This week Mr. Richardson fed Tessie a frozen mouse. He first had to unlock the cage. Then he dangled it so Tessie would think it’s alive, but it really is dead so Mr. Richardson can get the mouse out of the bag. So when Tessie saw the mouse she sprinted at it. Then she rapped it up thinking it was alive, but it really was dead. So that day I learned a lesson, never mess with a python.
Richardson Review Reporter O’ the Week: Sahil!!
We’ve been learning about imperative, exclamatory, interrogative and declarative sentences. We are also writing an Animal Vacation essay. It is three paragraphs long. After, we will type it on the computer. We just had our first science class. Mrs. Rockwell is our science teacher. In that class we learned about the Earth’s rotation. In Math we are reviewing polygons. We saw all of the instruments we could play in the fourth grade.
By Sahil
Richardson Review Reporter O’ the Week: Michael!!!
Last week I cleaned out the spider’s and snake’s cages. The spider was frightening, but the snake not so much. When we got to feed the spider, we fed him crickets. I had to clean both the cages. It was hard to clean the snake’s cage. The fan was kind of blowing the dust, but I kept and eye on it.
- Michael
Editor – Mike did a wonderful job at beging our Veterinary Assistant last week. For more on our classroom arachnid, read below!
The Itsy, Bitsy Spider…
On Friday we brought in crickets for Chili to have for lunch. Chili, a Pink-Toed Tarantula who hails from Chile (get it?) is one of our classroom pets. As you see from the photo, feeding time for Chili is quite the class event!
Each week, as part of our classroom responsibilities a student has a chancce to be the Veterinary assistant. This student helps to clean out the animal’s cages and to assist with feeding.
Here is some information on our spider from Wikipedia:
“The Chilean rose tarantula (Grammostola rosea) also know as the Chilean flame tarantula, Chilean Fire Tarantula or the Chilean Red Haired Tarantula or the Chile rose hair tarantula (depending on the colourmorph) is probably the most common species of tarantula available in pet stores today, due to the large number of wild caught specimens exported cheaply from their native Chile into the US pet trade. G. rosea originates from the northern Atacama Desert region of Chile and live in the driest deserts on earth. G. rosea is a common pet of amateur tarantula rearers.”
“The fact that they are relatively docile, low to maintain, attractive, and inexpensive make them exceedingly 
good pets. Chilean Roses can be kept in a low-humidity terrarium at least twice its legspan in length, with a retreat for hiding. These spiders are quite happy living at room temperatures of around 20-30°C, and a diet of four to six crickets every 3 weeks (or 1 locust per week too). However, its feeding schedule is rather erratic and can fast for weeks to months at a time. Fasting is sometimes an indication of an upcoming moult.
“Chilean Roses are usually skittish, running away from danger rather than acting defensively, but they have been known to raise their front legs and present their fangs in preparation to defend themselves. As with all tarantula from the Americas (New World Tarantula) they have small spine like urticating hairs on their abdomen that they will kick off when threatened. This is made apparent by the shaking of their abdomen.”
Citation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilean_rose_tarantula, downloaded on 9/8/08.
Homework Musings
Good Morning All!
I hope that you received the myriad of notices yesterday – all beginning of the year matters. We had a typo on EZPost last night – the homework should have been page 3 and not page 389 in the Math Journal. We’re moving along, buit not quite that fast! 
Each day we spend quite a bit of time writing down the homework in our Homework Agendas (Agendae for you latin scholars) and making sure that everything is written down correctly by all. We should be up to speed next week after the cobwebs of this week.
I will go over the homework routine at Open House for you in a couple of weeks.
Have a great weekend!
Mr. Richardson
First Day of School
Well, we had a terrific opening day! All the students are getting acclimated to the routines of Room 20 and the quest for knowledge has begun. I have included a group photo from today for you to check out. Please take a moment to read over all the notices that went home today – there will be even more on Thursday.
Feel free to contact me at srichardson@norwood.k12.ma.us with any comments or questions.
All the Best,
Mr. Richardson
Aaarrrrggggghhhhh! ‘Tis big News…
September 19th is International Talk Like A Pirate Day!
On Friday, September 19th, we will celebrate the very serious international holiday: “Talk Like a Pirate Day” We will have special lessons centered around Pirates – especially Samuel “Black Sam” Bellamy and the wreck of the former slave ship and treasure gally Whydah off of Provincetown on Cape Cod in 1717.
This Year’s Schedule – hot off the presses!!
I know that you can’t wait to find out when you have specials in Room 23 this year, so without further adoo…
Monday – Library
Tuesday – Music and Band
Wednesday – Music and Gym
Thursday – Health
Friday – Art
Saturday – Sleep late!
Books, books, and more books….
One of my favorite activities to do in the summer is read. Oh sure, I read during the school year, but I get a chance to spend much more time during vacations. Here is a partial list of the books I have been reading this summer:
Kid’s Books:
The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riorden (Very interesting book – we will read it this fall as a read aloud)
A to Z Mysteries (My son Brian really enjoys them)
Mom and Dad Books:
The Idiots Guide to Pirates (Aaaarrrggghhh…In case you didn’t know I am fascinated by pirates.)
Why Don’t Woodpeckers Get Headaches?, by Mike O’Connor (They might, but no one has been able to get a straight answer from the woodpeckers.)
New York City with Kids (Read it, realized it costs too much money, we went to Nantasket. ‘Nuf said?)
Descartes Secret Notebook, by Amir Aczel (Have you ever played Battleship? If you have, then you can thank Mr. Descartes for inventing ways to show places on maps using lines that go up and down and ones that cross)
Garbage Land: The Secret Trail of Trash, by Elizabeth Royte (Wow, you will NEVER throw anything away after you read this book – at least not for a week, or so.)
Krakatoa – The Day the World Exploded August 27, 1883, by Simon Winchester (The story of the largest volcanic eruption in modern history)
A Gathering of Angels, by Katherine Valentine (Really nice book for Moms and Dads)
It’s almost that time of the year, again…
August, 2008
Dear Students and Families,
I hope that your summer is going well. Mine has been very busy, but also very interesting!
This coming year is going to be one in which you will accomplish some amazing things – “oh, the places you will ‘go’ and the amazing things you will do.” We’ll do a lot of work this year, but we’ll have plenty of fun here and there and I guarantee that you will look back next June and be very proud of the great job that you did. I will be there to help you, your families will be there, and your friends. We’ll do it together!
We are going to be spending our time reading some wonderful books, learning all about the fifty United States, Canada, and Mexico, and looking at all kinds of exciting topics in math and science (my favorite subjects).
I am really looking forward to working with you and your families this coming year. If you or your parents want to ask me any questions before school starts, or just to say hello, feel free to email me at: srichardson@norwood.k12.ma.us
Regards,
Mr. Richardson
