Market!

Okay, they didn't eat brussels sprout, but they sure are cool.  They did devour 2 basket of green beans and 2 baskets of cherry tomatoes.  Delicious.  MMmmMmmMMm.  

The BFG

We are reading this amazing book and I love every single word Roald Dahl wrote.  BFG stands for Big Friendly Giant.  It's a lovely story about a young girl who finds herself in the hands of a giant with big ears and a big heart.  We are working on CHARACTER TRAITS a lot this week.  Ask your child some character traits of the BFG or Sophie!  Talking about the character traits of any books you are reading at home would be great too.  They hang on every word of this wonderful story and groan when I have to stop reading.  That's one of my favorite moments...24 faces deeply involved in a story...laughing, gasping, and even howling - throwing their heads as they laugh.  It's wonderful.  

It's Monday.  We had an extremely busy day.  I'm pretty sure I didn't sit down today.  This is why I love my job.  Every day is different and the buzz of learning children fills the air.  This is a picture of our newest Haisley family member.  Our Free Little Library is awesome.  The idea is simple, take a book, leave a book.  Read.  Read out loud, read to yourself.  Read a recipe while you cook.  Read the back of the cereal box as you eat the cereal.  Read long books, short book, magazines, brochures, letters, stories, advertisements, billboards, maps, and anything else you can get your hands on.  Take time to read to your chiddlers (this is a BFG word) and know that the time you invest now will be one of the best things you've ever done.  Ever.  Reading a story out loud is one of my greatest joys.  The looks on their faces is pure joy.  They laugh OUT LOUD and exclaim to one another when something happens.  They talk about what they are hearing.  They connect with the characters.  They love every single moment.  Even the kids who don't naturally pick up a book...they are drawn to the story and enjoy every single second.  Read.  

YAHOO!  Our first 9 days of 4th grade were outstanding!

This is a game called SHIP!  They had to listen to the caller (me) and do a wide variety of fun (and entertaining) things.

SCIENCE!

We started our first science unit last week.  

 Nature's Recyclers has begun!  We started with MYSTERY BAGS!  They poured the contents of their bags onto paper and began to investigate.  They couldn't write anything...yet!  First, they had to touch everything, hold everything, carefully look at everything in their bag.  Good scientists also talk with one another, discussing what they think, see and wonder.  Once they had spent time talking with one another, they opened their science journals and began to take notes, draw illustrations - labeling them with pertinent information.  It was wonderful.  The class was buzzing with wonderful discussions and tons of observations about the wide variety of organic materials they were investigating.

Welcome Back 4th Graders!

I am thrilled to be back in room 306 and I am eager to start a new year.  We are going to have a great time together and I am excited to be your teacher!  

Our first four days were wonderful.  I was exhausted on Friday, were you?  I have spent the weekend getting ready for our first FULL week together.  Here's our specials schedule (it didn't change!):

Monday:  Music and PE

Tuesday:  Media Center/Art

Wednesday:  Art

Thursday: Art

Friday:  Music and PE

CURRICULUM NIGHT 2014 is almost here!  Mark your calendars!  Tuesday, September 16th.  More details to follow.  

Horray! 

 We had a visit from an amazing fifth generation farmer today.  Makena Schultz visited our classroom to talk about her farm and all they do.  The farm is in Onsted, Michigan and Makena works the farm with her mom and dad.  She went to MSU for both her under grad and masters and is working her way into finding her own way as a farmer.  Today, she taught us about her farm, and one of the things they grow: APPLES.  We learned about the machines they use to add value to their apples (making sauce, dehydrated slices, apple butter, pies, etc.) and enjoy them throughout the year.  

What is Matter?

In this introductory lesson, students examine landscape scences and brainstorm all of the materials they might find there.  They sort and identify the materials as solids, liquid, or gas, and they think about how to define matter. 

Our class definition for MATTER:

Anything that takes up space and has weight.

Discovering the Properties of Matter

Students compare an assortment of solids, liquids, and gases.  They examine balloons filled with different materials, and write down descriptive words or phrases.  Next, they open the balloons, explore the substances with a variety of tools, and record further observations and comparisons between the substances.  Finally, they list the properties of solids, liquids, and gases.

What did we discover?   What were in the balloons!? 

Here’s what they found in the balloons:  flour, rice, water, air, dish soap, carbon dioxide.  Here are some things they guessed were in the balloons: gravel, shampoo, lotion, stones, helium

Vocabulary:  material, matter, gas, investigation, investigative question, liquid, observation, observe, powder, procedure, property, solid, state

You can do a cool experiment at home!  Here’s how:

1.  Place the stem of the funnel in the neck of the balloon.  Hold the stem between your fingers, and fill the balloon with about 3 tbsp of baking soda. 

2.  Use the funnel to pour 4 tbsp of vinegar into the soda bottle.

3.  Stretch the neck of the balloon over the bottle without letting the baking soda fall inside.  Make sure the balloon is firmly attached to the bottle before taking the next step. 

4.  Invert the balloon over the opening and empty all the baking soda inside. 

5.  Wait a few moments while the baking soda and vinegar react.  Make sure the balloon has no baking soda left in it.

6.  When the balloon stops expanding, carefully remove it from the bottle. 7.  Knot the neck of the balloon.