Adventures with Hoku!

This is one of the many adventures Hoku had
during the recent Thanksgiving Holiday.

          As you all know, Hoku has been traveling all around `Oahu!  Hoku got to travel home with almost all the students in room 28.  There are a few more student names left in the jar to pick from.   Don't worry.....everyone will get a chance to take Hoku home before we start a second round of Hoku's Adventures!
          This weekend, Hoku went home with Brooke.  Brooke decided to take Hoku on a Chorus Adventure and she made sure Hoku had a good seat so she could watch Brooke,  Mason, Rian, John, and the rest of the Na Poki`i O Na Ali`i singers!
          Let's continue to make more memories and more ADVENTURES with Hoku!  Mahalo for Participating!

Here's Hoku with Halau O Hanauna Ku`u Aloha.
Bringing Christmas Joy to shoppers and diners at Mililani Town Center
on BLACK FRIDAY! 

Here's Hoku and Tehani on one of Hoku's earlier Adventures!
"Got Malasadas????"  

Brooke's recent Adventure with Hoku at her Chorus Concert!
Brooke's dad, Mr. Gantan, made sure Hoku had a front row seat!

Our Talented Students!

Alvah Scott has so many talented individuals!  One particular group is the Na Poki`i O Na Ali`i Singers!  Yes, it's Scott School's own chorus group!  Last night, I, along with so many family members, teachers, friends, and community members witnessed a spectacular performance on the Windward side of `Oahu.  We were treated to singing, dancing and laughter too!  What a wonderful end to a busy work week, and a festive beginning to our much needed weekend!  Mahalo, especially to students from our very own Room 28 `Ohana---Rian, Mason, Brooke, and John.  You all did a great job with your speaking part, dancing and of course, singing!
                                                                           Mahalo and Aloha!

Singers ready to Rock The House down!  

Hoe Down in Windward Mall...

Beauregard Family supporting
Rian and the school

Christmas Luau Fun!

Proud 4th Graders, after their spectacular performance!
Way 2 Go!  

                                             

We continue to Malama Honua (Take care of the Earth)

Aloha Room 28 `Ohana!
          We planted more trees to help with our Theme: Malama Honua!  This time, we got papaya trees donated to us from Jackie Hayashi (Mrs. Wong's mother-in-law).  We hope these papaya trees will thrive and provide us with nourshing, delicious fruits!  Mahalo Mrs. Hayashi! =)
         Hopefully we will get more plant donations throughout the year so we can add them to our school garden too!  Our next BIG adventure in gardening will take place in the springtime.  We will hopefully have enough plastic 2-liter bottles to do our hydroponics activity.  We need at least 1 bottle per student.  So far we have 4 bottles that were brought in.  Hopefully the email Mrs. Wong sent out to other teachers will help bring in more!
          My challenge to you and your families is to start your own gardens at home.  It doesn't have to be a BIG garden.  It could be a small garden (indoor or outdoor) that you could easily take care of.  Try it!  Take pictures and send it to me so I can post up your garden on our class blog!  Happy planting!
                                                                          Mahalo and Aloha,
                                                                          Mrs. Wong

Tribe 4 with their loving garden hands.

Tribe 1 has green thumbs!

Tribe 2 knows a thing or 2 about gardening!

Tribe 5 works together as a TEAM!

Tribe 5 has hope for us all that our papaya
trees will thrive and nourish!

A time to Give Thanks and Malama Kekahi I Kekahi

Aloha Room 28 `Ohana!

        It sure has been a while since I last posted.  My apologies for the LONG delay.  We have been very busy this school year!  In the month of October and November, we started working with our first grade reading buddies (Mrs. Dugay's students from room 10).
        Focusing on our class' academy theme, Malama Kekahi I Kekahi (Taking care of Each Other), we have been helping our reading buddies with their Halloween treat bags and Thanksgiving turkey activities.  The students work together and read together.

Here's Brooke and Alex...A perfect Turkey!

Tina and Rian help Meghan put the
finishing touches on her turkey!

       

                            

                                          Samantha and Chanell work with Frida and Saniah-Louise.
                                                        They are all so very thankful for being able to work well with others

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, the students shared what they are most thankful for.  

After sharing, they hung their "thoughts" on our Giving Tree!  

It's so nice to read and re-read all that we are so Thankful for!  Mahalo for sharing!

 I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving weekend with their `Ohana and friends!  Please share what you did over the wonderful 4 day special weekend...

                                                                                     Mahalo and Aloha,

                                                                                      Mrs. Wong

Holoholo with Hoku!

Aloha Room 28 'Ohana,
          As you all know, I was once a kindergarten teacher.  Back then, I had a writing project involving the students and a class "mascot."  The first time I did this project, I had Makana Bear help us with the adventures.  Makana Bear went home with a student, and spent up to 3 days at a time with the student and his/her 'Ohana.  While away, she went on many different adventures.  The students and their 'Ohana wrote about each adventure and included pictures or drawings of their time together.  A few years went by, and we had Puni-Hele given to me and my students.  Again, just like Makana Bear, Puni-Hele went on many wonderful adventures!  It sure was memorable looking back at all the great adventures and people they both met!
         Now, it is time for us to do yet another adventure.  This time, it will be with Hoku.  Hoku, our little buddy, will be on a "holoholo" adventure with YOU and your 'Ohana!  This will be the first time that I will be doing this with a 4th grade class!  I am very excited and I'm looking forward to all the wonderful journeys Hoku will take!  I look forward to all the pictures and drawings as well!  We will have a special drawing of a name to see who goes first!  But don' worry, you will all have a chance to take Hoku home for a visit.  Hoku will, however, be with Mrs. Wong during vacations and intersessions.  It is very important that we all malama Hoku and her adventure book and bag.

Meet Hoku....our Adventure writing project!

Mahalo for participating!   Mrs. Wong

This is the one and only,
Puni-Hele! 

This is Makana Bear.  She started it all!  She is home now,
but she still goes on a lot of adventures with my 'Ohana.
She is sure excited for Hoku to start her adventure with you!

Huki I Ke Kalo, Huki, Huki Mai!

Aloha Room 28 'Ohana,
         Last school year, the 4th graders, along with the gardening club, planted a dry-land lo`i kalo.
Thanks to Mrs. Sharon Aldueso, we were able to plant over 50 huli (stems).  The lo`i thrived and was now ready for harvesting.  Thanks to the expertise of Mr. Matsumoto's son, Kaipo, we were educated about when to harvest the plants.  Kaipo noticed that the corm was showing, so he said it was definitely ready for us to harvest!  It was hard work, but so much fun to dig our hands into the soil and pull out the kalo!  The students did a great job!  We will now clean the corms, replant the huli/stems, and have Mr. Joe Esta and Ms. Liana Kilaulani (in the cafeteria), help us to boil the corm.
                                                                          Mahalo, Mrs. Wong

Mae and Victoria all dressed up for hard work in the lo`i!  

"This took about 3 people to pull out!" 

Jaspher looks confident as a mahi`ai (farmer)!

Planting our Kou trees...

Aloha Room 28 'Ohana,
          Thanks to Mr. Nagano,  from the Urban Garden Center in Pearl City, we were able to get two kou trees to plant at Alvah Scott.  These trees will be taken care of by the 4th graders, with help from the wonderful custodians at Scott School.  We measured the distance between each tree, making sure there will be enough room for them to thrive!  We also measured the height of each tree, and counted the number of leaves.  We will be taking new data each month, for the rest of the school year.  This was the first set of data taken:

Planted on August 20, 2014:

Kou Tree #1:  26 inches tall, 16 leaves

Kou tree #2:  27 inches tall, 16 leaves

Planted 16 feet, 7 inches apart

Here are some pictures of this exciting day of planting and adding two more trees to help with the challenge from Nainoa Thompson, to plant ONE MILLION trees before the end of Hokule`a and Hikianalia's voyage around the world!   

Mahalo, Mrs. Wong

Mahalo to the Urban Garden in Pearl City
for donating 2 beautiful kou trees to us!

Planting kou tree #1

"This tree measures 26 inches tall!" 

"Let's mesure how far apart they are!"  

Malama Honua

Aloha Room 28 'Ohana!
          At the beginning of the school year I asked you to reply to a question.  I asked how do you and your 'Ohana Malam Honua? (How do you and your family take care of the Earth?) There were many different ideas that were shared---all of which were useful and beneficial to our home....our Earth.  Mahalo Nui Loa to the students for decorating the classroom door with their wonderful ideas to Malama Honua!
                                                                                            Aloha,
                                                                                            Mrs. Wong

Are you ready for an ADVENTURE???

Aloha Room 28 'Ohana!
       Welcome to another school year!  I hope you all had a fun and relaxing summer break?  For those of you who were here at Scott Elementary last school year, welcome back!  For those who are NEW to the Scott School 'Ohana, we welcome you to your new school and community.  We are so thrilled to have you on board!
       Get ready because 4th grade is an exciting journey that will inspire you to dream, believe and achieve!  We will embark on a voyage that's filled with new WONDERS!  We will take things one day at a time and one STEP at a time!
       Like the stars did for the ancient Navigators who traveled the vast ocean, we will help guide each other throughout the school year,  sailing forward into time as we gain new knowledge, make new friends, and engage in new experiences.
       I want you to visualize that we, as a class, will be in this canoe, traveling from island to island, and even country to country, building new relationships while fostering our learning.  It is important that we value each other as a family.....an 'Ohana, and problem-solve to move on in hopes of reaching the many goals we've set this year!
       This year, I would like for us to focus on the theme of "Malama Honua"  (Taking care of the Earth.)  This will be our theme to help us be aware of our environment and to also promote peace within ourselves and with others.  With this in mind, I would like for you to share one way that you and your own 'Ohana help to "Malama Honua."  Let's all share our wonderful ideas!
       I'm looking forward  to this new journey with all of you!  I hope you will work hard to help me  paddle our canoe and raise our sails so that we can all reach our goals!  We can take turns being the Navigator and lead our canoe through this 4th grade adventure!
                                                                            Mahalo and Aloha,
                                                                            Mrs. Wong

Hokule`a at Hawaii Kai Marina.  Many well-wishers and visitors  on
board to send her off with a warm Aloha as she travels to Tahiti with her crew.

Here I am with a crew member of Hokule`a.  What an honor
to be on board and be a part of a historical event!

This is Hokule`a's and Hikianalia's voyage mapped out on a world map.
It will be about a  4 year journey, with 85 ports, 26 countries,
47,000 Nautical miles, and 315 voyagers.
"Honor, celebrate all cultures of the planet by respecting them"--Nainoa Thompson
                                          

Our Mexican Oaxaca Creatures!

Aloha Room 28 'Ohana,
     Everyone sure showed-off their creative side in art class!  It was so exciting to see how your Oaxaca creatures went from clay to WOW!  How amazingly beautiful they ALL are!

     In this blog assignment:  First, tell me the name you gave him or her.  Next, please describe 2 things that make your creature so unique or special.
   
     Mahalo for using your creative imagination!  I really enjoyed teaching you how to sculpt and paint your whimsical Oaxaca creatures!   ~Aloha, Mrs. Wong

All ready to go back into the kiln!

We have such a creative group of 4th graders! 

Sara and Sharnell with their Oaxaca creatures!
All glazed up,and ready for its unique story!

It's the 4th Quarter Already???!!!???!!!

Aloha Room 28 'Ohana!
      I don't know about you, but this school year is just "flying by" for me!  I can't believe we are already in the 3rd week of the 4th Quarter....the LAST quarter of the school year!  As we all continue to learn as much as we can in our last two months of 4th grade, I want you to reflect upon your 3 past quarters and think of 2 goals you would like to accomplish before May 29, the last day of school.  Let's be specific and name/explain 2 "school-related" goals.  Think to yourself, what do I really want to set my mind at accomplishing before I become a 5th grader?  Don't worry if you don't succeed at accomplishing these goals, because it'll be your first two goals as a 5th grader to keep on trying!  If you find that you do accomplish these goals by May 29th, then that's just an added bonus!
      What I really want you all to remember is to always continue to challenge yourself.  Set goals, aim high, and never settle for less!  Do and be the BEST you can be in all you do.  Don't let anyone put you down, and as long as you believe in yourself, then know that one day YOU CAN, and YOU WILL!
      Have your (2) goals posted by Sunday, April 13.  Be thoughtful when responding.
                                                                              Mahalo, Mrs. Wong

Bike Ed. ROCKS!

Aloha Room 28 `Ohana!

     Last week was so exciting!  We held our annual 4th grade Bike Ed. class, compliments of the Hawaii Bicycling League (HBL).  We were so thankful that our school could once again participate in such a wonderful, and very educational program.  I'm so proud to report that ALL 21 students are now officially HBL-certified Bike Riders!  Room 28 students were very positive and very well-behaved!  Miss. Amanda said, "Mrs. Wong, your students are a great group!  I've never had such a well-behaved, very good bunch of kids!  I'm enjoying your class!"  Great Job, Room 28!  

                                

                                         In your comments, please share the following:  

                           1.  What was your favorite part of the Bike Ed. program? Why?
                           2.  What "safety" rule did you find most helpful?

                           3.  Would you recommend this program to others? Why?

                                                         Your comments  must be posted by 

                                                                  Friday, March 14, 2014

Room 28 students all dressed in their safety vest and
helmet...ready to learn about bicycle safety on the road!

Practice, practice, and more practice makes bicycling FUN!

Thank you,  Mr. Mike, Ms. Amanda, and Ms. Kanani for
showing us the RIGHT way to ride SAFELY!  

How FULL is Your Bucket?

Aloha Room 28 'Ohana!
It's been a while since we've been on our BLOG!  Let's get back into the swing of things and start the year off on a positive note!  Do you remember when we read the book entitled, "How Full is Your Bucket? For Kids" by Tom Rath and Mary Reckmeyer?  Wasn't it interesting to see how the main character, Felix, went from having an almost empty bucket in the beginning of the story, to having an almost full bucket at the end of the story?  I enjoyed reading your personal responses to this story in your notebooks.  Think of a time when you felt like Felix.  Did you help put a "drop" into someone else's bucket?  Or maybe someone else placed a "drop" into your bucket?  In any case, respond with as much details as you can.  Be sure to include the 5 Ws and 1 H (Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How?)  Here is the question once more:
                    1.  Have you ever placed a "drop" into someone's bucket, or received "a drop"
                         from someone?  Explain when this happened, where, with whom, what was
                         it about, why, and how?

                                             Remember to respond by February 6, 2014.