Cranbrook 2012

My Favorite Christmas 2012

Ceramic Tiled Planter - Our Class Auction Project

Our school has an auction every other year to raise funds for computers, equipment, and other expensive things.  This year our class made a real cool project to be sold at the Auction.  We decorated ceramic tiles with pictures of Michigan wild flowers.  Mrs. Orozco arranged for us to glaze individual tiles then had them fired.  Later she bought a real pretty indoor planter filled with beautiful plants and flowers.  Our tiles were attached to the sides of the planter.  During the auction, many people bid on the project.  Congratulations to Zack and Sarah's family who won the bid.  We hope you love the planter and think of us all whenever you look at it!

LANSING 2012

Our first field trip for the year was to our state's capitol city - Lansing and it was super fun!  We first toured the Capitol building. It was beautifully painted, had a glass floor, fossils in the tiles and LOTS of stairs.  We saw the Governor’s office, both houses of Congress and the big dome.  We then had lunch, explored the gift shop and toured the State Historical Museum. There was a mining place that was dark (but not too scary), big wheel lumber movers, a one-room school house, and lots of other cool displays and set-ups.  Our last place to visit was the Hall of Justice.  There were 88 security cameras, a short movie on how courts work, and lots of hands-on displays to teach us about Michigan laws.  It was a very long but very fun day.

By Lauren and Sarah J

Brain Food - 2012!

For Halloween, Mr. Nelson brought in a freaky-looking BRAIN and we ate it! Well, we did eat a brain but it was made of a special jello-custard dessert called panna cotta.  It was gray and jiggled like crazy - just like the real thing, but it tasted like vanilla.  He used cranberry-cherry sauce for the blood which made it really gross and scary.  Most of us tried it, some didn’t want to.  It was AWESOME!

By Payton, Lauren, Stefan, Lexi, Linnea, Sarah D, and Sarah J.

Signature Bugs

This week our class made Signature Bugs, which was really fun.  To make one, you write your name, neatly and in cursive, on the Smartboard.  Mr. Nelson then copies, flips and connects the bottoms of the two signatures together then rotates the whole thing to make it look different.  Sometimes it looks like an alien and sometimes it looks like a crazy bug. After they were print them, we are given a chance to color and decorate them.  I hope next year's 4th graders have as much fun doing this project as we did.
- By Lauren, Lizzy, Katy, Paola, and Sammy G.

Longhouses 2012

 

 Our hands (and the room) got really messy, but we had an awesome time making our longhouses. First we had to collect natural resources from around our homes or from a park, then we assembled the models with a little help from Mr. Nelson. When we were done, we put them on display in the hallway. It was really fun and we can’t wait to see next year’s 4th graders will do.      By Lauren and Katelyn

2012-2013 - Here We Go Again!

We are looking forward to new exciting things happening in 4th grade this year.  We will have a great time learning about God and the world He created as well as how we can be good citizens and good stewards of everything He has given us.  Mr. Nelson will post photos of our activities and we will be the authors of the articles that come along with them,  Its going to be an AWESOME years.  Can't wait to get started!!

Water Rockets Really Rock!

For the National Day of Prayer

Chopsticks!

We read The Last Dragon by Susan Miho Nunes in reading class this week.  Afterward, Mr. Nelson treated  us to some chopstick lessons, sticky rice, and a few other Asian delicacies.

Launching Hot Air Balloons

We headed outside with our balloons, Mr. Nelson and this burner, made out of a small camp stove and a duct pipe.  Each of the groups took turns holding their balloon over the pipe as  they filled with hot air and then just let it go.  Each floated upward, some faster than others, some higher than others - one MUCH higher.  Four out of the five balloons were recovered.  It was an awesome experiment!

- Reported by the whole 4N class

Constructing Hot Air Balloons

 We learned about density in science class.  Faster particles of matter take up more space and have less density.  If you heat stuff up-it becomes less dense.  That is why hot air rises.  We made hot air balloons to prove this fact.
Five groups were given tissue paper, glue and lot of instruction of how make a hot air balloon.  After putting it all together, each group named their balloons:  Penguin, Bob, UFO, Holy Angel, and the Atomic Fireball We were then given some time to decorate them too.  They had to dry completely until the next day - the BIG LAUNCH day.

- Reported by the whole 4N class

Celebrating Lutheran Schools Week 2012

   To start the week, we had a special chapel in the gym and had hat day where we wore any hat we wanted all day long. There were some simple hats, some silly hats, and a few interesting hats as well.

   On Tuesday we had Sports Team Day. Students could wear their favorite sports team shirt or jersey.

   Wednesday was Pajama Day.  People wore pajamas or sweats and Mr. Nelson let us bring in a stuffed animals if we wanted to.  We even wore slippers and robes, so we would be comfy!

   Thursday was Mixed-up/Wacky Dress Day - you could wear mixed up, un-matched and backwards clothes.  That was a real hoot seeing what combinations people came up with!  In class Mr. Nelson taught us how to make rope!  We had a rope making device we all got to help out with.  Real Cool!

   Friday was Eaglewear Blue and Gold Day to show off our school colors. We also ended the week by having All-School Relays in the Gym! We LOVE our Lutheran School and Lutheran Schools Week.  It was the best week ever!!!!!!!!!!

-Natalie and Anna M.

4N Chapel 2012 - Jesus Is Our Lifesaver

A Slide Show of our Chapel

We were given the chance to lead the chapel service for the whole school in March.  Our 4th grade class lead everyone in prayers, scripture readings, and songs.  Some of us did a skit entitled"A Day at the Beach" which was based on the parable of the good Samaritan. We wanted to teach everyone that God loves us and we should go love one another too.  We loved the chance to lead and teach about Jesus.

- From Sarah and Abby M

A Video of Our Skit

Owl Pellet Day

   In class we dissected owl pellets.  Owl pellets are balls of fur and bones that owls cough up because they don't have teeth. We dug through the pellet, took it carefully apart and found some mouse skulls a whole bunch of bones! One person found a pelvis! It was kind of disgusting at first, but we got used to it and we got to take the bones home!

   We also learned the owl pellet song, which we all love, watched a few videos, and Mr. Nelson played a very sneaky (but funny) trick on the class.Thank you to Mrs. B and Mrs. M  for helping during the dissection. - From Molley and Evan

We LOVE Chocolate Week!

 

    This week our class was busy learning about chocolate. On Monday, Mr. Nelson showed us a video about Lutheran World Relief’s program to help the chocolate growers in Africa. They have a company called Divine Chocolate. They grow, process, and sell their own chocolates. If we buy chocolates from them, the growers get more money. The money they make also goes into improving the community with water, education and medical help.
    On Tuesday we studies rainforest species and how interdependent they are inside their ecosystem. We also made chocolate taffy - which was awesome! We each got 3 pieces.
    Wednesday was our chance to taste-test dark chocolates, chart the results, and watched an “I Love Lucy” episode about a chocolate factory. It was really funny!
    On Thursday we made the world’s easiest chocolate fudge and learned how cacao beans become chocolate candy bars.
    Friday was the best as we had a blast going to the Morely Chocolate Factory and watching them make candy then going into the shop to buy some. We even got Bumpy-Cake as a treat for Mr. Nelson’s half-birthday. Yumm. We LOVED chocolate week.