Where does the time go?!?!?!?

This week just seemed to fly by. I give the kids a lot of credit, with the ever changing temperatures and sometimes people in our classroom they have done a really nice job to keep on task with their learning. We are pretending summer is not near! :)

 

Upcoming this week: 

5/20-If your child has any library books, they need to be returned on Monday! 

5/23- Science test over Earth Materials unit.

 
Math- This week we have been discussing tally tables and different types of graphs. We have focused on line plots, pictographs, and bar graphs; both in creating our own as well as interpreting the data.  

Line Plot

Pictograph

Bar Graph

Reading-   This week will read the last story in our basal Turtle Knows your Name by Ashley Bryan. This is a folk tale from the West Indies, a young boy (Upsilimana Tumpalerado) is frustrated because no one can remember his long name. Later when challenges to guess his grandmother’s long name (Mapaseedo Jackalindy Eye Pie Tackarindy), the boy turns to turtle who gives him some help. Next week we will take our unit test over the last four stories. 

Science- We have finished up our science unit on Earth Materials. Today they will be bringing home an orange study guide. Our test will be on Thursday. Between now and then we will be learning about volcanoes.

We started our week taking a look at different rocks, which may contain the mineral calcite. Calcite bubbles in acid. We used vinegar. So we ran an experiment first to see their reaction in vinegar and second to evaporate the vinegar and see what was left.

Above are our evaporation tray results. The evaporation tray with a V is just vinegar (clear), the evaporation tray across from it is the calcite (filled with a lot of crystals). We then took a look at the evaporation trays from our rocks. 1- basalt, 2- limestone, 3- marble, and 4-sandstone. From our results you can see both marble and sandstone contain the mineral calcite. 

Lab books will be coming home on Monday. We had a lot to distribute today and they were still left in a pile. SORRY! 

Our science test over this unit will be on Thursday, May 23rd. Here is the study guide we filled out today. 

The test will be worded a little differently and will contain multiple choice, short answer, and matching.

This page seems to give the kid the most problems on the test. I will try to take a picture of the rocks and post them also to help you study. The class created an acronym to help us try and remember the minerals in order from the softest to the hardest. (GCFQ or Green Crazy Frogs Quack) or gypsum, calcite, fluorite, and quartz. :)

Writing- We have been very creative this week in writing and the kids are eating it up! 
  Monday- "I am" We watched a short video from Will.i.am (below). We talked a long time about how we would describe our selves and our goals for the future. I did not ask the kids about what they want to be, but versus WHO they want to be. After our discussion they created a simile page to compare themselves to something else.

Tuesday- The kids created summer bucket lists with things they would like to do this summer. Some have some pretty high hopes (Sorry parents!) , some where very thoughtful, some simply didn't know how to spend their time outside of school. 

Wednesday through Friday- We have spent the last few days talking about how sometimes the authors purpose is to entertain. We made a list of Superheros (Mrs. Clark made that list), and Villains (Mr. Murphy, Mr. Fontenot, and myself made this list- what is wrong with this picture?!?!??!) After that we talked about what a Superhero story might need, we created a chart, then the students were set of to create a story board. We are still working on either turning our creative thoughts into a story or into a comic. The students are LOVING this. 

 

Next week we will turn them into superheros and see how others describe them. 

Next week I am also sending home a packet of summer activities. On the front is a research study about how student loose on average 2.6 months of ON GRADE LEVEL equivalency. The front has some other ideas how to beat the heat and keep their brains engaged. This packet contains activities in math, reading, writing, and science. ENJOY! 

 Thank you so much for thinking of me during teacher appreciation. I could not do my job without you and your wonderful children. I love my job and am so thankful I enjoy my job as much as I do! To show your child a small token of my appreciation, last week I gave them each a highlighter with a quick bucketfiller about how they are the highlight of my day. I even received some very sweet notes back with them using the highlighters and giving me bucketfillers. I love how far our skills in giving compliments have come! :) 

 

Last but not least, Iowa Assessments will be mailed home SOON! You will be receiving the narrative profile which tells you where your child scored, how they ranked nationally, and if they are proficient or not in a given area. Please remember this is one test, which can cause a lot of anxiety amongst your child. There is one in particular who got off on the bubble sheets and did not get a score I know they are capable of. :( So congratulate your child on all their hard work this year and use what your know about your child, their report card, their progress sheets, and any other information I can give you as a guide. They will have a goal in 4th grade to improve their scores. This is pretty neat to see. I will go over next week with the kids how to read their report. Please let me know if you have any questions.

 

Upcoming May/June Events

May 20^th         Chorus 6:30-3^rd and 7:30-4th

Happy Birthday Emily!

May 21^st         Band Assembly for 4^th grade at 1:00 PM

May 21^st         2^nd grade from Starry visit to FMI 9:30-10:30

May 22^nd        3^rd grade music pizza party

May 22^nd        2^nd grade from Emerson visit to FMI  9:30-10:30

May 22^nd        4^th grade field trip  Wick, Don, Col

May 23^rd         4^th grade visit to VMS  Time TBA

May 24^th         4^th grade field trip  Fa, Ca, Wilk

May 26^th         MHS Grad at 6PM

 May 27th       No School- Memorial Day

Happy Birthday Allie! 

May 28^th         FMI Night Out  (2^nd grade visit)

Mary 29^th        3^rd grade track & field day

May 30           4^th grade track & field day

May 31^st         4^th grade chorus pizza party?

June 4^th            Last day of school (1:30 Dismissal)

 

*We will fit a walk to Dairy Queen in at some point. I will email you when I figure out when it best fits in our plans. I am thinking maybe on Friday, May 31st or Monday, June 3rd.

Have a great week!

Mrs. Jodie Yuska 

Lost camera cord= long delay in posts

I knew one day all these absences were going to catch up with me. Upon picking up and moving the computer USB to a "safe place" while I was gone, I seem to have misplaced it. I have searched high and low and hope to come upon it soon as it had great science pictures on it. Hopefully, it will be located soon or someone will have one that will fit my camera. I have tried about every other cord I own and no luck. :( Back to my phone to take pictures I guess! :) Anyway, enjoy what is here, hopefully I can catch up for lost time later.

-->

Upcoming this week: 

5/14 I will be out of the classroom but in the building all day 

The weather is supposed to get HOT! Please send water bottles to school with your child. 

Popsicles have already been purchased for Tuesday. 

Math- In the last month, we finished up our geometry unit, reviewed counting, ordering, and comparing money. We made change from $5 using the fewest number of coins. Last week we reviewed telling time. We discussed breaking a clock up into halves and quarters. We also learned about elapsed time. This week we will continue elapsed time and move on to graphing.   

 
Reading-    Two weeks ago we read Operation Rescue by Christina Wilsdon. This is a nonfiction selection about the Exxon Valdez oil spill off the coast of Alaska in 1989. Students will learn that oil spills can kill the sea animals who get caught in them. The author’s careful explanations and excellent photographs show different methods used to clean and care for otters and sea birds pulled from the area of a spill.  
         Last week we read The Rooster who Understood Japanese by Yoshiko Uchida. In this story Mrs. Kitamura and her odd assortment of pets live next door to Miyo and her mother. One day a new neighbor demands that Mrs. Kitamura stop her pet rooster from crowing in the mornings. Sympathetic to Mrs. Kitamura’s predicament, Miyo comes up with a clever idea that solves the problem. 

         This week will we read Turtle Knows your Name by Ashley Bryan. This is a folk tale from the West Indies, a young boy (Upsilimana Tumpalerado) is frustrated because no one can remember his long name. Later when challenges to guess his grandmother’s long name (Mapaseedo Jackalindy Eye Pie Tackarindy), the boy turns to turtle who gives him some help.

Science- In the past few weeks we have been taking a look at the difference between rocks and minerals. 

 (Missing pictures of the class in goggles taking their mock rocks apart!)

 After taking apart our mock rocks (fake rocks) the class did several experiments to have evidence of what the rocks were made out of. This included adding water to vials, shaking, having them rest, then using evaporation trays to see if there was anything in the water.

After finishing up with the mock rocks, we talked about how a rock is like a cookie and made of all different ingredients (minerals) where heat is added and changes the final product. 

Below shows our mock rock cookies! :)

We read a story about the different stones for each month, what they were and why they were given. Students were fascinated by myths and stories surrounding each stone. Here is a graph of our birthdays and birthstones.

We took a look at four different minerals: Calcite, Quartz, Gypsum, and Fluorite. We observed their properties then tested to see which of these minerals were the hardest by completing different trials of scratch tests.

Writing- After finishing up poetry, we have finished up some odds and ins and are learning how fun writing can be.
  

HAPPY BELATED MOTHER'S DAY! 

Hope you enjoyed your presents. I thought they came out really cute! Students made salt dough which we formed into hearts, added our thumb prints, baked, and painted. We added a long lace so it could be your choice to use it as a necklace or maybe even a keychain. Thank you for raising such wonderful children (students)!

 

Upcoming May/June Events

--> -->

May 20^th         Chorus 6:30-3^rd and 7:30-4th

May 21^st         Band Assembly for 4^th grade at 1:00 PM

May 21^st         2^nd grade from Starry visit to FMI 9:30-10:30

May 22^nd        3^rd grade music pizza party

May 22^nd        2^nd grade from Emerson visit to FMI  9:30-10:30

May 22^nd        4^th grade field trip  Wick, Don, Col

May 23^rd         4^th grade visit to VMS  Time TBA

May 24^th         4^th grade field trip  Fa, Ca, Wilk

May 26^th         MHS Grad at 6PM

May 28^th         FMI Night Out  (2^nd grade visit)

Mary 29^th        3^rd grade track & field day

May 30           4^th grade track & field day

May 31^st         4^th grade chorus pizza party?

June 4^th            Last day of school (1:30 Dismissal)

Have a great week!

Mrs. Jodie Yuska 

One big blur....

Ok, I apologize. I am out of routine and need to get back on the ball. The last week and a half have been one big blur. I swear I blink and it is a new week. With that being said. Here is an update for last week and this week so far.

Lunch and recess will be different today and on Friday as 4th grade has lunch buddies from Rockwell in the building. On Wednesday and Friday, 3rd grade will have recess first 11:15-11:45 and lunch 2nd 11:45-12:15.

Math- Last week we continued our geometry unit and talked a lot about the creation of boxes, how many cubes would it take to make an open box, how about a closed box. This required a lot of spacial awareness and helped us to learn about finding the volume of something also! :)  The last few days we have worked on defining and creating examples and non-examples of lines, line segments, angles (right, acute, and obtuse), and rays. We have also worked on what a polygon is; a closed figure, created from straight lines, and at least four angles. 

Reading-   Last week we read  Dream Wolf by Paul Goble. This story is about a Native American legend, which tells the story of two young children who wander away from their mother. When night falls, the children, cold and lost, take refuge in a cave. A friendly wolf keeps them warm and the next morning leads them home.

 

Text Talk- This week we will use  Koko's Kitten. This is a nonfiction piece about a gorilla who uses sign language named Koko and his deep love for his kitten named All Ball.  Our text talk words are: accustomed, affection, aggressive, distress, capable, and console. This will be our last text talk book for the year.   

Science- Last week we switched from talking about paleontology and fossils to geology and the study of the earth. This was a great introduction to our Earth Materials unit. However, this year seemed to take a lot longer for our "mock" rocks to dry out than in the past. I am blaming all the wet weather! :) I finally brought them to school and placed them on the heater in the teacher's workroom.

To fill the time, the class had a chance to make salt dough and use a variety of toys (dinosaurs, animals, trees, etc.) to create an imprint fossil. After some time to dry, we greased the imprint and filled it with Plaster of Paris to create the fossil from the mold. The kids were very excited to crack these open today. They should be arriving home in a ziploc bag. 

We also discussed how different rocks are formed as well as the difference between a sedimentary rock, a metamorphic rock, and an igneous rock. We furthered our exploration with making some crayon rock examples. Monday for Earth Day we discussed the importance of Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling our trash. We also enjoyed some dirt cake. YUM!

Our crayon shavings for rock layers

Igneous rock- sold to a liquid to a solid

metamorphic rock- different layers with pressure and heat fuses together but you can still see the different layers.

sedimentary rock- (not a good picture) rock layers with just pressure, no heat, most fragile of rock types

Finally, today the kids got to get their hands on their mock rocks. Today we talked about the properties of a rock. The students made observations of their mock rocks (fake rocks), by its looks and smell. They created a sketch, a magnified sketch, as well as measured the diameter (across), the circumference (around), and the depth (thickness) in centimeters. Last but not least they used a scale and measured their mock rocks weight in grams. Sorry, I didn't take more pictures. There was some measuring confusion I needed to address! :) 

Tomorrow, the students will get to play geologist and break their mock rocks apart using a nail and more importantly safety goggles. They will have to use their observations from today and what they can see tomorrow to determine what a mock rock is made out of. I have a feeling after a few more experiments, they will want or need to add more ingredients to our list.

 

Writing- Last week we started our poetry unit as April is "National Poetry Month." We started off with some poems where you filled in the blanks and are now creating our own poetry while learning about new types of poetry and new vocabulary poetry can involve. The students are already amazed with the different kind of poetry. Just wait till they continue to watch our list grow throughout the rest of the month.  Students have their own poetry folder they have designed. Each day we collect our poems and add them to their folders. They will be arriving home at the end of the month.

Upcoming dates:  
 4/24 & 4/25 Book Club after school till 4

4/25 4th grade informance 

4/25 Girls on the Run

4/30 1:30 dismissal 

5/3 I am gone at Grant Wood AEA for a PBIS coaches meeting all day- Mrs. Randall is scheduled to be here.

5/6 & 5/7 I am gone to an RTI (Response to Intervention) conference in North Liberty both days- Mrs. Randall is scheduled to be here.  These are hopefully the last days I am gone for the rest of the year! 

5/ 29 3rd grade track and field day (more details to come, I don't know much! :) )

 


Have a great week!  
Mrs. Jodie Yuska

All things April

Wow! It is hard to believe the last trimester is already half way over. I am hoping to send midterm reports home next week. The week of April 15th! :)

There has a been and will be a lot happening in our room, this sometimes means guest teachers as well changes in schedules.  So far the kids have been really good about this. 

Math- Last week we completed a review of math we learned prior to spring break. This included a review of fractions, division, and multiplication facts. We will continue to practice these skills while moving on. This week we started to discuss geometry. So far we have discussed the properties of 2d and 3d shapes. The last few days we have worked on designing open and closed boxes for cubes and determining the number and shapes of cube faces and other rectangular prisms. This helped us learn how they come together to make a whole. Today we will be working on the same concepts with triangular pyramids. 

Reading-   Last week we  read Storm in the Night by Mary Stolz. This story is about a grandson named Thomas who listens to his grandfather tell a tale about a storm that occurred when he was a boy. As he listens, Thomas begins to overcome his fear of the thunderous night while realizing that fear is a natural response.  This week we took our unit test and used reading time to work on our Text Talk vocabulary. 

Text Talk- This week we read  Angel Child, Dragon Child. Book Summary from Scholastic: Ut, a Vietnamese girl attending school in the United States, is lonely for her mother left behind in Vietnam. She has difficulty adjusting to her new life, and her classmates do not accept her because she is different. Then she makes a new friend who presents her with a wonderful gift. A heartfelt, gentle, and realistic story. Our text talk words are: tilted, tender, yearn, gleam, mumbling, and cooperative.  

Science- Last week the students chose a country and did a small research project. They created brochures with travel information, which they presented to the class. 

 

 

This week we have been learning a lot about fossils. I love when I learn new information too! :) With our trip to the fossil gorge tomorrow, we have been learning a lot about paleontology (the study of things living long ago) and what a paleontologist (a person who digs and researches things found in sedimentary rock levels) may do and use. 

 

  
 

Writing- Last week we wrote "Cloudy with a chance of..." stories either by ourselves or in a small group. We took the time to edit our writing and word process them on the mobile lab cart. We took time to write a quick story about if you dug up a dinosaur bone using a t-chart to pre-write. We will print our cloudy stories, illustrate them, and share them with the class.  

Upcoming this month:  
4/12 Field Trip to Coralville
4/15 Pictures and/ or picture DUE
4/19 I will be gone to attend my daughter's Kindergarten Roundup- Mr. Shaffer is scheduled to be in our room.
4/19 LAST day to turn in Book Club signup sheets
Other than that, I believe there is just a continuation of Good News Club and Girls on the Run.  


Have a great week!  
Mrs. Jodie Yuska