Mahalia Jackson

The reading story this week is from The Blues Singers: Ten Who Rocked the World, Mahalia Jackson. It is an expository non-fiction genre. Expository non- fiction explains what certain things are and how they came to be.

Here is a little background information on Mahalia Jackson:

Born: 26 October 1911

Birthplace: New Orleans, Louisiana

Died: 27 January 1972 (heart failure)

Best Known As: Gospel singing legend

Mahalia Jackson grew up singing in church, moved from New Orleans to Chicago when she was a teenager, and eventually went into business in real estate and as a shop owner. All the while she continued to sing gospel, turning down offers to perform professionally. She finally began recording in the 1930s, and a decade later her own "Move On Up A Little Higher" became a million-seller. She toured the world, appeared in films and on television, and performed at the inauguration of U.S. president John F. Kennedy. She is considered one of America's greatest gospel singers.

This is what happens when the teacher slowly starts losing her mind at testing time! Complete coincidence... 

NOTE: THE 5TH GRADE STATE WRITING TEST WILL BE NEXT

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2009.

IT IS VITAL THAT YOUR CHILD IS AT SCHOOL THAT DAY!

THIS TEST CANNOT BE MADE-UP!

Here are some pics from our latest science experiments. 

The Naked Egg

We just completed this one today. One week ago we placed an egg into a jar of vinegar. What you get out is a naked egg. What happened? The eggshell is a base, calcium carbonate, and the vinegar is an acid. The acid slowly eats away at the shell, while the membrane of the egg stays intact. It was really cool, but stinky.

Check out the video link to watch how it works.

Seven Layer Density Tower

This one was an experiment on density. We took seven different liquids 

and layered them according to their density level. 

It was really neat, even if you stirred it all up it would go in order.

Pictures from our A.R. Trip to the Chickasaw Capital in Tishomingo, Oklahoma.

PLEASE NOTE: ADA CITY SCHOOL'S POLICY IS TO NOT ACCEPT BALLOON DELIVERIES AT SCHOOL! THEY ARE A HAZARD ON THE SCHOOL BUS! YOU MAY SEND DELIVERIES, BUT NO BALLOONS!

Also, there is a PTO meeting at Willard in the library on February 9th at 12:15! Please come if you are available! Our goal is to get more parent involvment at our school! The class that has the most parents come to the meeting will get an extra recess! We could really use an extra break in our day, so help us out!

We will be having our 50's Day/Valentine's Party on Friday the 13th... We will have our party from 2:45 - 3:30. Please come if you can!

Last semester in Science we focused on Earth Science. I was really ready to move on! We are now working with Physical Science! Yesterday I showed the class a demonstration on density. We took It was really cool and I will post pictures of the outcomes later! Here is a link to the site where I got the idea!

ALSO: IF YOU ARE IN MY READING CLASS DO NOT FORGET THAT YOU HAVE BOOK REPORTS DUE ON FEBRUARY 2! AR FIELDTRIP TOMORROW! WEAR WARM CLOTHES WE WILL BE OUTSIDE PART OF THE TIME!