The Food Drive

Have you ever been in a food drive? I have. The food drive started last Wednesday and ended yesterday. Mrs.Penseko's class challeged our class to see which class got the most items. We kept bringing stuff and so did Ms.Pensko's class. On the last day of the food drive our class brought in lots of stuff, I brought in 144 (On the last day) items. I was the winner of the boys in our class. I was also the winner of all the kids. Our class won!! Our class brought in 757 items!
But the real winners were the people at the food bank.
I felt really proud of myself that I used almost all of my money to buy those food items. I did it because I wanted other people to have food. I feel really good about giving all that food to other people.


posted by Mitchell

If I could ask Santa for Anything in the World.....

If I could ask Santa for anything in the world it would be world peace. I would choose that because there never has been and people are always fighting. Also, innocent people have been hurt in Iran by American soldiers. People should deserve to be treated just like every other person. That is why I chose that.
I would also like a new kitten because I love cats, and they make a really good pet. That is why I would want a new kitten and world peace. What would you want for Christmas?

Posted By: Evan

Pioneers

Today we went to the library to hear pioneers talk about how they used to live. Their names were Ed & Ester Quaale. Ed talked about living on a dairy farm. He had chores like helping his mom garden and milk the cows. He also talked about going to school. They had buses but they were made out of wood instead of metal. He was lucky that he didn't have to ride wagons to school! He told us how he used to blow up stumps: you need a cap (that makes it explode), and a fuse. He bit the fuse (you were not supposed to do this) to light it, then put the cap on the fuse and when it hits the ground it sinks and then explodes! He told us all about his life. I hope you get to meet him sometime.

Posted by Liam

History of Duvall

Yesterday we had a special visitor, his name was Don Williams. He told us about the History of the city of Duvall. Let me tell you about his visit. First, he told us about the buildings in Cherry Valley ( it was first called Cherry Valley). There was a grocery store. Hix owned it. There was also a bridge in the Snoquamie river and when a boat came people went down to the river and swung the gate open. Then, he told us about James Duvall. Did you know that that's how Duvall got it's name? Next, he told us about the railroads. When the railroads came it made the town of Cherry Valley move up on a hill. Then, they decided to name the town after James Duvall. So they called it Duvall. There were lots of trees, so they had a lot of buildings. There was a hotel, Hix's store, there was even a movie Theater! But, something happened. All the trees were cut down and Duvall quieted down for at least 10 years. He told us more about Duvall but, I won't tell you all of it. If you want to know more ask Don Williams, he's the President of the Duvall Historical Society.

posted by Morgan

Did You Hang in There?

This months theme is PERSEVERANCE. I'm going to tell you what it means. It means that you "never give up and you always keep trying". I'm going to tell you how I practice perseverance. I practice perseverance by doing A.T.R.T ( All The Right Type). First, I didn't like A.T.R.T. and I gave up, but then Caitlyn finshed it. So I started again. Now I'm on Capitals and Periods. That's how I did perseverance. How did you?
blogged by Breyton

Healthy Habitats

Did you know that animals need food, water, shelter, and space? I did.
We had Sara come to our class room today for a program called Healthy Habits. She goes to schools and teaches them how to throw away... the right way. She taught us to reduce , reuse, recycle and rethink. She works at King County Solid Waste Division.
Animals need lots of food, water, shelter, and space in their habitats, and if we throw away paper, we have to cut down trees, which will wreck their habitats. But, if we recycle paper we don't have to cut down trees, which doesn't wreck their habitat.
We also became an Official Green Team! Are you a member of the Green Team?

posted by Mitchell

I am Thankful for....

I am Thankful for my mom and dad, for my dog (T.J.), for my sister, and for the horses (Skip and Velvet). The thing that I am most thankful for is the horses, then the dog, then Mom and Dad, then my sister, and last but not least my friends. That is what I am thankful for.
What are you thankful for?

posted by Rebecca

What is Veteran's Day?

Do you know what Veteran's Day is? I do. Veteran's Day is a legal holiday honoring all Veteran's of the armed forces. I know all this beacause I was in a Veterans Day play last week. Hey, did you know that Veterans don't have to be in the war? It's true! Oh, another thing, Veteran's can be in the Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard or Air Force! Veterans don't have to be men, they can be women, too! And, thank goodness, they don't have to have died for our country. Just having served in the military makes you aVETERAN. Veterans aren't whats, there whos. And, there are a lot of patriotic songs that honor Veterans and our Country. Can you sing one for me, if you know one? That's great!
posted by Zoe.

Veteran's Day Program

The Veteran's Day Play

The day before yesterday we did a Veteran's Day play. First, a veteran came and talked about his job as a veteran; then he made a speech about how he had worked for our school. Did you know that he has worked at Carnation Elementery for 6 whole years! After that Ms.Irion introduced our class (Ms. Turchin's class) and we started our Veteran's Day play.

First came Allie and she had a very good begining. It was so good, I want to tell you the whole thing! After Allie came Brandon. After Brandon, was Morgan, Miranda and then lots more. My part was after Liam's part, but he wasn't there so Morgan did his part. It took a little memorizing but I made it. Everybody did a great job. If you weren't there, you should have been!

posted by Andy Chronister

Life Cycle of Salmon

Today we had a special visitor in our class, she was from FISH, Friends of the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery. She taught us about the lifecycle of salmon. First, they are eggs. Then they turn into eyed eggs,which are eggs with eyes. Following eyed eggs, it turns into an alevin, where they have a body, but also have the egg sac for food. Next is a fry. A fry is a small fish, it also has spots. After a fry, is a smolt. A smolt is a fish without spots. And then it heads for the ocean. There they become an adult. An adult is the one who returns to the spot where they were hatched, and gets to be the spawner. She has to trace back to where they were born and lay their eggs, then unfortunately they die. A female fish will swim in front of a male, a male fish swims right behind the female with his head almost touching her tail. When she lays her eggs he fertilizes them with milt. After this they both die, but the young hatch and the life cycle begins again.

This was a very cool way to spend the morning. I hope you get to learn as much as I did about Salmon.

posted by Miles.

The Lunar Eclipse....October 2004

"Hey mom, why is the moon black?" I asked as I looked up into the sky.

"It is black because there is an eclipse."

"What's and eclipse?"

"An eclipse is when the earth gets right in between the moon and the sun."

"So?" I said.

"So, the sun's light shines on the earth, and the earths shadow

covers the moon."

"Cool," I said.
Later that night, when we were out shopping for our costumes, we looked out the window and I saw the lunar eclipse. It was black with a small orange outlining. Wow! Have you ever seen a lunar eclipse?

posted by Nicholas

The hike....ending with a feeling

One school day I had a hike up a mountain.Everyone had to walk fivemiles!I did this hike once, but I didn't go up the mountain. I saw police cars everywhere.Even on the mountain. It took a long time to get to the top mountain. The mountain was probaly the hardest part about this hike. It was really steep and high. By the time I was up the mountain my feet really hurt. The tolt and elementry kids went on the hike. When I got to the top of the mountain my teacher Ms.Turchin was waiting. I also saw Mr.Poage our principal.We got a ten minute rest and then we started heading back to school. It seemed like forever until I saw my school. I was filled with excitement.Finally I was at school again.
by Joshua

Responsibility

10/18/2004

I am responsible because when someone gets hurt I go and get someone to help. For example, if a friend and I where playing tag and they fall and scraped themselves, I would get someone to help. If we had company over for diner I would pick up everyone’s plate when they where done. When my mom tells me to clean my room, I will do it. This is how I show responsibility. How do you show responsibility?

by Austin :)

Signs of the Season

I walked outside on the first day of fall and I saw yellow, red, and orange! I looked around and saw no green at all.In a few minutes I could not be seen. All that was left was a little statue coverd in red, orange, and yellow. Then my sister came out and since she is smaller than me she was covered in leaves in a few seconds. We had fun playing statues in the backyard. Fall was here! Have you seen as many changes as I have seen?

by Miranda

Beginnings....begin with dialogue

"Do you want to play around the world?" I asked Rachel.
"Sure, why not," she replied.
Then Rachel went and got a basketball.
"Where's Amelia?"
"I don't know,"
"Amelia!!!" I yelled.
Then all of a sudden, from out of nowhere, she just popped out.
"There you are Amelia" Rachel said.
Then we started to play around the world.
"I'll go first" said Amelia.
"I'll go second" I said.
“So I’ll go last" said Rachel
We started to play but we kind of got mixed up in which order to go in, but we didn't care.
"I wish I was as good as you guys" I said.
"You'll get better in time" they said at the same time.
"You're good Rachel!!!!!"
She was already at the sixth station, and had only missed about 3 shots at the most. At the end of recess we said "Let's play next recess" Amelia said.
So we did and had a fun time.

Posted by: Kathryn

The Seasons

We get the seasons we do because we live in the northern hemisphere. It's also because the earth tilts on it's axis. When the North Pole is facing the sun it is summer. When the North Pole is facing away from the sun it is winter. Summer is hot. Winter is cold. And spring and fall are cool. What's your favorite season?

By Caitlin

Phases of the Moon

10/4/2004

This year I learned the many phases of the moon like: new moon, waxing crescent, first quarter, gibbous moon, full moon another gibbous last quarter, and waning crescent then it goes on and on. It changes because of the sun. If the sun is on the left side of the moon, it’s a last quarter if the sun is behind the moon it’s a new moon and in front, it’s a total full moon! The moon reflects light from the sun. Our last full moon was September 28th. Our next full moon is October 28th. I enjoyed seeing the last full moon. See below...

PS Did you know that lunatic is named after the moon. its because luna is a word for moon and they used to think that people could get crazy if they saw the full moon, so they called it lunatic!

posted by Rachel

Mount St Helens

Friday, October 01, 2004

Mt. St. Helens erupted today. It was bigger than the last eruption. But it’s still happening now. We saw it on TV. The smoke is coming this way. Last time everybody had to wear masks. We might (but probably won’t) have to wear masks too. Last time there was smokish ash on the ground in the city. They had to wear boots too. They couldn’t get it off anything. They had to wash the cars probably every ten minutes. I hope that doesn’t happen to us. The last big eruption was 24 years ago. Therefore, it was 1980. This eruption was in 2004. I can’t believe that on the first of October, it erupted. Isn’t that amazing! It’s more funny than amazing I think. What about you?

by Kevin

Ask a Question to Hook the Reader

Thursday, September 23, 2004

Have you ever played 4 instruments at a time? I have. I play the tin whistle, the piano, the keyboard, and the violin. The first instruments I played were the keyboard, and the tin whistle. The tin whistle is a lot like the flute which I also want to play in 5th grade. You cover up the holes and then you play a certain note. The keyboard is a lot like the piano, the only difference is the keyboard is plastic and it has different sounds, and it plays songs for you by a push of a button, hey that's another difference. I started violin last year. I do it after school on Tuesdays. We just got a piano so I can't tell you very much about it. I haven't even got lessons yet. So If your looking to play an instrument or 4, pick one of mine, they're some of the easiest!

By: Amelia

Describe the setting...first day of class

When I walked in the classroom on the first day of school I was excited to go back to school. When I went in I saw some changes: like there was no art up, the library in the back had new books, but I still had the same teacher Ms. Turchin. I felt good about being in this classroom again.

Native Plants

Yesterday we had a visitor in our classroom, from Nature Vision. She was talking about native plants and how some plants from Europe got here, like the cat tail. Some of the things I learned are that the Europeans used plants more than animal skins. Also, the red Cedar was also known as the tree of life because it supplies so many things that you can use. The stinging nettle has hairs on the bottom that has the same chemicals that a bees stinger has! It was fun learning about native plants.

by Evan

It was a very good year....

Today was day 180 of our school year. It was officially the end of the year for us. The school year that is..... We celebrated together and had a "pigout" party. Everyone brought in a sharing snack, and we signed t-shirts. Then, we all spent some time discussing what was the best part of our year together. Was it the challenging curriculum, we thought not, although we must admit the Science Fair was AWESOME. Was it the wealth of technology we have in our room? Nope, that wasn't it either, but we did really enjoy using our computers, ELMO, scanners and digital cameras as a tool in our learning/teaching. (And having a class BLOG was quite special we agreed) But, without a doubt, we all agreed it was the wonderful FRIENDSHIPS we had developed. Coming together from across the district this "stellar" group of students had grown to know, love, and care a lot about one another. We are all looking forward to summer fun, but we will always remember and cherish the good times we had together as PAT STARS!!!!

final post of 2003-2004 school year
Ms. T

Horses

Hi, My name is Rachel and I have been interested in horses for over a year. I might even get lessons. I have been learning about them and here are a few facts I have learned.
Usually horses are born at night.
Horses can see when they are born.
They can stand one hour of being born.
They can keep up with the herd 24 hours of being born.
A Morgan is a true American horse.
Pinto's are a Indian horse horses have blue eyes.
You would find a snip on a horses muzzle.
Completely moving a mane is called hogging.
The two piebald horses are the black and white horses.
A tail that is cut straight from the bottom is called banged. You use a dandy brush too remove mud and dirt.
You need a New Zealand rug in the winter to keep the horse warm. You need 1 acre for a horse to graze.
A marking that covers most of the horses face is called bald.
A three year old male is called a colt.
These are a few horse facts. I hope you enjoyed reading them.

By: Rachel

Rocks and Minerals

Today we had a visitor (Amelia's dad returned)in our class to teach our class more about rocks and minerals. I learned that magnetite is a rare mineral. I also learned that if graphite was pressed really tight it would form a diamond. Usually, when plants from the swamp die they go underground to make oil. Then, if the plant goes really,really deep into the earth, with lots of heat and pressure, it would make a diamond. His visit was awesome...with lots of maps, rocks and minerals to share.
by Joshua

SPRING BREAK

During spring break I went to Anniejoy's house for a sleepover. When I arrived I had lunch. When I was done with lunch we went outside and played on the swings. Then when we were done we went inside and played RuneScape. And after that we went upstairs and played Pok'emon coliseum. Then Anniejoy's mom called "Time for dinner!" We ate bread and meat sandwiches. It was very yummy. When we were done we went upstairs and watched The Chronicles of Narnia. Last of all, when the movie was over we went to bed. Anniejoy has a fold out bed. I slept on the bottom. It was all very fun!
(check out the link above to learn about this game)

posted by Anna

My Friend

One of my best friends is Gabe. He encourages me a lot. He likes to help other people too. He always wears a red sweater. He is fun to be around. I like him because he always stays on track. Who is one of your best friends?

Springtime

Signs of spring are: sprouts of plants, flowers and sometimes warmth. When you talk about spring it is all sorts of things you mean by spring. Like small animals, new plants, and the days getting longer. Spring is a time when almost everything starts to change. Cold to warm, leafless to leaves, small to big, rain or snow to warm or wind. Spring may be a time of fun, or just a pleasant time
to be outside. These are a few of the things that are special to me in SPRING.
Do you like Spring?
by Ashley

A Family Discussion (begin with dialogue)

"Did you know the ITBS testing is really hard?" said my brother Zach.
"No it's not" I replied.
We were sitting down eating dinner when my mom joined in. " Don't believe him. When he came home from a day of testing he said the ITBS is really easy."
"I know I wouldn't even believe him even if it was true" I answered.
He said, "But it's true."
So, today when I came into school we did our first ITBS practice test. It was really easy. It was fun. I liked the word problems best. And so now we know my brother was just joking. Do you enjoy testing as much as I do?

By Anniejoy

A Special Visitor

Today my dad Bob Anderson came to visit our classroom to talk about science and chemistry.(he's a scientist)
He brought in some rocks: an amethyst, a calcite rock, and one that looked like false gold. He also brought in some equipment like a salt tester, and a drill that digs into the ground and digs up soil and sand. And, he brought in a "peel" with sand on it. (All that is is a regular old bed sheet with a special glue!)
He talked a lot about being a scientist , which is exactly what we are!
(We are studying chemistry.) I had a lot of fun. He had never shown me some of those things, and he's my dad! I had fun and I think my class had fun too. We all want him to return. Will you Dad?




by:Amelia

Describe the setting of your bedroom

Thursday, March 04, 2004

When you open the door of my room the first thing you can see is a bunk bed with only a top bunk and curtains hanging from the bars. The curtains are mint green with purple and white flowers. Then if you look to the left you will see a computer desk with a monitor and a laptop. Then if you look to your right you will see another desk with lot of paper and pencils and other things. I also have an empty fish tank on the desk (all the fish are dead we have tried two types of fish). On the top bunk you will see a striped pattern with mint green and white. If you look behind the curtains, you will see a chair that folds out into a bed, some blankets, two shelves and an end table (that used to be next to my bottom bunk). Also to your right you can see my chest of drawers and my closet. That is what my room looks like. What does your room look like?

By Emily

GOOD NEWS!

Last Sunday my teacher's son Christopher, went to Marry Mor Park and set down his $1000.00 camera to go climb the climbing wall. He accidentally left it there!
When he got home he looked all over for it.When he asked our teacher if it was in her car she said "no I looked there." He was disappointed.
So, today he went back to the park and someone had left a sign that said "CAMERA FOUND PLEASE CALL THIS NUMBER."
Someone had found his camera and he ended up getting it back! Everyone was happy!
Isn't it wonderful when good things happen?
By:Amelia

My pet cat,Sweetie

My cat is really unpredictable. She's a female and she attacks your feet in the middle of the night, or if you're lucky she will lay down and purr. She loves running around and into your foot. We all think she's crazy, but Alex my sister thinks she's always calm. But, we think she's always hyper. Really, she's both.
She's, I think, not even one year old. . My sisters know how old she is. She's gray with white on her belly. I love to pet her only when she is not hyper, because I don't want to get hurt, and she is very fuzzy. We all love to play with her, especially Alex. Alex is her owner but we all take good care of her because we love her. She hates being outside and she loves being inside. Sometimes she watches you do stuff like play games or when your building something. Either way she is a very good pet. Do you have any pets?
By Owen

When I grow up....

When I grow up I want to be a Pediatrician. A pediatrician is a baby doctor and the 2nd person to hold a new born baby. The pediatrician has to take the temperature of the baby to make sure its healthy and perform other tests too.
I want to be a pediatrician because I like taking care of babies and toddlers. When I'm at home I play with my pretend doctor kit and my baby doll's and we play doctor. I'm also reading medical books and planning to go to a medical school when I'm older. So far I have 3 pretend doctor kit's and 1 real kit.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
posted by Rachel

Our Class Food Drive

In the beginning of December, Ms.Gerber's class challenged us to a food drive; and whichever class won would get a party! Our class won! So, today our class got to watch a movie with popcorn.
I brought in the most food...300 items. I got to use the new computer for a whole month. I felt proud of myself and our class, because if 1 person got what our class brought they would have enough food for at least a year. Our class brought so much food. 972 items total!!!
I liked having the food drive, not only because we won and got to watch a movie, but, also because it was the month of generosity.
How have you been generous today?
Posted by Evan

My Favorite Book

My favorite book is The Return of the King. The main character is Frodo Bagins. I like the book because of the characters. A lot of them are funny. My favorite character is Pipin. He is really funny. It's a long book. My favorite part is when Golom bit the ring off of Frodo and backed in to Mt. Doom. Sam (another one of the main characters) was trying to get to Frodo and rescue him from the Orks. If you want to know more about this story then buy it at Amazon.com and read it!
posted by Kevin

My Favorite Daydream

My favorite daydream started with me sleeping in my bed. Suddenly, I woke up and I was hanging upside down from my bunkbed, with my knees hanging on to the bed and the world was spinning! Then, my mom walked into my room. I said "Mom what's going on?" She did not answer... she just walked past me and got a paper from my closet. What do you think was going on?

by Miranda

Punxsutawney Phil

Today is the 2nd of February which is Ground Hog Day. Last week our class predicted if the ground hog would see his shadow today. I predicted that he WOULD see his shadow and I was right!!! He saw his shadow because there was so much sun light and he hurried back into his burrow. But, before that the people picked him up and took him back to the town of Punxsutawney. We heard that the ground hog said "well I saw my shadow and there will be six more weeks of winter".
I feel bad that there is six more weeks of winter because then it will still be really cold and the power might go out again. How would you feel if there was six more weeks of winter?
by Garrett

Technology In Our Classroom

I like the computers in my room because we get to do things on them like, go on the internet to find information about people that Ms. Turchin tells us to do. We have our own computers that we share with our computer buddy. Another thing that we use to get information is called Encarta.
We also have an Elmo. It displays things under it through the projector.
Ms. Turchin displays A.M. work from her laptop which is connected to the projector.
Our computers have a lot of things to do. One of the things I like to do is All The Right Type Which is a typing game. I also use Encarta a lot for information. I go to www.google.com for information too. google.com has hyperlinks to different sites to give you information on what you are looking for. We also do D.O.L. on Microsoft Word which we try to correct a sentence that Ms. Turchin types on her laptop. I like having computers because they help me do my work, have fun, and get information that I am looking for all the time. That's why I love having technology in our room that's why computers are awesome.
By Gabe

Our Class Field Trip to the Woodland Park Zoo

Yesterday, our class had a field trip to the zoo. Our tour leader was Lori.
First, we saw a program about temperate and tropical rain forests. In the rain forest exhibit the canopy level had a room were there were no wires or poles to stop the exotic birds from landing anywhere in the room. There was even what looked like the remains of a nest up on one of the branches.
After the tour,my group went into the nocturnal house where we saw many types of bats, an armadillo and even a poison dart frog. It was very, very dark in there and hard to see every animal.
My favorite part all day was seeing the penguins waddle around their exhibit. Once, a penguin came really close to the edge but it didn't go into the water.
Later, we saw a peacock walking around with it's tail feathers out. Another time, we saw a different peacock up a huge tree. We also saw turtles swimming around in a huge exhibit.
We visited the African Savannah. It had gazelles and zebras. A baby gazelle was there too. We had the best day ever! Have you ever been to the Woodland Park Zoo?

posted by Madison

Our Class Blogger

Welcome to our classroom weblog. Our friend Erik created this blogger for our class. We hope to use it to post our daily journaling. Hope you all enjoy it.
Thanks Erik.