April 12 - 16, 2010

SCIENCE is the word of the week!

On Tuesday, we spent quality time taping our Science Fair presentations. On Thursday, we continued to practice our presentation format and role played with the class to fine-tune our discussions.

On Friday, Group 2 was very professional as they presented their Science Fair projects. The students chose very interesting and educational topics. Their creativity was very impressive. The Group 2 classroom was abound with a plethora of information as family, friends, teachers and peers visited the intriguing exhibits and expanded their scientific knowledge base. As an additional benefit, we enjoyed munching on creative topic-related snacks. Move over Einstein!

The following topics were presented:

1. Taylor: "Germs". We learned that the four types of germs are bacteria, virus, protozoa and fungi. Did you know that there are more germs on a keyboard than a toilet seat?! An assortment of the 4 kinds of germs were offered in the form of colorful candy nerds...
2. Gracie: "Coqui Frogs". Coqui frogs are found only in South America, Central America, Caribbean and Hawaii and grow to the size of a quarter. "Gummy" frogs tasted sweet and chewy!
3. Elodie: "Barometers". Barometers predict weather but not the temperature. The homemade barometer was very creative and proved the accuracy of Elodie's prediction. The Poland Spring bottles and marshmallow treats, which represented the water and clouds, were key elements of the experiment.
4. Sam: "Bones". The human skeleton has 420 bones as an infant and an adult has 260 bones. The bones are not lost but fused as the infant grows. Bones are made up of three matters: spongy bone, bone marrow and the shell. It was nice to have an opportunity to munch on some bones as Sam provided us with "bone" shaped cookies.
5. Joseph: "Life Cycle of a Frog". Frogs are classified as amphibians, one of the categories of the invertebrates. Our classroom tadpoles, Annakin and Padme, demonstrated one of the phases of the frog life cycle. It will take 12 weeks before our little friends become adult frogs with a developed pulmonary system, ready to face life on land.
6. Ben: "Mold". There are good and bad forms of mold. "Good" mold was discovered as a medicinal cure in the form of penicillin. "Bad" mold develops on moist surfaces and unattended food as airborne mold spores find a home. We witnessed the formation of mold on several different food products. Not a pretty sight! However, the fresh strawberry shortcake was a nice alternative!
7. Zoe: "Robots". Robots originated back in the 1920's and have developed into quite sophisticated and popular parts of society. From Hollywood to the manufacturing world, famous robots such as C3P0, Rosie from the Jetsons and R2D2 have proven that these wonders are highly capable of many tasks. Zoe's personal robot creation, Athena 2, is voice activated and made her debut at the Fair. Necco candy wafers were a hit since they are made by robots at the Necco Candy factory in Revere, MA!

Monday 4/12/10

• Reading: Please bring is a copy of Stuart Little for our Group Read! Continue to read your SSR books and work in your Book Reports. As a reminder, the following students and their prospective SSR books are below: Elodie: Mrs. Yonkers is Bonkers, Sam Kirby: Time for Andrew: A Ghost Story Ben Armour: Little Prince Know-It-All, Taylor: How Tia Lola Came to Stay, Joseph: Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Grace: Wild Girl
• Wordly Wise, List 23: armor, bind, column, discover, gradual, groove, helm, ominous, peek, recover, voyage, wealthy, yearn.
• Spelling Word Families: -eam, -eat

Tuesday 4/13/10

• Write-on-Track: Please complete pages 58 - 60. (This was part of our AM work last week!)
• Book reports: We will conference on your completed pages!

Wednesday 4/14/10

• "Look- Alike" Day: This is a day to dress like your "hero" or someone special to you!
• Storyteller Visit: PAC has arranged for a storyteller to visit with Groups 1 & 2 as an enrichment program for English Language Arts. Alicia Quintano will meet with the students from 9 - 11:00AM. Thank you very much to PAC!
• Reading: Reading Comprehension books, next section. Please remember to highlight the sections that include your answers. Also, for students with a "Write About" section, please attach lined paper to your books and write at least 4 - 5 sentences, utilizing proper writing techniques to write your responses!

Thursday 4/15/10

• WW: List 23 Exercises A, C, D
• WW: Pre-test

Friday 4/16/10

• WW: List 23, Test- Please KNOW your definitions!