Sports Day!

NUTCRACKER

Ethan said, "My favorite part of the Nutcracker was when the huge Mouse King came out and the Nutcracker killed him."
Callie added, "The Nutcracker ballet had really good dancing in it."
Marcos said, "My favorite part was when the cannons exploded."
David added, "I liked the part when they brought out the white horses and the people had the fake legs."
Lory said, "My favorite part was the snowflakes when all the girls were dancing."
Adriel added, "My favorite part was when they had the war. I also liked the part was when Fritz was commanding his soldiers."
Borain said, "My favorite part was when Clara got older."
Neeraj added, "My favorite part was the war."
Alimurtada said, "My favorite part was when the Nutcracker was fighting the Mouse Atilla."

Reading and Math update

David reported, "This week I learned to write poems: concrete poems, rhymes, onomatopoeia, and alliteration."

Lory added, "We read poems with repetition."

Alimurtada said, "We learned how to analyze poems."

Callie added, "In reading, we learned what onomatopoeia is in poetry."

Ismahan said, "This week we learned what's a stanza. A stanza is a paragraph in a poem."

Jennifer R. reported, "Today we learned how to multiply by one digit."

Hanna added, "Also, we learned how to do 2 digit by two digit multiplication."

Washington State Geography, Day 1

Facts I Learned

Maniyah Mt. Rainier National Park is named after Mount Rainier. Axel I learned that Mount Rainier is the tallest mountain in WA. Ismahan WA state has evergreen forests. Ryan S. Our nickname is the Evergreen state. Callie We grow all different kinds of fruit. Maniyah We grow 90% of the country’s raspberries.

Issaquah Salmon Hatchery field trip

Field Trip

Ethan said, "On the field trip I learned that male salmon have a beak and sharp teeth. Female just have a mouth. When the salmon spawn, males attack other males while females are spawning."

David added. "I learned that jack salmon spawn too early, that;s why they die quickly."

Neeraj reported, "This week we learned about salmon and their life cycle."

Alimurtada added, "I learned on the ft that the biggest predator of the salmon is a human."

Julian said, "I learned on the field trip that a king salmon can weigh up to 150 pounds."

Callie added, "We went on a field trip to the salmon hatchery and I learned that pink salmon are called that because their inside is pink, not their outside."

Reading

Galilea reported, "We learned how to write summaries."

Lory added, "Today we learned five more idioms like: when life gives you lemons, sleep like a baby, spring chicken, and neck of the woods"

Jennifer R said, "This week I learned I learned five more idioms. One of them is spring chicken. That means young and active."

Math

Ismahan reported. "On Friday we learned math facts and algebra with shapes."

All About Salmon

SCIENCE

Ryan S said, "Today I learned what the salmon life cycle is."
Hanna said, "And where salmon live."
Julian added, "I learned that only a little bit of salmon survive."
Callie continued, "We learned where the salmon lived in the world."
Lory added, "In Science, I learned what salmon eat and where they come from."
Borain added, "This week I learned about the salmon body."
Alexis said, "This week we learned ten parts of salmon."
Ismahan continued, "The parts of a salmon are the head, trunk, tail, nostril, eyes, mouth."
Adriel said, "Dorsal fin, the fin that they cut off, and the thing that closes when they open their mouth."
Alimurtada continued, "And the dorsal fin, the operculum, the pectoral fin, and the pelvic fin, and the anal fin, and the caudal fin."

CRAZY HAIR DAY

Axel said, "Crazy Hair Day is when you can mess up your hair and come to school."
Ismahan added, "Crazy Hair Day is cool because you can do your hair however you want."
Jennifer R. added, "Crazy Hair Day is fun because you can paint your hair whichever color you want and mess it up however you want."

MATH

Borain said, "Today I learned about prime numbers and composite numbers."
Axel added, "We learned the word composite: a number that has more than 2 factors."
Lory said, "Factors. And the largest factors. And the common factors."
Julian added, "We learned the words prime numbers: a number that has two factors, one and itself."
Ismahan added, "I learned the word: composite."
Marcos said, "I learned how to minus the super seven."
Ryan S. said, "Today we learned subtracting 9s."

READING
Adriel said, "We learned five more idioms."
Alimurtada said, "Today we learned five idioms. One of them was: think outside the box which means it's different thinking but it's also right."
Callie said, "One of the idioms was birds of a feather flock together."
Alimurtada continued, "That means a group of people that are the same."

WRITING
Loa said, "This week we learned how to do our own stories."

This Week's Learning Objectives

MATH
Marcos said, "I learned how to estimate products and quotients!"
David added, "I learned about sums, differences, products, and quotients!"
Alimurtada said, "Today we learned how to estimate in math by rounding numbers."
Adriel continued, "I learned how to estimate in the thousands."

READING
Ismahan added, "I learned 5 idioms."
Ethan continued, "The five idioms we learned are: pot calling the kettle black means name calling that they are."
Lory continued, "The other idiom was I have bigger fish to fry. It means that I have more important things to do."

Neeraj said, "We learned how to write summaries."
Jennifer R added, "Today I learned about characters and characteristics."
Julian said, "We learned how to write our own book talk."
Axel said, "We learned how to do a book talk with title, author, and genre."
Kim said, "I learned how to write a personal response with title, author, genre, summary, connections, questions, inferring, visualizing, transferring, and climax."

WRITING
Loa said, "We learned how to make our own stories."
Maniyah said, "We learned how to do a personal narrative."

College Day!

Adriel says, "I think college is cool because you get to do different classes at different times and you get different teachers."
Alimurtada adds, "I think that college is cool because you can choose your classes and you get to live in the apartments in the college."

Loa states, "I think college is nice because there's nice people and nice teachers and nice programs."
Julian agrees, "I think college is cool because you get to meet new friends, teachers, and you can have all kinds of different periods."

Ismahan says, "I think college is nice because it will help you get a job."
Borain adds, "I thnk college is a nice day because you get to wear shirts for college."

Kassandra states, "I like college because you can learn new things and get smarter. You can have a better life and you can experience new facts."
Axel says, "I think college is cool because you can discover new things, make new friends, and talk to nice people."

 

Happy First Day of School!

 

September 1, 2011

Dear Room 246 Families,

Welcome to the fourth grade! It is going to be such an exciting year full of fun and learning! By the end of the year, your child will know so much about multiplication, division, fractions, writing, electricity, salmon, Washington state geography, Native Americans, modern day Seattle, and so much more!

Please allow me to tell you a bit about myself. This is my tenth year teaching! I have taught fourth grade, third grade, and second grade. I grew up in Seattle, but I was born in the Philippines. I went to Occidental College in Los Angeles where I earned a degree in Literature and a minor in Elementary Education. I came back to Seattle to attend the University of Washington and earned my Master in Teaching degree there.

For fun, I like to go running, I enjoy yoga, and I love trying new foods and restaurants. My favorite colors are green and blue. I live with my husband Stephen, our dog named Lucy, and our cat named Tony.

I love students, I love my job and I can’t wait to get started! If you ever have concerns, please call or email me. I am usually able to respond to emails within 24 hours.

Sincerely,

Ms. Alcantara

vivienne.alcantara@highlineschools.org