Elephant Toothpaste

A couple days ago in science we made elephant toothpaste! We made predictions of what we thought would happen beforehand and compared our predictions after. We also made qualitative observations afterward.

Here are some of our predictions and qualitative observations:

I wonder...Is it Ever Ok to Tattle?

Today, the students read a Wonderopolis article called "Is it Ever Ok to Tattle?"

They then 'tweeted' on our classroom Twitter feed about what they learned from this article. 

What do you think- Is it ever ok to tattle?!


Follow us on our REAL Twitter account @glay_jessica

Week of August 25

Here's what's ahead for us this week:

Reading- 
We will continue “Choose Kind” bullying PBL this week by talking about what bullying is and reading nonfiction articles about types of bullying. We will also be  reading and analyzing books related to the topic of bullying, and we will continue our novel study on the book Wonder!

Language/Writing- 
We will be reading a variety of memoirs and discussing their characteristics. We will then begin writing our own memoirs incorporating these characteristics. We will also be looking at how authors use figurative language and transitions in their writing. 

Math-
In math this week we will be continue practicing our basic multiplication facts/strategies, but we will also begin discussing place value.

 Science-
In our Inquiry unit, we will continue with qualitative and quantitative observations and predictions. We will also discuss inferring in science.

Social Studies-
In social studies we will be discussing the locations and characteristics of different Native American regions: Eastern Woodlands, Plains, Southwest, Pacific Northwest, and the Great Basin region. We will discuss their culture, food, homes, clothing, and government.

Important Dates/Reminders:
-NO SCHOOL- Monday, August 4th- Labor Day Holiday!

-Goodies with Grandparents- Friday, September 12- Look for a note to go home Monday to sign up!

-PTA Open House- Tuesday, September 16 at 6:30

100 BC Goals:
Good- 22 steps
Better- 40 steps

Upcoming Assessments/Projects due:

-Science process skills test- Next Wednesday

-SS test on Native Americans- NEXT Friday

Gummy Bear Experiment

This week we have been doing a lot of science experiments to use the science process skills of observations and predictions. On Tuesday we may quantitative observations about gummy bears. We measured the lengths of the gummy bears, and then we placed each gummy beer in a different type of liquid: vinegar, plain water, salt water, and water with baking soda. Students may predictions about what they thought would happen to each gummy bear after sitting in each liquid for 24 hours.

The next day we made qualitative and quantitative observations about the results. Students measured the length of the gummy bears again and found the difference in lengths between the two days. Then students made qualitative observations and found that some gummies grew in their liquid, some shrank, some changed colors, and some even disintegrated. 

Being a scientist sure is fun!

Milk Fireworks

Today we did a science experiment called "Milk Fireworks".  Students put a few drops of four different colors of food coloring in a plate of milk. Then, in the middle of the food coloring, they dipped a Q-tip with Dawn dish soap on it. See what happened below:

Prior to the experiment, students made a prediction about what they thought would happen when we added the soap. Then, during the experiment students made qualitative and quantitative observations. Here are some predictions and observations the students made:

Building a Land Bridge

To help understand how the first people migrated to our continent, today we built our own model of the Land Bridge Theory. First we made salt dough by measuring out and mixing together flour, salt, and water. Then we molded the dough into two continents, North America and Asia, with a land bridge connecting them in between. We poured in water so that the Land Bridge was still exposed, like it was during the Ice Age, and added ice cubes to represent our glaciers. Throughout the day we watched as the glaciers melted like they did when the Ice Age ended. As the glaciers melted, the water level rose and covered the Land Bridge so that it was no longer exposed and Native Americans could no longer cross it. 

This project was messy, but it sure was fun!!

Before the glaciers melted. 

After the glaciers melted. The Ice Age is over- hooray!

Sailing in to Fourth Grade!

 

 
Wow, what a GREAT first couple of days we have had!! We have had a lot of fun and learned a lot so far!
 

 

We have started our "Choose Kind" bullying PBL by discussing the meaning of the word 'kindness'. With the help of the rest of fourth grade, we have decided that kindness means:

 

Keep others first
Include others

Notice nice things about others

Dependable
Never criticize

Eliminate bullying

Share

Smile often

 

We made a KINDNESS banner for our hallway, signed it, and put our thumb prints to represent "Thumbs up for kindness!"

 

 
We then made a kindness keychain. Each color represents a different letter of the word kindness and what we think it means. This keychain will serve as a constant reminder for us to be kind to others.
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
 
In math, we started looking at different multiplication strategies. Today we focused on arrays. We even got to make our own arrays with counters!

 
 

 

In science, we started talking about the importance of process skills that real scientists use. Students had to depend on each others' observations and communication to recreate "The Thing."



 

We are looking forward to another fun day tomorrow!