Just a Few of our DES Memories . . .

By the fourth graders

From kindergarten, we remember making friends, playing in rice, and reading Dr. Seuss. We loved when Mrs. Sharp took out the hedgehog, and we were amazed by her startling Halloween transformation. We remember playing with LEGOs and the giant marble trail. We got to go to Huntoon Farm on a hayride.

Some first grade favorites include being the younger Book Buddy and playing Twenty Questions. We loved dressing up in the Halloween clothes and laughing together. We remember reading almost everything by Roald Dahl that year.

Some sensational parts of second grade include getting Pandabear on our desks. We really liked the checkbooks and ticket store to learn to manage our money. We remember getting to read all the Mouse and the Motorcycle books.

We have third grade memories of going through the caves and the Lemon Squeeze at Lost River. We liked finding out about how the Shakers lived at Shaker Village with the fourth graders. Some of the amazing books we read were City of Ember, People of Sparks, Tale of Despereaux, and Gulliver’s Travels. Wow. We’ll never forget picking apart the “moon rocks” with a nail.

Some DES fourth grade memories are being a mill worker and getting paid at Belknap Mill. We thought everything was awesome about NH RiverDay, especially playing recorders by the waterfall and touching lots of forest things. We’ll always remember using our best manners at our Unbirthday Tea Party, writing with Mr. Van, mushing by pulling the dogsled, and doing the talent show.

Thank you, everyone at DES, for our wonderful ROCKing years here!

Day 2!

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So, fourth graders, what have you liked about our class so far?

*We like the extra time outside doing teambuilding.

*R5(Read, Relax, Reflect, Respond, Rap)  It was really quiet today, and there was a lot of time to read and to enter the READING ZONE!

*The stuff we’re learning feels comfortable, challenging, and fun.

*We have already made good friendships, and it’s nice having a new student in our class.

*Our teacher helps us to know what to do to be successful!  We ROCK as a class!

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Chit-Chit-Weeeee!

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Chit-Chit-Weeeee!

by Alex the Writer

Hi!  I am Alex.  I am going to talk about the American goldfinch today.  If you’re wondering what the title means, it is the noise of a goldfinch (chit-chit-weeeee!)!  The American goldfinch actually can change color in different seasons!  Did you know that?  If you want to see one, look for a yellow body and face with a black forehead, a notched tail, and bold white bars on their brilliant black wings.  I took some pictures of the goldfinches at our feeder so you can see the winter colors.  Hope you find one!!!

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NH Nature Poem

NH Nature Poem
by Madi
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The wind blew, and the grass waved.
My hair flowed like the last wave.
The leaves fell, and the snow twinkled.
The rain shone, and the wind whistled.
Who would think that such beauty could come
To our New Hampshire state?
The stars will shine,
The moon will smile,
And the sun will glow with glee,
Just for you!
New Hampshire, I love you.
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I Love New Hampshire

I Love New Hampshire
by Kiara
poem3

You say, why do I love New Hampshire?
I’ll tell you why!
I love all the waterfalls, lakes, and rivers.
In the fall you can hear the leaves
Crinkle in the wind.
All the leaves are turning
From green to yellow to red—

Ruby red and golden yellow!
The nature in New Hampshire
Is like beauty to me.
No other state is as beautiful as you,
New Hampshire!
You can hear the beauty in the wind,
And the birds make their own beauty
With their soft music.
I watch the glistening New Hampshire stars.
I love you, New Hampshire!
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Make It So!

Hopes and Dreams

There’s something about a fresh start that is so appealing. Every year the new year in August prompts us to reflect on the possibilities ahead of us. What do we hope this year will be? What kind of place do we want our room to be? Who do we hope WE will be in this community? What do we hope to give to others this year?

James: I hope we learn science because I like it when stuff starts going everywhere.

Madi: I love imagination. I believe in fairies and other fairy tale things. I really hope we do a lot with imagination.

Mackenzie: I hope to be a vet when I grow up.

Brandon: I hope to learn more math and science to help me be a better baseball player.

Collin: I want to be a second grade teacher someday because I love math and I love little kids.

Jesse: I hope to become a scientist.

Kearsis: In fourth grade, I’d like to be a PAL—somebody that helps people out if they have a problem.

Kiara: In my Smiley World, everybody loves math, art, writing, social studies, science, and SCHOOL.

Alex: I want to get wet and catch pigs (wild pigs), go to zoos, and go to animal museums.

Dylan: I am curious about how to fly.

Miss Blessing: I hope to make at least one dream come true for each of my students this year, whether that might be to be surrounded by zapping science everywhere they look, or to challenge themselves to be the supreme mathematician of DES, or who knows!

Mrs. D.: I just hope that the children reach their goals. I already have the feeling that they will reach and surpass!

As our spyglass book said, now that you know what you hope this year will be, MAKE IT SO!

***Check out each student’s complete writing about his or her hopes and dreams on the soon-to-be-posted individual blogs!

How-To Projects

What fun to learn from each other!  Are our directions clear?  Do they have strong verbs and very specific details?  Does our order make sense?  After a unit on how-to writing, each fourth grader created a paper and project that would teach us about something about which they are experts. 

 Alyssa demonstrated how to care for Hot-Rod.

 Some of us had never tried Grav Lax  before Danny shared his recipe with us.

 Phalen is a lego expert and showed us how to build a house.

 Yum!  Tylor sure can cook!

 Can you whack the pitch after hearing Kayla’s directions?

 Kelsey shared her cat grooming tips.

 

Hot Water, Cold Water

Scout’s response to our science/math connection open response problem this week:

When Madeline’s family goes camping, they freeze water in plastic jars with lids to put in their coolers to keep the food cool.  Madeline filled three jars all the way to the top and screwed on the lids.

 Later she went to the freezer to get the jars and found that all three jars had burst open. Her mom gave her three new jars and suggested that Madeline put in just enough water, so that when it froze, ice would fill the far just to the brim.

 One jar held 500 ml, one held 1000 ml, and the third was a 2-liter bottle.  Madeline remembered from science class that when they froze 45 ml of water, the ice expanded to fill 50 ml of space.

 How can you use this information to figure out how much water Madeline should add to each jar so that, when it freezes, ice fills the jar just to the brim?

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work section:

45+45+45+45+45+45+45+45+45+45

45×10=450

45 makes 50

50×10=500

First, I read the question carefully.  Then I analyzed it to see what they wanted to know.  They wanted to know how much water Madeline should add to each jar so that when it freezes, ice fills the jar just to the brim.  Then I checked with my smart brain to see if there were any tools I could use.  I used pictures and lattice and my most valuable tool—my brain.

 I drew ten 50s to make the 500 ml jar.  I poured 45 ml in a jar 10 times.  I did it ten times because 10×50=500.  I put 450 ml in the water jar.

 I knew 1,000 ml is twice as much as 500 ml.  Then I figured that if the jars were twice as big, then I would need two amounts.  So I used lattice to do 450×2=900 ml.

 Then I knew that a 2-liter jar is two times the size of 1,000 ml.  I did 900×2=1,800 ml. 

 Then I checked my work by reading it over to two wonderful teachers—Miss Blessing and Mr. Van.  That is how I did my work today.  To all the younger students reading this problem, just think and you will do your math perfectly.

 500 ml jar:  450 ml                        1,000 ml jar:  900 ml                        2-liter jar:  1,800 ml

Word Choice Fun

 

We know that carefully chosen, relevant, and interesting details make our writing better.  This week we read list poems in the book 1,400 Things to be Happy About, and then wrote our own list poems with attention to our reader-hooking details.

 

10 Things to be Happy About Pets

by Kayla

 

1.  Greeting at the door

2.  Taking time for a snuggle

3.  Slobbery kisses

4.  “Woof!”

5.  Feeding time

6.  Little claws on your hand

7.  Sneaking food under the dinner table

8.  Pet shows

9.  Lots of hair on your rugs

10.  Choosing the right name

 

10 Things to be Happy about Hot-Rod

by Alyssa

 

1.  A wet wake-up

2.  Moist nose

3.  A guard at night

4.  A cute “Good morning”

5.  7:00 bike ride

6.  Herding and agility

7.  Someone waiting in the car

8.  Fetch!

9.  Soaking wet kisses

10.  Shake after a bath

 

 

Some Zapping Thoughts from the Fourth Grade Scientists!

What could be more thrilling than making magnetic discoveries and experimenting with magnet detectors?  The fourth graders have begun their magnetism and electricity unit!

 

Mrs. Moses from PSNH told us “The Shocking Truth About Electrical Safety” this week.  Visit Electrical Safety World at www.psnh.com (click on Community).

 

I had a nail stuck to a magnet, and when I touched the nail to a paper clip, the paper clip stuck to the nail.  Why did this happen, Fried Chicken? 

 

“You see why this happens is that when the magnet touches the nail, it becomes a temporary magnet.  That means now the nail can attract other iron or steel objects.  But if you take the nail off, it cannot pick up any objects.  That is because once the magnet touches the nail, it has induced magnetism to pick up the thing, but when you take it off, it can’t pick up the paper clip.”

 

We hid magnets inside boxes and had to discover where they were with magnet detectors like iron filings.

 

Scout reported, “I think that magnets were better magnet detectors than iron filings, compasses, or iron objects because if you put the magnet on a spot and flip the box over, then you would know if the magnet was in that spot.  The force would pull the magnet to the spot the hidden magnet was in.”