March+Weekly+Wiki

March 25-28, 2013

This week was dazzling with fun!

This week in Language Arts, we learned about text types. There are six, and they are: chronological order (sequence), description, problem/solution, compare and contrast, question/answer, and cause and effect. We did an assignment on them. There were paragraphs that had these elements, and we had to decide which text type they were. We also learned about adverbs and adjectives. An adverb describes a verb (verbs are action words), and adjectives are words that describe nouns (nouns are people, places, and things). We did a few fun assignments about them and we rocked ‘em! But I think the most fun part of the week was making a book on our laptops. We typed up one of the stories that we wrote this year and we are working on making it into a book. They will be epic! Along with that, we worked on Study Island practicing some more with those adverbs, adjectives, and text types. Language Arts was the best subject this week. I think we can all agree on that!

This week Math had a taste of fractions in it. You can probably already tell that we learned more about fractions, but we also did our usual timed test and morning work. For learning about fractions this week, we did finding fractions of a whole for two days. Then we did multiplying mixed numbers. The way you do multiplying mixed numbers is you have a mixed fraction and you turn it into an improper fraction and cross reduce if you can. After you do that, you multiply the numerator with the numerator and the denominator by the denominator. After that you turn your answer back into a mixed number. That is how you do multiplying mixed numbers. That is why math had a hint of fraction to it this week.

This week in Science we finished up talking about muscles and bones. Can you guess what we’re learning now? Drum roll, please! Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, presenting the nervous system! That’s right folks—we are talking about the nervous system. Do you know what the control center of your body is? The brain, of course! Your brain tells your heart to pump, to blink your eyes, and to wiggle your toes. That’s just a few of the things your brain can do. Also, did you know your brain weighs about 3 pounds? Wow! We also did some activities on our laptops to find out more about the nervous system. What causes pain? Your nervous system! When you touch a hot stove, the neurons in your body send messages to the brain. Then your brain sends a message back to move your hand away. These messages travel about 200 mph. That’s about as fast as a race car driver!

This week in Special Events we did Stack-o-mania! We came in next to last, but what Mrs. Tomlin wanted was the Good Sportsmanship Award. We didn’t win that either, but Mrs. Tomlin was still proud of us because we were the only team that went and shook the hands of the team that beat us. The next thing we did is whoever reached their goal in A.R. got to watch a movie and bring in their own drink, like pop. The movie was really awesome! Next, we had a half day on Thursday because it is the start of Spring Break! Woo-hoo! We have also been going outside often in recess.

This week was out of this world.

By Ashlyn, Sean, Ashleigh and Derek

March 11-15, 2013

This week was fantastic!

This week in Science we learned about cells—animal cells and plant cells. Did you know that a plant cell has a cell wall and a cell membrane? But the animal cell only has the cell membrane. So, a plant cell has more protection than an animal cell. But, both of the cells have many, many thing inside them. So, let’s look at the animal cell first and see what’s in that. Well, we have a nucleus, mitochondria, vacuoles, and cytoplasm. Let’s talk about the nucleus first. Well, the nucleus controls the center of the cell. The mitochondria take the food that you eat and process it to make energy. Next, we have the vacuoles. The vacuole is like a storage space for you. Then we have the cytoplasm. It is like a sack full of jelly that helps protect the organelles and keep them safe. Ok, now let’s talk a little more about the cell membrane. It is a little wall to keep everything that’s in the cell safe and inside the cell. Now, the plant cell is the same. Like I told you earlier, there is only one different thing about them. The plant cell has the cell wall which helps make the plant stiff and stand up. The plant cell also has chloroplasts which give the plant its green color.

Welcome to the show folks. We’ve got a great subject today! Do you know what it is? Correct. Math! Math is better than going to Hawaii with 100 million dollars. You guys will win that if you answer questions and get them correct. What thing do you want to start with first? Adding fractions with unlike denominators, with reducing and regrouping? Okay then! First, you find the Least Common Denominator (LCD) and then whatever you multiplied to get the new denominator, you multiply it by the numerator because whatever you do to the bottom, you have to do to the top. So, now you have your two fractions. Next, you would add the numerators. If the answer is an improper fraction (which is when the numerator is bigger than the denominator) you turn it into a mixed number (when you have a whole number and a fraction). Now to do this, you have to divide the top number by the bottom number. Lastly, you have to reduce. Reducing is when you can divide the two numbers by the same number. Let’s do 2/3 + 5/10. First, find the LCD. Correct, it is 30. Three times what equals 30? You’re right, 10. Whatever you do to the bottom you have to do to the top. Two times ten equals what? Right, 20. So, the top fraction becomes 20/30. Now you go to 5/10 and you do the same thing. Ten times what equals 30. Three, right. Remember the rule folks. Whatever you do to the bottom, you have to do to the top. Five times three equals what? Correct! Fifteen! So, 5/10 becomes 15/30. Next, you add the numerators and keep the same denominator. What was your answer? 35/30 ? That’s right! But you are still not done. It is an improper fraction. So turn it into a mixed number. Now, what did you get? Correct, 1 5/30. Now, you are home free because all you have to do is reduce. (Drum roll, please) Got it right? 1 1/16. Let’s move on to the second thing folks! The next thing is (open curtains, please)…SUBTRACTING MIXED NUMBERS! The only way I can teach this to you is by doing a problem with you. So let’s say you have 1 4/6 – 1 3/5. First, you find the LCD which is 30, and then you make equivalent fractions like we did earlier. Then you subtract the numerators and the whole numbers. That is really all you do. Here’s your problem. What is 1 5/7 – 1 3/7. Subtract 5 and 3. That’s right—2. What about 1-1. Zero, that is correct! Your answer is 2/7. You guys are one step closer to the grand prize. We would be doing this good if it wasn’t for Mrs. Tomlin. We have two more things we did this week—subtracting mixed numbers with unlike denominators and subtracting mixed numbers with reducing and regrouping. The first one? Okay. Sometimes in fractions you have to borrow. So, if you borrow one whole the numerator and the denominator would be the same. Now you subtract. Easy, right? Now you try this. If you get this right, you are just one question away. Do 4 – 4/6. First, borrow a whole number. Now make a fraction that equals that whole number. Did you get 3 2/6? Correct! Just reduce it now to 3 1/3. Now, let’s do the last thing—subtracting mixed numbers with unlike denominators with reducing. You do it the same just that you turn it into an improper fraction and reduce them. Sorry, no one won the prize. Maybe next week when we have new stuff to learn!

Are you ready for why we had an amazing time in Language Arts this week? Well, then I’ll tell you. We started off with Mrs. Tomlin telling us that we will be learning some writing elements. No, not like the Periodic Table of Elements. Our first element was sequence. Let me tell you about sequence. That is the order of writing, basically. Yes, this includes transition words such as first, finally, then, next, etc. Next on the list, we did subject/verb agreement. Here is an example of good subject/verb agreement: My cat pounces on his prey. Here is a bad example of subject/verb agreement: The ducks swims. You need it to be either The duck swims or The ducks swim. You shouldn’t have two “s”s ever. We also are finishing our mystery stories. Perfect week, you say? Oh, well, it gets better! We compared and contrasted! Here is an example of comparing and contrasting. Cakes and cupcakes: Cakes are big with designs on top. Cupcakes are small and have wrappers. Get it now? Good! Then, we worked on cause and effect. This is what that is: if you leave your cart in the parking lot, a car will hit it. The car will stop. Other cars will bang into that car. Do you know what the cause is? Answers: A. The cart is in the lot. B. The cars crash. C. A car hits the cart. It’s A! So, the effect is: A. The cart is in the lot. B. The cars crash. C. The car hits the cart. It’s B! If you leave a cart out in the lot (cause), it will cause a car crash (effect). Therefore, people will get hurt. Today, we did description. That is when you describe something. Here is a yummy description of a French fry. You pick up the warm, golden, crispy fry and lay it carefully into your waiting, hungry mouth. You chew. If makes a satisfying crunch. The salty, scrumptious wonder that is a fry explodes onto your taste buds. You swallow, wanting more. Now, __that’s__ what I call description. I hope you enjoyed my __description__ of our wonderful week.

This week on Monday, Mrs. Upp came in. She talked about anger and what to do if that happens. What would you do if you got angry? Then on Tuesday we had a substitute because Mrs. Tomlin was at a Reading Conference. We had Mr. Panter. He was only here for the day. We all missed Mrs. Tomlin. Then Ashleigh was selected to have her art possibly go to China. So, with that being said, I’d like to congratulate Ashleigh for winning. Lastly, what happened is that our new student, James, has moved again and he is not in school anymore. And we just got him! We are all going to miss him.

This week was fabulous!

By Cierra, Joe, Vivian, and Tara

March 4-8, 2013

This week sizzled!

In Social Studies we did an assessment. Mrs. Tomlin thought it would be an easy 100% because we could use our books. We also did a vocabulary sheet too. I thought everyone would get 100% on that as well. We did something cool this week. We got to pick a colony we read about and then we did a billboard about that colony. When we finished them, we got to put them on our wiki page!!!

In Language Arts this week, we did verbs and transitional phrases on Study Island. Just in case you didn’t know, Study Island is an online “school” where we practice Language Arts, Math and Science. We also started a mystery story. Did you know that a couple of weeks ago we made a mystery poster? We read a mystery book. Then we made a poster about the story. We also did some transition dittos this week. Transitions are words that tell when something happened. For example, now, before, later, then, and first are just a few.

Wow! This week was awesome because so many things happened. First, we had no school on Monday because the teachers had to go to meetings all day. Next, on Tuesday, Mrs. Tomlin had another meeting so we had a sub. All of us missed Mrs. Tomlin, but at least she didn’t have to go to even more meetings! Also, on Tuesday an author/photo journalist came to our school. Her name is Marci Curtis. She has written three books, and all the pictures in those three books are of real kids, and she took all of the pictures of those kids! When we were there, she gave us tips on how to make your pictures look outstanding! So, Tuesday was a good day except that Mrs. Tomlin wasn’t there. Nothing really happened on Wednesday, so I can’t say anything amazing except that Mrs. Tomlin came back! On Thursday we had Student of the Month. The goal for February was honesty, and Melisa was very honest. Keep up the good work Melisa! Lastly, on Friday, we welcomed a boy to our class named James.

In Math, we worked on adding fractions with unlike denominators with reducing and regrouping. We have to put a lot of skills we have already learned together to do this like finding the Least Common Denominator and the Greatest Common Factor. Some of us can do this in our head and it amazes Mrs. Tomlin. Others of us are finding out that we need to learn our basic facts better so that we can be better at fractions.

All in all, this week was the best because so many spectacular things happened!

By Parker, Ashleigh and Brooke