Birds of Prey

buzzard

buzzard close up

the fast flying falcon

hawk eating a quick snack from her hand

hawk in flight

Check out the hawk's talons and hooked beak!

owl on a perch

The owl is camera shy!  Just as Miss Liefer was about to snap the picture, he turned his head!

another owl--look at the wingspan

Who's older?  Would you believe the little one is 17 years old?!

Acorn may be a cute little owl...but don't be deceived, he's a mighty hunter!

turkey vulture

a little blurry-- but an awesome picture nonetheless

Half of my awesome class waiting quietly for the assembly to begin

The other half of my awesome class waiting quietly for the assembly to begin

ZOO Field trip is Wednesday!!!

Wednesday we are headed to the St. Louis Zoo.
Remember we are going no matter what the weather.  So dress in layers!

Be at school at 8 AM with your lunch, drink, and best behavior!  We want to show everyone that we are wonderful students from Gardner Elementary School.


What a GREAT way to celebrate Halloween and conclude our science study of animal adaptations!

I really enjoy going to the zoo in the fall.

It fits perfectly with what we've been studying.

The trees are beautiful.  

The animals are more active.

we do a scavenger hunt!

  The zoo is decorated for their "Boo at the Zoo" event!

The zoo classroom is a favorite event of the day!

Many of the photos/videos have been deleted due to space issues on the blog...but here's a link our zoo trip in previous years...

http://missliefer.blogspot.com/2010/11/zoo-field-trip.html

http://missliefer.blogspot.com/2011/10/st-louis-zoo.html

Birds of Prey

Tomorrow the the Birds of Prey assembly is in the afternoon!

Sneak peek...Here's a link to a few video clips from the assembly from two years ago...

http://missliefer.blogspot.com/2010/11/birds-of-prey-assembly.html

Remember that these are Predators!
They have talons, strong hooked beaks, and many other adaptations that help them hunt their prey!

Red Ribbon Week

This week is RED RIBBON WEEK!

These Bulldog paws don't touch drugs!

Monday--When I see red I think of drugs: wear ALL RED 

Tuesday- Put a cap on drugs: wear your favorite hat or cap

Wednesday- Sock it to drugs: crazy sock day

more crazy socks

and more funny feet

Don't forget tomorrow is Pajama Day!  (put drugs to sleep)

Friday is "No bones about it,say no to drugs: wear orange and black"

Also, all this week and next week we are having a food drive.  "We CAN be drug free…Bring in canned goods!"

Science: Food Chains

Food Chains, Producers, Consumers, Decomposers, Herbivores, Carnivores, Omnivores, Predators, Prey...
these are some of the vocabulary terms you hear in our science classroom lately!

This website is one that practices these terms

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/gamesforkids.htm

You can find many other animal websites at the "science" tab at the top of the blog.

Student Council Report

Hi! Here are some important things you will need to know this month  

WARNER'S WARM UP --DATE: Nov.5th-16th      

Tree of lights last two weeks of Dec. contest between 4th and 5th grade                                    

Red ribbon week--DATE: Oct 22nd-26th

Monday-22nd When I see red I think of drugs: wear ALL RED

Tuesday-23rd put a cap on drugs: wear your favorite hat or cap

Wednesday-24th sock it to drugs:crazy sock day

Thursday-25th put drugs to sleep:  PJ day (no slippers)

Friday-26th no bones about it,say no to drugs:wear orange and black

There's a contest between the classes to see who has the most students participate each day during Red Ribbon Week!

Tuesday-31st Halloween safe night @ the Waterloo high school

10-10

October 10th we had a BIG afternoon!

We cheered on the Cardinals in our by wearing our Cardinal RED!

We had a BOXTOP popcorn party!

We also had Mrs. Mechler come into our classroom to discuss being respectful and kind to everyone.
As a class we want to lift others up. Remember to treat others the way you want to be treated.


Don't forget the chapter 4 science test is tomorrow!
The blog "science" tab has a lot of good websites related to what we are studying AND the textbook has a good review at http://www.macmillanmh.com/science/2011/student/na/grade4/g4_ch4.html

More Collecting Data

This chapter we are practicing finding landmark data (median, maximum, minimum, mode, range).

Here's some pictures from one of our data collection days. 

(We were finding the "hat size" of our head in centimeters.) 

  measuring the distance around our heads

 FUN FACT:  In the real world, men's and women's hats are sized in different ways.

The size of a man's hat size --6 7/8 for example-- is the diameter of a circle to the nearest 1/8 inch.
(Imagine taking a sweatband inside the hat and forming a circle. Then measure the distance across.)

The size of a woman's hat --22 for example--is approximately the distance around the head in inches.

After collecting the data, we made bar graphs and discussed the meaning of the results.

PIZZA!

Wondering what to eat tomorrow?
Make it a pizza night!  woo hoo! Everybody loves pizza!

Gardner Elementary will have Papa John's day/night tomorrow, Wednesday, October 10th!

You can order anytime all day and Gardner will receive 20% of the total order.
Call 939-9600

Please remember to mention that your order is for Gardner Elementary, and if ordering online use code:  STSCH25

Happy COLUMBUS DAY!

I hope you all are enjoying your day off today!
Let's take a moment to remember Christopher Columbus....

Check out this BrainPOP video about Columbus!
http://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/famoushistoricalfigures/christophercolumbus/

In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue!


Here's another video about him (made by National Geographic for kids)
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/kids/history-kids/christopher-columbus-kids/

Many Europeans believed that the world was flat when Columbus was alive.  Columbus's goal to reach India in his travels (that is why he called the Native Americans "Indians").  But he landed in the Americas instead.  Everyone makes mistakes, and some mistakes can often lead to good and unexpected things!

To learn more about his life check out this site:
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/page/c/columbus.shtml

There are also many cities in the United States named after Christopher Columbus.  How many can you name?

More about Columbus (with activities)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/famouspeople/christopher_columbus/
and a game about Columbus called "Walk the Plank"
http://www.schoolhistory.co.uk/games/walk/walk_columbus.html

Columbus's biggest ship, the Santa Maria, was less than 23m long!

Data

Last week in math class we collected data...

Rolling dice and making tally marks

finding the sum of the dice

gathering all the data to find the maximum, minimum, range, mode, and median

Did you roll certain numbers more times than other numbers?

What is the difference between a guess and an estimate?

Counting raisins

Collecting class data on the number of raisins in our boxes.
(Then having a morning snack!)

Hungry?

YOU ARE INVITED.....


WHAT:  McTeacher Night 
WHEN:  Tuesday Oct. 2 from 4-8 pm
WHERE:  Waterloo McDonald’s


 Come in or drive thru and see some of your favorite staff members working and waiting on you!  Gardner will receive 10% of total sales!  Last year we earned $800.
Come out and maybe Miss Liefer will wait on you!