Mentos in the News

http://dunes.cincinnati.com/pubnews/story.aspx?id=122892&siteID=1

Enjoy the Holidays

Great news! Not a single person in our class has any missing work! What a great Christmas present for me!
Congratulations to Holly Su, Molly, and Logan for reaching their individual Accelerated Reader goals for the month of December. The next AR lunch will be at the end of January. Keep working towards those goals!

Science Test Tomorrow

Please study for the 10 question science test tomorrow. Students need to identify changes as either chemical or physical and give evidence to support their identification.

The Christmas party begins at 2:00 tomorrow.

Foods to Consider for Science Test

• biscuits
• strawberry smoothie
• cottage cheese
• scrambled eggs
• trail mix
• orange juice
• orangesicle
• toasted marshmallows
• toast
• fruit salad
  

Math Test Tomorrow

Math textbook pages 352-353 have been assigned as extra credit for all, but there are a few students who are required to complete this assignment. They should know who they are. The extra credit is due tomorrow before students take their math test.
Students also have a social studies test tomorrow.
The informational literature projects were successfully completed today. The next project is due February 1 and should be a biography. Every student in our class was given a biography poster project to aid in the completion of this project.
In science students made pancakes and looked for evidence of chemical and physical changes. Evidence of a chemical change always includes A new substance being formed and may also include one or more of the following: An odor; Bubbles which indicate a gas has formed; an unexpected Color change; a Different temperature; and Energy in the form of light given off. Chemical changes cannot usually be reversed. The key difference between a chemical change and a physical change is that in a physical change no new substances are produced. On Wednesday's test, students will be asked to identify which foods should be on the menu at The Chemical Change Cafe. The Chemical Change Cafe only serves food which has undergone a chemical change. When analyzing whether or not a food can be placed on The Chemical Change Cafe's menu, students must give evidence to support their ideas. For example, trail mix can not be placed on the menu because it is a mixture and has not gone through a chemical change. Trail mix is not a new substance because it can be sorted into its orginal ingredients. Buttermilk biscuits can be served at The Chemical Change Cafe because they go through a chemical change. Evidence of a chemical change in biscuits includes bubbles formed by gas when the biscuits bake, an odor (aroma) produced by baking, and most importantly, a new substance is formed. Once the biscuits are baked, you cannot remove the individual ingredients used in the biscuit batter so the change is NOT reversible.

Mentos Science

" It was awesome!" was the general consensus of the Mentos and soda pop experiment. Anyone interested in buying the geyser tube can check out Steve Spangler's website. Steve's website also explains the science behind the explosion. We also watched the Mythbusters' episode that explored the ingredients that cause this sticky eruption.

No homework packet or spelling until 2008!

Homework:
math multiplication worksheet
any other work not finished at school (language, science)

Please check interims for missing work.
Have a great weekend!

What is a Chemical Change?

Today the third grade students presented their Christmas program to parents and students. The fourth grade students enjoyed seeing the third graders perform the same songs that they had performed themselves last year. The third graders did a very nice job.

Today we...
...took a math test.
...completed our reading tests on The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.
...edited a spelling list.
...practiced action and linking verbs.
...finished reading Frindle.

Tomorrow we will...
...work through 6 different experiments and determine whether the changes are chemical or physical.
...continue with multiplication.
...finish our reading packets.
...eat lunch earlier because of third grade Grandparents' Day.

Are you and your child having trouble with multiplication? Try this site on lattice multiplication. It's not the way I learned multiplication, but sometimes it's easier for those who "don't get" traditional math.

Science is Yummy!

We are continuing with multiplication in math and Ohio tribes in social studies. Today we are reading chapters 6 and 7 in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. We will take the AR test tomorrow since we finished the book earlier than planned. Verbs are our language topic and chemical/physical changes are science.

Ask your child about mixtures and solutions in science. Are they chemical or physical changes?

Spelling Bee Coming Soon

Today we:

1. read chapter 5 in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.
2. created a foldable study guide for physical and chemical changes that we will finish tomorrow.
3. learned some multiplication tricks.
4. continued learning about tribes in social studies.

Coming Attractions:

• Friday, December14: Homework Packet due; Interims; Discovery Centers (everyone gets to go to LEAP!)
• Monday, December 17: Literature Projects due (Informational text)
• Wednesday, December 19: Science test (Chemical and Physical Changes); Christmas Party
• Thursday, December 20: Christmas Break Begins
  

January 7-11: We will take the practice achievement test this week.

The school spelling bee will be January 10 from 1:30 until 3:00. Only 5 students from each third and fourth grade class (30 total) will participate. In order to determine which 5 students from our class will represent room 220, we will have a class spelling bee the week we return from Christmas break (January 2-4).

2 Hour Delay

We watched Bill Nye today in science. In math we estimated then multiplied and did page 72. We took a spelling test and completed a grammar verb review. We also finished ThinkLink testing and read chapter 4 in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.

Next week we will finish The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. We will also STAR test to get new reading levels. There is no spelling next week. Santa Shop make up time will be on Monday and Tuesday.

Snow Days

I hope everyone enjoyed the day off yesterday!
Today's Assignments
Math - p. 71
S.S. - Northwest Ordinance worksheet
Science - continued working on Changes in Matter stations
Reading - read chapter 3 The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.
Language-power verbs

Tomorrow's Plans

• take spelling test
• do ThinkLink testing
• turn in spelling packet
• turn in homework homework
• other stuff:)

Rocket Club

Today's Assignments:
Reading-The Best Christmas Pageant Ever chapter 2
Math-multiplication (3 digit by 1 digit) workbook p. 68
Science-Changing Matter centers
Social Studies-tribe work

Homework:
Anything not finished in class
packet
spelling

Please note that there have been some significant changes in Rocket Club qualifications. The majority of the Elementary teachers felt that last year's requirements were not stringent enough for this elite group, so a committee was formed and changes made. This year's requirements are as follows:

• No more than 3 absences.
• No more than 6 tardies/early dismissals.
• No more than 3 missing assignments. If an assignment is missing for multiple days, it will count for multiple missing assignments.
• No red cards.
• No more than 3 yellow cards.
• In fourth grade preparation for classes is also a requirement. Students may not come to class unprepared more than 4 times without consequences. Since we switch classrooms and teachers 3 times per day, students may be marked for lack of preparation more than once per day.

Please encourage your child to be prepared, do his/her work on time, and follow directions. I would love to see every student be a member of this elite group, but it does take effort to achieve.

Meet the Herdmans

We will be reading The Best Christmas Pageant Ever until Christmas break. We are trying something different with this novel unit-each student has received a packet of all of the work that is due when we finish the book in two weeks. We will read and discuss one chapter per day together, but students may work at their own pace as long as they complete the minimum requirements per day. At the end of the book, each student will take two computerized tests on the book-one is an AR quiz and the other is a literacy skills test. There will NOT be a written test on this book.

Literature Projects are due on December 17, but may be presented earlier if time allows. Informational text is the genre for this report. When choosing a text, help your child choose a topic that really interests him/her. If the book seems a bit short, have your child read more than one book. For another copy of the report requirements/planning sheet, click here.

Today's Assignments

Math quiz

Social Studies worksheet

Science worksheet

This Week's Homework:

Packet

Spelling

Next Week:

No spelling :)