"Healthy Plate" Challenge -- iMovie Excitement!

Throughout our Nutrition Unit we have learned about MyPlate, healthy and unhealthy choices, beneficial nutrients and nutrition labels. Before vacation, students put all of their learning and discoveries together to create a balanced plate. Students were presented with the “Healthy Plate” challenge. Students’ healthy plates had to include a food item from each of the five food groups. Students then constructed their food items using Play-Doh and created an iMovie explaining their healthy plate.  Their video included which food group each food item belongs to, nutrients found in their food items and how these nutrients help their bodies.  On Tuesday, students learned how to upload their videos to YouTube and then embed their video onto their blogs!  You can view our iMovies by clicking here.  This was a very exciting project and the excitement comes through on these videos!

Our Week in Review

Biography -- Turning Point

In Reading Workshop we have been learning about the turning point in a person’s life.  The turning point might be an obstacle the person is determined to overcome, a special talent that suddenly gets noticed, or seeking a solution to a problem.   A turning point causes a person to change or leads to a new discovery.  Students learned that a turning point in Rosa’s life occurred on Dec. 1, 1955 when she did not give up her seat on a bus and was arrested.  As a result of Rosa not giving up her set the “Bus Boycott” began.  Rosa is an important person because she sparked the civil rights movement.  Below is the turning point diagram we completed for Rosa’s life. We have also learned about the turning point in Gertrude Ederle and Amelia Earhart's lives.

Monster Skype -- Our buddies Monster

On Tuesday we Skyped with our buddies.  Here are the clues that our buddies gave us to build the monster they created! 

1. He has a sideways oval body that is colored in purple.
2. 6 eyes are on the side of his body. They are square shaped and they're on the side of his body. His pupils are black and the whites of his eyes are colorful. 
3. He has 3 feet that dangle down. They are pink, squiggly and are so long that they go around his body. 
4. His teeth are ferocious and reach all the way down to his feet. They are in the middle of his body and are grey. 
5. He has 9 arms that are turquoise and lay on top of his 3 feet. They are shaped like snowflakes and very hairy. 
6. His mouth is on top of his body and is yellow and very hairy. It is shaped like crayons stacked on top of each other in opposite directions. 
7. The nose is pink and looks like a pig's nose. It is on the right side of his body. 

Hour of Code -- Our Monster!

Apple Sauce is a female monster who, when you are sad makes you really happy.  Apple Sauce lives in Room 6 at Porters Point School located in Colchester, Vermont.

Can you create our Apple Sauce.  Here are some clues to help you! 

We are going to tell you what Apple Sauce. looks like, but don't be surprised if you can never find her, because she is invisible!

Her body is shaped like a red triangle.  

Her face is a blue rectangle.  

Her ears are purple on the side of her body and are shaped like a triangle. 

Right under hear ears are her arms, they are long and straight and the color green.  She has 5 fingers on each arm and 4 thumbs!  

Her legs are at the bottom of her body and are pink and they are shaped like a triangle.   Her feet are yellow and in the shape of a square.   

Her eyes are in the center of her face, they are red and shaped like a square. 

Her nose is green and shaped like a thumb!

What makes her special is she has a heart! 

  

How Do People Celebrate the Winter Holidays?

Wonder #78

One way to celebrate the winter holiday is to decorate a Christmas tree. (Addy)

I think there are three different holidays that everyone knows, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Christmas. (Julien)

One way to celebrate the winter holiday is to get creative, by decorating your house with lights. (Madelyn)

One way to celebrate winter holidays is spending time with family.  (Kaylie)

I think the best way to celebrate the winter holidays is to spend time with family.  (Allison)

I think one way to celebrate the winter holiday is to have Christmas with your family.  (Addison)

People also celebrate New Years.  (Ty)

One way to celebrate the winter holidays is to build things with snow.  (Maddox)

I think one way to celebrate the winter holidays is to have a holiday feast.  (Kayden)

Another thing that you can celebrate is Eid al-Fitr. (Leah and Khadeija)

Some people celebrate Kwanzaa.  (Fiona)

Some people also celebrate solstice.  (Henry)

I learned...

Hanukkah

I learned that Hanukkah starts today (Dec. 17th) and ends on Christmas Eve (December 24th). Hanukkah is 8 days long and they have 8 candles on the menorah, they light a candle each day. (Julien)

I learned that on the dreidel there are Jewish letters.  (Leah Boyd)

I learned that there are words on a dreidel but some people can't read them.  (Harley)

I learned that Hanukkah celebrates people fighting to protect the temple.  (Addison P.)

Kwanzaa

I learned for Kwanzaa they put out a cup for passed away family members.  (Maddox)

I learned that they have three colors for Kwanzaa and they are red, green and black. (Amani)

I learned for food during Kwanzaa they put out vegetables, fruit and corn.  (Danielle)

I learned that Kwanzaa always ends on January 1st.  (Leah Blais)

I learned that on Kwanzaa people give gifts to each other.  (Nick).

I learned every day of Kwanzaa is focused on a different theme.  There are seven days of Kwanzaa.  (Dakota)

I learned that during Kwanzaa people put books, and figures out on the table.  (Krystal)

New Years Eve 

I learned that in Mexico people wear red or yellow underwear to celebrate good luck on New Years Eve. (Kayden)

I learned that in Japan it is good luck to watch the first sun rise of the New Year.  (Fiona)

I learned that some families celebrate New Years and wait up until mid-night. (Devin)

I learned that people celebrate New Years in different ways, by staying up until mid-night to watch the ball drop.  (Addy and Maddox)

At New Years people like to make resolutions to say what they promise to do or one of their goals for the next year.  (Allison)

Christmas

I learned that people go to church to celebrate Jesus' birthday.  (Madelyn)

I learned that on Christmas people usually expect Santa Claus to come.  (Nick)

I learned on Christmas some people put out Christmas trees.  (Charlie)

Nurse Mary Teaches Nutrition!

Nurse Mary came in this morning to teach us new information about nutrients.  We began the lesson by learning new vocabulary words. Some of the vocabulary words we learned about are: nutrients, hormones, enzymes, electrolytes, natural, processed, nonessential, essential.  Nurse Mary talked about how we can make jam from grapes.  She taught us that because the jam is processed it's not as healthy as grapes she brought in for us to taste.  Nurse Mary also taught us that white rice is more processed than brown rice.  We had a great time sorting nutrients and learning new information about nutrition from Nurse Mary -- thank you!

"Show The Rule" - Week of 12.8

This week our "Show the Rule" is a review of the rule we have been following over the past two weeks - the apostrophe.  We have learned that an apostrophe is used in a contraction.  A contraction is a shortened form of two words (one of which is usually a verb).  In a contraction, the apostrophe takes the place of a letter or letters.  Writers also use an apostrophe to form frequently occurring possessives.  For example, an apostrophe is used with an "s" at the end of a word to show ownership.  Below are some examples of how we are "showing the rule" 

Theodor Geisel

I think Theodor Geisel is someone who is doing something good for the world.  (Julien)

I think Theodor Geisel is someone who writes biographies about people.  (Leah)

I think Theodor Geisel is someone who helped change the world.  (Fiona)

I think Theodor Geisel is someone who was in a war that helped the United States.  (Maddox)

I think Theodor Geisel was a president.  (Allison)

I think Theodor Geisel is a leader that helped change the world.  (Dakota)

I think Theodor Geisel is a famous artist. (Devin)

I think Theodor Geisel is someone who traveled around the world.  (Madelyn)

I think Theodor Geisel is someone who has a special talent.  (Addison)

I think Theodor Geisel was a famous adventurer. (Addy)

Our Week in Review: 12.1 - 12.5

Biographies: Names of People/Places and Dates

Last week, during our biography lesson, we continued to learn about the category famous people fall into.  We sorted many biographies into different categories.  The categories we came up with are:

-         First at Something

-         Leader

-         New Discovery

-         Special Talent

On Thursday we learned about a special text feature in biographies: Names of People and Places.  Students learned that we can expect to find the names of people and places in biographies, capital letters are a big clue.  Students went on a names scavenger hunt in biography books.  Below are photographs from our scavenger hunt.  We took a photograph (using the iPad) of a page in a biography, and we then uploaded the photograph to the app, “Explain Everything”.  From there we were able to highlight the names of people and places.  We circled and labeled the names names of people and names of places.  We also discussed how students know whether a word beginning with a capital letter is a person’s name or a place.  Some of our clue words to help us know it is a place are (born in, lived in, moved to, grew up in).

On Friday we learned about the specific text feature in biographies: Dates. Students learned that biographies have dates to mark the special events in a person's life - when they were born, moved, did something special, died, etc. Students look at a section from a biography on the Wright Brother's. As a class we discussed why the date of 1878 is really important. We discussed why the author used that date, and what was important about that time in the Wright Brother's lives. We also discussed important dates in Rose Park's life.

What is a Biography? -- Wonder of the Week 12.1

What is a Biography?

I think a biography is something that is written about someone's life or others. (Madelyn)

 I think a biography is a book written about someone who admires someone else. (Fiona)

 I think a biography is a book that is about someone who changes the world or did something for the world. (Addy)

 I think a biography is a book about someone who is famous. (Kayden)

 I think a biography is a book about someone who is famous and is very kind and did something for the world that is a good thing. (Maddox)

 I think a biography is a true story of someone's life written by another person. (Devin)

 I think a biography is about a special person who helped us make the world a better place. (Allison)

 I think a biography is about someone's life. (Leah) I think a biography is someone who takes pictures. (Kaylie)

 How do historians learn so much about people from the past?

 I think historians learn so much about people from the past by people passing on information. (Maddox)

 I think historians learn so much about people from the past because those people might have been there. (Julien)

 What would it be like to write a book about someone you admire?

 I would like to write a book about motorcycle racers. (Ty)

 I would like to write a book about dog trainers. (Ben)

 I would like to write a book about people who study turtles. (Khadeija)

I learned...

I learned that you can write a biography on anyone that interests you. (Kayden)

I learned that in order to write a biography you need a bio-buddy. (Allison)

I learned that a biography involves history. (Maddox)

I learned that a biography is a book about a person who changed the world or did good for the world.  (Addy)

I learned that a biography can be someone who writes, sings or paints.  (Kaylie)

We learned that when Amelia Earhart went to a plane show it inspired her to become a pilot.  (class)

I learned Amelia Earhart was a pilot. (Holden)

I learned that Amelia Earhart was the first female to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. (Addy)

I learned that Amelia Earharts mom didn't want her to be a tom boy she wanted her to dress like a girl. (Addison)