Historical People Projects

Students studied a famous American from history and developed a "Museum Exhibit" project to showcase their learning.  Students made connections to each other's historical people based on cause and effect relationships.  They also showcased their learning through essay writing.  The video below was created by a student who was researching the life of Rosa Parks.  She used it to introduce her project.

Landforms Study Links

Information About Valleys and Plateaus

Valleys

A valley is a landform that is lower than the surrounding area. Valleys are often found between hills, mountains, and plateaus. Water from higher areas can flow down into valleys, creating rivers and streams. As a result, some lands in valleys are fertile and good for agriculture and grazing livestock. 

 1.  http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/earth/surface-of-the-earth/valleys-article/

 2.   http://www.edu.pe.ca/southernkings/valleyfl.htm

 3.   http://encyclopedia.kids.net.au/page/va/Valley

Plateaus 

Plateaus can be formed by a number of processes, including upwelling of volcanic magma, extrusion of lava, and the melting of ice and glaciers. Plateaus look like flattened mountains, but some of them are so big that you can only see their distinct shape from a far away distance.

 1.  http://www.edu.pe.ca/southernkings/plateaurh.htm

 2.  http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/earth/surface-of-the-earth/plateaus-article/

Apple Engineering Camp

On Labor Day weekend, Hendersonville held the NC Apple Festival.  To continue celebrating the apple industry in our county, we participated in Apple STEM Camp at Dana last week.

Our experience with Apple STEM Camp started out with a visit from local apple farmer, Jerred Nix.  He spoke to all of the third graders about the process of growing apples, the work that goes into it, and the challenges in apple production. He brought fresh-picked gala apples and blackberries for sampling.

Following Mr. Nix's visit, students got to experience many of the different aspects of the apple industry in Hendersonville.  Students were given many opportunities to discover the importance and significance of the apple industry to our community and the local economy.  Here are a few of the experiences that students got to have:

• Choose an apple production challenge (apple disease, insects, bears/deer, bruising, labor, etc.) and use the Engineering Design Process to develop a solution to the problem.
• Use non-fiction features to help you gain an understanding of the history of Hendersonville by reading and discussing old Hendersonville Times News newspapers.
• Use a compass rose and a map to determine the location of Hendersonville and places around it.
• Use apple recipes to enhance your understanding of measuring/doubling in math.
• Determine facts about Hendersonville's apple industry through non-fiction reading.

We learned so much about the significance of apples in our county.  Our appreciation for the local apple growers is immeasurable.   

 

Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy

I got accepted into the Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy.  I was able to go to New York City for an all-expense paid trip and professional development.  I learned so much about teaching science and math.

To learn more about the academy click here:  http://mickelson.nsta.org/

 Ms. Wollner, Mrs. Jones, and I with NASA Astronaut and Teacher, Barbra Morgan.

The New York City skyline view from our hotel room.

Doing force and motion science experiments with some colleagues.

Mrs. Ballard has a NEW name!

Today, I, Ms. Ballard, got married.  My new name is Mrs. Brown.  I am so excited to see everyone in a few weeks.  Our new Blog web address is :  http;//brownsbelievers.blogspot.com.

Summer

Have a great summer!  I know students will continue to read and grow over the summer, especially if you will be attending STEAM camp.
I will be busy as well.  Expect a few updates.

Birthday Day!

We don't take time out of instruction to celebrate birthdays.  However, we do feel that celebrating your birthday is important.  This year, our school had one big birthday day where we celebrated everyone's birthday on the same day.  It was so much fun!  In our class, we researched what happened on our birthdays in history.  It was interesting to see what other important things have happened on our birthdays.

School Picnic and Kickball Game

Animal Adaptations

Here are the links for you to use to research your animal's adaptations.  Please remember to answer the questions as you research.

NC Wildlife: http://www.ncwildlife.org/Learning/Species.aspx
Animal Adaptations Think Quest: http://library.thinkquest.org/J001644F/
UEN Website:  http://www.uen.org/utahlink/activities/view_activity.cgi?activity_id=4750
Animal Adaptations Website: http://www.tburg.k12.ny.us/mcdonald/ANIMAL%20ADAPTATIONS/AAdapt.htm
An Animal's Life Smore:  https://www.smore.com/b41x-an-animal-s-life?ref=my

Bob White Quails

This month, we have been raising Bob White Quails while learning about embryology, adaptations, and animal life cycles.  We hatched 18 quails that will be released into the wild.  

ThingLink

Click the link below to access our ThingLink.  We will add to it frequently as we learn more about  Bob White Quails and the life cycle of animals.

 https://www.thinglink.com/scene/383311160285331458#tlsite

March Leader of the Month

Congratulations, Noah! 

 

Noah was voted by his classmates as the leader of the month for March.  His classmates bragged on his positive choices.  Here are some of the things his peers wrote about him:

• Noah treats others with kindness.
• He is always at level 0 when he is reading.
• He works as a team player and synergizes.
• Noah follows the 7 habits.
• Noah never makes mistakes.
• He never gets distracted from his purpose.

Great job, Noah!  We are proud of you!

Big Questions About Weather

Big Questions SMORE
Click the link below to research answers to your big weather question.

https://www.smore.com/ggkf-big-questions

PAWsitive Behavior Day: Dr. Seuss

Today, our school celebrated 500 shout outs with PAWsitive Behavior Day!  Our theme was Dr. Seuss.  Our classroom was decorated and so was Ms. Ballard!

In our class, we read The Sneetches, The Lorax, The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, Horton Hatches the Egg, Oh the Places You Will Go, Oh Say Can You Say, and Have I Ever Told You How Lucky You Are.

We did lots of activities that corresponded with the stories we read.  For example, with Horton Hatches the Egg, we dyed Easter eggs and wrote about the imaginary creatures that would grow inside them.  We made our own Lorax mustaches so we, too, can speak for the trees.  We made bookmarks that resemble Things 1 and 2 from The Cat in the Hat.  We got to choose our favorite Dr. Seuss quote to add to the back of our bookmarks.  We went through the star-on machine and became Star-Bellied Sneetches.  Our day was wonderful, just like the wonderful world of Dr. Seuss.

Unfortuanately, our camera lost the moments captured through a technical error.  I am sorry that we don't have photos of our exciting, inspiring day.

Weather: Solar Energy

SOLAR ENERGY smore

https://www.smore.com/j4hk-solar-energy?ref=my



Click here to find video links about solar energy.

http://www.neok12.com/Solar-Energy.htm

Better Yourself Community Projects

This week, we have been working on bettering ourselves and becoming better friends.  Students are working in pod families to complete projects and to help one another reach their goals.  Next week, they will present their projects as part of a Wildcat Team Time/Pow Wow lesson.  This time is used to teach pro-social skills.  Students are growing as leaders throughout this project.

 Christopher, Karen, and Makaila of the Ninja Turtles Friendship team work with the Values.com website and different fiction books to develop their project and lesson. 

 

February Leader of the Month

Congratulations to Amber, our February Leader of the Month!
Amber's peers voted her as a class leader.  They nominated her by writing about her leadership qualities.  Here are some of the things her classmates said about her:

• Amber always helps others.
• Amber makes proactive choices.
• She follows directions.
• She stays focused on her goals and always knows her purpose.
• She is a good friend. 

What's the "Matter"? GASES

https://www.smore.com/wxwj-gases

Click the above length to explore!

Integrity

We talked this week in "Pow Wow" about integrity.  We discussed the word and what it means. We realized that the word can have 2 different meanings. It can mean "strength." For example, "The architect tested the integrity of the newly-constructed bridge." We also learned that a person can have integrity. This means that they do the right thing no matter what; even when no one is looking.  We watched a few commercials and identified people showing integrity.  Click the link below to view videos, billboards, and quotes from The Foundation For a Better Life.

The Foundation For a Better Life

I have also been giving random integrity tests to see if students are showing integrity. Are they doing the right thing even when no one's around? Are they making good choices no matter what? I am enjoying seeing our classroom grow as our integrity grows.

Happy Digital Technology Day... and 100th Day of School!

On Digital Technology day today, we used a Smore website on our MacBook Airs.  The Smore website helped us to explore states of matter and focused on solids and liquids.  We were excited to start our new science unit!

Christopher, Faith, and Amber explored the Smore site and read an article called,
"What is Matter?."

Rodolfo learned about liquids and the properties of liquids.

Noah and Jazmin learned that scientists have a name for all materials, "Matter."

States of Matter

ONLY if you are a student in Ms. Ballard's class...

Please click the link below to take a Matter quiz.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2CQH2MZ


Click the link below to explore the states of matter, solids and liquids.


http://www.smore.com/0usv-matter?ref=my

http://www.smore.com/d555?preview=1

Valentine's Day Assembly Line



Before our Valentine Card Assembly could begin,
our class made hearts for the cards so that
our decorators could use them.

 

The assembly line at work.



With our new Social Studies Essential Standards, we are learning about producers and consumers.  To reinforce the concept of production, we worked together with Ms. Dickerson's class on Friday to create Valentine's Day cards in an assembly line.  Mrs. Walter, our art teacher, helped us to design and create our products.  Each student was assigned a job.  They had to focus on their responsibility and put a lot of effort into their work.  In 35 minutes, we created 158 Valentine's Day cards to share with a local nursing home.  We were proud of our hard work.  Afterwards, we discussed factors that helped production and factors that hurt production.  A lot of students said that working in a factory would be hard work, but that their jobs are necessary for production. 

 

Rodolfo worked as a folder.

 

Toni was part of the glue crew. 

He had to glue the message inside the card after the cover was decorated.





David's job was to run cards from the glue crew to the stampers.

Destiny worked as a stamper in our assembly line.

Tyler added a signature to the card
that read "From Dana Elementary School."

Jazmin worked as an inspector. 
She checked each card for quality
before the cards are ran to the envelope stuffers.

 

Rebecca worked as runner. 
She ran cards from the inspector to the envelope stuffers.

Carina stuffed cards into envelopes that she created.

Noah sealed each envelope with a strip of glue.



Karen bundled the cards (counting by tens) and boxed them up.



Jennifer, as our leader of the month, was the factory manager.
 She managed each group and ensured that all materials were available
and all jobs were being completed correctly.