WEDDING PHOTOS!! MR. AND MRS. KEEGAN!!

I'm SOOO excited to post some pictures. I had the BEST time at my wedding and can't believe that some of my little friends were there to share that special day with us. I'm sooo happy I got to see Felix, Carlos, Brandon, Chris, Amre, Elizabeth, Rebecca, Madison, Savy, Jill, Maya and Cameron!

HE'S HOME!!

Yay!! Miss Donofrio picked Mr. Danny up from the airport on Friday, June 15th at 10:00 PM. I had some tears of joy, so I look a little silly in this picture! 20 days until Miss Donofrio becomes Mrs. Keegan! :D

Hmm...

hmmm... I wonder who took this picture as he FINALLY got off the submarine... :D

I'll be back with an update soon!

HINT!

Happy Summer! Here's a photo of something I will have in my classroom next year because it has to do with the new theme. This year our theme was, 'Empowering the Future.' Do you think you can figure out the slogan for this new theme? :D

FIELD DAY!!! :D

Tug-O-War!! from Denise Donofrio on Vimeo.

How awesome do these toilet paper brides and grooms look? :D

I had so much fun at my wedding shower today. Thanks for the wonderful advice and for all the recipes. I'll be sure to test them out on some of my friends BEFORE I make dinner for Mr. Danny. :D

Study Jams: Plant Reproduction!

Check out these awesome videos that help to explain the process of plant reproduction. This may make you think twice next time you swat at a bee. :D http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/science/plants/flowers.htm

Amazing Volcanoes!

To celebrate the fact that every student was present last week and conquered the FCAT, I decided it would be just plain FUN to create our own volcanoes. Now, these aren't just an ordinary volcanoes. They are from different lands around our universe.

Friends worked in groups and chose 3 different colors of play dough, created their volcano and anything they wanted surrounding it. They then gave their land a name and created a sign. Finally, I allowed them to choose what color lava they wanted flowing out of their volcano.

We simply used baking soda, a little dish soap (for extra foamy lava), and food coloring. We mixed the basic colors to get colors like purple and orange! My friends had a BLAST (literally) and really showed their teamwork and creativity. Check it out!

Check it Out!

Mr. Danny made Chet's Blog. How cool! :)

http://cheteagle.blogspot.com/

MOSH!

We had such a blast at the MOSH today! We saw an awesome movie in the Planetarium. We learned what Astronauts' bodies go through in outer space. I tried my best to get a picture of the Astronaut. (You'll see it in the slideshow below). Then we went through a great deal of our Social Studies curriculum at the Flags over Florida program. Many friends answered questions and did a great job! Some even had the chance to participate! We ended our field trip with the Science production about Energy. We learned how energy transfers from one form to another.

Check out the video posted below the slideshow to see how electricity traveled through a circle of friends. :D

Oreo Moon Phases!!!

Check out our awesome work! :)

How much do YOU Weigh on other Planets?

http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/weight/

Check out the site above to see how much you weigh on other planets!

Boosterthon Fun Run: Epic Adventure

Visit funrun.com and enter your access code!

Get some Pledges!!! Support our Epic Adventure :D

Fun with Friends! :)

I had a fun morning at the MARC with some friends! We ate donuts, colored butterflies, played soccer, and planted some plants. We are getting ready to celebrate the life of McKenzie Noelle Wilson and all that she stood for. Check out her story and her foundation by visiting their website: here

A Trip to the Zoo...

Today, Mr. Danny and I decided to go to the Jacksonville Zoo! We wanted to check out the new exhibit, Butterfly Hollow, and ride the train. Mr Danny had never been on the train before! We had a lot of fun and learned some new things about the Zoo. Maybe you will get a chance to go with your family over the break! Here are some things we learned and some pictures from our day...

-This is a female Bonobo ape and she is 42 years old! She is the oldest ape in captivity in the entire United States (captivity basically means she lives in an exhibit and not in the wild). She also had a baby one year ago. The baby is sitting right in front of her in this picture. If you get a chance to go, there are actually 3 baby apes you can see!

-There are also some baby giraffes there too! One is 3 months old and the one in the picture below is Savannah. She is 1 year old. We had fun feeding her!

-Here is a picture from the Butterfly Hollow exhibit! The exhibit itself is in this mesh tent. Light comes in, but the butterflies can't get out. It's very 'whimsical' in there. It's really neat too because a lot of the materials they used to give it that whimsical feel are recycled materials. :D

Start Getting Ready!!!

Ok friends... FCAT spirit week is only a few weeks away. I figured since you have a lot of time on your hands, you can at least start getting your ideas together. We'll DEFINITELY talk about all of this when you all get back from break. But, I'll fill you in now so you can get pumped!

April 9-13
Monday: Career Day (dress like a teacher, doctor, police officer, and so on)
Tuesday: Sports Day
Wednesday: Fashion Disater Day (wacky hair, crazy socks, backwards clothes...bring it ON!)
Thursday: Multiplicity Day (everyone in our class has to wear the SAME thing. We can do the same colors, or type of clothing, like jeans and Chets t-shirt)
Friday: Rock Star/Pop Star Day

and this is the best..... at the FCAT pep rally, we need to find ONE friend from each homeroom to represent us with the following 'minute to win it' challenge... check out the link below and start practicing! :D

Sticky Situation Challenge

Check out NASA for kids! :)

NASA for kids has a neat section called 'Window to Earth' which has pictures of different areas of our planet taken from outerspace. There are also games on the site too.

kid site click here

The Full NASA site has amazing videos of the moon! Check this one out!

Evolution of the Moon

Relationships, Risks, Results

When I was a 4th grader, my parents had a hard time getting me inside after school and on the weekends. I was always running around outside, building forts in the woods, and playing every sport I could. Today, most little friends spend time in front of TVs, glued to computer games, or jamming on ipods.

To encourage our 4th grade friends to become more active, I decided a kickball tournament was a must! It's also a great way to build relationships with them, because they are seeing a side of me that they have never seen before. A few days ago I took each class outside to play a game of kickball. We discussed the rules of the game. We worked on sportsmanship, teamwork, discussed the importance of staying active, and of course, we just had FUN.

Today, we put our two classes together on the field and had the 'Constande vs. Donofrio Kickball Tournament!' We all knew it didn't matter who 'won,' we just wanted to get out there and try our best. Friends did a FABULOUS job. It was awesome to hear them cheering each other on, even for their friends on the other team. This is definitely not the last time we will do this. I saw a side of some friends that I have never seen before. Friends who felt unsure of themselves took a risk and felt great after they kicked that ball and ran to that base. The result? They're already asking when we can do this again... :)

Phases of the Moon!

Sorry it's been sooo long since I've updated the blog! We've been soooo busy learning new things! But I am back and ready to post. Check out this cool rap to help you learn the observable shapes of the moon! Can't wait to watch videos and do some fun labs this week! :) We'll check this out I'm class too!

Click here: Moon Video

He's Back!!!

Miss Donofrio and Mrs. Constande's 4th Graders welcome home, Mr. Daniel Keegan from a 5 month deployment! He LOVES his banner you all made for him! We can't wait for this real life HERO to come visit our class!! I wonder if he will help me teach or if he will act as a student for the day... what do you guys think he should do?! :D

New Decimal Game!

The super cool decimal game we played in class today is now linked under 'Math Sites!' as Fractions, Decimals and Percents :) Happy Learning!

Yay, it's Decimals!

If you're ever stuck at home, refer to these videos for some simple explanations about decimal place value and finding fraction, decimal, and percent equivalents! :) You'll see some new charts in our classroom that will help guide you during the work period this week. We'll also take a look at lots of examples on Monday!

Decimal Place Value

Fraction, Decimal, and Percent Equivalents