.

*Blueberry plants need about an inch of rainfall each week during the growing season. 

*Bees are very important to the growth of blueberries. 

*Frozen wild blueberries are actually fresher than many fresh berries found in the store as they are frozen very quickly.

Cool huh?

Then we had a blueberry snack with blueberry muffins and blueberries with whipped cream!

We would like to thank Mr. Yarborough for coming all the way down to Gorham to talk with us!

A Classroom Visitor for Autism Awareness Month

We have been talking about autism a lot throughout the year, but we really focused on it in April. 
We have read parts of this book which offers real advice on how to interact and communicate with someone with autism.

We were very lucky to have Mrs. Barney come in to talk with us last week. 

She answered the students' many questions and told us a lot more about her child. The students loved her visit and offered some cute stories. It is important for us all to learn what we can do to support our friends. 

We Got New Books!

Thanks to the generosity of many parents, family members and anonymous donors, we were able to get about 50 new books for the classroom through a website called Donors Choose. The books totaled $575!!!

Last week we "released" the books and many have yet to find their way back to the shelves. 

Thanks again to all who were able to donate! We love new books!