Blog Archives - MS. KYLIE'S FOURTH GRADE!

MS. KYLIE'S FOURTH GRADE!

WELCOME BACK!

11/30/2014

I can't wait to see you all tomorrow. I hope your break was just perfect.

It's December. Think Snow!
We have so much to do in just a short three weeks. So get some sleep tonight and bring your game face tomorrow!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

11/27/2014

I went to go cook my Thanksgiving turkey, but I couldn't find it anywhere. Instead, I found eagles, popcorn, football players, hot chocolate, reindeer, rainbows, brides, sea creatures, bunnies, and peacocks hiding out. Have you seen my turkey? Please help!

CUBBY CLEAN OUT...PSYCH...FIRE DRILL!

11/21/2014

Friday housekeeping gone very wrong!

Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOLLY!

And a word from the historian...

Yesterday, Quintin shared his article Drought Sticken Texas Town Turns to Toilets for Water.

We learned that with a little hard work the water in your toilet can be turned into drinking water. Gross right? Actually, pretty cool when you think about it! The water gets forced through screens (semipermeable membranes) kind of like the sieves we use to sift flour or strain pasta only with way smaller holes. The water is filtered many times and then treated with ultraviolet light so it's de-germified and safe for drinking. Watch this video for more information. This sparked a discussion on how we can save water everyday. Let's all turn the water off while we brush our teeth! Thanks Quintin.

THANKFUL HANDS AND SURFACE TENSION

11/21/2014

We started off the day with our Friday Reading Buddies...but this time we visited them at the Middle School! We made a thankful wreath to hang in our classroom. We traced and cut out our hands. Then we wrote what we were thankful for on them and made them into a collage.

We're thankful for our family and friends. We're thankful for our town and our freedom. We're thankful for our school and our food. We're thankful for the snow and the sun.

Julie Wille came for the last time and we did this really cool penny experiment. We learned about surface tension. We took pipettes and added drops of water to a dry penny. We wanted to see how many drops it would take until the water spilled over the edges. It was way more than we thought because the water's surface tension made the water form a bubble that hung over the edges before it spilled.

Here's the graph we made showing the drops of water. The dark blue bars are our predictions. The light blue bars are the actual results.

Have a wonderful and restful Thanksgiving break!

WHERE DID ALL MY STUDENTS GO?

11/20/2014

We're writing up a storm with our teaching books and we've all turned into such amazing teachers. We've each had a chance to write a few books about the many different topics we are experts on. Here's just a few of the important facts you might want to know:

1. Gymnasts do routines on the floor. The floor has springs in it to make it extra bouncy.
2. Cobras have really tough skin. The skins helps protect them against enemies.
3. The Oregon Ducks where different colored jerseys for each game. They wear green, white, yellow, grey, and even pink for breast cancer.
4. Skis are shaped like really long ovals. They are made of wood and plastic.
5. Some dogs are big and some dogs are small. A big dog is a grown up Golden Retriever and a small dog is a Yorkie.

The sentences we are using are called twin sentences. The first sentence tells the reader a fact. The second sentence zooms in a gives the reader more details.

TENILLE MAKES THE BEST THANKSGIVING LUNCH, YUM!

11/19/2014

Thanks Tenille for the delicious Thanksgiving lunch. We are so lucky to have delicious and nutritious food everyday. Thanks for joining us. If you weren't able to make it we still had a blast. Turkey and stuffing and apple crumble and finally a sunny and warm day out at recess! The snow and sun makes everything more fun.

THE RESULTS

11/18/2014

So cool! Julie Wille came back to finish the experiment. We poured vegetable oil in first. Then we poured baby oil in. The baby oil floated on top meaning it's lighter. Then we gently put an ice cube into the mix. At first the ice cube was suspended in the middle, but as it started to melt the water sank to the bottom. So water is the heaviest, then vegetable oil, then ice, and finally baby oil is the lightest. It was crazy!

AN ART PROJECT TO REMEMBER

11/17/2014

We're finishing up this art project. It's looking great. We chose one shape and traced it all over a piece of paper. We let some shapes be and others we overlapped. By overlapping we made all sorts of new shapes. They we painted each shape a different color. It almost looks like a collage.

Julie Wille came and we made predictions for our experiment tomorrow. Remember the density columns? We found out that corn syrup was the heaviest, vegetable oil was the lightest, and water was suspended (new word today) in between. Today we observed that ice cubes float and ice cubes are made out of water. Now we're wondering if we take two kinds of oil (baby oil and vegetable oil) and drop an ice cube in...what will happen? Here's what were thinking: 1. The ice will sink and float back up, 2. The ice will change color, 3. The ice will sink, 4. The ice will float in the middle (suspended). Check back tomorrow!

WHAT DOES FRIDAY FREEDOM LOOK LIKE?

11/14/2014

We're busy on Friday afternoons. We had a good behavior, productive, and super star day! So we got a little bit of Friday Freedom. We choose to paint, we play with Legos, we play Boggle and cards, we draw, and we do all sort of fun things with tape and paper. Have a wonderful snowy weekend!

Also, William discovered displacement. Check it out! When the marbles are added to the jar the water level goes up. How neat!

COMMUNITY DAY, WHAT A GREAT DAY!

11/13/2014

OK, so Community Day was so much fun! The snow didn't stop us and it probably made it 10 times more exciting. Here are the highlights below. Settle in. There's lots to look at. Hope you enjoy!

THE RFTA BUS

This is what 33 first graders on a bus looks like! We had the pleasure of going with Miss Kelly's class today. The bus driver was very patient. We were also very well behaved.

THE PATROL ROOM

First stop, the police station. We met the police chief, Richard Pryor (his wife Pip works at our school). The assistant police chief, Linda Conseugra. A police officer, Ritchie Zah. And the school safety officers Huff (from the Sheriff's Office) and Tina (from the Police Department) were nice enough to be our guides this morning. Here's a look at the patrol room. We got a tour of an officers patrol vest. There's a lot of things in there. Notice the badges. We all became Jr. Police Officers today!

THE COURTROOM

Next stop. The courtroom. Did you know this room is filled with thousands of books containing every law in Colorado? There are quite a few. We were fascinated by them and the different bindings from different years. We got to sit in the juries chairs, at the witness stand, and where the lawyers, the plaintiff, and defendant sit. The court clerk showed us around. He explained going to court like settling an argument that you just can't settle between yourselves.

And, HOLD THE PHONE, we got to hit the gavel TWICE. It was loud. Note the funny faces! (some us didn't want to try).

A POLICE CAR

Next stop, a tour of a police car. We saw a shotgun that shoots bean bags for bears (they shoot them in the bottom!), a flare (we thought it was probably dynamite), a first aid kit, an AED, a tow strap (which we thought might be a handkerchief, hmmm), a bulletproof vest, and a life preserver just in case. We also got to hear the horn and sirens.

COMMUNITY BANK

Next stop Community Banks of Colorado. It was really warm and cozy in there. We learned that the bank keeps anywhere from $200,000 to $500,000 in cash in the vault on any given day and maybe even more around the holidays. We saw a 50 year old vault that had to put in by a crane and bolted to the floor. We saw safety deposit boxes where people keep their valuables and important pieces of paper like birth certificates. We saw behind the teller's booths and guessed how much different rolls of coins were worth. We saw the timer they use to set the vault each day. We were a little bummed when we realized that banks don't give away money to really nice first graders.

THE PLAYGROUND

Whew, it's only 10am and we've been busy. Next stop, Paradise Bakery for a cookie treat before lunch (don't tell) and the playground on the mall. Self explanatory, but obviously a highlight.

NY PIZZA

Last stop, NY Pizza. We each ordered our own slices and picked them up at the counter.

It was a great experience and we learned a lot. We're exhausted, but very happy and content. We explored our community and learned about the different parts that make it work. We live in an amazing place.