Holiday Vacation!

Hi Everyone!
I hope everyone had/ is having a happy holiday and an enjoyable vacation. I thought it might be neat if we posted a few comments about what we are doing during our break. You can leave a comment the same way we usually do (respond to this post).

I'll start: I went back to New Jersey for a week and hung out with my family. We took the train into NYC (what does that stand for?) and saw a great show called "Blue Man Group." My brother even got to be in the show! Here is a very blurry photo of me and a "blue man." It was very dark and the camera wasn't working very well, but I'm the one without the blue face.

December 8, by Kenya

Today we found out we won the box tops prize! Our class raised the most box tops! In math, we did the chapter 11 math test. It was so hard that Mr.Kootman had to give one of the answers! After that we read Salt. Salt was about a boy finding Russian salt, putting it in the king’s food, and marrying a princess.

Next we did a quick write on Salt. We had recess, and when we came back we finished our test. Then we had lunch. For lunch we had cheese pizza. After that, we read The Landry News. The Landry News is what Mr.Kootman reads after lunch. It is about a girl making up a news paper.

In science, we learned about fossils and Mr.Kootman brought out some fossils and we used a magnifying glass so we can see it better. Then we played handball in the handball courts for P.E. Now you have experienced a super fantastic day in the life of room 40.

December 6, by Scott

Today, for the first time ever, we played handball for P.E.! The first thing we did today was a quick review in math. After that we took the chapter eleven math test. Half of the class thought it was hard and half the class thought it was easy. When that was over we read “Salt” for the second time in our open court book.

Then the class did a quick write on the story Salt. At 10:30 we went to recess. When we came in, Mr. Kootman gave us some time to get our work finished. When free time was over, we took notes about fossils in science. This took up a lot of our time.

We went to lunch at 12:20, after Science. For lunch we had a choice of cheese pizza or pepperoni pizza. Once lunch was over we had a fifteen minute recess. When we came in Mr. Kootman read the class a chapter of The Landry News. After The Landry News, we took more notes in Science. Finally, we had P.E. and then went home.

November 30, by Megan

Guess what! Some people made us have more homework today. I think that only the people who were talking should have the extra work. Also, green group is getting their social studies presentation ready! Today we did science before Math; usually we have Math first. In science we had an experiment. We did a paper on what the earth look like 100,000,000 ago did! Then Mr. Kootman went and surfed to Brain Pop. We learned that the earth has many layers. (The Crust, Mantle, and Core.)


Then we went to Math! Next in math we went on a new chapter. (11 Understand Multiplication) Afterwards we went to Yoga like usual did all the poses that Ms. Swanlund. But today we got in trouble because some people were talking during yoga.

When we got back we went in to reading mode! This time we had to read on a C D. The story is Business is Looking Up. Guess what; it was 14 pages long! Then we went to lunch. Afterwards it was time to be reading The Landry News chapter 14. After we read it, it was time for chapter 15 Ref Makes Tough Call! Oh yea, we had a game where some one had to pick up a piece of paper and the student who picked it up got the got a prize!

December 4, by Michaela

What was exciting today is more people turned in their homework then last week. When we got in the classroom we went into writing and we did synonyms. Then we did math. We did estimating products. A product is the answer to a multiplication problem. Next we went into reading. For reading we did our vocabulary book and our clues chart. A clues chart is to help you think what the story is about before you read it. I finished my vocab in a jiffy because I did it first before I did my clues chart .

When all of us were done, we went to lunch. They served chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese. Afterwards, we came inside and read the Landry News. The chapter we were on is “Ref Makes Tough Call”. We had a fantastic day!!!

December 1, by Breeze

A lot of kids in room 40 had great grades on their spelling tests. We started the day by doing math. In math, we learned how to multiply by multiples of 10. After that we took an Open Court test. Then after a little bit we went to recess. Afterwards we took a spelling test.

30 minutes later we went to lunch. For lunch we had pizza. Then we went back to the class. But when we got in the class we had to go back to the black top because we had a fire drill. Finally, we came back and got ready to go to H.O.T. time and go home. And that was our magnificent day!!!!!

November 29, by Alondra

Today Mr.Kootman had a little sharp thing in his eyes and he started to drop tears. First we did our chapter10 math test. I thought it was easy for some people and hard for other people. Next we all read Business is Looking Up. After we read, we did our Flow chart. A flow chart helps people understand the story.

Next came recess where a lot of people played handball. When that was over, we shared our Flow charts. Once we finished, at 12:20, we went to lunch. And finally Mr.Kootman read The Landy News. And that was our enjoyable Wendsday.

November 28, by Angel

If you are in Mr. Kootman’s class and brought your homework in you got a Life Saver. I loved it because I got grape flavor. First, the class did math in our hard cover book. In math, our lesson was called write an equation. Right after that, we got our mats and went to yoga. In of all of the three classes one person didn’t bring a mat. Then we went to recess finally.

After recess, we read Business is Looking Up in our purple book.
Soon after, we did a quick write and three people got one hundred seventy words in eight minutes. Mr. Kootman went on Thinkature.com and Seth went on the same thing. It was so cool that what ever Seth did on the small computers … Time’s Up; sorry I did not finish!!!

November 27, by Eric

Did you know we did not have recess today?! First, we did math- multiplying by ones. It was pretty easy because it was review. After that, our times test came. I got a 98% on my times test. Next, we breezed through the story that we read; it was called “Business is Looking Up”. There was a blind boy in the story; he had a cane and a stylus to write with. He was at the store with his sister and started a card business.

After lunch, the whole class had to do a boring science test on weathering and erosion. I hope everybody got an A. Finally, we read the Laundry News. Kara is not even in this chapter. What happened in this chapter was Dr.Barnes got upset and tried to get proof Mr. Larson doesn’t teach. Lastly, went out to P.E where we played Frisbee.

November 16, by Josh

If you want to know what’s happening today, you are on the right blog. Today in the morning, our morning work was analogies and correcting two sentences. After that we did math, multiply three digit numbers. Then after recess every body did a three paragraph essay about how our life changed.

We went to lunch at twelve twenty and directly after lunch there was a fire drill. We also read The Landry News outside while we were waiting to go back into the classroom. When we went inside we did a turkey personification lesson. In this lesson we learned what personification was and what it meant. Personification is giving human qualities too nonhuman things. This lesson was the last thing we did today.

November 15, by Sparrow

Today, some students said that their brain was hurting! During math time we learned about modeling multiplication. It’s when you can make a model to find a product. After that, we read Food from the `Hood a Garden of Hope the second time. A while after that we took our test and went out to recess feeling free.

After recess, Mr. Kootman read us a book called Sea Clocks. It was about when sailors learned about longitude. Next, the class finished up their tests and we did a tree map. The tree map was about Food from the `Hood. When we finished, everyone went out to eat lunch and to play at recess.

After lunch, as usual, we read The Landry News chapter 8, Volunteers Line Up for Danger! Before we went out to P.E today the whole class did another tree map to organize our personal narrative. Then, we finally went out to P.E to run the track.

November 14, by Will

We had a really great day, you should read this! We started the day with math, as usual. Today we estimated and then multiplied. It took the class a while, then the whole class figured it out. Next, we took our big purple books and read Food From the ‘Hood, A Garden of Hope. After that, we wrote our spelling words as a class. This week, we are studying words with the /ar/ sound.

When we got back from lunch, we read The Landry News. After that, we took our science books out and did a summary on erosion. Then we went to library and a lot of students checked out really great books. We truly had a great day thanks to the class of room 40.

November 13, by Michael C.

GET OFF THIS COMPUTER, AN ERROR IS GOING THROUGH THIS COMPUTER!!!

I was just kidding about that. If you were this class you would probably be very exhausted. We did twenty five tiring math problems this morning. (They were really hard). Next, we took out our practice page, 10.1 like we do everyday ,This one was about multiplication patterns.

When we finished math, our class wrote six definitions but, someone made our teacher add another vocabulary definition because he/she was talking when our teacher said not to.

Following lunch, Mr.Kootman read us the book, The Landry News. We go through chapters like its nothing because the book is so interesting. In the Landry News, Kara sweats for the first time in gym. Kara is mad because nobody likes her.
Afterwards we had a social studies test that nobody wanted to do. I hope everybody gets either an A+ or a B so our teacher will be glad. During social studies we took out our science book and took notes on landforms. Today was probably the longest day ever!

“Yes, I do know the initials for Kentucky.”
KY

November 7, by Jannely

Today was very hot for all the fourth graders because we did yoga on the blacktop where it was blazing hot and where we practically burned in the sun! Since the kindergartners were using the M.P.R (multi purpose room) we had to do yoga on the blacktop. During math time we learned a new lesson and it was called Working Backwards. It was about working with variables when you already have the answer. After that, we did a multiplication test and WOW a lot of people did very good job! Then we went on to Language Arts.

For Language Arts, based on the subject for Starting a Business, we read Elias Sifuentes Restaurateur. At 2:00 we didn’t read The Landry News, but we did go to the library. When Mrs. Lowell told us the story of The White Table everyone almost cried, it was a very sad story. The story was about the Vietnam War and about Veterans Day. We hope that every body has a good Veterans week.

November 5, by Isaiah

If you don’t want to read this get off this website. Where should I start? That’s right, during math time we used tables with variables and a lot of multiplication.
Afterwards we read a good rhyme called Lemon-aid Stand. Next we made a clues chart on Elias Sifuentes- Restaurateur.

My favorite part of the day is CLAS (comprehension and language arts skills). Following was our wonderful lunch. We had the choice between chicken nuggets or a hot dog! Around 2:00 we came in and read the Landry News. Then we did science on gravity, weathering, erosion, and wind. Finally we played kick ball for PE and went home.

October 30 by Austin

Today, the phone kept on ringing whenever Mr.Kootman tried to talk. Then every one laughed when the phone rang. Guess what we learned for today. In math, we had practice 9.1, which was about multiplying in sequences . In writing we created a tree map about Frindle. We also had a fun spelling test.

Our class chapter book is Frindle and is going to be The Landry News! The author of those books is Andrew Clemments. For social studies we did lesson#5 in our book’s . That is all for today. Tomorrow is Halloween! Everyone is exited.

October 26- by Cassidy

Today, some kids got popsicles for turning in all of their homework! We also watched a clip about music and we watched a Magic School Bus movie.

Today was so interesting! In math this morning we went into chapter nine and practiced multiplication and division facts. Then we did a subtraction quiz. For reading, we did a test on Starting a Business and our most magnificent spelling test. Social studies was Lesson 5 on How are California’s Communities Alike and Different? Also, we got over the line in our marble jar! What a wonderful Friday!

October 26, by Lovelynne

Today there was a fire over the mountains. Therefore, the kids could not run around or play tag or you would get in to trouble. In math, my class and I did a math test on multiplication. Before we did our math test our teacher helped us on the test by reviewing some of the questions. Also, in math some people still have to finish their math packets. A lot of kids in our class did very well on the math test.

After that, we went to yoga. In yoga, we did a different posture. That posture is called the pigeon posture. While we were doing yoga, a lot of kids were making a lot of noise. Some kids got in trouble because they were too loud. While we were doing this other posture, a lot of kids were making all sorts of different sounds. One of the final things we did was read a book called Frindle. In the book we are on chapter 15; I can not believe that we are almost done with the book.

Oct 16 by Seth

Room 40 is very excited about our field trip to the courthouse tomorrow! In math, we learned about graphs and trends. Trends are if numbers increase, decrease, or stay the same. After math, we did a clues chart on Deadalus and Icarus. Once we finished math, we read lesson 4 in unit 1 of social studies. After lunch, we had a short recess and then it was time to go home. Since it was a minimum day, we did not do as many activities as we usually do.

Wednesday October 11, by Devyn

Today the whole class got to write their own class Blog. First, we did math. We made an excel bar graph and had a math test on chapter 5. Next, we read Two Tickets to Freedom. Then, the class did a quick write about all the characters in our reading book.

After lunch, we read Frindle. The story was about Nick making up a new word. After Frindle, we did our Social Studies where we learned about mountain passes, borders, and California settlements. Finally, we are going outside for PE.

by Evan

Today our student council electors were chosen, Scott Shelton for vice president, Breeze Hawthorne for treasurer. Some people were exited that two people in our class won.

This morning in math we learned about scales and intervals wile working with graphs. In our reading book, we are reading Two Tickets to Freedom. The story is about two slaves that run from their plantation. Last but not least, in social studies we reviewed the California regions which are the coast, desert, valley, and the mountains.

Monday October 2, 2006

The first thing we did this morning was count our classroom money to see who can go to our class party. More than half the class will be joining us on our party day. After we counted our money, we had auctions with what we had left. Joshua won a new T-shirt from Discovery Education!

In math, we studied for our chapter four test. The practice test we took was on variables, tables and parentheses.

During language arts time, we made a clues chart for Mae Jemison, Space Scientist. Our clues chart helps us understand what the story is about before we read it. After lunch, we studied parts of a sentence, including subject and predicate.

We ended the day by finishing our class blog and going out to PE.

by Aileen

Today was a rough day because we lost a bunch of marbles, but yesterday we earned more marbles than today. First, we did math and learned about variables. After that we went to yoga and we learned a new pose. Shortly afterwards, we went out to snack and after snack we read Escape.

After lunch we were about to read Edward Tulane but, we were interrupted by a loud bell for a practice fire drill. Meanwhile we did our third paragraph of our autobiography. And that wraps it up for the day.

Thursday September 21

The class truly did learn a lesson from Wednesday. We have earned a ton of marbles today. This makes it easy for Mr. Kootman to teach and then we all learn better.

In math, we learned that an equation needs to have an equal sign. If it has no equal sign, then it is just an expression. When working with an equation or expression, parentheses always come first.

After lunch, we read two books, Edward Tulane and The Color of Us. The Color of Us showed us that everyone has a different color skin, even our family members. This made us realize that life would be boring if everyone had the same color skin.

We ended our day by once again rewriting our autobiographies. Mr. Kootman apologized for misguiding us in our first paragraph.

Wednesday September 20

The class learned a valuable lesson today. If we are not quiet and don’t pay attention, we will not always get to do the things we want. We missed PE because we were fooling around and were also loud in class.

The first thing we did today was take our Chapter 3 math test. We learned that we still need to practice regrouping and carrying. Also, estimation is a skill we will need to use for the rest of our lives.

Before lunch, we reread Sarah, Plain and Tall and then did a quickwrite about the story. Michaela asked why the story did not have a happy ending. This is because we only read a small part of a larger book.

During science time, the class learned about the processes of erosion and weathering. Weathering breaks down landforms and rock formations. Erosion carries away the small pieces of rock and soil.

Tomorrow, our plan is to earn more marbles than today. Devyn suggested paying attention and following directions. Let’s see if we can do it!

Tuesday September 19

This is the blog that almost didn’t make it! We did a ton of things today, including writing our autobiography. We started the day with cursive and practiced our “s”s and “r”s. In math, we prepared for our Chapter 3 test on carrying and regrouping. We are confident that our test will go well.

After math, we went to yoga in the cafeteria. Ms. Swanlund taught us several new poses, including The Warrior and Downward Facing Dog.

During language arts time, we began Sara, Plain and Tall. This story is about a family on the plains that gets a new mom from Maine. Practicing pronouns was also an interesting activity we did today.

After lunch we continued reading Edward Tulane and began the second paragraph is our autobiography.

Tuesday by Room 40

Have you ever tried to lick your elbow? Well, it doesn’t work because you can never bring your elbow closer to your mouth because your arm is connected to your shoulder. That was just a fun fact for the day.

Today, we started the day by reviewing for our math test. It will be on rounding and comparing numbers. For rounding, Michael told us that “Five or above, give it a shove. Four and below, let it go.” This will help us remember whether the round up or down.

In language arts, we reread Toto while listening to the CD. We then made a Venn diagram about the main characters. In yoga, about 60% of the class now has mats. People are learning how to do yoga quietly.

Before lunch, we started our autobiography. An autobiography is an informative essay about ourselves. This began by making a web that included our family, friends, favorite sports, appearance and more. Soon, we will turn the web into paragraphs.

This morning, we gained a lot of marbles. Unfortunately, after lunch was not as good. If we get over the red line, we earn P.A.T. This is Preferred Activity Time. Sometimes, we play educational games or the class chooses fun activities. Things are looking good this week!

By the Whole Class

Today we received another writing book for the definitions of our vocabulary words. It may take some time, but we will all learn to create a great personal dictionary. This will help us learn new vocabulary words. We read our vocabulary words in the story Toto. Toto was about a baby elephant that has his life saved by a young boy.

In math, we practiced rounding. Many more people are catching on. We started rounding in third grade, but it takes a lot of time to get it right.

At the end of the day, we went out for physical education. We had fun playing dodgeball. Today was a perfect day for dodgeball because it was not as hot as last week.

By all of room 40

Today we received five new students from Ms. Swanlund’s class. We are looking forward to getting to know them better. Everyone was very excited about getting over the red line in the marble jar. Mr. Kootman said today was a great day, but we needed to start earning marbles from the beginning of the week. That way we would be sure to earn our PAT time.

We started the day by learning about charts in math. We continued to compare large numbers also.

After that, we did handing off about Mrs. Frisby and the Crow. This helped us think about the whole story before taking the test. We also took our spelling test and most people did really well.

After lunch, we were joined by five new students and then we reorganized the room. Things got pretty chaotic for a while, but we are all settled in for Monday.

MFP 40-Mr. Kootman's Class

By all of Mr. Kootman's Class
Students in Room 40 have been drinking a ton of water lately! This means we have also had a lot of people paying the treasurer to use the bathroom. This is very similar to how we are learning about cause and effect. When you drink a lot of water, your body needs to flush itself out.
We started the day by doing greater than and less than in math. After that, we went to the cafeteria to do yoga. A lot more people brought mats today. In reading, we read Mrs. Frisby and the Crow while listening to the book on CD.
Today was the first time we used our Spelling and Vocabulary Book. Half the class thought it was easy and half the class thought it was difficult. At lunch, they served us Sour Puss Juice Pops. They made our faces turn red like tomatoes.
After lunch, we continued to read Edward Tulane. In the story today, his pocket watch got sucked into the vacuum cleaner. Finally, in social studies, we plotted the absolute locations of many cities on a map.

MFP 40-Mr. Kootman's Class

Wednesday September 6, 2006
It was extraordinarily hot today, as it has been since we started school. Today got up to 95 degrees Fahrenheit in Fallbrook! First we took our chapter one math test about place value. Mr. Kootman and our parents prepared us well for the test.
After the test, we continued to type up our interviews. Next, we reread Mrs. Frisby and the Crow. Then, we studied cause and effect together as a class. We also discussed different types of nouns.
After lunch, we started the Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. We are all curious to see what happens to the rabbit in the book. We ended by beginning our social studies lesson on hemispheres.

MFP 40-Mr. Kootman's Class

The first day of September ended our first week of school. During math time, we continued with place value and we even made our own class graph. Following that, we read about Rosa Parks and how she stood up for her rights.

When we finished that, some of us typed our interviews. Before lunch, we started painting our California Regions Map. Afterwards, we labeled it.

Finally, H.O.T time was stupendous! We all played outside with our friends. That wraps up our first week in fourth grade.

MFP 40-Mr. Kootman's Class

Today was our fourth day of fourth grade! We are still doing new things every day and the whole class seems to be having a lot of fun.

In math, we learned about place value. We practiced ones, tens, and hundreds up to the millions period. Next, we went to the cafeteria to do yoga with Ms. Swanlund. Some people had a mat and some people did not.

Afterwards, we started on our final draft of “Interviewing a Friend.” In social studies, Mr. Kootman could not find the paint brushes so we are going to paint on Friday. We can’t wait until we come back to school tomorrow!

by All of Room 40

MFP 40

MFP 40
Hello everyone! I hope your summer is going well.