The Set Game

Have you heard of this game before? Check out the link under "Looking for Links" on the right sidebar to play! The website has a new puzzle each day. 
This game is also available as a card game and can usually be found in the toy or game department of a store. 
Games that improve logical thinking are fun to play and make you smarter at the same time! 
What games have you played this winter break? 

Holiday Reading

Just before the winter break, Mrs. Alaniz and her students set reading goals for themselves.  We discussed the number of books we would read over the long winter break, as well as which books we would read.  Everyone made sure to get the books they needed from the library or each other!  It was nice to see everyone sharing books.
It is important to set goals when it comes to reading.  If you set a goal, you are more likely to reach it! 
Mrs. Alaniz has read several books so far, including the following three titles:

School of Fear by Gitty Daneshvari




School of Fear reminded Mrs. Alaniz of the Lemony Snicket series.  There is also a second book in this series called School of Fear 2: Class Is Not Dismissed. 

Everything for A Dog by Ann M. Martin



We read A Dog's Life (also by Ann M. Martin) in class. Everything for A Dog is several stories tied into one, and Bone is a character in this book. 

NERDS: National Espionage, Rescue and Defense Society by Michael Buckley

The NERDS sequel is also on Mrs. Alaniz's reading list.  She has a stack of books to get through this winter break. 

The holidays are a great time to read! You can read on the plane, in the backseat of your car as your family rides to Grandma's, or during the day in between holiday activities. 

Have you set reading goals for yourself this winter break? 

Skyping with 4A at CCE

On Thursday, we Skyped with our new buddies in 4A at CCE .  It was our first time "Skyping" as a class, and we LOVE it!

Mrs. Pryor helped set up our Skype session and introduced us to our Skyping Buddies!  Thank you, Mrs. Pryor!

The name of our project was GINGERBREAD SKYPE!


First, each of the 4th graders in both classes designed their own gingerbread house. Then we each wrote a description of our house and sent it to our partners in 4A at Cottonwood Creek through GMail on Google Apps.

When they received our e-mail, they had to draw the house we described.  We did the same thing.  It took a few days to send all of the e-mails and draw the houses.  Here are some examples:

On Thursday, we got together on Skype to compare our gingerbread houses. We learned we had to use really good descriptive details to get similar houses. Most of the time, we were right!

When we were done comparing, we asked each other questions to find similarities and differences between our schools and classes.

SIMILARITIES:

We have the same number of students in our classes (Alaniz-21/Augustine-21). 

We have the same classes for specials.

We also play the same games at recess.

Both classes blog!

DIFFERENCES:

We have recess at different times.  

Mrs. Alaniz is a Longhorn, while Mrs. Augustine is a Red Raider.

We also used TodaysMeet to comment on our experience.
Here is a transcript of our session.

Both teachers are already planning the next Skype project!  

What did you like about Skyping with other 4th graders?

What did you learn about using details in writing?

Winter Holiday Party!

Today we celebrated with our  Winter Holiday Party. 
Everyone was excited to eat, play, and participate in our book exchange.
First, we played a great cooperation game.  Our groups had to wrap a box using these materials.

The winner was the first one to wrap a box completely. The catch was that each member of the group had to hold one hand behind their back.

This is what the boxes looked like before they were wrapped. 

This is what they looked like afterward. 

After this, we were very exhausted.  So we had some holiday snacks.



Afterwards, we had our book exchange.  Everyone walked away with a great book for the long winter break.

What part of the holiday party did you like the best? 



December is Family Blogging Month!

Mrs. Alaniz and her students love to share what they are learning.  To include family members and build our online community, we are declaring the following:

December is Family Blogging Month!

We are inviting everyone to comment:  moms, dads, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, grandmothers, and grandfathers!

Many families will be together throughout the holiday break, so we hope you will read our blog and comment!

Barnes and Noble Fundraising Day!

Today, our school had a fundraiser at Barnes and Noble.  Part of the sales were donated to our school.  Parents and teachers wrapped gifts and greeted at the door, and students sang carols. Also, Mrs. Alaniz volunteered to read aloud to encourage people to participate in the fundraiser.

Mrs. Alaniz chose to read two holiday books.  The first one was Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree by Robert Barry.  It is about a man named Mr. Willowby who gives the gift of Christmas to many forest creatures when he has to chop off the top of his tree. 

Next, Mrs. Alaniz read The Beautiful Christmas Tree by Charlotte Zolotow.  This book is about a man who sees beauty in places others do not.  With love and care, he turns a little tree into a grand one, and provides much joy for other creatures.

Did you enjoy the reading?

Thanks to our wonderful PTO for organizing this event, and thanks to all who attended this day!  Happy reading and happy holidays!

Building Circuits

This week we built circuits in class!

Using only a battery and wires, we lit a bulb! We created circuits (pathways) and used lots of trial and error to get it right.  Sometimes it was frustrating because the bulb didn't light up, but Mrs. Alaniz said this is how scientists feel sometimes.  We didn't give up, and we discovered it on our own! We made sure to help each other!

Next we made a motor run using two D-Cells, four wires, and a D-cell holder.  We controlled the energy with a switch and we made the light bulb at the same time!  Everyone had fun in science! 
Scientists keep records of their learning and experiments so we made sure to draw diagrams in our science notebooks. 

What circuits do you see in your home? What did you like about this experiment?



Polygons, Polygons!

In math, we are learning about polygons. ("poly" means many and "gon" means sides.

These are polygons:

These are NOT polygons:

Can you tell the difference?

Today in 4D we learned about these polygons:

DECAGON---10 sides

DODECAGON--12 sides

SEPTAGON--7 sides

HENDECAGON--11 sides

DODECAGON--12 sides



Super Teacher

Mrs. Alaniz won a Super Teacher Award.  She was happy to get a plaque from Dr. Turner, the superintendent for our school district.  Mrs. Alaniz and the other Super Teachers had lunch with Dr. Turner.  They shared ideas and this made Mrs. Alaniz very ELATED because she loves to learn! It was a nice day for Mrs. Alaniz.  We are proud of her and she is proud of us! 

We all wanted to see the plaque.  It is really very nice! 

40-Book Challenge Update

This week we counted the total number of books read by students in our class.  So far, our class has read 618 books since the first day of school. Everyone is trying to read at least 40 books until the end of the school year.We call it the "40 book challenge". Some people have read over 40 books, and some people have not.  So, keep on reading for the rest of your life! Find something you enjoy and try reading it. Read a page or two of a book. If you don't like it, try another book.
SO KEEP READING!!!!!!!! (especially when you're out of school like during the winter break that is coming up).

Our Tree

In Texas, trees do change!
Evergreen trees have leaves all seasons.  Deciduous trees lose their foliage during the winter. 

Here at DCE, we have an Outdoor Learning Center.  Since we are scientists, we are very observant.  We began to observe a tree near our bench.

These are the photos we took to compare. 

This is what our tree looked like on November 16th.

This is what our tree looked like on Nov. 29th. 

What changes do you see? 

Do you know what kind of tree this is? 

Happy Thanksgiving!

(Clipart courtesy of Microsoft office.com)

Tomorrow, families will get together and celebrate Thanksgiving.
They will watch football games and parades on television, get reacquainted with relatives, travel to Grandma's house, play football in the backyard, and eat lots of great Thanksgiving dishes.

Here's what was probably on the table during the first Thanksgiving in 1621:

• duck
• venison (A favorite food of the Wampanoag: look up this word if it is new for you!)
• seafood
• onions
• cabbage
• corn
• squash

The meal wasn't just one big sit-down feast; in fact, this celebration took almost a week! Two modern favorites that were NOT on the menu: cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes!

What will YOU be eating this Thanksgiving? 

Farfelles and Gooberlings

In class we have been reading The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles. We have been drawing pictures of Whangdoodles (some look like moose, others look like horses, but all look fanciful).

This made Mrs. Alaniz think about more whimsical creatures, such as farfelles and gooberlings (two creatures she came across while reading a book--which Mrs. Alaniz does quite often).

Here's a little problem to solve involving these creatures:

There were 39 creatures in Sam's drawing.  He drew 2-legged Gooberlings and 4-legged Farfelles.  If there were a total of 122 legs in the drawing, how many Gooberlings and Farfelles were in Sam's picture?

Do you know the answer:
(Hint:  Make a table or a chart to find the solution.)

(Source:  Scholastic: Tic Tac Math: Grades 5 & Up)

First Day of Fall Break

By: Mrs. Alaniz
Today, we are all enjoying our first day of a well-deserved fall break. What I really love about a vacation is that it allows me uninterrupted time with a good book! 

I am currently reading The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan (among other books). 



This is Rick Riordan's latest book.  Some students in 4D have already finished it!








As I started reading this book, I found myself getting lost in the plot and setting.  I made several text-to-text connections as I came across the names of familiar characters from other books (I won't be a spoiler and mention them here). 

I hope all the students in 4D have a great book for their fall break.  Carry a good book wherever you go this week and those minutes will add up to lots of great reading time.

What good book are you reading right now?   




Recently this week, we learned about adjectives. An adjective is a word that describes a noun. There are 2 types of adjectives: what kind and how many.

What are some examples of adjectives?

• pesky
• precarious
• two

Here are some ways we used adjectives:

• DCE students are very cooperative.
• Our class is very intelligent because we read books all the time.
• Our teacher is the best teacher in the whole world.

Adjectives are great because:

• They make the noun easier to picture.
• They make our writing more intriguing.
• They make our writing clear.

How do YOU use adjectives?

Surprise for Mrs. Alaniz!!

Last Friday Mrs. Alaniz got a huge surprise!  Dr. Turner, the Superintendent of Coppell ISD, came to give Mrs. Alaniz an award.  Mrs. Alaniz was named SUPER TEACHER.  The prize was for our amazing blog.  Mrs. Alaniz got a Super Teacher t-shirt and a magnet.  She is also going to get a plaque. We have worked hard on the blog, so we were so happy. It's fun to blog! We have had 1180 page views! Keep reading our blog and don't forget to comment!

Our New Read-Aloud

This is the 30th Anniversary Edition cover!  It was first published in 1974.

Our current read-aloud is The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Andrews.  A fellow teacher recommended this book to Mrs. Alaniz.   After reading A Dog's Life, we were really hoping to read another good book. So far, this book is exciting. In the story, three siblings are curious when they meet a mysterious man at the park who tells them all about the famous 'Whangdoodle' creature.   The creature, according to the man, looks like a moose and a horse, and has short horns. . .

Have you ever seen a Whangdoodle?  If you do, send it to our classroom! We're drawing pictures of them and everyone's look so different!

Live Blogging! Virtual Field Trip!

(This post is live from 4D!)

Mrs. Alaniz and her students are on a virtual field trip right now!  We are visiting the Plimouth Plantation. (Plimouth is not misspelled; it is the original spelling.)  The webcast comes from Scholastic, and explains the history of the Pilgrims, and the Wampanoag people.  We are learning all about the clothing, housing, and customs of the Pilgrims, and we are learning from the actors who portray Pilgrims and Wampanoag who currently work on the Plimouth Plantation. 

We will tell more after the field trip!

What is the MATTER? A Liquid Layers Experiment

In science, we have been studying MATTER.
Matter comes in 3 states:  LIQUID, SOLID or GAS. 

Three properties of matter that can be measured are:
MASS, VOLUME, and DENSITY

Mass:   The amount of matter something contains
Volume:  The amount of space something takes up
DENSITY:  The amount of matter compared to the amount of space it takes up

We conducted an investigation to study density and how it affects BUOYANCY (the ability of matter to float in a liquid or gas).

First, Mrs. Alaniz gathered the following materials: water, corn oil, maple syrup, and food coloring.

In our science notebooks, we predicted what would happen if we poured these materials together in the same cup.  We discussed the DENSITY of the corn oil compared to the density of water. Then we discussed the DENSITY  of the syrup compared to water.

Which of the liquids has BUOYANCY?

To answer this question, Mrs. Alaniz first put a few drops of food coloring into the cup of water.  (This would make it easier to see later.)

Then she filled another cup with corn oil.

Next, she filled another plastic cup with maple syrup.  (Our classroom smelled like pancakes on Sunday morning!)

What would happen when Mrs. Alaniz poured the syrup in the water?  We OBSERVED and it looked like this:

Then it looked like this: 

Because the maple syrup was DENSER than the water, it sank to the bottom of the cup. 

What would happen when we poured the oil into the cup of water and syrup?  We predicted in our notebooks.  Then Mrs. Alaniz poured the oil slowly down the inside of the cup and we OBSERVED what happened. 

It looked like this:

What do you think happened?  

Since the corn oil is less dense than water, it formed a layer on the top of the water. 

What can you conclude about the BUOYANCY of the liquids? 

We communicated our results in our Science Notebooks. 

One other conclusion:

SCIENCE is LAYERS of fun!!!

Our Animal Buddies

A New Friendship in 4D

Our class mascot, Bevo, and Mr.Gobbles are showing friendship in this photo.  One of our classmates is taking care of Mr. Gobbles.  Here they are both  relaxing in this wonderful chair.  Gobbles is representing our class well during this month, and Bevo makes Mrs.Alaniz happy cause he is a Texas fan like her.  Bevo was a gift to Mrs. Alaniz from a student. He comes from the State Fair!

4D Secret Problem of the Day

Message from Mrs. Alaniz to all of her students:

Meet me at the door on Friday morning with the answer to this question:

How many days are in a leap year?  

See you in the morning!

Our Top Ten Books in 4D

Our class is finding our top 10 books.  We are doing this because it will help our classmates find books.  Mrs. Alaniz told us that she uses a top 10 bestseller book list.  First, we all wrote our top 10 books.  Then from those top 10 books we picked our top 2 books.  After that Mrs.Alaniz  took all the books that were repeated the most and put those books in a list of  26  books. We all voted which books were going to be our top 3 books. A committee of four students “tabulated” the results.  Here are the top three books in order.

#1:  11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass

#2:  Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

#3:  Umbrella Summer by Lisa Graff

Now we are going to find the rest of our top ten books and share them with the school!

40-Book Challenge Update: It's a Record Breaker!

Mrs. Alaniz challenged us in August to read 40 books this year.  We call this our 40-Book Challenge. 
Mrs. Alaniz is proud to say that as of Nov. 1st, our students have read a total of 355 books!  Wow!  Mrs. Alaniz is so very proud of her class.  . .

We know that to be good readers we must READ every day.   Mrs. Alaniz helps us set goals for our reading, and we even set goals for ourselves, too.  

What is your reading goal?

Keep reading!

Nature Discovery

This bird's nest was found by a 4D student's dad. He was working with a tree in the front yard one day, and he found this perfect, circular nest.  (Mrs. Alaniz says: Perfect and circular are adjectives!) The student's mom thought the tiny nest would be perfect to take to school to show our class.  This tiny nest is interesting!

Mrs. Alaniz asks:  What type of bird builds a nest like this? 

Kate Klise Comes to Denton Creek

Author Kate Klise stopped by Denton Creek last week.  Ms. Klise is the author of many children's books. Dying to Meet You, published in 2009, is one of our Texas Bluebonnet Books.  Many of the students in 4D have read this book and loved it. 

Ms. Klise's presentation was very interesting and lively!  She offered many tips on writing.  As fourth graders, this is important to us!  Mrs. Alaniz liked these tips in particular:
As Ms. Klise says:

• "Just be quiet and write.  (Your first draft can be a mess!"
• "Rewrite slowly." (According to Ms. Klise, the number of drafts you should have equals your age divide by two. )
•  "You'll figure it out as your write it." We don't have to have it all figured out! 

We felt immediately inspired to take out our notebooks and write. 

This was not Ms. Klise's first visit to DCE.  She first spoke here in 2005.  Mrs. Alaniz met her then and posed for a picture with her.  Here is the 2010 picture with Ms. Klise and Mrs. Alaniz.  Mrs. Alaniz is holding the 2005 photo. 

A picture within a picture! 

Ms. Klise and Mrs. Alaniz laughed about this!  Where would they both would be in 2015?  (Better yet, what would their hair color be?) Only time will tell!

Be inspired by authors like Kate Klise!  Write your own story today! 

We Reached Our Goal!

If you've been reading our blog regularly, you know Mrs. Alaniz began a compliment chain for our class.  Each time we receive a compliment from a teacher or staff member in the halls, at recess, at lunch or anywhere at school, we add a link to our chain.  Our goal was to make our chain touch the floor. 
Here's what our chain looked like in September:


Sept. 17th: Just beginning our journey!

We are happy to share that we have reached our goal and our chain looks like this now: 

We even had an extra link!  We are so proud!

Mrs. Alaniz is very proud of her class! They collaborated  and reached this accomplishment together.

We will have our treat next week.

A very smart student in 4D suggested that we keep the chain hanging from the ceiling and start a new one.  That's what we will do!

4D knows that once you reach one goal, you've got to set a new one for yourself! 

Canned Food Update

This is what our Canned Food Sculpture looked like today.



A creative tower of ramen noodles, soup, cocunut milk, etc.  . . . .

We appreciate all the donations for our canned food drive!  Thanks to a VERY generous last-minute donation this morning, we were able to add to our sculpture and help the hungry in North Texas.

How else can you help the world?  

Bluebonnet Books Deadline

Mrs. Drawbaugh gave us an update on our Bluebonnet books today.
Many of the students in 4D are close to reaching 10 books.  The deadline has been extended until Monday, November 1st (end of the school day).  If anyone needs the books, head on over to the William T.Cozby Public Library this weekend and check them out.  You can take the tests on Monday. 

(See our September postings for the Bluebonnet titles.)  

Let's reach our goal of 10. . . or 20!!! (If your goal is 20, then your deadline is January, 2011.)

"Kick Drugs to the Can" Food Drive

Our fabulous DCE PTO is sponsoring a "Kick Drugs to the Can" food drive as part of Red Ribbon Week.  The food drive will benefit the Lewisville Salvation Army. 

Remember to bring in any of the following items:

• canned meat, soup, or fruit
• dry beans
• rice or pasta
• dry milk
• coffee
• ramen noodles
•  canned yams
• marshmallows
• juices
• snack crackers 
• stuffing
• flour and sugar

We are building a sculpture outside of our classroom with the items that are donated.  So far our sculpture looks like this:

Let's make a great sculpture and help the world at the same time!

Our Class Mascot

   
If you have seen a bear in the chair by the smart board, you have seen our class mascot.
Our class mascot sits in the chair and smiles all day long. When Mrs. Alaniz reads to us, he sits by her. When we line up, he sits and smiles at us. He is happy now that he can smile. Now, let me tell you the story of The Bear Who Found His Smile. One day, the bear's smile fell off. His mouth was gone. But the sad little Texas bear still sat in his chair. That is, until one day Mrs. Adams sewed a new smile on his face. Now, thanks to Mrs. Adams, the bear smiles, and smiles, and smiles. So, if you ever see a Texas bear smiling in a chair, you have seen our class mascot. Mr. and Mrs. Adams say "That little Texas bear now has some aggie spirit sewed in."

There's another mascot that's near and dear to Mrs. Alaniz's heart:
BEVO.  Everytime Mrs. Alaniz goes to Austin for a game, she gets to see the best mascot in the entire world!

How Does A Fish Breathe?

Today in 4D, we conducted an experiment to answer the following question:

How is the breathing rate of a fish affected by different environments? 

Mrs. Alaniz brought in some goldfish. 

 We were very surprised to see them, but we are always ready for new things!
In science, we have been learning about adaptations (body parts or behavior that allow an animal to survive in its environment). 
To solve the problem, we observed our goldfish. They swam slowly, staying at the bottom of the "aquarium".  Then we counted the number of gulps the fish took for 30 seconds.  We did three trials and took the average using a chart and a stopwatch.

We wanted to see if the goldfish would breathe the same if it was agitated, so we moved the aquarium gently and counted the gulps again.  The number was higher!
Finally, Mrs. Alaniz gave us a bag of ice. We put the ice in the aquariums, waited five minutes, and counted the gulps again. (We also repeated the trial and took the average.) This time the rate was slower!

Our conclusions:
Moving the water causes the fish to breathe rapidly, while cooling the water causes the fish to breathe more slowly.
This behavior is an inherited trait.

Our vocabulary words today:   respiration and agitation. 

A Dog's Life

This is our current read-aloud in 4D.

We are  reading A Dog's Life by Ann M. Martin. It is about a dog named Squirrel. It tells about her life as a puppy. It also tells us a bit about her mother and brother.  Whenever Mrs. Alaniz stops reading, we always want more!

Learning About Native American Tribes in Texas

We are learning about four Native American tribes that lived in Texas.

Jumano: They used hollow gourds and hot rocks to cook.

Comanche: They lived in teepees made from long poles and buffalo hides.

Caddo: They lived in east Texas in the Piney Woods.

Karankawa: They scooped out long logs for dugout canoes.

4D wonders how they live without the things we have today!