Our Field Trip to Downtown Honolulu

We started the off with a play called Tasi's Gift. It was at the Honolulu Theater for Youth in downtown Honolulu, near the Governor's house.  The play was about a Samoan bowl.  The main characters were Tasi, the woodcarver, and his granddaughter. In the play, Tasi's granddaughter learned that she needs to be patient, continue working until she completes her job, and to be focused and disciplined. We really enjoyed the play and thought it was great! The fourth graders would all like to see the play again.

After the play we walked to the State Capitol to eat lunch.  We saw the state seal hanging in front of the capitol and a lot of us thought it looked like a huge coin.  We also saw a statue of Liliuokalani, Hawaii's last queen. In the center of the state capitol there was a beautiful mosaic, kind of like the one in front of our school.  After we ate at the capitol, we walked along Richards street to the front of I'olani Palace. This is where the kings and queens of Hawaii used to live. Across the street of the capitol, we saw where the governor lives, and we also saw the statue of King Kamehameha. We also saw Kawaiaha'o church, which is the first church built in Hawaii.  We continued down the street past the supreme court and the Hawaii State Library and ended up in front of Honolulu Hale, where they were putting up the Christmas decorations.

Overall, we had a lot of fun and learned a lot. It was fun walking around downtown and taking a tour together. Everyone thought that it was the best field trip ever! We had a great time!

Our First Worm Feeding

To feed the worms, we had to put our gloves on, then pull the bin out so everyone could see.  Then we had to open the cover of the bin.  We flipped the newspaper layer over so that we could dump banana peels, whole bananas, peaches, coleslaw, carrots, onions, tomatoes, lettuce, and potatoes, into the bin to feed the worms.

When we opened the bin, it looked disgusting, but after a while we got used to it and had fun.  When we were over the bin, it smelled putrid.  We saw the worms and they were black and brown.  In order to get the job done, we used teamwork throughout the week.  To be the first group to feed the worms was fun, awesome, exciting, and gross.

Written by: Kailee, Adaora, Leiani, Vaepo, Camreyn, and Dylan

Field Trip to Bishop Museum

On Friday, November 4th, we went to Bishop Museum.  Ms. Correia was dressed as Kupuna Atoll (and island that has been broken down into an atoll by erosion and weathering).  After our groups broke up, Mrs. Branch's group stayed and explored the science center.  Ms. Correia and Mrs. Parker's group went to the Hawaiian Hall.

In the Hawaiian hall there was lot of information about Hawaiian history.  They even had a whale model made out of paper mache, but the bones inside it were real. We heard a story about the goddess Pele.  The goddess Pele was riding her brother the shark god and she planted her digging stick somewhere on the island. Pele's sister killed her and her spirit went to Kilauea, on the Big Island.

In the science exploration center we played with a wii game, wax volcano, and a submarine.  In the Mars exhibit, we played with toy rockets.  Some of us also got to experience what it would be like to walk on Mars. We finally finished our day with a peaceful lunch under a tree next to Hawaiian Hall.

Written by: Sky, Zackry, Justus, Erin, Elijah, and Joseph, with help from Mrs. Branch

Wonderful Worms

Today Ms. Jaffe came to our class and taught us about worms.  Ms. Jaffe works at the Waikiki Worm Company.  We got our very own worm bin ready by ripping up cardboard and newspaper.  We brought the worms food like pineapples, salad, banana peels, apple cores, and papaya skin.  We got to observe and compare epigeic worms (worms that don't live underground) and endogeic worms (earthworms). We also learned about the "F.B.I." which stands for fungus, bacteria, and invertebrates.  They are all examples of the decomposers that we will find in our worm bin.  We also learned that the biggest worm lives in Australia and is 12 feet long.  None of the worms are poisonous and they are super harmless.  There are different types of worms in the world. Today was super awesome, our class learned a lot.

Throughout the remainder of the school year, we will be taking care of our worm bin. We need to water it everyday and feed it once a week. The worms like to eat a variety of healthy foods. The don't eat dairy or meats, so we need to be careful about what we feed them. After 6 months, we will have our first harvest. Our harvest will yield two products: more worms and vermicast (worm droppings). This way we can start more worm bins at our school and donate the vermicast to the peace garden. We are all very excited about our new project and can't wait to learn more.

WORMS!

Happy Halloween!

We had a Halloween parade at our school! The whole Keone'ula community was dressed up and it was lots of fun. Some costumes were scary, others were cool, and some people wore the same costumes.  We saw nerds, vampires, scream masks, and Captain America.  Most of our teachers dressed up as referees and football players. It was hot and we were all sweating like crazy.  At the end of the day, we all had fun, we got candy from our classmates, and best of all, we saw everybody's costumes! Happy Halloween!

Waiting for the parade to go by...

Our Special Guest Reader

Today we had a special visit from the U.S. Navy. Our reader's name was Mr. Anthony from the Munitions Command in Ewa Beach. He came here to read us I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato by Lauren Child. We want to thank him for reading us the Principal's Book of the Month.  The book I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato is about a girl named Lola who is very picky when she eats. She will not eat tomatoes, carrots, fish sticks, and cauliflower.

It was fun when Mr. Anthony came and read us this book because he read us the book with expression and a deep voice so we could hear. He pointed to the pictures and explained what they were. Thank you again Mr. Anthony! It was a pleasure to meet you and have you read to us.

Written by: Cory, Madison, Brandon, Jaden, Adrianne, Elijah, and Justus

Excitement about our new blog...

This morning, we all were introduced to our new classroom blog. We were excited to see that one class from Colorado has already found our blog and would like to read more about us. We can't wait to update our blog with news from our class, photos of our learning, and polls for our readers. This year we will learn how to post new information, comment on other blogs appropriately, and use our writing skills to communicate how awesome our class is with the rest of our community. Please feel free to leave comments and vote on our polls. Thanks for visiting!

Welcome!

Hi everyone, welcome to our brand new classroom blog. This year, we plan on learning a lot of new and exciting things. We would love to share what we're learning with everyone! As a class, we will be posting updates about what we're focusing on in class and about all of the fun activities that go on throughout our school year. Check back often!