The Heart

Two days ago Brendan and Emery shared their research project with us.  We learned a lot about the heart from their presentation.  We learned many interesting facts from them.  By the end of their presentation everyone had a better understanding of why it's so important to eat healthy and exercise.

The Kidneys

Today Shaidyn and Jaemasen shared their presentation about the kidneys with their classmates.  They taught their classmates about the job of the kidneys.  The students learned that our kidneys filter or clean our blood.

Our Ears

Yesterday Brooklyn and Devyn shared their presentation about the ears with our class.  We learned quite a bit from their research.  One important fact their classmates learned from them was that the ears help us balance.  Great work!

Birthday Girl!

Today was Angelina's birthday.  She shared delicious egg rolls with the class.  Happy Birthday, Angelina!  Photo taken by Charity

Skeleton Presentation

Kelly and Nathan gave their presentation on the skeleton today.  They did a great job.  Their classmates loved their video.  The video was of the song, "Dem Bones".  The photographs below were taken by Blake.

Math Problems

This week the students are learning about liters and milliliters.  They were asked to solve the following three problems and then to explain their thinking.  Below the problems is one example of a student's response.

Haydon bought 6 water bottles.  Each water bottle contains 500 mL of water.  How many milliliters of water does Hadyon have in all?  How many liters of water does he have in all?

Miya bought 8 water bottles.  Each water bottle contains 1 liter.  She drank one half of a bottle.  How many milliliters does she have left?  How many liters does she have left?

Jaemasen has 8,500 milliliters of orange juice.  Lily has 9 liters of orange juice.  Jaemasen told Lily that he has more orange juice.  Is Jaemasen correct?  Explain.

#1:  My answer is 3 liters and I got 3,000 mL. To figure this out I first started with figuring out how many liters he had.  To figure that out I first thought well there are 6 bottles and there are 500mL. in each bottle.  So I did 6/2 which is 3.  I did that because I know that there are 1,000 milliliters in a liter and I know that 500 is half of 1,000.  So I knew that the answer is 3 liters.  Then to figure out how many milliliters there were I did 3 x 1,000.  I did that because I know that there are 1,000 milliliters in a liter. so there are 3,000 mL. because 3 x 1,000=3,000.

#2 I got 7 ½  liter and 7,500 milliliters.  To figure out this problem I thought well if there are 8 bottles of water and each bottle holds 1 liter of water I know that I should do 8x1 because each of the 8 bottles holds 1 liter of water.  After I did 8x1 which is 8 I knew that I had to subtract ½ because it said that she drank ½ of a liter. I know that 8 minus ½ is 7 ½. so she had 7 ½ liters. Then I knew that 7 x 1,000=7,000.  Then I had to do ½ of a liter more which is 500 so I did 7,000=500 which is 7,500 so I know that there are 7,500mL. and there are 7 ½ liters.

#3 My answer was no.  I know that because 8,500 mL. is equal to 8 ½ liters. Then i knew that the other person had 9 liters. To figure it out I had to compare them.  I know that he said that he had the most, but he is not correct.  I know he is not correct because 9 liters is more than 8 ½ liters. So I know that he has less orange juice than her.    

Answers and explanations were written by Brenna

Presentations

Two groups were given an opportunity to present their projects in front of the class.  Owen and Blake taught the class about the lungs.  Liberty and Lily taught us about muscles.  Here are a couple short clips and a couple photographs taken during their presentations.  Robbi was the photographer and videographer.  Both groups did an amazing job!  They were terrific presentations.

Spelling Story

The Big Game                      Miya and Angelina

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the baseball game.”  Everyone clap your hands together for this amazing game" said  the announcer.

Then Molly asked" Where's big brother?".

"Your brother is playing for the brewers" said Mommy.

The two teams both have a person that has the flu so that would be fair." said daddy.

"Yay the game is starting!” said one kid in the audience. "The chicago cubs are going against the Milwaukee Brewers".

"Wait is that football?” asked Molly.

Mommy said "That is baseball".

"Is that a quarterback?"asked Molly.

"That's a pitcher." said mommy.

"Daddy do you have any soda?" Asked Molly.

"I have enough for the whole family". Said daddy. When Molly opened the soda it went fizz.

"Look look there's big brother as the quarterback". Said Molly.

"No big brother is the pitcher right now" said daddy." Bam went the ball .

“Wow big brother hit that basketball hard!” said Molly.

That ball is a baseball." said dad.  
“The brewers won" said the announcer. The family had to walk to the taxi.

When the dad went into the taxi he had to pay the fare. Then they celebrated with soda and it went fizz.

Then Molly said "nice job playing football". "Baseball" yelled everyone except Molly.

The Goat Dragon

Once upon a time there was a grey goat. He lived on a very nice, cool and relaxing island where food was good all year round. One day after a big storm he found a little rowboat. He jumped in and kicked the sand, so he could sail off. He sailed for six weeks. He got woken up to a big bump! He crashed in a big town. He got out and saw a lot of potatoes. Since potatoes were his favorite food and he was starving he went to eat some. 
When he ate one, the farmer said "Stop that!" The goat then yelled "BAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!"and he ran. He tripped on a stump and fell in a pond, but it wasn't some ordinary pond it was magic. He came out with wings. The goat sighed and fire came straight out! He stretched out his wings and thought "this is weird." He started to fly. He swooped down and took a potato and another and another and another until no potatoes were left. 
The farmer was mad and told the king about the dragon goat. "I want the monster off my land" the king told his Knights. They went to slay it, but when they saw it they ran fast. They told the king "the monster just is too strong". 
The king told ever knight he had to go and stop the goat dragon, but he burnt their swords so their gloves were stuck to their sleeves. They reported the same thing when they were done. The king asked "Why are your hands metal and why do you only have your chest plates on?" The Knights told him that the monster burnt their swords and they dried on their hands so they were stuck. The king had enough of the goat dragon so he told the gatekeeper to release the Mantikor, a lion with a snake tail, eagle wings and hawk legs. 
The Mantikor went out and started to fly. The goat dragon saw him and shot a fireball at the Mantikor but missed.  Then he threw a bomb he took from a blacksmith covered in potato skin. The Mantikor grabbed it and tried to eat. It went BOOM! It blew up and the Mantikor fell in the water. The goat dragon went around stealing all the potatoes and everyone was hungry so they packed the food they had left and sailed off. The goat was happy and lived there for ever and if anyone came there he would breath fire in the air and they would turn around.

written by Jonah

Another Xtramath Celebration!

Liberty has passed another level on xtramath.  She is doing an amazing job.

Word Sort Paragraphs

Each morning the students are given a baggie or envelope of 20 words.  Then they sorts these words into four categories.  The categories can be based off of prefixes, word families, suffixes, etc.  After sorting them they complete other tasks.  The last task is to choose a certain number of words from their twenty words and create a story.  Here are a handful of stories from last week.

I had a bad day. First I fell on my knee and the bone got dislocated.  I went home and when I got there my little sister had mistreated all my toys. I told my mom but my sister disagreed with me and said I mistreated my toys. I wanted to go play Legos, so I built a huge tower. But I disconnected a piece and it fell down. When it got dark we watched a movie but I got disinterested and got sent to bed early. I hope that tomorrow will be a lot better.

Written by:JONAH

I reread a handbook on how to paint a house and when I understood how to paint my house I started to repaint my house blue.  After I painted my house I read my daughter's  book she made, but it was unreadable because it was so sloppy so I could not read it.  Then it was time for school so I made a lunch for my daughter and put it in a bag, but the bag came undone so I resealed it.  After I dropped her off at school I got a message from my boss saying we had to build a house for a customer, but I disagreed because the customer was not that important.  After I got the phone call I picked up my daughter from school and we ate supper.  Then a little while later I put my daughter to bed.  After I put my daughter to bed I went to sleep too.  The next day when I woke up the same thing happened all over again.            

                                                            By:Lily

The Museum

   Once upon a time there lived a little boy that was in prekindergarten.  He lived with his mother.  One day he told his mother that he was going on a field trip to the prehistoric museum in Africa.  His mother said only if I can go with you and the boy said that she could.  He asked his mother if she would sign the permission slip and she did.  So the next day at school it was time to go on the field trip.  They got all of their luggage and got on the bus.  The bus drove them to the airport.  Then they got on the plane and they got transported to Africa.  When they got to Africa they had to ride bicycles the rest of the way.  They were almost at the museum, but just as they were pulling into the bike parking lot the boy fell off of his bike and dislocated his knee.  Then the boy was crying and his mother took him to the hospital.  At the hospital the Doctors took an X-Ray of the boys knee and they found out that his knee was for sure dislocated. Meanwhile his teacher took his bicycle to a bike repair shop.  The people at the bike shop fixed the bike and the doctors at the hospital said that he had to have surgery.  So they called his mom into the doctors office and told his mom that he was having surgery.  So once the surgery was complete the boy was in A LOT of pain.  So once it was okay for the boy to go home his mom took him to La Pentola restaurant in Africa and the got chocolate ice cream with chocolate sprinkles.  Then his mom carried him back to the museum.   At the museum there was a bus waiting for all of the students to get on it.  Then the bus drove them to the airport and they were transported back to the United States and they got back on a bus and drove home.  When they got home the mom wrapped the boys leg and elevated it and they fell asleep.  From that day forth the boy never rode a bike. Written by Blake and Brenna

My House                      Miya and Angelina

    This is what goes on in my house. When I wake up in my new house we have breakfast. In the kitchen my mother is making eggs, toast, and bacon. After I eat I brush my teeth. Then I take a bath. After that I help my dad reseal the cracked walls. When it's all dry we paint the wall. Everytime we paint the walls we disagree on the color. When it's 7 o'clock we have dinner. Sometimes the dinner is steak, but other times it's a lot of mash potatoes with gravy. When it's 8 o'clock we all go to sleep. The next morning I do the same thing as before. When it's time to reseal the walls we put away all of the empty boxes. Normally our house is untidy but my brother rearranged  everything. When it's time to go to Walmart, in the car my sisters always unlock and lock the doors on me. Then we go home and everyone digs in the shopping bags for their new clothes. We hope you treat your home nicely with lots of care like we do.

Bradyn and the Misbehaving Cat

One day Bradyn went home on a bus and he fell deep asleep.  He dreamt about his unhappy cat that didn't want a bath.  The cat would not stop scratching Bradyn and he got scratch marks all over his arm.  Then Bradyn called  his mom for help. There was no answer because she was unreachable.  Bradyn went into his room and slammed the door.  He was very very unhappy because of his cat.  When he went into his room he stepped on his toys.  Then he realized his room was untidy so he cleaned it. The cat was on the ceiling scratching the walls.  Bradyn was supposed to watch the cat.  Then his mom came home from work and saw the ceilings and walls.  Then he thought he was so unlucky.   When Bradyn woke up in the bus he realized he was unharmed  and was glad he was safe. Written by Devyn and Charity

The Unhappy Man

Once there was an unhappy man. The man was unhappy because everyone he saw disappeared even his family. He thought the people left him because his house was not painted perfectly and was untidy. Then he repainted  his house and cleaned it. After he finished he invited people so the people could look at his house. When people came to the man's house they were surprised how beautiful the house was. Unlike the other houses this one was the most beautiful house. When the people liked the man's house he was surprised that people would like his house. He thought that all the people just didn't like him because he was different but now the people knew that people that are different can be the same as them. When the man finally went back into his house he saw that the people were still in his house and the man's house was really mistreated. The man didn't care he just cleaned up the mess. Now the man knew why the people disappeared because of his house being untidy and not painted perfectly. Written by Owen

Game Critics

Over the weekend many students wrote reviews on various games.  Students chose to write about board games, video games and even playground games.  Here are a few examples:

Skylanders Trap Team is one of the best games!  Skylanders Trap Team is the 4th generation of Skylanders. The four are gints, swap force, spyro's adventure and trap team.  One of the reasons I like the game is the skylanders poses are positioned well.  Also I like how you can trap villains with a trap and play as them.  Another reason is you can buy new powers for your skylanders.  Also there are a lot of things to do then just playing the game like battle mode, skaletomes showdown, and quests.  A quest is when a person needs your help when you are a villain. If you not a villain or not the right villain you can't do the quest.  The skaletomes showdown is a singing competition.  Battle mode is where you fight enemies and make your skylanders stronger. Also you have some people to help like Flynn, Callie, Mages, Tesa, and Buzz.  Flynn only talks about himself and helps you on missions. Tessa and buzz are like Flynn.  Mages is the inventor of 8,000,000 and Calie gives you challenges.  Kaos is a little kid who wants to take over skylands. Also he is the main bad guy.  I hope you like this game as much as Kaos wanted to take over skylands.   Written by Brendan

           

I think Clash of Clans ™ is a great game.  One of the reasons I think it is a great game is because you can visit other players bases.  I think that is awesome because you can see how good someones base is.  You can see the person with the best base in the world.  Another reason I think Clash of Clans ™ is such an awesome game is because you can get a clan castle so you can talk to other players that are in your clan.  I think that is so awesome because you can talk to your friends or family if they are not in your house, so it is kind of like texting.  I also like this game because you can join a clan.  A clan is like a group of people that can talk to each other with the clan castle.  You can also leave a clan and then join a different clan.  I like that because if your friend makes a clan you can join.  Also if someone mean is in your clan you can leave that clan.  I think Clash of Clans ™ is such a great game because you can make clans. I love that because you can make a clan and then you will be the leader so you can kick anyone out of the clan if they are doing something mean or wrong.  Another reason I love this game is because, you can get gems.  I think it is awesome that you can get gems is because you can upgrade and buy things with those gems.  I also love Clash of Clans ™  because there are a bunch of different troops.  Troops are guys that you can train to attack other peoples bases.  I love that because there are troops that are REALLY good and there troops that are not so good, so you have different choices of troops to attack with so you can win the attack or loose the attack.  Another reason I love this game is because you can upgrade your troops.  I love that you can upgrade your troops because when you upgrade bad troops you can make them better so they have a better chance at winning the battle.  The last reason I love Clash of    Clans ™  is because the troops love gold.  I think it is so awesome that the troops love gold is because when they attack they go for the gold so you can buy or upgrade things with the gold.  I hope you love Clash of Clans ™ as much as the troops love the gold.  By: Brenna    

Operation

    Operation is the best game board ever.  One reason that I love operation is when  your family comes together and plays on family fun night .  Some reasons I like the game is when you have to get the tiny things out of the guy’s body.  Another reason is whenever you touch the metal part  it makes a noisy sound and that tells you that it is time for the next person to pull out a tiny picture.  The last reason is when you have a blast playing this game with your family.  I hope that you love this game as much as you love winning the game.  By: Sophia

Hide n seek

Written by Lily

I think Hide n seek is an amazing game.  I like hide n seek because you never know when someones coming or not.  I also like hide n seek because it’s fun when you get to hide where ever you want.  I personally like to hide in higher places because probably no one will look in a high place.  I don’t like it when they find you and they scare you instead of just saying “ I found you”.  When you're the seeker I like it that you have to be really quiet otherwise the hiders will know you're there and maybe change their hiding places. The last thing I like about the game hide n seek is that anybody can play and there can be a lot of people playing at once.  I love Hide n seek and I think you would love to play it too.

Amazing Math Students

Aubrey and Kelly each passed another level on xtramath!  They are amazing fact masters!

Valentine's Celebration

The students enjoyed passing out their valentines to their friends today.  Happy Valentine's Day!  Enjoy your day off of school on Monday.

The Dynamic Duo

The dynamic duo of Nathan and Brendan both passed another level on xtramath.  Keep up the amazing work!

Greek Myths

The students were asked to select one of the Greek myths they read during class this week.  Their first task was to write a summary of their story.  Their second task was to be a critic and write a review of this same story.  Here a few that were able to finish them today.

Pandora’s Box

Pandora’s Box is about a young girl that was made by the gods.  Her name is Pandora and she got a box and a key from the gods and the gods said not to open it.  Finally her curiosity had gotten the better of her and she opened the box.  Right after she opened the box evil escaped and the only thing left in the box was hope.  The lesson of the story is to never disobey people when they tell you not to do something.     written by Lily and Brooklyn

Pandora’s Box is a great story.  It has a great lesson and it teaches you why evil and hope is in the world.  It also teaches you not to do something when your not supposed to do it.  There are lots of versions of this story and I think this one is the best.  I recommend this story for everyone especially children because it would teach them a great lesson. The last thing I like about the story is that it has AWESOME  illustrations.  Since Pandora was curious and opened the box you should be curious and open this outstanding book. written by Lily

Pandora’s Box

    Pandora’s Box is a Greek myth about a young girl named Pandora.  Pandora means “bears all gifts’.  Pandora was created by the god of all gods named Zeus.  He created her to marry Epimetheus.  When Zeus sent Pandora to Epimetheus’s house he gave her a gift.  The gift was a beautiful box.  Zeus told Pandora to NEVER open the box.  When she got to Epimetheus’s house she put the box on a high shelf. Every time she walked past the box she couldn’t bear to not look at the it.  One day when Epimetheus was not at his house Pandora opened the box just a crack and the evil escaped.  The only thing left in the box was hope.  Zeus had got his revenge and now he hoped that mortals would learn to not disobey the gods anymore.  The lesson of the story is to NEVER disobey adults when they tell you not to do something.  And if you are too curious you could get yourself in HUGE trouble! written by Brenna and Jonathan

     Pandora’s Box is a great story.  It has a great lesson for kids which is to not disobey any adults if they tell you not to do something.  There are tons of versions of this story but this is my favorite one.  I think it is a awesome story because it has good description about what the box looks like and what pandora looks like.  I also think that the story is a great story because the author really sets the mood of the story, which is a scary mood.  I love Pandora’s Box because it has a awesome setting because it is where there are not a lot of houses so noone could see Pandora when she opened the box.  The last reason that I love Pandora’s Box is because the illustrations are AWESOME!  Pandora was so curious  that she opened up the box so I think you should  be curious like Pandora  and open up this astonishing book.  written by Brenna

The Golden Touch

The Golden Touch is a myth.  In the beginning of the story King Midas was sitting in his palace and then he heard a noise,  so he looked by his guards. They were escorting a half man, half goat.  Then King Midas realized that the half man, half goat was Silenus.  King Midas said to let him free and said to get whatever he needs.  Silenus was happy and then his owner Dionysus asked what King Midas wanted.  King Midas said he wanted what ever he touched would turn to gold , so the wish was granted and he then touched many things.  After that he had dinner.  When he had dinner he would touch food and the food would turn into gold.  King Midas's daughter was confused,  so she ran to King Midas and touched him.  Then she turned into a golden statue.  King Midas was very sad and then asked Dionysus what to do.  Dionysus told him to wash his hands in the river and then his daughter would be restored to him.  The lesson of the story is that people are more valuable than gold.  written by Blake and Jada

The Golden Touch is a awesome story.  One reason I like the story is because I thought it was cool that Midas could pick what he wanted from helping the half man, half goat.  My second reason I liked the story was because it was interesting what was going to happen when his daughter Marigold turned to gold.  I also liked the lesson.  The lesson was that people are more valuable than gold.  My fourth reason I liked my story was because it was creative.  The story was creative because the story had a half man, half goat.  Also, it was creative because when Midas touched the grapes they turned to gold.  If you read this book I think you will like it as much as King Midas loved his gold. written by Blake
   

More Math Fact Success!

Shaidyn and Brenna each passed a new level of xtramath.  Brenna has now passed every level possible on xtramath!  Congratulations to both of you!  Keep up the terrific work.

Historical Fiction

In reading groups the students were asked to read two stories and then compare and contrast them. After completing this activity they were asked to write a paragraph sharing what they learned. Here are two of these paragraphs.

The Ways Running For Freedom and Ghost In The House Are Different

Ghost in the House and Running for Freedom have lots of things that are different. One thing that's different is the main character in Ghost in the House is a girl and the main character in Running for Freedom is a boy. Also Daniel was a slave, but Virginia isn't a slave.  Her parents help slaves by hiding them in their attic. Another difference is the settings.  In Running for Freedom there are a bunch of different settings and in Ghost in the House the setting is only in Virginia's house. Virginia's mom is with her, but Daniel's mom was sold. The problem in the stories are different too. Virginia's problem is that she heard noises coming from the attic and Daniel's is that he is trying to escape the plantation and get to freedom. The last difference is Running for Freedom takes longer in real time and at the beginning of the story he is a little boy and at the end he is a adult.  In Ghosts in the House in real time it's only two days. These stories have lots of differences like the setting, the characters and the plot.

WRITTEN BY JONAH

Running for Freedom and Ghosts in the House are the same in many different ways.  One way they’re the same is that they’re both historical fiction.   They are both historical fiction, because they happened in the past and they both include the Underground Railroad.   Another way they're the same is that they both include slaves in them.  An example of them both having slaves in them is that in one the characters were the slaves and in the another the characters were helping the slaves hide. They're the same, because both Daniel and Virginia are very sneaky. Last Daniel and Virginia were also brave because Daniel was brave to trust a white man putting him in handcuffs, and Virginia was brave to go up in the attic and  see what was making the noise.  Those are some ways Running for Freedom and Ghosts in the House are the same.

Written by Lily

Pizza Party

We will be having a pizza party tomorrow at lunch.  Mrs. Thimmig and I will be providing the pizza and drinks.

Folktales

This week we started a unit on different types of folktales.  The students read two folktales.  They were Lon Po Po and Little Red Riding Hood.  One of the activities they were asked to complete was to compare and contrast these two stories.  They completed a venn diagram on the website linoit. Then they had to create a paragraph that explained how these two stories are similar or different. Here are a few of these paragraphs.

There are many differences between Little Red Riding Hood and Lon Po Po.   One folktale is from China and the other is  from the United States of America.  The next difference between Lon Po Po is that the mom leaves but in Little Red Riding Hood the mom stays.  In Lon Po Po the mom walks to grandma's house  but in little Red Riding Hood the girl walks to her grandma's house.  Little Red Riding Hood had no siblings but in Lon Po Po there was Shang,Tao,and Paotze.  In Lon Po Po the ginko nuts were the distraction but in Little Red Riding Hood the yellow flowers were the distraction.   In Little Red Riding Hood the wolf ate her and the grandma but in Lon Po Po no one was eaten.  In Little Red Riding Hood the wolf was killed by someone putting rocks in the wolf's tummy, but in Lon Po Po the wolf got dropped in the basket and his heart shattered to pieces.  These two folks tales are very different.
written by Lily and Jaemasen

Comparing Little Red Riding Hood and Lon Po Po

     We are comparing Lon Po Po and Little Red Riding Hood. Both stories take place in the          countryside and in the past.  Both stories have girls, and a wolf.  Also in each story the girls get tricked by the wolf.  In Lon po po and in Little Red Riding Hood they talk to strangers, which is wolf.  Also both of the wolves die, but in different ways.  In Lon Po Po the wolf dies by

falling out of the tree 3 times.  In little red riding hood the wolf dies by little red riding

hood putting rocks in the wolf's stomach. These are some things the same about Lon Po Po

and little Red Riding Hood.
written by Aubrey

The Differences Between Two Stories

There are many differences between Little Red Riding Hood and Lon Po Po.  The wolf in Little Red took place in the woods and had a hunter, but in Lon Po Po there wasn't a hunter and they lived in the country.  In Little Red riding hood and Lon Po Po the differences are Little Red walks to Grandma's house and there is one girl ,but in Lon Po Po there are three girls.  In little red riding hood there was wine and bread in the basket, but in Lon Po Po there was just food.  In Little Red Riding Hood she met the wolf in the woods, but in Lon Po Po the three girls met the wolf at the door.  In the story Little Red riding hood there was sunshine, but in Lon Po Po it was at dusk.  In Little Red Riding Hood she wore clothes and a red cape and a hood.  In the story of Lon Po Po the three girls wore regular clothes.  There are more differences than similarities.  They were both very entertaining and scary stories.

Written by:  Liberty and Emily

Little  Red Riding Hood and Lon Po Po

We are comparing Litte Red Riding hood and Lon Po Po. The first fact that shows how they're the same is the setting is in the middle of the country and long ago.  Also in both stories a character has a basket of food.  In both stories a character went to grandmother's house.  Also in both stories it involves tricks.  Another fact is Little red riding hood and Shang ask many questions. Another fact is both villains die at the end of the story.  The last reason is in the story the lesson is the same. The lesson is to listen to your parents and never talk to strangers.  These are some ways Little red riding hood and Lon Po Po are the same.
Written by Brendan and Devyn