How many drops?

Today we had a cool science lab in which we guessed and experimented with how many drops of water could fit on the surface of a penny? Students guessed 3, 4, 5, 8, 11, 18, 30, etc. When we actually did it, most were surprised to find out that the penny holds over 20 drops of water! We realized that the water seemed to "stick" together and form a dome on the penny, which is a property of water called surface tension. We next dropped soapy and salty water onto the dome to see if either of those would affect surface tension. Which one do you think did?!

50th Anniversary!

This Friday Caroline Elementary will be celebrating our school's 50th Anniversary! From 12:45-1:30 we will have an assembly with Mr. Buelle, the first principal of Caroline from 50 years ago! Then we will have a "birthday celebration" for Caroline back in our rooms. Please feel free to send in snacks for the occasion!
In the evening, from 5:30-7 we will have a special celebration outside of Caroline. Food and fun will be provided!

4th grade is in charge of researching the politics of the year 1959. For those who want a challenge, see if you can think about these things at home:
We already found out that the president in 1959 was Dwight Eisenhower, and that Alaska and Hawaii were added in that year. What else can you come up with? What were the rights of women during this time? What were the rights of African Americans? What were the political parties? What were the major issues of this year? Leave me a comment or bring your answers into school this week!

Reading

Here's one from last week; sorry I've been a little behind... I've been sick : (

This is Josh reading the question on the beach ball he just caught after we read a story. He might have to answer something like, "What could another title of this story have been?" or How did you feel about the main character?" or "What was the problem in this story?"

For those of you home for Yom Kippur, I hope you're having a good holiday! We'll catch you up later!

Tobey's blog

Hi everyone!

I wanted to share with you that one of our own peers, Tobey, has a blog! He wanted to share it with everyone. Check it out on http://tobeycomics.wordpress.com/!

Curriculum Night TONIGHT!

Science!

Today we observed the properties of water when it is dropped on 4 different surfaces: wax paper, paper towel, plain paper, and foil. Watch this video of Max's observations of the water on wax paper:

Weekend fun!

Rosa and I ran into each other at the Six Mile Creek harvest festival! We went on a hayride together. Hope everyone's enjoying this beautiful weekend!

Read to Self

Today we talked about what it would look and sound like when we read to ourselves independently. This is going to be one thing we do for reading time. Then we practiced for just 5 minutes (we're building stamina!) The students did WONDERFULLY!

MLK Contest

Today I introduced the students to the Tompkins County Human Rights Commission's 23rd Annual Art & Poetry Competition. In honor of the great Dr. Martin Luther King Junior, this year's theme is centered around the quote,

Students seemed very excited about the opportunity to submit a poem or an artistic piece. They can submit something individually or in a group. Poems must be at least 10 lines long, and artwork should be at least 8 1/2 inches by 11 inches and smaller than 2 feet by 3 feet. The winner will receive some kid of recognition (a certificate, gift certificate, ribbon, or gift basket), as well as have their piece published in the Ithaca Journal and GreenLeaf. They will also be invited to the Martin Luther King Jr. GIAC breakfast on January 16th, 2010. All participants will receive honorary recognition at the Tompkins County Human Rights Commission Art and Poetry Exhibition on February 6th, 2010.

Quadrilaterals (Quadrangles)!

Today in math we reviewed lines, line segments, and rays, and found out that two rays joined together at the vertex makes an angle. Furthermore, putting 4 angles together can make many different four-sided figures like:

Next we got to test this out for ourselves using geoboards. Each rubber band represented a line segment, so students created different shapes and quadrilaterals!

What a Team!

Today we went outside to do some more teambuilding. The students should be proud of themselves because they successfully got everyone across the "alligator-infested river" without losing too many of their boards... they even set a record of only losing 4 their 2nd try! I noticed people reaching out and helping each other, sharing ideas, watching out for one another, and communicating!

Today's Math Lesson

Today we each wrote about our individual 4th grade goals. We also learned about lines, line segments, and rays. Don't forget the difference between each one! Watch this video for a great review:

Our Classroom Rules

Last Friday we generated a list of about 40 rules students thought we should follow to make our year productive, safe, and respectful. Today we realized that many of the rules fit under one of 3 rules:

1) Make good decisions for yourself.

2) Be respectful to others and to the school.

3) Be safe.

We broke up into 3 small groups to create wonderfully colorful and informative posters about these rules and hung them in our classroom for everyone to see and refer to!

Later we went outside for some fresh air and sunshine. We played the game "Telephone" and discussed how this can be compared to gossiping and rumors and talking behind someone's back.

Tonight the first homework packet is being sent home. We started math today, which was introducing us to our Student Reference Books. In school we have one set of the new version's Student Reference Book ("SRB") and I sent home the old version to keep. Please be aware that the page numbers given on homework might not match the old version which is at home, but the student's now know how to look each topic up. On tomorrow's schedule: our individual goals for 4th grade!

Getting Close

Today we got a detailed tour of everything in the classroom and started to share some of our summer artifacts that were brought in. We learned how to do each classroom job and then headed outside for some fun team-building activities! Here groups are tied up in a "human knot" and need to use communication, patience, and a little risk-taking to get themselves back in a circle!



Tomorrow we will discuss our classroom rules. Also, be thinking of what your goals are for 4th grade!

1st Day!

Well, our first day is over. It was fun to get our new class together and see how we interact! We're going to spend a lot of time learning about the classroom, the routines, and each other these first few weeks. Today we had some time to do some teambuilding activities. During these we learn and practice how to work together, use creativity, use respect, communicate well, and lead and follow in a group. As soon as I can get guardian permission for their child to be on the internet, I'll post a group picture!