First day of 3rd Quarter!

Yay! It's finally 3rd quarter. Time flies so fast. Soon it's going to be 4th quarter and then the end of the year. So far all of this time we've been in 4th grade as kids, but we know we will leave as knowledgeable kids. 3rd quarter will be much harder because it's almost the ending of the school year and teachers want students to be prepared.

Written by Codey Y.

For our first day back from break, we focused on organizing our classroom. We went over the January calendar, cleaned out our binders, and organized our assessment folders. Each table group decided on a table name, wrote their essential agreements, and created a team poster. Finally, we set our goals for 2013 and found new books to read. It was a busy and productive day. We're all looking forward to what the new year will bring. 

Our Field Trip to the Lo'i

On Thursday, April 12th, our class went on a field trip to a lo'i in the Kaneohe ahupua'a.  The bus drive was extremely long and loud! When we got to the lo'i, most students were anxious to get into the mud! But, first we did an activity where we collected rocks and sticks to clear out an area so that the people that are in charge of the lo'i could continue making the ahupua'a better by planting a garden.  Another activity we did was stomp in the mud to make the mud softer for the taro that would be planted in it.  There were cray fish swimming around and nibbling on our feet!  There was an auwai (stream) that we got to wash off in.  It was freezing cold, but worth it!

We learned that they are trying to bring back the ahupua'a as it looked like in 1920.  We changed our clothes and took a seat on the bus.  We had lots of fun and hope we can go back and help.

Bike Ed Fun

Today we had our Bike Ed adventure. On our adventure we went around the entire neighborhood and up and down our Running Club track. We only had a few minor accidents, but we were fine.  We started Bike Ed on Monday. We had Bike Ed so that we could learn about bike safety, especially for when we're riding around our neighborhood.

All of the bikes we rode this week were called diamondbacks. They were silver and black.  We were wearing helmets and vests so that drivers could see us more easily.  We also wore shoes to protect our feet.  We had so much fun this week during Bike Ed, we wish we could do this everyday!

Written by: Cory, Kailee, Keoki, Jaden, and Joseph

Worm Progress

Today was such a fun day with the worms.  They have been growing over time.  The worms do not like the light so they hide under newspaper.  During Winter Break, the custodians helped us by watering the worms.  The worms have also been making babies. We take turns to take care of them as our responsibilities.  We tried putting in a whole orange to see how long it would take the worms to eat it. We also noticed that plants have started growing in our vermicast. That's really exciting! Overall the worms have been doing good and growing well.  We are so proud.

Written by: Adaora, Marcell, Savannahri, Vaepo, and Alize

 Baby Worms!

 Feeding the worms some old fruits and vegetables. 

The plants are growing!

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!

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!