Blog Archives - MS. KYLIE'S FOURTH GRADE!

MS. KYLIE'S FOURTH GRADE!

HEALTHY TEETH

2/26/2016

February is Children's Dental Health month. Today we learned about lots of different animal's teeth and talked about how ours are similar and different. Did you know seals are born with no teeth, just like us? Did you know adult teeth can grow in behind baby teeth in rows, just like sharks? What other similarities and differences can you find with animals teeth?

Now...just for fun! How observant are you? Whose healthy smile belongs to you?

The answers! From left to right...
David, Malcolm, Kieron, Taj, Siena, Rocco, Rachel, Charlie, Lily, Mary, Tessa, Will, Lilah, Otis, Gavin, Hayleigh, Remi, Lee

Kieron, our scientist of the week shared how to make a homemade lava lamp! All you need is a glass full of water, a 1/4 cup of vegetable oil, some food coloring, and some salt. Dump it in a container and watch the magic happen. The salt and oil mix and make the lava happen. Thanks for sharing!

Happy Birthday Otis!
7 is going to be sweet!

GLENWOOD CANYON, THE WATER CYCLE, AND FLOWERS

2/25/2016

To start the day we heard from our Reporter of the Week. Will shared the details about the current Glenwood Canyon closure. We learned that no one was hurt. The rock slide was huge! The detour to Denver through Steamboat adds 146 miles and increases driving time by almost 3 hours. Yikes! It's a good weekend to hang at home!

I-70 closed until Thursday after Glenwood Canyon rock slide

Since we didn't get to go cross country skiing we took the day to study the water cycle. We learned the words:

evaporation condensation precipitation run-off

Then we made the water cycle in a bag. We hung the bags in the window and we'll be observing them over the next few days.

You can see the water vapor forming on the sides of the bag to represent condensation and droplets on the sides to represent precipitation. The evaporation is still invisible, but the bags squish around if you play with them and we can make the water run down the mountains!

We wrapped up our study of the water cycle with a letter to a snowman. We were given a challenge to tell a snowman why he shouldn't be worried that summer is coming and the days are getting hotter. Here's some of what we came up with. We are very clever!

Dear Mr. Snowman,
Don't be worried. I know it's almost July and you want to go to my birthday. But that's OK, because I will put you on Mount Everest in the sky. But you will still get hot and evaporate into the sky. Then you will condensate and become a cloud. But then you will precipitate as snow and I will build you again!
Love, Siena

Dear Mr. Snowman,
Springtime is coming, but don't be worried because... Snowmen move in a cycle, yes they do! Snowmen move in a cycle, yes they do! They go up as evaporation. Form a cloud as condensation. Fall back down as precipitation. Yes they do!
Love, Hayleigh

Dear Mr. Snowman,
I know that it is almost spring and don't be worried. I will make you on top of a mountain, give you a hat, and sun block. In July you will melt. You will evaporate and get to ride in a cloud. You will condensate into a cloud. Then you will precipitate and I will build you again!
Love,
Gavin

Dear Mr. Snowman,
Summer is coming. I heard that you were worried, but don't worry because you will go in the water cycle. First you will do the run-off then you will do the evaporation and then you will come back as precipitation and I will build you again!
Love, Lily

Lastly, we were so excited to get to take a look at the flowers Malcolm brought in last week. Here's what we found. They all soaked up some color. Different kinds of flowers soaked up water differently. The flower with the split stem became two colors split down the middle. And the flower in plain water looks the healthiest.

THAT'S A WRAP

2/24/2016

We've graduated and we're moving on from owls. We are experts and we're sad to see them go, but we're looking forward to learning new things. Our owl presentations are finished and ready for viewing. Here's just one fabulous example below. The rest can be found right next door to this page on the Kids Blog (published over the next few days)! Be sure to read up on your owl facts.

ONCE UPON AN OWLING NIGHT

2/24/2016

What an amazing success. We had 100% turn out. Thank you for your hard work practicing your Owl Moon page. The kids did a great job reading and presenting. We are certainly owl experts!

EVERYTHING OWLS

2/23/2016

Today we got ourselves in the mood for Owling Night. We practiced Owl Moon twice more for good measure and it's sounding great! Rumor has it that another first grade class saw two and heard and third owl on their Owling Night. We know that owl sightings are rare, so we thought we would channel our inner owl with some fun owl artwork this afternoon!

We challenged ourselves to draw an owl WITHOUT ever picking up the marker. This is called continuous line drawing. It makes for some crazy looking owls that are really fun to color in! You could try it at home with any animal!

DO YOU HAVE THE DATA?

2/22/2016

Today we wrapped up our measuring and data unit. We created one last survey to ask our friends and then graphed the information we found. A bar graph is a quick and easy way to analyze data. Check out the data we collected about our class preferences below!

What is your favorite holiday: Christmas, Halloween, or Valentine's Day?

CHRISTMAS!

What language is your favorite to speak: Spanish, French, or English?

ENGLISH!

What animal do you like: T. Rex, Stegosaurus, or Shark?

SHARK!

What is you favorite flavor of ice cream: chocolate chip, vanilla, or chocolate?

CHOCOLATE!

What is your favorite ice cream flavor: vanilla, caramel, chocolate, or strawberry?

STRAWBERRY!

What would you rather have: Lego airplane, Lego train, or Lego yacht?

LEGO YACHT!

What is your favorite flavor or ice cream: chocolate, vanilla, or chocolate/strawberry?

CHOCOLATE/STRAWBERRY!

What animal would you be: Megalodon, T. Rex, or Tyrannosaurus Rex?

MEGALODON!

What would you rather be: Snake, Eagle, or Shark?

EAGLE!

What is your favorite fruit: pomegranate, mango, or avocado?

AVOCADO!

What sport would you like to play: football, soccer, or baseball?

FOOTBALL!

What animal would you like to be: Parrot, T. Rex, or Orangutan?

ORANGUTAN!

What animal would you like to be: Megalodon, T. Rex, or Cheetah?

CHEETAH!

What would you like to be: Blue Dragon, Red Dragon, or Green Dragon?

GREEN DRAGON!

100'S OF THINGS TO DO IN FIRST GRADE EVERYDAY!

2/19/2016

We've been busy, to say the least. This week we started measuring things besides length? Can you measure how much people like chocolate ice cream? Or if people would rather be dinosaurs or gorillas? Sure! We now know how to take survey and analyze the results. Today we got to make up our own questions and find out our classmates preferences. It was a challenge making sure we were organized enough to ask all 17 of our classmates.

We wanted to know...
Would you rather be an elephant, snake, or barnacle?
Do you like mangoes, peaches, or apples better?
Would you rather play on the slide, swings, or monkey bars?
Do you like math, reading, or writing better?

We also spent some time graphing fun 100th day of school information. Yesterday we predicted how many times we could write our name, legibly, in 100 seconds. Then we tested out our predictions. Some of us were close and some of us were REALLY far off. We analyzed this information too and made a neat graph. Sometimes a picture is worth 1000 words.

Malcolm, the scientist of the week, asked us what would happen if you put flowers in different colored water? Would they keep growing? Would they grow better or worse? Would they change color? Our budding scientist even thought to set up a control in regular water AND split one stem in half to soak in blue and yellow. We're going to have to wait until Monday to see! Stay tuned!

Tessa, the reporter of the week, shared an interesting article about some snowmobilers who ran into trouble. Did you know you can get a $500 ticket for riding out of bounds. Noise ordinances and avalanche danger dictate where you can ride a snowmobile and ignoring these laws can be very expensive. Tessa said she would definitely read the signs next time she's out for a ride with her dad!

And for a special Friday treat we were surprised by a Secret Reader! Siena's mom, Diana, read us a great book, Last Stop on Market Street. This book is the winner of the Caldecott and Newbery book awards. That means it's a keeper. This book is so popular at the library right now it was all checked out. We got to read it online. Did you know you can use your library card number to read books online through the Pitkin County Library? If you don't have a library card, YouTube is a great source for books too. Or Tumble Books. Or Raz-Kids. We're nearing the end of the 100 Book Challenge so get creative!

100 DAYS IN FIRST GRADE...YIKES, WE'VE GROWN OLD!

2/18/2016

We're only 6 and 7, but boy do we have big plans. Today we talked about our bucket lists. Look out world we have lots to do in the next 96 and 97 years!

Before I turn 100, I am going to...

Remi's bucket list includes being a pop singer, riding an elephant, and having 100 dogs for the rest of her life.

Lilah's bucket list includes finishing a chapter book, being a professional ballerina, and riding a dolphin.

Mary's bucket list includes going to Gate Wolf Lodge, visiting Hawaii, and riding a Dolphin.

Rachel's bucket list includes going to the zoo, going swimming, and going on an airplane ride.

Taj's bucket list includes going to Greece again, inventing a new source of energy, and being a spy.

Lee's bucket list includes riding a hover board, being king of the world, and taming a shark.

Gavin's bucket list includes climbing swings and slides, being shrunk, and learning about geography.

Will's bucket list includes taking pictures of Mount Rushmore, becoming a geologist, and taking a walk.

Lily's bucket list includes jumping on a Pogo stick, being a professional hockey player, and having seven cats.

Rocco's bucket list includes going on roller coasters, racing boats, and growing old with his parents.

Kieron's bucket list includes seeing a whale shark, becoming a hypnotist, and finding lots of crystals.

David's bucket list includes becoming Superman, being a police officer, and buying a home.

Otis's bucket list includes being a plane pilot, being a NASA pilot, and being a General.

Tessa's bucket list includes going on a hike, inventing stuff like plastic pictures, and going on a date.

Charlie's bucket list includes going scuba diving, being strong and healthy, and having a good home.

Siena's bucket list includes taming a dolphin, being a dog and cat trainer, and skydiving.

Malcolm's bucket list includes sky diving, inventing a robot, and staying super awesome forever.

Hayleigh's bucket list includes swimming with sea turtles, being a deep sea diver, and being a professional gymnast.

Yikes, this is a frightening sight. Miss Kylie's bucket list includes running a 100 mile race, becoming a photographer, and being a teacher for 100 years.

LITTLE KIDS THINKING BIG

2/17/2016

We've been learning a little about government in our social studies learnings. The mayor of Aspen is in charge of helping keep us safe by making upstanding rules and laws. We follow certain rules and laws at school everyday that help keep us learning and safe. This morning we took some time to think past Aspen Elementary and pretend we were the Mayor(s) of Aspen/Snowmass. We have some pretty great plans for this town of ours. We think we should be in charge!

Just to name a few of our outstanding ideas for Aspen...
No more smoking. We care about our lungs.
Recess all day! Fresh air is important.
Be nice to animals. Only use them for protein.
Always be respectful. The world will be a better place.
Books at the library are free to keep at home forever. Let's all read some more.

SO MUCH TO REPORT!

2/16/2016

Today we heard from the reporter, scientist, and even from a special guest Miss Julie Markalunas.

On the Fly: Power Brings out Anglers' Best

Our reporter this week, Mary, shared some sweet facts about powder. During the last storm, did you find yourself enjoying the snow out on the ski hill or on the sledding hill? A select few were also enjoying the fresh powder on the quiet river. Turns out the fishing has been great lately and the crowds have been slim. Lots of water and warm weather are great for anglers.

Our scientist this week, David, taught us a little about static electricity. He asked us...if you rub a balloon on your head and touch it to an aluminum can, what happens? We thought maybe the can would light up, the balloon would expand, or the balloon would pop. Turns out the metal can is attracted to the electricity and YOU CAN PULL THE CAN WITH THE BALLOON. Check out the video below! So cool!

Finally, our friend Miss Julie came in to share a fabulous book with us all about filling buckets. When you fill a bucket you make a friend feel good. When you dip into a bucket you make a friend feel bad. One REALLY EASY way to fill a bucket is to greet someone. You can say:
Hello Good Morning How are you? You look nice today! Nice to see you! What's Up?