Welcome to 2013

Welcome to 2013!  Twenty-twelve was a fantastic year and I am looking forward to a great new year.  Hopefully, I will be able to work more with the blog this year.  The beginning of the year has been so busy, unfortunately, that not much thought has been given to it.  I hope to start posting about things we are doing in class and have my students start writing some posts.  I have two great classes of students who are all very creative and I am looking forward to having them work with the blog.  They will be posting what they have learned or commenting on questions.  We will have a running commentary on what they are reading in the form of a book review.  My students are finishing up on their science fair projects and have had a great time working on them.  Once they are completed, pictures will be posted of their boards. 

I am starting on a new adventure in teaching.  My family is moving and I have a teaching job in a new school district teaching 4th grade Language Arts and Social Studies for gifted students.  I will miss my old school very much.  It was a wonderful place to work and I will miss the staff and students but I look forward to stepping outside of the box a little more.  I will post from my new location as the school year grows closer.  Have a wonderful summer to all of my students and parents!

What Are You Reading?

Reading can take you to far away places, to fantastic worlds, backward or forward in time.  Some of my favorite childhood memories are sitting near my grandma's fireplace with a good book.  Books are like special friends that are always waiting for you to pick them up.  One of my favorite books as a kid was,"Where The Red Fern Grows."  I must have read that book over a dozen times and cried every single time.  My family would ask me why I read it if it makes me cry and I would always answer, "because I love this book."  Reading is still one of my favorite past times and I have had many "favorite" books over the years. 
What is your favorite book and why?   Post your answer.  Parents, you may answer as well.  The first five students to post get a bulldog brag.  Let's see who is reading.

Lightning Logic

NOAA Photo Library, NOAA Central Library; OAR/ERL/National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL)

Written by the Fourth Grade GT - Group 1

What is lightning and how is it formed?
"Lightning is formed when the accumulation of separated, opposing electrical charges becomes too great for a cloud to maintain, a transfer of charge occurs.  We observe this transfer of charge as lightning and thunder." -  Operation Monster Storms, pg. 54

Truths and Myths About Lightning
Lightning never strikes in the same place. - Myth
Fact- There are many documented cases of lightning striking in the same place.

The rubber souls of your shoes and the tires of your cars will protect you from being injured by lightning.  - Myth
Fact - Rubber-souled shoes and rubber tires provide no protection from lightning.  However, the steel frame of a hard-topped vehicle will protect you, if you are not touching metal.  If your car is struck, you may receive injuries and your car might get damaged but it is much safer than being outside.

You can tell the distanct to lightning by counting one second per mile after thunder. - Myth
Fact- After the lightning, count the seconds between the lightning and the thunder.  Then divide that number by 3600 and multiply the result by 750.  This will give you the distance between you and the storm.

If you are outside in a thunderstorm you should seek shelter under a tree to keep dry.  - Myth
Fact - Being under a tree is the second leading cause of lightning catastrophe.  Better to get wet than fried!

There is a myth that lightning is attracted to metal;  it is not.  However, metal does conduct electricity better than any other materials, so it is not a good idea to be holding onto something made of metal-- especially if that item tends to be taller than you.  Lightning is attracted to the tallest object in the area.  So if you are holding onto a tall metal object, that object can become a lightning rod and conduct electricity to YOU!

Lightning Safety Tips
1.  One thing you should never do is go outside during a thunderstorm. 
2.  Have a plan for if your house gets struck by lightning during a lightning storm. 
3.  Avoid tall structures, such as towers, tall trees, fences, telephone lines, and powerlines.  Lightning usually strikes the tallest object in an area.
4.  Never hide behind an object while you are outside during a thunderstorm.
5.  If you either hear or see thunder or lightning you need a plan.
6.  Go inside a building or house and stay away from windows and things that can shatter.
7.  If outside, try to avoid any liquid substances and don't be in an open area.  Don't go standing around in puddles.
8.  Don't be near any types of metal or electric fences.
9. If you feel your hair stand on end you are immediate danger of being struck.  Unless you can instantly jump inside a shelter, drop to a crouching position, bending forward and keeping your feet close together with your hands on your knees.  The object is to be as low to the ground as possible but with as little of your body surface touching as possible.
NOAA Photo Library, NOAA Central Library; OAR/ERL/National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL)

Exciting Guest

This week, we had a guest speaker who came to speak with our fourth graders about the "Sasquatch Phenomenon."  Mr. Alton Higgins drove from Mid-America Christian University in Oklahoma City, where he teaches Biology, to talk about his time spent with the BFRO (Bigfoot Field Research Organization) and TBRC (Texas Bigfoot Research Conservancy), in which he serves as chairman.  He spoke with our students about what he believes Sasquatch to be and how he got started researching this phenomenon. 

Davis GT students were fascinated and asked many wonderful questions.  They even got to see a hand and footprint that Mr. Higgins brought for them to see and touch.  They got to compare their hand and foot size to the size of the "bigfoot" prints.

This talk kicks off our "Enigmas" unit from the Texas Performance Standards Project for Gifted Students.  Look for pictures to be added this week that were taken of our students and Mr. Higgings.  We thank Mr. Higgins from the bottoms of our hearts for driving all the way down from Oklahoma to teach our students what he knows about the Sasquatch Phenomenon!

Third Grade News

Our third graders have been working hard this year.  They have been working on Algebra concepts and being able to explain their thinking process in solving problems. 

Students have also been working on learning about Science Lab Safety while doing some cool experiments.  Third graders got to see two chemicals combine and spontaneously combust (students were standing well back with masks and goggle on - this was a watch only experiment)  Students got to see what happens when you mix vinegar and baking soda in a test tube with a plug in it.  They have gotten to do some fun experiments this. 

Students have been learning about crime scene science as well.  They have been learning about fingerprints.  They got to study their own fingerprints and tried to lift their prints off of different surfaces around the classroom.  Third graders also learned that some surfaces don't hold fingerprints well and they learned that detectives can get prints off of the most difficult surfaces using cyanoacrylate (the main ingredient in super glue.)  They will be learning about hair and fabric fibers as well this week and how to match them using a microscope. 

We will be having fun with Science this year! 

What's New

We've had a great start to GT this year.  Students have been working hard and learning a lot.  Students are learning math, science, social studies and problem solving skills. On this blog, I will be showcasing a different grade level per week so that you can see what they've been learning. 

 

 

Students also got to do an experiment with one of the elements from the Periodic Table of Elements.  Students separated a water molecule into its separate elements of hydrogen and oxygen. 

Students had a great time and learned alot.