Day 32, Noah-5th Grade Student

Root Beer Lab Goes Home

In my 5^th grade science class with Ms. Monroe we were starting an experiment on sublimation. We used dry ice, root beer extract, water, and sugar. Ms. Monroe poured a gallon of water in a tub, then put 2 cups of sugar in.  Next she put 24 milliliters of root beer extract in.  She put the dry ice in last and it started sublimating (turning from a solid to a gas or from a gas to a solid) quickly. Lots of cold white carbon dioxide started streaming out of the tub.  It was cool to watch and delicious to drink! 

As soon as I got home that night I told my parents all about it. I asked if we could go to the store immediately, but they said not that night. A few days later I asked again but they said no again! Two nights later my dad went to the store to get the ingredients. He got the sugar, but the root beer extract wasn’t there (he got vanilla extract instead), and he didn’t get the dry ice because it might sublimate too much. The next day we went to the store to get the dry ice. When we got it we went home to make it.

First I showed my little brothers what happens when you put dry ice in water. Then my middle brother blew all the carbon dioxide off of the tub we put it in. When my little brother saw that he wanted to do it too, so I had to lift him up so he could blow it too. Then I got another container out and put water, sugar, vanilla extract, and dry ice in and waited for it to get mixed together. While we were waiting I showed them the dry ice on a metal spoon vibrating, and pouring gas. Finally it was done! I poured both of my brothers and my dad a cup and they all liked it. My mom did not try it because she is not eating any sugar right now.  Then I tasted it and said I liked it but not as much as the root beer. I asked my mom if we could go back and look for root beer extract later and she said maybe. It was fun!

Day 31, Skylar-4th Grade Student

Writing About Small Moments                                                                                                                  

We have been working on the writing process in our class. We used leads, endings, and we added show and not tell sentences. I used all these strategies to write my personal narrative about a small moment  on  the Log Ride in Six Flags. Enjoy! -Skylar                                                                                               

The Log Ride

The walls of the castle were made of bumpy gray stone. I passed my hand along them as our footsteps echoed through the empty hallways. We walked up and down the hallways. It seemed as though they didn’t end. But soon, we saw a doorway to the open.  

As soon as we saw the logs, our eyes lit up. We sprinted towards them and hopped in. We jumped up and down in our seats. “Let’s do this!” my friend Jocelyn beamed. The log shifted forward. “Woohoo!” We screeched as we fell down the first drop. So far it was the most entertainment we had all day! There were drops, turns, and a huge dragon squirted us. But we had no clue about the greatest, most colossal drop.

                 

It was forty feet tall. We climbed up in our log. “Good luck,” giggled the employee at the top. He pulled a lever and we zoomed to the bottom! Water sprayed in our faces as it soaked us. When we got back to the start, there was a huge line! We got the ride back in business. We got out and as we opened the door to exit, I passed my hand along the bumpy gray stone once more.

Day 30-Deirdre Chavez, 3rd Grade Teacher

The Little Engine That Could

Reading was never easy for me growing up.  I can remember teachers telling me that I was again in the “earthworm” reading group.  I longed to part of the redbird or even the bluebird group so that I could soar through books.  Almost daily, I would come home in those early years and cry to my mother that I was not ever going to be a good reader.  She also felt lost in how to help me become a good reader. She asked neighbors and teachers how to help me and they continuously told her to read aloud to me. 

After hearing The Little Engine That Could for the 5ooth time, I started to read on my own.  The memories of the love and encouragement given by my mother continues to encourage me today. 

When Regina, our reading instructional coach, came to me and asked for 3^rd grade to have our students create a reading timeline, I jumped (OK… hopped!) at the chance.  We sent home directions and paper for our students to create their own reading timeline of memories.  Below are some of the memories and quotes from their childhood memories. I hope that in the future, I become a spot on their timeline.

AJ-I love reading!  When my mom was pregnant with me, she started reading to me.  It was a cow book.  I don’t remember the name, but I still have it.  Sometimes characters come alive to me and I feel like saying ‘hi’ and then they say ‘hi’ right back!”

AJ's Reading Timeline

Jakob-“I like to read.  Right now, I am reading The Perfect Present.  It is a chapter book.  Sometimes reading makes me feel tired.  I like when I get so excited about reading that I can’t put the book down!”

Jakob's Reading Timeline


Hope-“Sometimes I like to make text-to-self connections when I read.  Books make me smarter. I love non-fiction books especially about horses.  When I learn something in a book about horses, I can use what I learned in my riding lessons.”

Hope's Reading Timeline

Aimee-“Just in Case You Ever Wonder was the first book my mom read to me.  Now I can read it on my own.  Reading makes me feel like I am in part of the book.  It relaxes me.”

Aimee's Reading Timeline

Day 29, Ethan-5th Grade Student

Oh, the pressure!  By Ethan

In Challenge today we studied atmospheric pressure.  We also learned about how molecules act when they’re cold and when they’re hot.  It’s easy to remember because when molecules are cooler they get closer together, like when you’re cold you pull sweaters or blankets closer to you.  When you’re hot, you want to spread out and you don’t want anything near you, like when molecules are warmer they spread out.

We made barometers with a plastic cup, a balloon which was stretched over the top of the cup, and a coffee stirrer glued to the middle of the balloon stretched over the cup. When the pressure was lower the balloon went up, and when it is higher the balloon would go down. We proved this by taking the barometers outside.  The air pressure outside was lower than inside the classroom so we got to see the balloon on the top of the barometer bulge up a little.  It was almost immediate.

Did you know that there is 15 pounds of air pressure pushing on every square inch of you?  We also did an experiment with a water bottle that had a hole in it. The bottle was full of water, and there was no leaking because there was 15 pounds pushing on the bottle. This is called air pressure.  When we loosened the top and allowed more air in the water squirted out, but quit when we tightened the lid again.  Then we emptied the water into an electric kettle to heat the water up. 

After the water was heated, we poured the warm water back into a different water bottle without a hole in it. With that water we warmed the air inside the water bottle. When we put the cap back on, the water bottle started to crinkle because the air pressure was lower inside the water bottle than the air around it.  That’s because when we heated the air inside it expanded and pushed some of the air out.   We took off the cap and the water bottle slowly returned to normal size for the warm air was moving out, and the cooler air was moving in to make the air pressure equal.

Day 28, Lori Davies-Kindergarten Teacher

Super Readers & Super Writers in First Grade!

Our Cimarron first graders have been using their reading and writing superpowers 
as they launch Reading and Writing workshop in 1st grade. 

                                        

A few other “Super Readers” were spotted around school also. J

                                                  

First grade launched Reading and Writing Workshop using two favorite read alouds, Rocket Learns to Read  and Rocket Writes a Story  by Tad Hills, and each student received a special delivery from Rocket – their own reading and writing buddy! 

Students spend time each day reading self-selected “just right” books from their classroom library, writing books and conferring with their teacher about reading and writing.  Their buddies read and write along with them each day. Reading and Writing workshop include both independent reading/writing and partner reading and writing.  Students are also teaching their reading buddies how to read the 1^st grade sight words.

To celebrate their accomplishments, a Reading and Writing Parade complete with floats showcasing their favorite “just right” book read this school year and their favorite writing piece was held during the school day.  Students paraded around school and ended their celebration with a grade level gathering to share their books and writing with new classmates and friends. 

First graders are definitely excited about Reading and Writing!  So if you happen to be at school don’t be surprised if you see loads of books, pens, paper and of course reading buddies in the First Grade hallway! Readers and Writers, off you go! 

Day 27, Kim Yezak-Kindergarten Teacher

How many ways can you make 5?

In Kindergarten we have been deepening our sense of numeracy. We have been studying the number 0 through 5 in depth. We learned how to write the numerals, how to compose (build with real objects) and how to represent the numbers on paper by drawing objects. Most recently we have learned how to compose the number 0 to 5 with different combinations. 

Throughout the weeks, we have focused on one number and it’s “story” each day. We introduced composing the numbers first by making number bracelets. 

For our lesson on composing five today, students referred to these number bracelets before we composed the different combinations with unifix cubes. We also read the story of five that we had wrote out when we made the number bracelets.

The Story of Five

0 and 5 make 5
1 and 4 make 5
2 and 3 make 5
3 and 2 make 5
4 and 1 make 5
5 and 0 make 5

Then the students used two different colors to build combinations.

 

After they built their combinations, they recorded them on their recording sheet. The 

tricky part was not repeating a combination that they already had!

To close our daily math time, students talked with each other about the combinations they made!

According to our young mathematicians....

“I remember when we put the beads on the pipe cleaner. And then we made a chart of number to show many (beads) the number bracelets had on them.” –Ashlan

“We could put two (beads) on one side and three on the other side to make five.  We could make lots of ways.” – Cooper

“Four plus one makes five” - Christopher

“5 red and 0 blue make five!” -Guilianno

Day 26, Robert-5th Grader

I learned about sublimation and what sublimation is. Sublimation is when a solid turns into a gas. An example of a solid that can turn into a gas is dry ice at room temperature. If you put dry ice in water it starts to turn into a gas. You can scoop the gas up in a container and pour the gas into another container. Also, if you put dry ice on metal it starts to move and make noise because sublimation is causing the molecules of the gas to move quickly.

I never thought that you can pour a gas into a container. It is amazing what happened in this lab if you really stop and think about it! I have never heard of sublimation before in my life, but now that I know what it is, I am so excited to learn more about this stuff in the future.