The student-edited, weekly blog of the Walden Community School!    

Weekly

This week, the guinea pigs are adapting nicely to their new home. Now that they are nice and cozy, they are becoming more rowdy too. Jacob is as wild as a hurricane. Louis can never keep still and whenever you turn around, he’s bouncing off the cage walls!! Henry is the only one who is close to calm. Henry will simply hide in Fort Walnut (that’s what we call the igloo.) Also, because they're all boys they like to show off and rough house a lot. But we still love them. 

All three of them will turn 11 weeks old on Sunday, October 19^th 2008.

 

GO HAWKS!!!!

On Thursday, we had a surprise visit from a beautiful hawk!!

 

Next week the Walnuts will be going on TWO field trips!! The first one will be to Mr. Williamson’s office to learn about chemistry. The second one will be to one of the students', Abigail Anderson’s, home to admire all of her pets (which include a tarantula, a red toed tortoise, three cats, and a terrier.   

- Sidney McCall

The Walnuts hit the road!

 

Arts Activities

This week in the Arts, an entirely new masterpiece was introduced. Kim Crane, one of our visual arts teachers, gave birth to her fourth child, a healthy baby boy. The child was born at home, weighed about seven pounds, and was welcomed by two older brothers, Tazz and Adrian, and an older sister, Bell. We are all very excited to meet the newest little walnut! While Kim and Byron are getting to know the newest member of their family, Karin, our science teacher, will be filling in as art instructor. This week, we worked with clay, and made pots similar to those found around the Indus River Valley. In dance and drama, we continue to prepare for our Halloween/Fall production. Congratulations to all our Walden actors and actresses for having their lines learned! 

- Katie Mikulka

The pottery we made on Wednesday.

Lists

Because we are heading off on a chemistry-themed field trip next week, here is a list of chemistry related terms...

 

1. Proton - A particle with a positive charge located in the nucleus of an atom.

 

2. Electron - A particle with a negative charge located in the area outside of the nucleus of the atom.

 

3. Neutron - A particle that is electrically neutral located in the nucleus of the atom.

 

4. Atom - The smallest unit of an element. It has all the properties of the element and is made up of protons, electrons, and neutrons.

 

5. Covalent Bonds - These are bonds that hold atoms together by sharing electrons.

 

6. Isotopes - These are atoms of the same element that have varying numbers of electrons.

 

- Katie Mikulka

 

Source:

Chemistry Glossary, By David Shaw (Madison Area Technical College) for The Chemistry Place.

http://www.factmonster.com/chemistry/glossary/ 

 

The Walnuts are crazy about chemistry!

 

News & Need-to-knows: 5^th Grade Edition!

 

This week, the fifth graders took over the "News & Need-to-knows" section of the blog. Here is what they had to say.

 

We have had a great time in fifth grade at Walden! We have done lots of things like...

 

In Grammar we have learned plural, possessive, proper, common, and collective nouns. Then in writing we have learned the body of a paragraph. We have also learned the long e spelling words, but our teacher, Ms.Gretchen, has made it fun!! More fun stuff we've learned is the Kingdom of Kush in Africa. Even in science we have been studying what's in atoms. We have been reading Farmer Boy, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, it is a great book! The story is about a pioneer boy who lives in New York State in the late 1800's. In dance class with Ms. Gale we have been working on our Halloween show which we are performing on October the 29th. In Art we have been sketching and playing with clay. 
     

So we have been doing some great and fun stuff at Walden!!!

 

- Sasha Berman and Maddy McCallister

Sasha and Maddy, our fabulous fifth graders!!!

Understandings

MEET...BYRON WILDING

One of the Visual Arts teachers at WCS 

 

 

1. Q. Art is great! What are some tips for Walden art?

    A. Having a party, have fun. Always laugh when you draw. Don't forget to breath.  

 

2. Q. What is your favorite part about Walden Community School?

    A. Listening, to everyone.

 

3. Q. What are you most looking forward to this year?

    A. Learning.

 

4. Q. How do the kids inspire you?

    A. Yes, everyone is really great. If I was teaching at college you guys would be in it.  

 

-Interview conducted by Carrie Mikulka and Sasha Berman.

 

 

Trivia

In honor of our hawk sighting, this week's trivia is all about the Red-shouldered Hawk.

 

- This bird has also been called the Red-Shouldered Buzzard, Red-bellied Hawk, and the Winter Hawk.

- Unlike most hawks, the Red-shouldered Hawk hunts from a low-lying perch.

 

- A Red-shouldered Hawk continues to feed its fledgling until the young one sets off to establish its own territory.

 

- Red-shouldered Hawks have loud, distinct calls.

 

-Skipper Williamson

 

Doesn't this hawk look just like our new friend?

 

Thanks for reading this week's edition of the W.A.L.N.U.T.!
Check back next week for a whole new post!

-Katie Mikulka, Editor-in-chief and the rest of the W.A.L.N.U.T. staff.
- Proofread by Ellen Miller