Gypsy Moths and Pond Water PH

This afternoon was the start of our classroom science experiment. So far, we have learned the steps of the scientific method and what makes a valid science experiment. We are planning on taking three bean plants and experimenting to find out the effects of acid rain. We have three types of water (our variable) - rain water from our water barrel, distilled water, and "acid rain" water.

We started by finding the PH of both rain water and distilled water by using PH paper. Then, we used eye droppers to carefully add enough white vinegar to the distilled water to make it quite acidic (with a PH of 2).

The kids had so much fun finding the PH of these samples that we packed up some of our equipment to find the PH of the pond water at County Farm Park. On the way, we found so many gypsy moth webs! We are planning to ask Faye ("our" naturalist) about them on our next nature walk.

Memoir by Toussaint

Toussaint has written quite a few short memoirs, and wanted to choose one to publish. After glancing through them all, he decided to continue to work on his memoir about a trip to Boston. After we read the piece together, I asked Toussaint to flesh out some details...turns out, he didn't really remember the trip very well at all! This happens all the time, to all sorts of writers - we start out writing about something and then realize that there just isn't enough to make a good story.

This is the story that Toussaint now thinks deserves publication. After he read it aloud to his classmates, he was complimented on the details he included. Well done, Toussaint!

The Day I Got My Guitar

I went to a store - I don't know what the store was called. I went in. I could not decide which guitar to pick. Then I found it. It was the right guitar.

When I went to my guitar lesson, it was too big for me so my teacher tied it for me - the back, not the front. My teacher's name is Eric. My favorite band is the Rolling Stones. A history band. A cool band. I like them. I am playing Paint It Black on the guitar at my guitar lessons.

Poem in Pocket Day - Thursday, April 29

This week, please help your child select a great poem to put in their pocket. We will each get a chance to share our favorite picks on this Thursday, April 29.

Keep A Poem In Your Pocket
By Beatrice Schenk de Regniers

Keep a poem in your pocket
And a picture in your head
And you'll never feel lonely
At night when you're in bed.

The little poem will sing to you
The little picture bring to you
A dozen dreams to dance to you
At night when you're in bed.

So - -
Keep a picture in your pocket
And a poem in your head
And you'll never feel lonely
At night when you're in bed.

Barn Dance!

Reading in the Woods

Quiet reading time was quite special today. In honor of Earth Day (and perfect springtime temperature), we gathered our pillows, blanket and lots of books and headed into the woods. About 45 minutes was spent reading as the birds serenaded us with their sweet songs. It was heavenly, and the kids want to make this a regular event.

Earth Day Clean-Up/Math

This morning, we donned plastic gloves and headed outside for a very revealing math time. We spent about 20 minutes cleaning up all the garbage we found on the sidewalk and curb area right in front of our school. You would not BELIEVE the amount of trash we collected!

After we returned, we sorted the trash into different categories. Children worked together to organize plastic bottles, plastic pieces, paper, styrofoam, paper, metal, glass bottles and material (including a couple of gloves, a few socks and even (gross) a pair of underwear!). Making tally marks to make counting easier, we discovered that plastic was by far the most commonly found material. In fact, there were 141 pieces of plastic counted. Seems unbelievable if you saw the small area that was canvassed.

Our Earth Warriors did a fantastic job this morning!

Fractions in Cooking

I posed the question to my math group this morning: What is an everyday example of when you need to multiple fractions by whole numbers - in other words, make a fraction twice as big or three times as big? The answer was given immediately - cooking!

The children who were ready for the concept were given a cookie recipe that they had to convert into measurements for three times as many cookies. Other children, those who are just beginning to understand about fractions, were given the usual recipe and had to find the appropriate measurement tool. Each group got a chance to make delicious thumbprint cookies! We are having them for afternoon snack.

Cooking and baking are great ways to practice fractions in a real-life way. This recipe was perfect, because it used a lot of different fractions:

Jam Thumbprints

1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup butter
1/3 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup strawberry preserves

Oven 350 degrees

Stir together flour and salt. In another bowl, beat butter for 30 seconds. Add sugar and beat well. Add egg yolks and vanilla: beat well.

Add dry ingredients to beaten mixutre, beating until well combine. Cover and chill one hour. Shape into 1 inch balls, and press down centers with thumb. Bake in preheated oven for 15 - 17 minutes. Cook, and fill centers with preserves. Makes 36.

Water Cycle Science/Terrarium Building

Today's science project was quite simple, but nicely illustrates some concepts we've been learning. Each child built a terrarium, using gravel, charcoal, soil and plants. We also gave our soil a bit of water to start. The environment inside our terrariums created a sort of greenhouse effect, and now the plants will need very little watering.

We started by reviewing the word "transpiration", which is the process where plants transfer water to the atmosphere in the form of water vapor. As the days pass, we will notice that inside each terrarium water will evaporate from the soil, condense on the lid, precipitate down onto the plants and collect in the soil. This cycle will repeat over and over again!

We will be making close observations and collecting data about our terrariums. At the end of a few weeks time, each child is welcome to take their little garden home to enjoy!

Pennies for Peace

Our whole school is embarking on a new project called Pennies for Peace. Renata's class has been reading Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson. The rest of us listened as Anita read the children's version of the same story, called Listen to the Wind. We all watched a short DVD about Greg Mortenson's work.

I'm sure many of you are already familiar with Three Cups of Tea, but in case you are not, it is about a man who promotes peace with books, not bombs. He is responsible for establishing schools in some of the most remote areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan. If you have not read the book, it is highly recommended!

Each classroom now has a penny jar. We are hoping that the children will be inspired to bring in pennies from their penny banks and contribute to this wonderful cause.

Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum/Water Cycle Lab

We spent a wonderful afternoon at the Hands-On Museum! First, we spent about 1/2 hour exploring the water room.


Then it was time for our lab - which lasted about an hour. This was an enjoyable, hands-on, and educational lesson on the water cycle. We learned terms like "porous" and "non-porous", became part of the water cycle, and even made our own clouds! At the end, we danced to the "water cycle boogie".

The four adults split the children into groups of 5 children each, and then explored the museum at a leisurely pace. Many, many thanks to Pare Gerou and Karen Bayoneto, our great parent volunteers. Please thank them in person the next time you see them - they allowed us to be able to go with just one bus, and also enabled us to keep a super watchful eye on everyone.

Memoir by Freya

Today's Writing Workshop was a bit shorter than usual, because we were having way too much fun with our warm-up exercise to stop! I started by rereading a book I've read before, but this time taking away all the interesting details and word choices. The students immediately realized that this was "boring" and "not very interesting" and "no hooks!". We then worked for a while coming up with more interesting ways to say some sentences, changing, "The room did not smell good" to "The science lab reeked of something hideous and rotten".

After, we staged an informal contest where kids anonymously rewrote some sentences to make them more interesting and detailed. We voted on our favorite ones. Here are two examples:

She cooked a dessert
became
Marie heated up an amazing tasty-looking edible treat.

The girl looked nice
became
The alien girl looked like a french fry. (Not really what I was going for, but this author knows his audience :-))




Today's memoir is by Freya. She included lots of details in her story, and is very pleased with the result. Please enjoy (so, so, so much!):


The Day I Got My Trampoline

The day I got my trampoline I was outside. My mom was watering the garden. I was looking around and I found a box that had a picture of a trampoline on it. I asked if it was ours and she said, "Yes!" That second I was so, so, so, so excited.

And it was summer. And five days later me and my dad started working on it. First we put together the big pieces. The next day we put the springs on together. Every day we do a little bit of putting the trampoline together until finally we finished it! And then my dad told me that I had to go to bed. The next day I was so, so, so, so, excited. The minute I saw it I asked my mom if I could go on it. She said, "Yes". I ran to it. I climbed on it. I jumped so, so, so high.

When my brother woke up he went to the kitchen and got some food. Then he went to the dining room and put his food down. And then he sat down. When he looked out the window and saw me jumping he got out of his chair and ran to the door and opened it and ran to the trampoline. And he bounced me so high that my back touched a branch of a pine tree that was leaning over our trampoline.

Every day a little bit of the pine needles from the pine tree that was leaning over our trampoline fell off the tree. Every time we usually swept it out of the trampoline entrance. And every day my brother bounced me so, so, so, high and that's the END.

FestiFools is a Huge Success!

Congratulations to Ruth Marks and all the children who worked so hard on the wonderful puppets! The FestiFools parade was great fun to watch. I loved seeing all of the kids working together to work those huge creations. Thank you, Ruth, for making this happen - it was a picture perfect day for all of our FestiFools!

Owl Update - Watch as Owlet Coughs up Pellet!

Click right here.

Snack Rotation

Here is the final snack rotation - this should take us to the end of the year. (I'm counting on leftovers the last few school days, since there are usually some. If not, I'll be happy to supply.)

A reminder to keep the snacks as healthy as possible - the kids will (mostly) eat fruits and vegetables, and you can't go wrong with those. Pediatricians recommend 5 - 9 servings per day, so having fruit and vegetables served during snack times is a great way to get those in.

Other healthy options include healthy grains, yogurt, all fruit popsicles. An occasional treat is (of course) fine.

April 12 - 16 Amezcua
April 19 - 23 Benson
April 26 - 30 Blander
May 3 - 7 Boudia
May 10 - 14 Chapel
May 17 - 21 Fancher
May 24 - 28 Hitchins

Theme for April/Water Science

Water is our overall monthly theme for April, and we will begin our studies in ernest immediate after spring break. Our sneak preview actually happened this past Friday, April 2nd, as the entire school watched a Bill Nye DVD on the water cycle. I'm hoping to fit in a field trip to the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum, in order to participate in one of their excellent science labs about the water cycle. I'll update you as I get the information.

I'm taking an ecological slant to this theme, and will lead the class in a science fair type experiment on the effects of acid rain. Students will gather information, made predictions, and test/analyze results. We will also learn about the great lakes ecosystem, water pollution and invasive species (such as asian carp and zebra mussels). Our previous knowledge of food chains will come in handy as students learn how easily a whole ecosystem can be affected by one seemingly minor change.

Owl Pellets Science Lab

On Friday, students investigated owl pellets to reveal information about owls, their habitats, eating habits, and their place in the food chain. It's wonderful to learn things from books and other media, but how much more meaningful and fun to be real scientists and discover for oneself?

Many thanks to Anita for taking pictures and to Shan for stepping in for me while I tended to personal business.

Memoir by Lea

Lea is one of those natural writers. You know the type - you see them out at recess, armed with a clipboard. She is always writing, always making little books. Lea has worked diligently on this piece, which is actually in three parts.

"Spider legs" are a way to add details to a story when at the revision stage. First we read the story aloud to ourselves or to a friend. Then we think of ways a piece can be improved and/or added to. We can add these important details by using asterisks or spider legs, which are just pieces of writing that are cut and taped where they should be added. Lea did a lot of spider legs on her paper, and each time made her writing just a little bit richer and better. Here is the final result, after weeks of hard work!


The Story of my Dogs

The Day I met Cotton

One day me and my family went to get a dog. So we got in the car and drove and drove. It felt like ten hours! Finally we were there. We were at the shelter! I could get my dog. When I walked into the house I saw two dogs and a cat. And then I saw the dog of my dreams. He was a white, fluffy dog with a white bushy tail. After a couple minutes, my mom and I walked outside by some horses and my mom said, "If we get a dog what would you name it?" "Fluffy or Cutie", I said. Then we went back in.

When we got in, my grandma said, "Where were you?" Then my dad said, "They went to think of names." Then my grandma said, "How about Cotton?" "That is great!" I said. So that's what we named him. We stayed a while longer so I could play with Cotton. Then my mom said, "Time to go, Lea!" So I picked up Cotton and got in the car and drove for a while and then I said, "I'm hungry." and my dad said, "There's a McDonald's coming up". So we went in one by one so Cotton could have some company in the car. Then we ate. After that we got going home. We introduced Cotton to Zora but Zora did not like it. She growled and barked. Then after a month, she died.

About Zora

You see Zora is the opposite of Cotton. She's black, he's white. He's small, she's big. But I still like them. They're fun to have around. She was a show dog and she won first place, second place and third places. She loved to lay down in the sun.

Getting Janie

Then after she died, we go a new dog named Janie.She was only 9 or 8 weeks old so she was small, black and fluffy. Cotton loves her so much. They have so much fun with each other. They play together and the steal toys from each other.

Out of all the dogs I know, I like my dogs the best.