Stallion Star Gazette
May 2017
DI--Destination Imagination
by Addison
“Yay!” my team and I yelled. We were at the Destination Imagination (DI) competition in 2016. We had won first place.
We ran up to the front and got our medals. I started DI in first grade and it is really fun. My team is Avni, Jaelynn, Emma, my sister Jasmine, and me. Last year when we had Maddie. Going to state was really fun.
On a Friday my team and I went to Anna, Texas. On Saturday we would compete in the state competition. My friend Krithi is going to globals this year. Globals is the last competition in DI. The “prompt” we were supposed to make a play on was research the many uses of camouflage. My team made a play about the leafy sea dragon. The leafy sea dragon camouflages with coral and other leafy things in the ocean. I was a zebra fish and the narrator (zebrafish narrator). Avni was a batfish, Jaelynn was Pygmy the pygmy seahorse and Zoey the zooplankton. Emma was Weedy the weedy sea dragon and Jasmine was the main character Leafy the leafy sea dragon.
We did not get to go to the globals competition but when the winners were announced we had a lot of fun. The winners were announced on football field so we had an open space to run through.
Roly Poly Facts and Survey
by Addison
Fun facts:
Roly polys are crustaceans( AKA not insects)
They are called pill bugs and roly poly is a nickname because they roll into a ball
They have a game in animal jam
Some roly polys can be blue or purple if they have a virus
Roly polys carry their babies in pouches like kangaroos
They can hold 100 babies
They are omnivores
They are decomposers (animals or plants that eat dead or decaying animals and plants)
They usually come out after it rains or at night
They can help plants
They are also called sowbugs
They can grow to half an inch long
They have a hard shell like exoskeleton
They have oval bodies but it is flat underneath
They breathe with gills because they are crustaceans
They don't transmit diseases
These crustaceans adapted to live on land
They do not bite or sting
by Addison and Jasmine
We interviewed a bunch of teachers and students to find out what they thought about roly polys.
We interviewed 16 people. Here are the results:
1. Do you like roly polys?
No: 3
Yes: 13
2. How many have you seen?
Sabrina: So many you would not even guess it
Mrs. Beardsley: Hmmm 7,462
Mrs. Mury: Many many many many
Krithi: 50
Mrs Margocs: Too many to count
Mrs. Hampf: Today I saw 4 on the playground
Mrs. Doyal: a lot
3. Have you ever picked one up?
Yes: 15
No:1
4. What color are they?
Black: 6
Grey: 8
Brown:2
5. Are they insects?
Yes: 9
No: 7
A Teacher's Impact
By Anuj
Interview of Mrs. Revathi Balakrishnan:
What impact do you want to occur in the future?
I think that in the future, the students and teacher should include statements of world issues. I have incorporated a set of items called ‘Depth and Complexity icons’, which show a level of deeper thinking. The two icons, Trends and Across Disciplines , can show world life events. It can be beneficial in future of my children. Those kids can grow up to be politicians and have to use world events like training wheels on a bicycle. They can achieve many awards, and receive good college and job applications.
How do you think you have changed your students, from 3rd grade?
I have changed them in a way of sense. When they entered 3rd grade math with me, the were completely clueless on certain measures
What traits do you want the students to project in the future?
I want the kids to be completely independent. Knowing my life, and being independent , I have achieved many great accomplishments. As a matter of fact, my former student had mailed me a letter saying that he had a big success.
Ways That Animals Communicate
By Grace
Animals have different ways of communicating from humans. Although they both use body language, animals still have some very distinct ways to communicate.
One interesting way that animals communicate is the “waggle dance”. Bees perform this dance when they have found nectar. Bees do this to inform others of the exact location of the nectar. They begin by walking in a straight line while shaking their abdomen vigorously while making a buzzing sound with their wings. The speed and distance of the movements convey where the direction of the food source is. Although this may sound easy, conveying the path to go is very hard because the bee has to straighten their body in accordance with the sun.
Prairie dogs have another way of communicating. These animals bark and yip to communicate with each other. The strange thing, however, is that they are describing you with their noises, right down to your shirt. Prairie dogs have such a complex language that they have a different “word” they can shout when a predator is coming and a specific noise that means “humans are coming”. In experiments, the prairie dogs’ calls would differentiate based on the color shirts the researchers were wearing, their height, their closeness, and how fast they were moving.
Coral groupers have another strange way of communication. They use “sign language” to help each other hunt. Researchers found out that when a prey fish moved away from its hunting party, a grouper would move over to the place the prey was. Then, it rotates its body so its head was facing down and shake its head back and forth in the direction of the meal. People call this the “headstand” signal.
As you can see, there are many ways that animal can communicate. They can be quite unique from ours.
Clubs of Patsy Sommer Elementary
By Jasmine
Byte size: Stop motion animation
A quick informational “What” on Stop Motion Animation:
Stop Motion Animation is a small video where you take a bunch of pictures to make a video, like a flipbook. On Stop Motion, an app on the Patsy Sommer Elementary iPads, you can make a Stop Motion Animation film. When making Stop Motion Animation (SMA) films, you must remember to take about 3-4 pictures of the same thing before moving on to the next movement. It’s a lot of work, but at the end it is really fun to watch!
If you aren’t currently taking Byte Size Stop Motion Animation, this is what you are missing out on! In the most recent class of Byte Size, students were finishing up their Stop Motion films with Legos. The iPads were jampacked with cool Stop Motion films. Some of the students even finished early and started end of show last minute funny scenes. Now the Byte Size SMA is finished. In the last class, the participants shared their videos. It was so awesome!
Destination Imagination (DI)
Question one: What is DI?
DI is an AWESOME club that everyone would want to be in if they knew what it is. It is a club where you can only be creative. Until February or March, the tournament, you have to create a skit and practice *instant challenges. If at least one team member is 3rd grade or higher, your team is in the competitive level. If your team is 2nd grade or under, you do DI just for fun.
*Instant challenges are 25% of your final “grade”. You have a challenge given to you and you are to complete it within the time given.
Competitive, Regionals, State, and Globals
In the competitive level, you compete against other teams that are also performing in your room and the winner gets to go to the state, the next level of the DI tournament. From there, there is another DI tournament, the State tournament. If you get any place in that, you move to globals, the whole USA participating. Every year, the globals competition is held in Tennessee.
Scores of competitive DI teams
In this year, the year of 2016-2017, there were four teams participating in the competitive tournament. There was the #SuperSommerStallionSix, the Star Imaginators, the DIamonds, and another team. The #SuperSommerStallionSix went to state, then advanced to Globals. That is really awesome, isn’t it? The DIamonds got second place, but didn’t get to go as a bonus team.**
*in the regional tournament, only 1st place teams get to go to State. If you are chosen as a bonus team, that means you didn’t get 1st place but you still get to go to State.
Mad Science
What is Mad Science?
Mad Science is a science club where you learn about science topics. At the end of each session, you get a set of objects you can put together to make something really cool.
About Mad Science
Mad Science may sound like the teachers are mad all the time and super strict, but they’re not! They are actually fun, cool teachers. However, they may be on the strict side sometimes if students don’t follow directions. Once on Mad Science, they taught the pupils about rocks. The students got to make rocks. When they were about to leave, they were told in 1,000 years, the gravel would turn into rock.
Art Club
What is Art Club?
Art Club is an after school class with the art teachers where you get to make art and do fun projects.
About Art Club
In art club, you get to do fun projects, as I mentioned ^. You get to hang out with your friend while drawing whatever you feel like or working on your projects. To get into art club, you have to fill out a form. Also, a kind of art club is the Prop Shop. in the prop shop, you make props for the Choir performance.
Choir
What is Choir?
Choir is a club on Thursday where you sing. You can audition for roles. It’s just like a real musical!
More Choir
Every year, there is a musical held by the third through fifth grade pupils participating in Choir. The roles are performed onstage in the Cafeteria. The rest of the Choir members sing off to the side. K-2 can join Singing Stars/Mini Choir.
History of Ceramics
by Grace
When we hear the word ceramics, we tend to think of tiles, pots, art-ware, dinnerware, pottery, brick and toilets. These products are normally referred to as customary or silicate-based ceramics.
The word ceramics comes from the Greek word, “Keramos”, meaning “potter” or “pottery”. Keramos, in turn, was originated from Sanskrit root meaning, “to burn”.
Ceramics have existed with humans since ancient times. It is one of the most ancient industries on the planet. Starting from around 24,000 BC, animal and human figures were made from clay and other materials, then fired in kilns dug into the ground.
Almost 10,000 years later, when communities were settled, tiles were manufactured in Mesopotamia and India. Clay bricks were also made around the same time. Glass was thought to be discovered in Egypt around 8000 BC, when overheating of kilns created a colored glaze on the pottery.
In the Middle Ages, when the metal industry was born. Furnaces at that time for liquefying metal were built out of natural materials. Materials with better resistance to hotter temperatures(called refractories) were created in the 16th century. In the second half of the 19th century, when ceramic materials for electrical insulation were developed. When other inventions came like automobiles, radios, televisions, and computers, ceramic and glass materials were used to help make them.
Fan Fiction--Pusheens Adventure
by Addison and Jasmine
We are writing a fan fiction book! This is our outline and story map, so you can see how we are organizing our writing.
What are Pusheens?
Pusheens are small keychains. You can find them in Japan. There are also big pusheens, which look different.
Characters in this book:
*Addy, Jazzie, and Nina
*Cassy and Ellie Jackson
*Boxey and Cinna (Cinnamon)
*Jackie, Sam, and Ethan
*Coach Ali Jackson
*Pushy
*James and Bella Wilson
*Madie and Kate Wilson
*Mr. And Mrs. Jackson
The book has 4 parts:
Part 1: Three Pusheens
Part 2: Two Pusheens
Part 3: One Pusheen
Part 4: Six Pusheens
The characters in the parts:
Part 1:
*Addy, Jazzie, Nina = Main characters, the three pusheens
*Cassy and Ellie Jackson= nice people who find the pusheens
*Jackie= mean kid who finds the pusheens
*Sam and Ethan= Jackie’s overprotective brothers
*Mr. And Mrs. Jackson= Sam, Ethan, Cassie, Ellie, and Jackie’s parents
Part 2:
*Boxey(Roxie) and Cinna(Cinnamon)= the two pusheens
*Madie and Kate= nice people who find the pusheens, also participate in Ellie and Cassy’s sports teams(tennis, basketball)
*James and Bella= stuck up kids that are older siblings
Part 3:
*Pushy= the one pusheen
*Cupcake= Boxey and Cinna’s mom
*Samhitha= the famous rock star that pushy meets
Part 4:
*all of the characters
Preview of part one:
Addy, Jazzie, and Nina take a spaceship to Earth and meet Sam, Ethan, Ellie, Cassy, and Jackie Jackson. But living with the Jacksons is not as easy as the pusheens thought they would be. Jackie tries to take them to school, a history teacher steals them, and they meet a special person. Then they get caught during Ellie and Cassy’s tennis tournament.
Preview of part 2:
Boxey and Cinna are excited to finally see their cousins again but when they get to dear auntie’s house they find out their cousins went on a trip to Earth. At night they sneak out to Uncle Billy Bob’s and get a spaceship. But they get to Earth before their cousins and they are found by James, Bella, Maddie, and Kate Wilson. Then they find out that the Jacksons- the family of Jackie the girl Bella baby sits for also has some new kittens. Who are the other kittens?
Preview of part 3:
Pushy feels lonely at home her three daughters went on a trip to Earth. Now, she only has Cupcake, her sister. In the end she decides to go to Earth and meets a famous rock star named Samhitha...
Preview of part 4:
All the pusheens meet at Earth in one place and they meet together finally in one “piece” again.
Chapter one of Part One:
The Big Adventure
Birds
by Jasmine
Little bird
Flying so high
Wings extend and glide
Soaring in the sky
Big Bird
Yellow coat
Lives on Sesame Street,
Not a boat
Medium sized,
Just right
Not skinny or fat,
Not too wide or too tight
Lots of birds
On a power line
It’s a bird assembly
On what to dine