Our Chinese New Year Celebration

Our class was fortunate enough to be treated to some tasty traditional Chinese candy first thing in the morning on Monday. Savannahri brought us our sweet treats and Cory explained the significance of eating something sweet first thing in the morning for Chinese New Year. Savannahri also brought a small lion dancing puppet to share with us as well. The following day, on Tuesday, Cory brought a larger version of a lion. Some of us had fun trying it on and we were treated to a short lion dance around the class. We learned a lot about the Chinese culture and enjoyed celebrating together.

Chinese New Year by Cory

"Gong Xi Fa Cai, Xin Nian Kuai Le!" It means "Best wishes for great wealth and prosperity for the New Year!" Chinese New Year is also known as the Lunar New Year.  It usually falls between the 20th of January and the 20th of February.  This year's Chines New Year falls on the 23rd of January.  It is the year of the Dragon in the Chinese Zodiac sign.  The Chinese Zodiac is based on a 12-year cycle with each year represented by an animal sign.  It starts with Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Boar. I am a horse.

My family and I celebrate Chinese New Year because of my heritage.  I am half Chinese and half Caucasian.  Chinese New Year is celebrated for 15 days.  Friends and family visit each other during this time.

Things we do to get ready for Chinese New Year are clean the whole house to sweep out the old and bring in the New Year.  Buy new clothes, decorations, calligraphy, candles, tangerines, red envelopes, and plants. Get a new haircut and finish homework.

We usually take a trip to Chinatown to see the calligrapher to write special wishes for us to usher in the New Year.  In Chinatown, we watch the Dragon and Lion dances.  There were firecrackers going off at night at many stores.  they are clearing the way for good like to come pouring in their store.  There are many stalls set up along the streets where Gau (sticky cake), and freshly made candied fruits.  My favorite is the dried strawberry, pineapple, and mango...yum!

Reunion dinner is a very big part of celebrating Chinese New Year. It is celebrated on the eve of the New Year, and many family members will try to fly back from wherever they may be to eat dinner together.  My family and I go out to a Chinese restaurant to have dinner.  We had noodles for longevity, fish for abundance, and a sizzling platter.  To wrap up, we had fortune cookies.

On the first day of Chinese New Year, the first thing we did was eat something sweet to insure we have a whole year of sweet life.  In many parts of Asia, during the first and second day of Chinese New Year, people don't have to go to work because it is a public holiday for them, but here it is not a holiday. We still have to go to work or school.

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!

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