Halloween Pictures

Well...I'm not much of a photographer, and my camera isn't the greatest in the world, but if you missed the festivities this afternoon, here are some pictures.  Thanks again to all of the parents who donated food for our pre-costume parade celebration!

Enjoy the slide show! (Give it a moment to load!)

Halloween Games and Activities

• FrankenBrain 
• Halloween Pairs Game (Concentration)
• Halloween Hangman
• Write a Scary Story
• Monster Band
• "Dry Bones" Connected
• Halloween Word Scramble
• Make a Jigsaw Puzzle
  

Chalkfest!

Today was an Early Release Day at Oaklawn Elementary. In keeping with tradition, we had an Early-Release all-school celebration: Chalkfest! We set out a big bucket of sidewalk chalk and mapped out enough sidewalk squares for each grade level, and then we let the students have at it! It was a lot of fun watching the kids have fun while expressing their artistic creativity. I took a whole bunch of pictures, but they don't really do the event justice.

Click to enlarge.

Click on this picture of chalk to see the 4th graders in action!

Chalkfest

Subject and Predicate

We took our Theme 1 Reading and Language Assessment on Friday.  There are six themes in our Harcourt Trophies Reading series.  That means we're at least one-sixth of the way done with the school year!  Pretty scary!  Anyway, some of the fourth graders struggled with the section on subjects and predicates.  It's new to them, so it will take some time for them to get the hang of it.  In the meantime, I found a video that helps illustrate the important things to remember when dealing with subjects and predicates.  Enjoy!

Source: http://www.havefunteaching.com

Oaklawn Acorn Dash

The 2nd Annual Oaklawn Acorn Dash was a runaway success!  The Oaklawn PTO/PRIDE members and the Acorn Dash planning committee have truly outdone themselves!  Not only does the event promote physical fitness and family fun, it raises a lot of money for Oaklawn Elementary.  I had a great time running in the 5K and playing some sloppy bass guitar with frozen fingers!  Thanks to all of the Room 148 families that were able to come out and support our school on Saturday, and thanks to everyone who raised money for the Dash!  Just more proof that Oaklawn Elementary is the best school in the world!

Here are some pictures that I have copied from the Acorn Dash Facebook page.  If you couldn't make it, here's what you missed:

Pre-race rally on Friday afternoon.

Getting ready to start the 5K race.  You can see my bald head near the left of the picture.

The Mile Run is about to begin!

UW Stout Gymnastics Team was there to teach tumbling skills.

And the Stout Hockey team too!

Mr. Nelson (far left) was playing with the band!

The morning was capped off with a Mascot Race!

Recycling

Oaklawn 4th graders have a big responsibility in helping our school be environmentally friendly.  It is our job to empty all of the classroom recycling bins into the big collection bins down by the custodial office.  This requires a great deal of independence and self-control on the part of the 4th graders.  With their recycling partners, they scatter throughout the building.  They visit classrooms, the guidance office, the main office, the teachers' workroom and the library.  They need to go about their business quietly and be respectful of others who are working and learning.

To that end, we have had some 4th graders forget about the importance of being quiet and taking their job seriously.  My initial thought was that we would take a break from recycling until the class was ready to do it correctly.  Of course, a few of the kids reminded me that, in the first place, it's not fair to punish the whole class for the misdeeds of others, and, additionally, recycling is our responsibility and it still needs to get done.  (Your kids are pretty smart!)

To solve our problem, we did some re-teaching and reminding about what it looks like and sounds like to do recycling pickup in a responsible and respectful way.  Then we set out to take care of business!  I followed them around and took a little video (of course, I was really just making sure everyone was doing the right thing!)  I'm happy to report that they did a great job!

Here's the very rough video footage (not everybody made the final edit...):

Building Cell Models

This past week in Science, the kids have been learning about animal cells.  We have leaned that all living things are made of millions and millions microscopic cells, and that they are the "building blocks of life."  We learned that cells have parts called "organelles" that have special jobs, much like the organs inside our own bodies.  Here's a diagram from our Science text book:

Yesterday, we made models of cells to help us remember some of the names of the organelles, and maybe even some of their functions.  Here's what we used to represent the parts:

cell membrane - cookie and ziploc baggie
nucleus (the "brain" of the cell) - gumdrop
mitochondria (energy producers) - gummi worm
vacuoles (waste collectors) - raisins
cytoplasm (jelly-like substance in which organelles are located) - frosting

I'm not entirely certain that the Science concepts sunk in once the cookies and frosting were brought out, but I'm hopeful.  There is one way for you to find out!  Here is the quiz that I'm going to surprise them with on Monday:

Cell Quiz

Feel free to download it and go over it with your 4th grader.  There's nothing better than a little preparation!

In the mean time, here are some pictures that I snapped during class.  Enjoy!

Cooper applies the cytoplasm.

Mayanna cuts her mitochondria in half.

Brett places his mitochondria in the cytoplasm.

Zach's finished cell.

Paige is proud of her work!

Mackenzey's cell is good enough to eat!

Cora is pleased with her results!

A Soup Opera

If you have heard a fourth grader walking around and singing in an operatic voice such phrases as, "What seems to be the problem here?" and "I can't eat this soup!" it's all my fault!  This week we enjoyed a fun book written by Jim Gill called "A Soup Opera".  The title says it all.  A man walks into a restaurant and orders a bowl of soup, but he is unable to eat it.  All of the dialogue is carried out in operatic singing.

I didn't actually read the book to the students.  I played the CD while I turned the pages.  No one would want to hear me sing an opera...it wouldn't be pretty.  I found a YouTube video of the opera being performed in front of a live audience, complete with an orchestra and everything.  The director is author Jim Gill himself!

Anyway, enjoy a bowl of "A Soup Opera"!

October Book Project

We are doing an October Book Project!  It's called "Hidden Message", and it will be based upon a mystery book of each 4th grader's choosing.  We had Library today, and hopefully everyone checked out an appropriate book.  If not, I'm giving them until the end of the week, at which time I will make a strong suggestion as to which book they should read.  (That really means that I will pick one for them!)

An instruction sheet was handed out this morning.  You can download your own copy here:

October Book Project: "Hidden Message"

The directions are fairly clear, and we went over them this morning.  I also showed them several examples of great projects and a few not-so-great projects.  Here are a few pictures of a great one:

The Hidden Message project as seen from the cover.

Showing each of the four required pages.

The inside shown, with the secret flaps lifted.

The first step, however, is to READ THE BOOK!!  This will prove to be the biggest challenge for many.  It would be great for them to read a little bit each evening, and then work on the project during the last week of October.  We won't be devoting any class time to this.  Students should complete this at home, or when they have some extra time at school.

The project is due on Monday, October 31st.  Each student will make a short presentation to the class about their book and show off their awesome Hidden Message Project!

Feel free to contact me with any questions that you might have!