Student Reporter: SBA, Bike Riding, Talent Show

Our Student Reporter reports:

We have been working on preparing for the SBA. We have finished the reading one. The reading SBA tests your ability on reading and writing. Almost everyone in the class has finished that one. We are preparing right now for our math SBA. The math SBA tests your 4th grade ability on how well you can do things in math. 
We all try our best on this test because it is very important. Every kid in the state has to take this test. It's scored by a human in the state government. I thought the test was really, really hard. It took me three days to finish it because I had to write this big long essay and I didn't stop until I was satisfied. I think everybody else did the same thing. I have no doubt that the math SBA test won't be any easier than the first one.

After spring break, we had P.E. on Friday. We rode bikes. People who didn't bring their own bikes would ride these black bikes. They were pretty small. If you didn't bring your own helmet, it'd be okay because Mr. Groth had helmets. Mr. Groth is our P.E. teacher. When we're not riding bikes, he has us do our exercises and lets us play a game for P.E. If we're talking he just pulls out his phone and times us and we quiet down instantly. We have to sit down in silence, can't move, and can't talk at all. If he timed us for 1 minute, he times it by the quarter. So if it's the fourth quarter, we have to sit down crisscross applesauce for 4 minutes. And we can't look at anyone. Or move. Or talk. When that's over we get to play our game. Back to bike riding: Mr. Groth set up a track for us. First we would get on our bike and ride to the end of the sidewalk and there would be this pole with a paper stop sign on it. He taught us how to use our hands and arms to show we were turning right. He also taught us to look left, right, and left again to took for any cars, because then again, we were on school property. And then we would turn after we did our hand signal. We would stay on the right side of the cones because Mr. Groth set up some cones in the middle of the parking lot. Then we would take a turn around the small, brick building and we would come back to where the bikes are set up. I brought my own bike, and so did another student. So everybody picked out a helmet, unless they brought their own, and would put it on and if it was too loose, Mr. Groth would tighten it. When that was over, we rode our bikes around the track. And then, when our 20 minutes were over of riding bikes, we had to help Mr. Groth put the bikes and helmets away. 

On April 20th, we had a school talent show. A whole bunch of people in the school and in the class were in this talent show. A lot more were participating than last year. Before April 20th, we were doing rehearsals, or previews. Our first preview was on April 13th. That's when everybody introduced their acts to the people who were watching. Our second preview was on April 18th. That's when we had a dress rehearsal and practiced for the talent show. Then April 20th came. The people in the talent show came to the gym (where the talent show would be placed) at 1:20. We all lined up in order so when someone else's name was called, we wouldn't come up and do our act (and look pretty bad.) Then at 1:30, we had our school talent show. All of the kids in the school who weren't performing came into the gym and sat down with their class. My brother and I were doing A Silly Dance Show with us singing and dancing. After our school talent show, at 6 pm, parents would be invited to come and watch the students perform. Mr. Radocaj (a 5th grade teacher at Peninsula) announced the acts. In between acts, there was a little thing called "Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader." The fifth graders are smarter than parents and adults, apparently. Because no adults scored any points. Everybody did spectacular!