Salt Map of Texas Regions

This week we learned how to make salt maps of the Texas Regions.  Mrs. Nelson gave a bag of salt and flour.  Then we put in 110 mL of water in each bag.  We mixed it up until it made a dough.  Next, we molded it into the shape of Texas.  Finally, we added lines to separate the four regions of Texas.  The four regions of Texas are Coastal Region, The Great Plains Region, Mountain and Basin Region, and Central Plains Region.  We were surprised to find out we are in the Coastal Region.  This is surprising because we are not near the coast.  We will finish them next week when we color the regions to match our map key.

Miner's Digging in Cookies

This week in Mrs. Nelson's class we dug coal.  Our coal was chocolate chips inside of cookies.  We wanted to eat them but we couldn't.  We made miners hats out of cups and black construction paper.  Some of us thought they looked goofy.  Some of us thought they looked like they had real flashlights on them.  We learned that it is hard to replace coal and other natural resources.

Current Events by Jamaal, Kevin, Johnny, and Darwin from Mrs. Nelson's Class

Hey!  Do you ever have that dream where you wake up and go to school in your pajamas?  Well we lived it.  Today, from being so good on TAKS testing days we got to wear pajamas!  Also, we had so much fun we got to watch a movie about a kid that got involved in gangs.  It was called the Buttercream Gang.  We learned that you have to be thoughtful about your friends.  Fighting is never the answer.

Also, we have learned about the Swine Flu this week.  Mrs. Nelson told us to cover your mouth when you cough.  The swine flu is highly contagious.  Some reports about the swine flu have reached Dallas.  So be sure to cover your mouth to protect your self.

Lastly, we feel like we beat the TAKS!  Our big goal was to get commended and we feel like we have done that.  We want to make our teacher, Mrs. Nelson proud.

Book Fair by Korryn

This week our school had a book fair.  There were pet books, cook books, and even books about spiders.  There were how to books also.  There were some pens, wallets, and more.  All purchases benefit the school and it was open at conveniently times.  There was one book there we all recognized-Canned by Alex Shearer.  We have been reading Canned for the past month and we aren't finished yet, as it is relatively long.  Now some of us are done with Canned because we purchased copies of this great book.  Canned is about a boy named Fergel Bamfield who collects...you guessed it, cans.  But not any cans...cans with no labels.  Can you guess what he finds?  Body parts... read this awesome book to find out why.

Korryn's Blog from Last Week

We decided to let all students write a blog then we selected our favorite.  This blog was submitted by Korryn from Mrs. Nelson's Class:

In Mrs. Nelson's Class we have been reviewing math so that we are ready for the math Texas Assessment of Knowledge and skills, or TAKS test.  Mrs. Nelson expects us to receive commended on the test, and I think if we try really hard we could do it.  We take this test quite seriously here, and we already know the math, so we should be able to.  Mrs. Nelson is a good teacher and has prepared us very well.  So bring it on state of TEXAS!!!

Back from Spring Break

How was your Spring Break?  We had an exciting and restful break.  Some of us traveled to visit families while others went to places like Six Flags.  No matter what we did, we all had FUN because we did not have to go to school.  

Now we are getting ready to take the Reading and Math TAKS test.  To help us prepare, we are doing rotations into other teachers classes every Wednesday.  Also, we are charting our progress.  We have a goal to all achieve commended.

Seeds Today, Tomatoes Tomorrow

Have you ever grown hybrid tomatoes?  This week in Mrs. Nelson's class we planted tomato seeds.  Mrs. Wagner brought the seeds, soil, and egg cartons.  First, we put some soil in the egg cartons.  Then, we each got to drop two seeds per cup.  We were surprised how small the seeds were.  Next, we covered the seeds with 1/4 inch of soil.  Finally, we lightly misted the soil with water from a spray bottle.  We are expecting them to sprout in three to seven days.  We can't wait to see them grow!

Science Fair

Have you ever wondered if alcohol can erode a liver faster than cola?  This was just one of the many questions we received answers to in our Science Fair.  This week we finished our projects to enter in the science fair.  We learned about the scientific process.  The first step is to have a problem or question.  Then we had to develop a hypothesis.  After that we did experiments and recorded our observations and data.  We collected our results and made conclusions.  Finally, we decided what we would do next time.  Our class learned that the process never ends.

Snow Day

Burr!!!  It was so cold on Wednesday.  We did not have school  because the roads were covered in ice.  There were icicles hanging from trees and plants.  Many people's car doors were frozen shut.  It was so cold even the grass was frozen.   Most of us stayed home and did not leave the house.  Some of us went outside to play on the ice.  We had fun on this day.  However, we are disappointed that we missed doing writing rotations this week because of the snow day.  Writing rotations are where we rotate to other teachers and learn about the writing traits.  The ones we have learned so far are ideas and organization.  By the end of the day, all the snow was melted and we were ready for school on Thursday.

Symmetry in Nature

This week in Mrs. Nelson's class we learned about symmetry in nature.    Symmetry in math is perfectly congruent however symmetry in nature is not always perfect.   We made butterflies that showed symmetry by the colors of their wings.  We used markers, coffee filters, water, and Wikki stix.  This was a nice break after working hard on the Writing Benchmark on Wednesday.