Friday, December 16, 2011

Many thanks for all the parent help for our party today.  The kids had a great time!  Here are a few glimpses into our celebration:

  

Merry Christmas everybody!  See you in 2012 :)

Thursday, December 15, 2011

First, remember to bring some board games for tomorrow's holiday extravaganza.  We are celebrating from 12:30ish to 2:15.  Stop by if you like!

Second, can you crack today's Cryptic Code?:

!nuf saw yadot, oohoW

-Owen

And finally, sometimes you take a picture at just the right time.  Check it out:

The young man in the middle may or may not have had some excess air coming up to be released, and the young lady on the left may or may not have been scared by the sudden eruption:)  Just another day in Mr. V's class; gotta love it.

Have a great night!

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Can I make a confession?  All the times that I have said that I "forgot" to have a student reflect upon their day for the blog, well, I didn't really forget.  I have assigned/had volunteers for the task each and every day.  But when 2:45 comes, they are walking out the door without a care in the world, leaving the blog cold and lonely.  Unfortunately, this then requires myself to fill the blog with utter nonsense, much like today.  So why are the kids forgetting?  I have narrowed it down to two possibilities:

1. They are literally so busy learning that they don't have time for trivial blog entries.  Or...
2. They just don't love the blog as much as I do...(sigh)

It's definitely option #1.  I guess that's the best of both worlds; the kids are learning, and I get to write nonsense on the Internet everyday:)

Lastly, RIP Spottedleaf, our class will miss your wacky cures for all things cat.  See you all tomorrow!

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Our electricity science test is tomorrow!  Study up tonight, folks.  See you bright and early:)

Monday, December 12, 2011

We have a lot going on this week before the break.  Here are a few highlights:

1. We will be having a science test on Wednesday over our electricity kit.  The kids created a study guide today.
2. We will be having our chapter 6 math test on Thursday over pictographs, bar graphs, venn diagrams, line graphs, coordinate graphs, and ordered pairs.
3. The spelling and homework information for the week has been updated.  Check it out!
4. Our classroom party is Friday from 12:30 to 2:15ish.  Stop by if you like!

There was so much learning going on today that there is no student reflection for the blog.  My apologies.  Surprisingly, today did not involve donuts, which seems like an irregularity these days:)

Friday, December 9, 2011

Important Info:

• Your child's spelling test was not sent home today.  Our schedule has been different this week due to Wheat Week, and we weren't able to do the test until the afternoon, which means I wasn't able to get it graded. 
• We will be taking the Unit 2 Assessment on Monday; we weren't able to fit it in today.
• Join us at school on Wednesday, January 11th (not sure what time yet) for a Robotics Team presentation.  They will be showing off all of their hard work and we would love for all to join.

Today's Wisdom Nugget:

Today we did shares first.  Thomas had a dinosaur battle with Ada.  Today was a good part of being in Mr. Van Dyne's class.

-Jordan

Thursday, December 8, 2011

We did our best impressions of Mr. Wizard today and made some flashlights in science.  Check it out:



Hooray for Hailey!  She stepped up to the plate and delivered a reflection for our blog today.  Thanks, Hailey!  So without further ado...

Today's Wild Weblog:

Today we had shares.  Then, we did math.  After that, we went to music.  We did Wheat Week after that.  We went to lunch, to recess, and then we read the book.  We read two chapters and the second chapter was long!  Then, we did science!  After recess, we had donuts!  We got on the computers after that.  That was the end of the day!

-Hailey

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Late start, Wheat Week, lunch, read aloud, math, recess, and P.E.  That's a pretty good day if you found yourself in the 4th grade.  While I was supervising our afternoon recess, one of the kids asked me how my career was going.  At that exact moment, I was 32 years old and playing a riveting game of foursquare, which makes my answer pretty obvious:  Amazingly!  :)

I assigned one of my table groups to write something for the blog today.  I said they can write individual statements or come up with one collective statement.  They apparently came up with neither.  So, hold on to your hats for this one.

Today's Zany Zinger:

"                           ."

-Table Group 1

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

What's the secret to a good pictograph you ask?  Simplicity.  A pictograph should be so easy on the eyes and quick to understand that even the dumbest animal in the world could read it and go, "Oh yeah.  I get that."  (I gave the kids the example of the deer I saw standing next to his unfortunate friend on this side of the road this morning.  Your friend got hit by a car there, dude, perhaps crossing the road yourself isn't the best idea...) 

Besides pictographs, we did some reading rotations and enjoyed the second day of Wheat Week, where the kids examined the differences between sand, silt, and clay.  They are doing a great job and are learning a lot!

On an unrelated note, words evolve and change and are created from other words.  Today, congratulated morphed into a brand new word with a brand new meaning.  Since I forgot to have one of my students reflect on their day, I leave you with the dictionary entry for this brand new word, which was (accidentally) invented by one of my students:

Gratulated -  (adjective)  Good.  I felt gratulated after doing such a wonderful job on my assignment.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Robots?  Check.  That's right, the Freeman Robotics Club made us all proud at the regional competition this last weekend.  They won 5 of the 8 major awards, and we are sending 3 teams to compete in the state competition.  Congrats to the robotically awesome team members in our class, Owen and Ryan!

Wheat?  Yep.  This is Wheat Week at Freeman Elementary, which means our 4th graders are participating in a lesson everyday brought to us by the Spokane Conservation District.  It's hands-on learning at its best.  Below are some pictures from today's lesson.

Light Switches?  Definitely.  Today we created some light switches for our electricity unit.  We are the masters of electricity...  Check it out:

Today's Sensational Speech:

Congrats to the robotics team!  Good luck at state!  Today was super!  We made switches and they lit!  Sorry about all the exclamation points!  Read tonight because it is totally awesome!

-Ryan 

Friday, December 2, 2011

We had a busy day full of music and Friday tests in math, spelling, and reading.  We also celebrated another birthday with more donuts.  I literally saw kids dunking their donuts into juice before taking a bite (brilliant, crazy, or crazy brilliant?) and I also saw kids taking bites that were bigger than their own heads.  This was quite frightening, but since it was only 20 minutes before I sent them home, I kept from hyperventilating.

Today's Successful Saying:

Today was great!  Wohoo!  We 'bout died from donuts!

-Owen

Now that's deep.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

We learned a ton today.  It was also Kaleb's birthday.  He brought in some donuts.  The following was written by one of them:

Today's Miraculous Message:

I was so excited to visit school today!  I heard the kids couldn't wait until we arrived.  I felt so loved and wanted, and was so happy, until I saw what they started doing to my friends and family...  Well, I guess this is goodb....

-Glazed Donut (Born 12/1/11- Died 12/1/11  RIP)

See you tomorrow!