Worms Do What?

          We have been watching some worms tunnel through a container to watch how a worm mixes up layers of the Earth as the move through.  Before we added the worms inside the canister, the layers of dirt and sand were not mixed together at all, but now, just look!  It's amazing what they've done in just a short amount of time!  Ask your child how worms at humus to the soil! lol

Intro. to Division

          On the first day we started learning about division, we began by using some Halloween candy and each group got a big mound of it.  Students were asked to divide the candy equally about each person in their group.  We then modeled the parts of a division algorithm and discussed the divisor, the dividend, and the quotient, and remainder if there was one.

Comparing Text to the Drama

          Students divided into two groups to produce a play in our classroom.  Half of the group were actors and the other students were in charge of creating props and back drops.  Students rehearsed through the script about three times, trying to read their parts with expression and then we performed it in front of the class.  We used a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the details we read in the script and different details were gained from the play performance.

Weathering and Erosion Experiment

 

          We just completed an experiment on weathering and erosion, using dirt, sand, and gravel with water, wind, and ice.  We conducted research first on some major Earth changes, including avalanches, landslides, earthquakes, and volcanoes.  Students discusses how those major changes were represented in our experiment.  We did the wind experiment first and recorded what we observed happened.  Next we added the ice and last the water.  We saw the most change when the water was added.  Students documented their observations in their science journals/notebooks.

 

 

 

 

Layers of the Earth

We have been learning about the layers of the Earth, so we decided to act it out as a class.  The inner core is solid and says, "I'm strong"!  The outer core circled around him and said, "I'm melting", because it is made of hot liquid, and they melted around the core.  The mantle held hands around the outer core and said, "Hot rocks".  The crust was last and they just said, "Crust", as they moved around the mantle.  This is a great visual for them to see the layers.

Then we created a play dough model so they could see a replica of the Earth.  Students then created their own diagrams on plates and wrote a summary about the layers of the Earth, based on what they have learned from our skit, the model, the diagram, and the video from Brain Pop.

 

 

 

 

Trip to the Judicial Center

     We are wrapping up our Government Unit in Social Studies and culminated it by participating in a mock trial at our Judicial Center with the Honorable Judge Kristie Costello residing.  Some high school students from Ms. Sue Elise's class were the lawyers, defendant, and witnesses, and our fourth grade students were called up for the jury.  They even got to deliberate and give their verdict and sentence.

      After the case was over, we got to take a tour of the center.  Many students had never been there before so this was a really neat experience!  (The mock trial was Gold E. Locks- being tried for trespassing and destruction of property.)

 

Studio 214 Class Members at the Judicial Center

 

 

Honorable Judge

 

 

Jury selection

 

 

Baliffs being sworn in to court

 

 

Foreman of the Jury- Announcing the verdict

 

 

Papa Bear- Witness

 

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High School students as witnesses and the defendent.

New Sensory Room at CCES!

          We also have a new sensory room at CCES that includes a therapy swing, a crash pad, and some other cool items for our kids with sensory issues and special needs, to use with therapy.  Everything in the room was donated by community members and PTO, which we are very thankful for their help and support!  Kids first!

 

Crash pad with trampoline

 

 

Student work station

 

 

 

Huge tent with a ball pit inside

 

 

 

Chalkboard corner

 

 

Student Reading Nook

 

 

Therapy Swing with Mat

 

 

We used a Solar System theme throughout the sensory room.

 

"To Infinity and Beyond!"

 

 

Finished mural thanks to some very special volunteers!

 

 

New Panther Computer Lab!

          We have a brand new computer lab at CCES on the second floor and it is AMAZING!  The computers are brand new and there are new tables and chairs in the room also.  It was really exciting to take the PAS test in our new lab this week and we look forward to completing many technology projects in there!

Comparing Text and Illustrations

          

             We worked in small groups recently and read different books to identify the mood of each story.  Each group gave a summary of the book and compared the illustrations to the text.  We looked closely to see what information was provided in the illustration and not in the text.

Career Day- Dress Up

          We had a Career Dress-Up Day last Thursday and everyone looked so good!  Here a little snap shot of everyone who dressed up on Career Day!  I know that whatever they dream of doing someday- they can do it!