Have you met the new

fourth grade teacher?

Well, let me tell you

about Mrs. Summers.

Mrs. Summers previ-

ously taught at Black

land Prairie and Cypress

Fairbanks for seven

years. Her favorite sub-

jects to teach are Sci-

ence and Writing. Mrs.

Summers taught grades

2, 3, and 4. Guess what

her favorite childhood

book is The Giving

Tree. That is such a

good book. Mrs. Sum-

mers has 2 boys, Luke is

16 months, and Jack is

3 and a half. She also

has no pets hopefully

she will get one soon.

her hobbies are read-

ing, soccer, triathlons,

gardening, and stamp-

ing. The little things

that make her happy

are Starbucks, hugs,

and the sound of

laughter. If Mrs. Sum-

mers was granted one

million dollars to-

wards education she

would spend it on

books, science materi-

als, and class supplies.

New 4th Grade Teacher By: Ella

Reading Under the Stars By: Ekaterina

In Reading Under the Stars people read different stories in different languages. There were 21 different languages and about 400 peo-ple attended. I was reading “The Three Pancakes” in Russian and my mom translated the story into English. Before the event, I was so scared!!! I didn’t want to mess up. It was also exciting, because it was my first time reading with my mom. I was ready, because I practiced and practiced. My first time, I was reading it was great. After the story, we showed the kids a matrushka, a Russian doll, and Russian money that are over 100 years old!!! At the end, I was proud of myself and we got COOKIES!!!!!!!!!!!!

NO PLACE FOR HATE!

VOLUME 10, ISSUE 1 NOVEMBER, 2011 Old Town

Times “By Kids, For Kids!”

Chokecherries on Campus

By: Peyton & Teddy

Ever wonder what chokecher-

ries are? Probably not! They are

not very common. Despite their

sour taste they are made into

jelly, jam, wine, and syrup.

Here are some ways to identify

chokecherries in the wilderness:

1 . They are usually found in

clearings and woods.

2 . They have a lot of pigment

( Coloring) so look for dark

purple to red berries.

3 . Chokecherry trees rarely

reach the maximum height of

20 feet tall. The trunks are no

thicker than 6 inches.

4 . Chokecherry bark is smooth

and might be scaly near the

base of the tree. The color of

the bark is reddish/ grayish.

5 . The leaves overall are oval

and flat.

6 . Be careful! There are many

look -alike to chokeberries so

make sure you pay attention

and are sure they are chokeber-

ries. When it doubt do not eat

the plant.

M any Native Americans ate

the chokecherry, they also used

them for paints. I f you like

chokecherries you should read

the book “ Hatchet” .

Answer: ground beef! (Pg. 4)

Veterans’ Day By: Madelyn

On Friday, November 11th 2011,

veterans came to Old Town.

Then some fifth graders led us in

“This Is America”. The student

council helped the veterans get

breakfast in the morning. There

were over 30 veterans that have

served in the military who came

to Old Town. We had a great

time.

get used to that thing and

you won’t be scared of it

anymore! If you don’t try to

get rid of your phobia, you

will start to feel stressed due

to anxiety.

For more on phobias, search

“phobias” on Google (if I

ever make a Dr. Staggs

blog, I will inform you).

A phobia is something that

triggers the fear emotion. If

you have a phobia of bees,

as soon as you see a bee, a

red flag goes off in your

brain. That “flag” triggers

your fear emotion, so you

will decide to flee.

If you want to get rid of a

phobia, you should stay

around the thing you’re

afraid of. That way, you will

Dolphin Tale By: Lily

Dr. Staggs Explains: Phobias

The State of the Month By: Anna and Ella

Guess what the state of the month is? If you guessed Texas, then you’re

wrong. If you guessed Ohio, then you’re correct! Did you know that Ohio’s

state bird is a Cardinal? Did you know that the state flower is the Scarlet

Carnation? The state beverage is tomato juice. But guess what? The state

mammal is a white- tailed deer. But that’s not all! The state insect is the la-

dybug; the state reptile is the black racer snake. Finally, the state motto is

“With God, all things are possible”.

Page 2 OLD TOWN TIMES “BY KIDS, FOR KIDS!”

Dolphins are the happiest fish in the sea!

Have you seen the newest movie Dolphin Tale? If not, go see it! It is

an amazing movie about a dolphin that lost her tale, and learns to

survive in the ocean. This movie is based on a true story and the real

dolphin plays herself in the movie!!!! This story is a must see for

people who believe in miracles. There are a lot of good movies, but

this one particularly caught my eye because an animal that lost an

important part of its body is an interesting story. This story is rated

PG, because there is some blood, but nothing to serious. Nobody

thinks she can make it, but anybody or anything can do anything

they want if they set their mind to it.

Spirit Bears

By: Ashley

The Spirit Bear is a

bear that is white

like a Polar Bear, but

it doesn’t live in the

Arctic. The bear I’m

talking about is a

black bear born with

white fur. The

Spirit Bear lives in

the temperate rain-

forest on the West

Coast in Canada.

Did you know…?

That less than 10

percent of black

bears in the Great

Bear Rainforest are

spirit bears? When a

Spirit Bear wants a

salmon out of the

stream, he/she

stands super still,

and then POW, they

grab the fish straight

out of the water.

Now to some of you

may think that wait-

ing for what might

be hours is boring,

but to the bear they

are glad to do all the

work for a special

treat for dinner.

Page 3

For more info go to strange animals.info

Habitat:

This creature‘s found in the Indo-West Pacific, East Africa, North Japan,

New Guinea, and Australia. It usually swims near the sea floor in water that

ranges from 10 through 300 feet deep.

Description:

Shark Rays can get up to 8.9 feet long and can get up to 300 pounds! Shark

Rays look like a combination of a ray, shark, and guitarfish. They have 5

gills on each side and their highest known lifetime is 7 years.

Diet:

These creatures are carnivores. They mostly eat crabs and shrimp. They use

smell to find and trap their prey.

Main Predator:

Tiger Shark.

First, in the left hand corner you need the address you sent it from A.K.A the

return address. Next, you need to write your greeting, like Dear Jacob, or

something like it. After that you write your body. Make sure you indent your

first word in every paragraph. After that you will need to write your closing,

an example is Your friend,. Then last but not least, you need a signature/ your

name.

(NOTE: 5TH GRADE STUDENTS WILL ALL GET PARIS PEN PALS!)

Shark Ray

By: Elizabeth

How Do You Write A Letter By: Ashley Now even though we have e-mail, texting, Facebook, and all that stuff you still need to know how to write a letter.

WHO AM I???

I AM A FEMALE

I HAVE BROWN HAIR

I HAVE TWO KIDS

I LISTEN TO KIDS PLAY MUSIC

I LOVE HAPPY FACES

I TEACH IN THE PORTABLES

SEE IF YOU GOT IT RIGHT IN THE NEXT PAPER

This is a picture of a Shark Ray.

CHEETAHS By: Ekaterina

Cheetahs are the fastest

mammals on Earth. They

can run 70 miles per

hour!!!! They actually

have to take 30 minutes to

catch their breath. A lot of

them live in some parts of

Africa and the Middle

East. Cheetahs usually

have 3-5 cubs in a litter.

They stay with their moms

until they are 12-20

months. Their scientific

name is: Acinonyx juba-

tus!!! They are close to

extinction so save the

cheetahs!!!! I found my

information at

kids.nationalgeographic.co

m

“Old Town Times: By kids, for kids!”

By: Kristen

MOUNTAIN BIKING

By: Calum

Sometimes my family and I go mountain biking, like

we did on October 16.When we go biking we usually

do about 7 miles. Yesterday we did 6.82 miles. Yester-

day I fell off once, but got right back up and kept on

riding .If you want to start riding, I would recommend

Walnut Creek. It is where my family and I go biking.

We go on a little bit harder trails than most beginners

do. If you want to start, here are some tricks: always

keep an eye out for other riders , walkers, tree roots,

rocks, and tree stumps. Another trick is to always have

a hand ready to pull on the brakes, because you may be

going around a corner and after the corner a huge drop

so you need to be ready for a drop. So what are you

waiting for ,tell your mom or dad ,look up Walnut

Creek online, find the location, then find a day to go

biking.

Page 4 “Old Town Times: By kids, for kids!”

The Spelling Bee Is Coming Soon!!! By : Camdyn Make sure you have practiced all your words, and spell out loud, too! It’s the first year the spelling bee is here, make it worth it with practicing all those spelling words. Be the champion, get a scholarship, and go to nationals .We will be following the official rules so you can ask to have the definition of the word and

the part of speech to help you out. Good luck to all of you spellers, and don’t forget to have fun.

Charlie By: Calum

On July 13th, 2011 my family and I

got our very first dog, Charlie.

He is black with white paws (they

look like white socks), a white chest,

and a white strip on his nose. He has

been to beginners’ obedience school,

and will continue on to intermediate

after thanksgiving. If your family is

about to get a dog I would recom-

mend Austin Pets Alive.

Joke of the month:

What kind of cow

has no legs?

By: Amelia P.

(Answer on Pg. 1)

Greek Myth

Presentation

By: Brooke and

Ethan

Last Friday on November 4, peo-

ple came to act out different Greek myths. The myths that they

preformed were: King Midis and the Golden Touch, Narcissus,

and Psyche and Her Invisible Husband.

In King Midis and The Golden Touch, Midis wanted all

the gold in the world for his daughter, Marigold’s, education and

happiness. He finally got the golden touch when he touched his

daughter. She turned to gold and his sorrow grew until he could-

n’t take it anymore. He did everything in his power to bring back

Marigold. That shows that family is more important than any-

thing.

In Narcissus, all he loved was himself. He didn’t care

about anything or anyone else. When he saw his reflection in the

stream, he was so amused, that he wouldn’t eat, sleep, or drink.

Then he slowly started to fade away until he died. This myth

shows that you should not love yourself too much.

In Psyche and her Invisible Husband, Psyche heard that

if she jumped off a cliff, a brave man would save her. She was so

lonely, that she thought she would try it. When she jumped

off, a brave god saved her. He took her into a beautiful house.

They got married but Psyche could not see her husband’s iden-

tity. He wore a mask to make sure she didn’t. But when Psyche’s

sisters came, she became curious about what he looked like. So

one night while her husband was sleeping, she lit a candle so she

could see his face. When she saw his face, she was shocked. He

was the son of Athena, Eros. Suddenly, Eros awakened. He was

so mad at Psyche, that he vanished.