Class Projects

We have a couple different projects currently going on in our class. First is that we have adopted (donate money to) a little girl in Zambia named Memory Mumba. Memory is 10 years old and has 7 brothers and sisters and both of her parents are unemployed. They earn a total of $20 a month, and to adopt her is $25 a month so we'll be more than doubling their monthly allotment of money. Memory recently began attending school, but is still not able to write. Many children in Zambia are starving, but with every dollar we send to her, Memory's family can afford to buy some more food or clothing that they need to live. I'm touched to find that we've had several people in the class donate some of their own money, saying "I don't need it as much as Memory does." It really puts things into perspective. No one has to donate, but if you feel able, feel free to throw something into our collection.


Secondly, my partner Mr. DeVoe has started his hike on the Appalachian Trail. He started Sunday, and has so far hiked over 50 miles (last time I spoke to him). He had visited the class a couple weeks ago, and they wondered if they could mail him some food, so we've been collecting! He could use anything light in weight, but high in calories and fat!

Samite

Samite, an African man from Uganda who now lives in Ithaca, came to our school for an assembly since the 3rd grade is studying Africa. It was a fun assembly! Check out this dance party!

Also check out this great video made about Mrs. Nelson's grant with Samite!

Look at our sprouts!!!

They are all in different stages! Some are swollen, some have burst out of their seed coat, some are rooting, and some even have stem and leaves! Notice how the bean seed has 2 cotyledons (parts to the seed) so it's called a "dicot." Click on the picture below to see it up close!

Special Activities

Today we had two special activities. First, Evan's family friend (also a teacher at DeWitt Middle School) Mr. Saulsbury came in to read some stories to us during snack.



Second, Ruth's mom made us some yummy "Matzah Crunch" to celebrate Passover.

Sprouting Seeds

Yesterday we examined seeds in fruit, and today we asked the question, "Can seeds grow without soil?" The class gathered around as we placed bean, corn, pea, and sunflower seeds into a sprouter. Over the next week and a half we will observe what happens, take notes on the seeds' properties (color, texture, size, smell, and shape), and see if they will sprout and grow without soil!

APRIL FOOLS!!!

Reading Comprehension

Today after some free reading, we played a game with our "reading comprehension beach ball." Students toss the ball to each other and answer questions on which their right thumb lands. To name a few examples, Ben had to choose a passage to read with his best expression, Xander discussed if the setting of his book mattered to the plot or not, and Grace had to decide on an alternate title for the book she's reading.

Appalachian Teacher

Mr. DeVoe, a 7th grade science teacher at Groton Middle School, has been granted a sabbatical to hike the Appalachian Trail and use the technology of his IPhone to share the experience with students and community.  I hope to use his blog for teaching moments in my own classroom.  For example, we have been studying longitude and latitude.  Mr. DeVoe can take a reading of his current longitude and latitude when he's on the trail and send us a picture and it will be a real-life example of the system.  

On average it takes people 6 months to hike the whole length of the Appalachian Trail which runs from Georgia to Maine.  He will be starting the trail April 4th from Springer Mountain in Georgia.  Follow Mr. DeVoe on his website here.

The kids seemed excited and curious about his journey.  Where will he sleep?  What is he bringing?  What does he do all day for five months?  So Mr. DeVoe stopped in for a visit today to show the class his website, a Google Earth presentation of the Appalachian Trail, and to talk about life on the trail.

Sophia tries to lift his 43-pound backpack!


The students expressed interest in putting a food package together for Mr. DeVoe and mailing it out to him in a couple of months. Since he has to consume 5,000-6,000 calories a day, Mr. DeVoe told us that light treats high in fat and calories are best. Here are some suggestions:
-candy bars
-poptarts
-oatmeal
-granola
-instant rice
-ramen noodles
-stovetop stuffing
-tuna (in a bag, not can)
-pasta
-lipton noodles
-granola bars
-trail mix
-cookies
-sunflower seeds
-hard candy
-power bars or any other energy hiking snacks

Feel free to donate any extra of these things lying around the house if you're able!

St. Patrick's Day poems

Today the students copied poems in cursive handwriting onto St. Patrick's Day paper.  Some students recited them aloud!

Gymnastics!

What a great way to get your energy out! Our class was chosen to be models and helpers with a kindergarten class in PE today. I cannot post those pictures because the kindergarteners might not have permission to be on the internet, but here are a couple of just our class:

The class on the monkey bars!

Happy teachers look on!

European Explorers

Today we broke up into 5 small groups to study and present the 5 different explorers we are studying. Each explorer reached a different part of America from a different country in Europe.
Sophie, Andrew, and Hunter present Jaques Cartier:

Tristan, Xander, Jaquan, and Cody create a poster on Henry Hudson:

Ben, Ruth, and Evan studied Samuel D. Champlain:



Alanna, Celia, and Grace present Giovanni Verrazano:


And Sophia, Nick, and Ethan presented Christopher Columbus:

In the News!

Our class and the Hangar Theatre project was in Tompkins Weekly today! (March 3rd 2009) Check out the article on page 8 for yourself, or click here to see it online!

I did it! Metricstein on Youtube!

Climbing Giant Mountain

The second half of break I went to the Adirondacks and climbed Giant Mountain! It took about 4 and a half hours to climb to the top and about 2 and a half to get down (sometimes on a sled!) I told the class about it today and they wanted to see some pictures, so here they are!

A steep climb up!

Finally at the top!



Sliding back down on my sled!

Metricstein: The Play!

(A group of mad scientists gather in front of a table.)
Austin: We are Scientists!
Grace: But we are MAD
All: Mad Scientists! Bwaaaaaa-ha-ha-ha!
Alanna: What are we mad about?
Sophie: We’re mad because we are not the smartest in the world.
All: Grrrrrr.
Celia: We want to be the smartest of all scientists.
All: Yeah! The Smartest!!
Nick: But someone else is smarter.
All: Booooo
Hunter: Albert Einstein.
All: Boo, Albert Einstein.
Tristan: We should have his brain.
All: Yeah!
Sophia: Then we would be the smartest.
All: Yeah!
Xander: I want his brain!!!
All: Yeah! Albert Einstein’s brain!
Cody: So we will build a creature that will go get Albert Einstein’s brain.
All: A creature, Yeah! Albert Einstein’s brain, Yeah!
Nick: We’ll make the creature strong, and fast, and terrible.
All: Bwaaaaa-ha-ha-ha-ha
Sophie: We will sneak up on Al’s castle and the monster will grab his brain and we will come back here and stick it in the monster’s head.
All: Yeah!
Ethan: We have our monster!
Ruth: We accurately measured every part using the metric system.
Scientists snicker and whisper as they reveal:
Jaquan & Grace: Ta-Daaaaa! Metricstein!
Greyson: We rolled up some old towels that belonged to an Olympic runner.
Hunter: We covered them with rubber. (Holds up the legs)
All: Ooooooh
Sophia: We made the feet out of clothes irons and stretched some old socks over them.
Alanna: We found these special shoes that grip really strong.
All: Ooooooh.
Xander: The belly is made of some jello that nobody wanted.
Andrew: We made it super strong and very resilient.
All: Ooooooh.
Tristan: We made the arms from some old used drumsticks.
Jaquan: We covered them with melted crayons.
All: Oooooh.
Nick: The hands are made of nail polish containers.
Cody: We compressed them together with iron and rubber.
All: Oooooh.
Austin: The mouth has shark’s teeth we found on the beach.
Andrew: The cheeks are balloons.
Grace: The eyes are chipped marbles.
Greyson: The ears are shells and melted crayon wax.
All: Ooooooh.
Celia: The heart is made out of old jewelry.
Ruth: We melted jewels and carved a heart. It’s like a red ruby.
All: Ooooh.
Andrew: Next! We will fill it with blood or something liquid to make it alive.
Austin: I’ve got special monster juice.
Nick: What is it?
Ruth: I don’t know we just found it in the back of the refrigerator.
All smell it.
All: Eeeyew. That’s perfect!
Celia: Not too much! The Heart can only pump a volume of 2.4 liters.
Austin: We’ll have to measure the volume of juice in a graduated cylinder.
2 actors become cylinder. A cloth becomes the liquid. All watch the liquid being poured into the cylinder.
Grace: One liter. Twoooo liters.
Ruth: Stop. Be careful. It’s 2.4 liters.
Cody: That means 2 liters plus 400 milliliters.
Andrew: One hundred milliliters, 200 milliliters, 300 milliliters. 400 milliliters.
Ethan: What about the meniscus?
All: Oooooh
Sophie: Look at the liquid. It curves up the sides of the cylinder.
Grace: You have to read the level at the bottom of the curve.
Xander: 2.3 liters.
Jaquan: More!
Pours more.
Hunter: 2.4 liters.
Tristan: Great! Pour it in the monster!
(They pour. Sfx Then they all take a step back and watch expectantly.)
Monster comes alive. Stretches, yawns, sees the scientists
Monster (Ev): AAARGH! Me need brain!
Alanna: Oh yeah. We got it.
Sophia: Let’s go get Einstein’s brain.
All: YAY!!
Tristan: What will we bring it back to the laboratory in?
Sophie: I’ve got a Styrofoam box.
Austin: I’ve got a metal trash can.
Alanna: Which one will keep it warm the longest?
Cody: Let’s pour hot liquid in them and see which one holds the heat longer.
Ruth: I have my stopwatch! I’ll time for one minute.
Greyson: I’ll stick my fingers in and feel it.
Tristan: Nooo. That’s not scientific! You might get burned.
Ruth: Yeah, let’s be accurate. It’s a brain we’re talking about here.
Ethan: Use thermometers.
Sophia: We have 1 liter of liquid for each container
Hunter: Thermometers ready!
Andrew: The liquid starts out at 75 C.
Nick: Thermometers in!
They insert thermometers in the liquids.
Celia: Which side of the thermometer will they read? One side says F the other side says C.
Xander: F is for Fahrenheit. C is for Celsius.
Cody: In science, we use Celsius. It’s all part of the metric system of measurement.
Ruth: Time!
(They compare thermometers.)
Sophie: Ooooh. The Styrofoam definitely retains heat longer.
Grace: Bring the Styrofoam box!
Alanna: Let’s go!
Austin: Come on Metricstein.
Metricstein: Me like walks.
(Metricstein starts out fast heading offstage R.)
All: Hey! wait up! (follow)

(Einstein enters from L)
Einstein (Ben): (to audience) Hello, my name is Albert Einstein. I know you are all here to watch some scientific experiments but I’m afraid there seems to be a little trouble. I can see through my binoculars that a group of Mad Scientists are heading this way. They look pretty crazy. A large monster-like creature is leading them. Oh my. I hope I have enough pretzels and corn chips for everyone. (exits L)

(Scientists and Metricstein enter from R.)
(Several actors take positions on floor as rocks.)
Alanna: Whoa! Look at this river!
Grace: We’ll never get across.
Sophie: We could jump over on those rocks.
Celia: Yes, those rocks are evenly spaced across the water.
Ruth: They look too far apart.
MM: Me can do it. Me can jump far.
Sophia: But our legs are so much shorter than yours.
MM: (pats their heads) Too bad.
Xander: We can measure the length of your step.
Greyson: And we’ll measure the distance between the rocks.
Andrew: I have a metric ruler.
Tristan: I have a metric stick.
Andrew: Ruler!
Tristan: Stick!
Andrew: Ruler!
Tristan: Stick!
Xander: Stop! They are the same thing. Let’s measure the rocks.
They measure.
Andrew: 1.6 meters!
Tristan: 160 centimeters!
Andrew: 1.6 meters!
Tristan: 160 centimeters!
Celia: Stop! Those are equal measurements.
Ethan: There are 100 centimeters in a meter.
Hunter: They stepped one meter plus 60 centimeters.
Greyson: 160 centimeters
Sophie: or…
Grace: 1.6 meters.
Sophie: Now measure the distance of their step.
Alanna: Start here!
Ruth and Sophia take a big step from the beginning point.
Alanna: Measure!
Andrew: 1.5 meters or
Tristan: 150 centimeters.
Andrew: (to Ruth) You step 1.5 meters.
Tristan: (to Sophia) You step 150 centimeters.
MM: It same thing.
Celia, Alanna, Grace, Sophie: JUST JUMP!
Everyone stops bickering quickly and get ready to go.
M: I go first.
He jumps the rocks followed by Ruth and Sophia. All follow. Hunter goes last by leap-frogging. Exit stage L. Rocks look up.
Rocks: Hey wait for us!
(Rocks run after them L.)
Einstein enters DL and sits in a chair. Scientists enter and sneak across from UL to UR They bunch together in UR corner. They signal Metricstein to go get Einstein’s brain. Metricstein advances on Einstein threateningly. Metricstein grabs Einstein’s head. Scientists can barely look.
M: AAARGH! You got nice hair. It soft.
Einstein: Oh thank you. I use an herbal shampoo. I like your hair too.
M: Thank you. It made out of spaghetti with red sauce.
Einstein: Would you like a chip?
M: Thank you. Mm. Good.
Scientists are signaling madly to Metricstein to take Einstein’s head.
Einstein: Who are those people?
M: My parents.
Cody: What are you doing? Get the brain!!
M: Me like him.
Austin: We want to be as smart as Einstein!
Jaquan: We need his brain!
Einstein: But you are plenty smart.
ALL: Huh?
Einstein: You used scientific measurement. You measured the distance between the rocks and the length of their step.
All nod.
Einstein: You measured volume.
M: Blood!
All nod.
Einstein: You measured temperature.
M: (points to Styrofoam box) Brain box!
All nod.
Einstein: You built Metricstein out of recycled materials.
All: That’s true.
M: Me like me! (hugs self)
Einstein: And best of all.
Everyone leans in to hear.
Einstein: …you used Imagination!
All: Imagination!
(All high 5 and shake hands.)
Greyson: Wait a minute! What are we going to use for a brain?
They show the empty box threateningly. Einstein looks at Metricstein.
Einstein: He’s plenty smart. He’s got good genes.
M: Mommies! Daddies!
Einstein: Here! (puts a pie in Styrofoam box)
All: What’s that?
Einstein: It’s the Noble Peas Pie!
All: Yay!
(All sing a fabulous song.)

THE END

Our Metric Measurement Song!

Ball and Ramp

Scripts

Today we started working with a drafted script of our play, "Metricstein." Students are learning about cueing each other, how to position themselves in front of an audience, how every action they take matters on stage, and how to say their lines with meaning, feeling, and movement.

METRICSTEIN

As the Hangar Theatre Project progresses, the class has brainstormed a really cool play plot that is coming together nicely. To practice the opening scene, Sophie volunteers to play "Metricstein" as the other mad scientists stand around thinking of how to bring her to life.

Hangar Theatre Project!

Friday we launched the Hangar Theatre Project! Camilla, our actor, met with our class and created a web on everything the students know about "theatrical production." Later, John Simon, our musician, met with the entire 4th grade to sing songs, tell stories, and get the kids singing and moving. Below, the kids play "John Simon Says" and sing "Yellow Submarine."

Inauguration Day

Tuesday Caroline Elementary was fortunate and forward enough to make the decision to watch the Inauguration on cable TV. The whole school gathered in different classrooms by grade. The hallways were silent and emptied as eyes were glued to the screens of this historic moment. The children stood when the crowd at Washington was asked to stand, and clapped for president Obama throughout the event.

Balances

Friday we worked with balances. We put an object on one side and gram weights in the other and learned that when the balance is even on both sides, we have found the mass. Below, Andrew practices, and at the other table Hunter, Ethan, Austin, Greyson, and Nick look on to find the mass of Nick's hat.

Density

During the last couple science lessons we studied density. After finding the mass of a liquid and dividing it by its volume, we figured out the density of water, corn syrup, and oil. Then I put all 3 liquids in one beaker and we observed what happened: they moved into separate layers! A neat thing to make at home is your own "lava lamp."

Scientific Method

This week we've started a new science unit: Measurement. Today we completed our first lab practicing the Scientific Method: making hypotheses, conducting an experiment, recording our results, and coming to conclusions. We completed the "Mystery Powders" lab where we tested the reaction of 6 different powders when water, iodine, and vinegar are added to each powder sample. Below, Ethan uses his pipette to add the liquid to the powder. Ruth and Celia add vinegar to their baking powder and observe that it fizzes and bubbles!

Longhouses in the Display Case!

Our longhouses have been moved to the display case in one of Caroline's hallways where they have received MANY compliments! One teacher even said that these are the best longhouses she's seen in her many years of teaching here!