Oreo Moon Models

Learning the 8 phases of the moon can be tricky. To help visualize this concept, we make moon phases models with America's favorite cookie: OREOS!!!!

The students LOVE this project and their reward when completed is to enjoy two fresh Oreos. Of course, they ask if they can eat their models too which is pretty hilarious since they look very unappetizing by the time the models are complete. The moon quarters are even "glued" down on the paper plate with chocolate frosting. I tell them they have to at least show their models to their parents BEFORE eating them.

Over the next few weeks we are recording our nightly observations of the moon in our science manuals too. Taking a minute each evening to do this is yet another reminder of God's incredible power as the moon goes through the phases approximately every 29 days.

Moon Landform Models

There are many landforms on the moon similar to those on the earth. The four most common are:maria, rill, mountains and craters. Maria are flat land areas or plains. They are made of dark rock called basalt and it is found in many of our volcanoes on earth. Rills are the deep valleys that can be several hundred miles long. Mountains on the moon can vary greatly in size. The largest is over 29,000 feet high. Craters are very common on the moon and are formed from meteors.

Using salt dough, we set to work to make models of the moon's surface with the four prominent landforms. We labeled the model with flags made from toothpicks and file folder labels.

We enjoyed taking this recently-learned information and turning it into a fun project. It is unlikely that any of these fourth-graders will have difficulty remembering these landforms after this activity!

Here is one of the completed moon landform models. Well done, students!

Valentine's Day Party

Valentine's Day Parties are always a favorite of mine. It is just so sweet to watch the children exchange Valentines. Some are hand decorated; others are store bought with candy attached but ALL have been carefully signed and time taken to find just the right one for a friend (or teacher :) ).

We played math bingo and had the reward of eating our Hershey Kiss bingo chips.

Our moms had as much fun at the party as we did!

For our snack time, we decorated plastic cups and filled them with yummy treats like animal crackers, pretzels, m&m's, hot tamale candies and other yummies.
Our last activity included decorating a tile for that special someone in our life---mom, dad, grandparent, friend, cousin or whoever! These make great coasters. We had a story read to us about our specialness to God by Max Lucado while we decorated our tile. Just a relaxing fun afternoon with our classmates and a reminder how sweet our friendships really are. Thank you God for giving us this holiday. May we take EVERY day to show others our love regardless of the date on the calendar.

A Poem Worth Heeding!

As mentioned in my last entry, Amy Aduddell wrote a poem which she read to us at the end of her Lucy Pevensie monologue for fourth grade. It sums up PERFECTLY the themes of The Lion,The Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.

Lucy’s Cautionary Tale"

By Amy Aduddell

Listen friends, and listen well

To a cautionary tale,
Of a boy who did not wait

To have good things upon his plate.

His bitterness and selfish pride

Led Edmund to the darkest side;

They kept him blind - he couldn’t see,

The “White Queen” was his enemy.

And so you see, he made bad choices-

And listened to the wicked voices.

The Turkish Delight & lies he told

Had left a sickness in his soul.

So further down the path he’d stray

He should’ve gone the other way.

His throne was there at Cair Paravel

And not there in the witch’s jail.

He chose the wrong & not the right,

And sold his soul for Turkish Delight.

An evil witch, a promised throne,

Would leave him empty and all alone.

But then he felt it was too late,

His treachery had sealed his fate.

And though he wished with all his might

He had no power to set things right.

But let not your heart begin to sink,

“-though it may be harder than you think.”

For Edmund’s folly – his sin and such,

Have consequences and matter much.

The Lion King now became,

his only hope, the only name,

“He is not safe, but He is good”

Aslan – King of all the wood.

What’s to be done? Oh, what’s to be?

Only Aslan can set him free.

The innocent one – must sacrifice,

But He is willing to pay the price.

Now don’t look too harshly on Edmund’s sin,

For see we all are just like him.

Our sins and wrong things that we do,

Have left us needing a Savior too.

So if you’re lost, in a dark place,

Call out to God and seek His face.

His promises are always best,

Just do what’s right and you’ll be blessed.

Wait on God – for His best plan,

Read His Word to understand.

You’re patience will require faith

But His promises are worth the wait.

Lucy Pevensie Visits Us

Our day was underway. In fact, we were in the middle of a spelling test when a lovely visitor arrived. She was "grown-up" Lucy Pevensie, a favorite character from The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Lucy came to talk to us about all she had learned from her Narnia experience with sister Susan and brothers Edmund and Peter. She was recalling her first visit to Narnia, meeting Mr. Tumnus, trying to convince her siblings that Narnia truly existed, treking through the snow with Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, and learning about The White Witch and Aslan.

Lucy imparted some very sobering words to us regarding temptation and sin, especially relating it to her brother Edmund who fell into the snares of the White Witch. She warned us that following sin will lead to great destruction and that we can only find true joy and delight as we follow Truth. She also reminded us not to be too harsh on those falling into temptation as we are guilty ourselves. All of us are sinners, needing a Savior!

Her conclusion was a beautiful poem (future blog entry) capturing the essence of all the marvelous themes in our novel. We thank our dear Lucy (Mrs. Amy Aduddell, first grade aide) for sharing her incredible talents with our class.

Moon Math

Our new unit of study in science is about the moon. We have discussed some of the differences between the earth and moon, including the amount of gravity. We decided to compare the effects of the moon's gravity with the effects of the earth's gravity in the area of weight, throwing, and jumping.

First, we gathered our materials:

bathroom scale

yardstick

Nerf balls

measuring wheel

activity manual to record our findings

THROWING: We threw a Nerf ball down the hall and measured the distance in feet for the earth measurement. Then we multiplied it by six for the moon measurement. We decided we would be star quarterbacks on the moon!

JUMPING: We measured our jumping distance in inches for the earth's measurement and multiplied the distance by six for the moon's measurement. We would have a real "spring in our step" on the moon!

Weight: Turns were taken as we recorded

our weight on a bathroom scale for the earth's measurement. Then we divided that number by six to calculate our moon weight. Definitely a bunch of featherweights on the moon!

Conclusions: There is less gravity on the moon than the earth. If you increase your mass on the earth, your weight increases and this occurs because an object with more mass experiences a stronger pull of gravity.

Special Guest, Special Times

Today we had a special treat as my good friend from Colonial Williamsburg, Sheila Arnold, spent the day teaching OCS elementary students and teachers. Early in the day she spoke in our chapel about Jehovah Rapha, God our healer. She told the story from Acts about the man who was crippled and Peter and John were God's instruments to bring physical healing to this man. Ms. Sheila challenged us to take time each day to bring healing to others around us daily through our words and actions.

Following chapel, Ms. Sheila came to fourth grade as Mary Johnson, wife of Anthony Johnson, an indentured servant who first arrived in Jamestown from Angola in 1621. After many long years of backbreaking work on Master Edward Bennett's tobacco farm, Mary and Anthony became free. They and their children eventually acquired 900 acres of land and owned livestock and several indentured servants themselves.

Mary explained in great detail all the important steps of farming tobacco. Her job consisted of caring daily for 500 plants all on her own. After taking great care to produce a good crop, the leaves were dried, tied into bundles or"hands" and shipped in barrels to England.
Using 6 students, "Mary Johnson" took us through the steps from farmer to labourer to ship captain, etc. to understand the ins and outs of selling and shipping tobacco. Profit was all important!!!
Master Bennett's purchaser is making a deal with the merchant to buy some essentials for the Bennett family.
This merchant drives a hard deal, but a mirror, shoes and a coat is finally purchased with tobacco profits. Sadly, laws changed and Mary and Anthony became slaves and died in the late 1600's.

Later, Ms. Sheila, acting as a flight attendant, took first through third grades around the world using stories. The students were introduced to far away places as they bumped along in an airplane.

The finale was having all the teachers together after school concluded to hear some powerful accounts of slaves seeking freedom through the underground railroad. She introduced us to William Still and his fabulous account of hundreds of slaves seeking freedom in his book Underground Railroad published in 1872. Whew! What a GREAT day. Time well spent with a special friend.

Revolutionary War Trading Cards

Today we took some time to do a bit of research on key figures in the Revolutionary War. To add some fun to this assignment, we will take our information and create trading cards much like the all-familiar baseball cards. Each student set to work finding details on our school laptops. Names like Ben Franklin, Molly Pitcher , John Adams, and Martha Washington filled the screens. We found their date and place of birth, family information, talents and accomplishments of our character in history.

Here is a sample of what our cards will look like when we're finished.
Using our school laptops is definitely cool. We take great care setting them up and storing them away properly in mobile cabinets that allows us to share them amongst all the classrooms in our building.

A Castle, A Cave, and A Waterfall

Besides the winter landscape, Narnia contains marvelous sights such ......

A cave where a faun like creature named Mr. Tumnus lives.......
An ice-laden waterfall that violently breaks into pieces as the landscape of Narnia is dramatically transformed......
And a castle name Cair Paravel upon which four thrones wait to be occupied by the chosen heirs.

Step Into Narnia

Narnia..............just the word alone creates awe and wonder. " A magical land where it is always winter and never Christmas', says Mr. Tumnus as he first introduces Lucy to this world. ReadingThe Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis is an experience greatly anticipated by our fourth graders. We take a full six weeks to immerse ourselves in this masterpiece.

Today we found turkish delight and a chalice in our wardrobe when we read chapter four where Edmund meets the White Witch and falls into her snare. What great discussions we are having regarding our own temptations, sin, and how God has given us the armor to fight these battles.
Our classroom has taken on the look of a winter wonderland complete with a sleigh and Father Christmas from chapter 10

With each new chapter comes a clue to be found in this wardrobe. Next time you are in our hallways, open the wardrobe and experience Narnia for yourself (of course, this invitation is for moms and dads only as we don't want to spoil the surprise for future Narnia readers).

Surprises and Celebrations

Birthday fun with my sweet kids.Mrs. Dyer read us a special story when rotated to the "food room" for our party.



Surprises! Aren't they the best ever? Today will forever be included in my list of wonderful surprises. Not only was I blessed with our wonderful fourth grade moms creating a fun Christmas party for us, but I was surprised for my birthday. My dear class sat around me on the floor and each gave me words of encouragment and described something meaningful regarding me as their teacher. Wow! Now that is a moment EVERY teacher savors. Each had also taken time to make me beautiful cards that were so dear to read aloud. They truly enjoyed hearing the words on each card and seeing the care with which they had designed the cards. On top of that, they blessed me with a gift card tree filled with cards to favorite stores and restaurants of mine. How fun it that!!! And did I mention they sang "Happy Birthday" twice to me---once in the morning and again at the conclusion of our day. Thank you dear students and parents. I cherish each one of you.