May 14, by Sam

Last week was the STAR testing. It was the hardest test I have taken! For today, we did math morning work first. This was a review of outcomes and probability. Once we finished, we corrected our morning work. Then we learned about tree diagrams and outcomes. The outcomes in our book mostly require a spinner, some dice, and a sack of marbles. Mr. Kootman assigned our math practice sheets. But he got our math packet mixed up with our math homework. After the mix up was corrected we went to recess.

When we got back we reviewed our vocabulary and clues chart for Early America. Then we did classifying and categorizing in our c.l.a.s book. After that we went to lunch.

At 1:00 we came back and we read Orphan Runaways. Then we reviewed social studies. In the social studies review we learned 5 new vocabulary words such as delegate. When we were done with that we went to play kickball for p.e. Finally, we got paid, we packed and parted.

May 1, by Sabrina

Today was a sunny and chilly morning, but I wasn’t cold. After the bell rang we had to do math as usual. During math time we learned about negative numbers. We learned about the heat and cold too. Math was fun until 9:30am. That is the time we have to go to yoga.

Yoga was the same too. But Mr. Kootman was mad at us because the noise in yoga was from us. We don’t usually make the noise, the other forth graders make the noise. So when we went back to the class Mr. Kootman said, ”Don’t do that again” and than we went back to math. So we went on and then recess came.

When we went back in we started to do some mission projects. This is when people present their oral reports on California Missions. We did like two or three mission projects. When we started to do social studies we learned about the gold rush. We were about to learn about Sutter’s Mill but it was lunch time. After lunch and recess we went back in to do social studies. We learned a little about Sutter’s Mill, which is where gold was found, and Sutter’s Fort and than it was time to go to the library.

In the library we went to look for books but I didn’t get any. I was just sitting in a chair reading a book as usual. When Mr. Kootman said it was time to go we walked down to the classroom and Scott passed down the money. Then everybody got ready to go. But I didn’t want to leave cause I love school but I had to.

April 30, by Torrian

It was chilly out side and people come out side with a spoon saying “Chili! Chili! In math we are doing three dimensional shapes. We learned the difference between a triangular pyramid and a square pyramid. One has a base shaped like a square and the other has a base shaped like a triangle. It is pretty easy. It has a lot of steps.

In yoga we went back to class early because we were being loud. After yoga, we read Koko’s Kitten. It was sad because one of the cats died. We did a CD reed for it.

The chapter book we read today was Island of the Blue Dolphins. We finished it today. It ended with Karana leaving the island on a ship. It was a good book. Today was also because Mrs. Seals leaves the next day. Now I’m going to go eat some chili.

April 23, by Victoria

Today was an exciting day because we read an emotional book. First we did our morning work, but we were really loud so we didn’t get many marbles. We learned that we have to multiply the perimeter by two to double it and you multiply the area by two to quadruple it. The problem solving strategy is easy for me. All you have to do is find a pattern. After that we did math again to learn it better and make sure it stays in your brain.

For reading we did a vocabulary log. When you do this you use all of your vocabulary words and write the definition, a picture and a sentence or an example. We also did a clues chart. A clues chart is where you put the authors name, the genre, title, key vocabulary, picture clues and what the story could be about. The story we read this week was Koko’s Kitten.

Lunch was really loud, the ladies had to stand up front of the cafeteria and tell us to be quiet. So we lost about five or ten minutes recess. After that everybody started to be quiet, but it did not last long.

After lunch and recess we came in and got out our class chapter book. I warn you this is a sad chapter. Karana is happy that the Aleuts never came to the island again. However, she is sad because her dog Rontu died. I felt sad, but was not shocked because I had read the book before. Then we showed pictures of Karana’s skirt that we created.

In social studies, we showed some of the mission projects. All of the projects were good I think. We learned why so many people wanted to come to California. One of the reasons is that they just wanted to explore and have their own land.

April 18, by Alex

Today we got a new student named Perri. During math time, we did the quick review and the mixed review. Once the timer stopped, Mrs. Seals taught our class while Mr. Kootman taught in another classroom because one of the other teachers was at a meeting. After we were done reviewing the math we went to yoga. Once all the classes were in the cafeteria, every one started talking and Mrs. Swanlund had to stop the yoga lesson to tell every body to be quiet.
Once yoga was over, we got back in the classroom and started our new book, Breaking Into Print. It was an okay book but it was only four pages, so it seemed like a really short book. After we were done, we went in to spelling and vocab on page 118 and 120 which was the review for our spelling words. Once we finished we went to lunch, and we also lost seven minutes of our lunch recess. It was the shortest recess we have ever had, except the recess back in second grade.

Then the recess bell rang and we got out our Island Of The Blue Dolphins. In chapter 21 Karana got a new friend called Tutok. What we did in social studies was the changes of the gold rush. Once that was done, it was already 2:00, and most of the class did Don Doran games, while the rest of the class played freeze tag. The people who qualified for the Don Doran games were: Eric W., Isaiah, Aileen, Devyn, Chase, Michaela and Michael. And so Mr. Kootman is back from substituting. Finally the day is over, and its time to go home.

April 17, by Alondra

Today we got a new student in room 40. Her name is Perri and she moved here from Alabama. First, in math we did a times test and learned perimeter of polygons. The perimeter is the distance around the outside of a polygon.

Subsequently, we went to recess. Once that was done, we read “Breaking into Print” in our Open Court books. And also we did vocabulary. Then we went to lunch where we ate Taco salad or a toasted ham and cheese sandwich. A bunch of people got hot lunch.

Afterwards, we came back to class and we read “Island of the Blue Dolphins’’ chapter 21. Next we did social studies and also watched a Brain Pop movie about taxes because that was the day that the taxes were due. There were a lot of things we did not know, like if you don’t pay your taxes for months you will go to jail. Because I was afraid that the school did not have enough

At 2:00 we went to P.E where some of the boys and girls like Eric W, Chase, and Aileen were running for Don Dornan games and the rest of the people were playing freeze tag. Then it was 2:30 and we got our bags and stuff and went home. And that’s our extraordinary Wednesday afternoon.

April 5, by Will

Today we did not have a lot of work because of Spring break. We had a lot of math though. We had division, triangles, a quiz, and quadrilaterals. (Whew!) There are three types of triangles: equilateral, isosceles, and scalene.

After math, we read “We’ll Be Right Back after These Messages.” It’s about the public television rules to view commercials. Following that, we answered the red bullets at the end of the story. When that was over, we went to recess. For some strange reason, recess was boring.

When we got back, we got our recorders out and went to music. During music, we reviewed all the notes we know, such as G, A, and B. When we got back, we continued with our red bullets. Then we took out our CLAS book and did clauses. After that, we went to lunch.

In 24 hours we would be kite flying because the next day is Kite day! When we got back we celebrated Jannelys birthday. Happy Birthday! Then we read “Island Of The Blue Dolphins”. In this chapter the Aleuts come to the Island, and Karana has to leave. And that wraps it up for our proficient, dazzling, and great day.

Kootman's Class #3

Gabcast! Kootman's Class #3

March 27, by Michaela

Today was a very good day because a lot of kids were on the ball. So we came in and started on math, we did a lot of QR’s and MR’s. (QR means quick review and MR means mixed review). Next we went into our math books and we did line symmetry and rotational symmetry. Rotational symmetry is when you turn a shape around and it still looks the same. Line symmetry is when you fold a shape and it matches.

After that we went to yoga, for yoga we did the same old same old stretches. When we came back to the class we did a quick write. A quick write is when we’re writing about something and we have a short time to do it. What we had to write was four facts we learned in the story Messages by the Mile. Then we went to recess. After recess when we entered the class there was a lot of hullabaloo. The reason why is because we get really energetic when we’re outside.
Right after recess we went straight to music class where we learned new notes and new songs. After that we went into reading where we are reading our new story Messages by the Mile. It’s really exciting because it’s about elephants and whales and their communicating the infrasonic way.

Then we went to lunch and I will tell you this: it was good yummy for my tummy. After lunch we started to read our chapter book, now we’re on chapter14 and this is what is happening in the story. Karana finds a cave where her ancestors used to be. Once we finished that part of the chapter Mr.Kootman told us the winner of the research challenge and it was Sparrow. Congrats Sparrow and that’s my fabulous blog!!!

March 26, by Josh

Today was so awesome because it was my second time getting the blog. In math today we learned about line relationships. We used vocabulary such as angles, line segments, and just plain lines. That math was so easy a caveman can do it. After we were done with that we did our math packet. We did not have yoga today because it was not Tuesday or Thursday. Next we got ready for recess and went outside to play.

When we got back, we took out our Open Court book and read The Diary of Anne Frank. When we were done with our book we went to go to lunch. We read Island of The Blue Dolphins when we returned from lunch. When that was over we read our book for social studies. What we learned is about is how the Mexican war for independence affected California.

I forgot to take better notes for the blog, but I will learn from my mistake next time by writing down more information.