Fun highlights from 

the last few weeks...

Team building exercise with Ms. Dovenbarger, students had to stack and unstack the cups using ONLY the rubber band tool provided :)

Our earthquake simulation lab...

Students attempted to build a structure using toothpicks and marshmallows that could withstand an earthquake. Our "ground" was 2 inch thick Jello.

                              

Future GIS experts! To review our geometry vocabulary students were tasked with creating their own "Geocity". Their town had to include certain buildings and streets meeting specific criteria, some streets parallel, some perpendicular, and a pool in the shape of a scalene triangle. 

                                                               

 Next week during our reading time we will do a short nonfiction mini unit. We will be learning about Christmas traditions in countries around the world and comparing/contrasting them to our traditions. To celebrate the end of the 9 weeks and our break :) we will spend next Friday (Dec. 12) charting what we've learned as we read different books/websites about other countries. I would like to have different foods from each country that we read about for the students to sample. Please let me know if you would like to send in an item listed below or if you have another idea of something that we could sample.

Ginger bread or ginger bread cookies (Germany, Sweden)

marzipan candy (Germany)

colored marshmallows , fruit salad w/ marshmallows (Mexico)

rice pudding (Sweden)
fruit cake or fruitcake cookies (England)

pizzelles (Italy)

Yule log cake (France…. maybe Little Debbie Swiss Cake Rolls?)

Sugar cookies (Norway)

Or please feel free to make or bring another snack- if your family has a special treat/tradition we’d love to taste it and hear about it!  We will also need water bottles or juice boxes, plates, napkins, and spoons or forks.

Thanks so much!

This week in 4th grade...


One of the highlights of our week was beginning our persuasive writing unit. We tackled the controversy of school uniforms :). We started with researching the benefits and down sides of the idea. Then we created a pro/con list. Using the list we created a thesis statement for each side of the argument. Lastly, students wrote and defended a thesis statement for each side of the argument, this was tough! Of course they wanted to write about the side they agreed with, but convincing them that they could still use facts to support an argument for the other side was rough!


Next week they will tackle a new controversial topic. They will go through the same process, a little more independently this time around. Once they have created a pro/con list they will choose a side and create a persuasive essay to defend their opinion. Here are a few pictures from our share time:

Science Fun For Everyone provided a WONDERFUL day of inquiry and exploration.

Check out these great pictures from our science day!

 building a model of the Earth, sun, and                                   moon, learning the                                                        difference between rotate and revolve

Maddie was a little perplexed :)

Plate tectonics/earthquake simulation....future engineers!

Volcano demo- do you think Aidan liked it ?!?


and then we touched dinosaur                                                  poop!!!

Finally, we did some mineral exploration.

The 2nd 9 weeks is in FULL swing!

Here is a peak into our week and a few quick reminders....

Important Dates:

October 27- Science Day w/ Science Fun for Everyone ($24 per student)
              27-31  HES bookfair, we will go on Wed the 29th

November 8  HES Fall Festival, our class is doing a "Movie Night" themed basket, items can                       be brought to class or the office
                 11  No School- Veteran's Day
                 26-28  Thanksgiving Break

This week in reading we went deeper into our work with nonfiction. Students used a strategy called "Boxes and Bullets" to identify and record the main idea and supporting details in their nonfiction reading. We also started to look at the importance of nonfcition text features like graphs, maps, diagrams, etc.

In math we looked at our second method for division. This week I introduced "short division"- it is much like the way  you and I learned to divide but with less writing and therefore fewer chances for careless errors. Next week students will have the option to use whichever method they are most comfortable with and then will start working on division with 2 digit divisors. 

One of the kids favorite parts of the week is our word study stations. We started these just before fall break and they as me each week if we are still using them. We use several different ways for students to practice words each week, like clay, pipe cleaners, letter stamps, magnetic letters, etc. 

Here's a picture of Katee making her words out of clay, the class favorite, I think!

A week of engaged, excited learners...

This was such a great week in our class! (I was very excited to be here and pretty much healthy for 5 days in a row!)

In honor of the Read-a-thon we wrote a class letter to the author of the read aloud we recently finished, Where the Lilies Bloom by Vera and Bill Cleaver. Together we brainstormed compliments for them, questions to ask about their writing, and requests for a sequel. After completing the class letter students planned and constructed letters to their own favorite authors. It is always a joy to see them supper excited, and many of them were very engaged and enthusiastic to extend the book in this way. 

We also enjoyed some hands on (or more like EYES on) adventures during science time. To review properties of matter, we observed how food coloring mixed in hot, room temperature, and cold water. We began by discussing the importance of observing and predicting and how they would use the processes in the same way a 'real' scientist would. This lab demonstrated that molecules are in motion, and they move faster in warm temperatures, a little slower in room temperature and very slowly in cold temperatures. 

We also watched this cool video about the phases of matter:

Bill Nye: The Science Guy- Matter

*please complete and return the blue conference sign up sheet that was sent home with your child's interim report

*keep reading/recording minutes for the read-a-thon this weekend

Here we go!

Today we started week four of fourth grade and we are on a roll now! The kids are really doing well with our routines and procedures and transitioning from one subject to the next.

A few important reminders:

Homework is the same every night (Mon-Thurs): write for at least 10 minutes, read for at least 20 minutes, complete the daily column on the math sheet.

Our PE day is Tuesday, please make sure your child wears sneakers.

       -Read-a-thon info-                            

As you know our school's annual fundraiser is a themed Read-a-thon. This is the PERFECT fundraiser for a school because it of course provides much needed funds, but also encourages students to read more. Many parents also prefer this type of fundraiser because there are no items to deliver, or students begging you to buy candy :)

Here are some important pieces of info about this years RAT. More will be coming soon!

Aug 8- Kick off Assembly, 1:45 in the gym, pledge folders go home
Aug 11- begin bringing in bools for the book swap
Aug 15- Pledges folders due back
Aug 18- book swap (your child can get FREE books!)
Aug 20 - Dress up as your favorite book character
Aug 25- tally sheets of minutes read due
Sept 5- all pledges due

Stay Connected to our Classroom...

Each week I will try to share with you questions to ask your child to get them talking about their day. Hopefully this will help keep you more informed about what we are doing and prevent the dreaded "what did you learn at school day?" conversations that are so often met with a "nothing" or "I don't remember".  For this week, ask your child:

- What do you think will become of Mary Call and her siblings? (hopefully they can fill you in on our read aloud book, Where the Lilies Bloom)
- What does the word 'difference' mean in math, what is it a clue for you to do?
-Explain a few of the "Appalachian Values" that we are charting in Social Studies, what evidence have you seen of them in books? A few of the values are strong work ethic, dedication to family, and self reliance.

Our second week....

...was a great one. the students have done a great job adjusting and adapting to the routines, procedures, and expectations of 4th grade!

A few important reminders:

- student should be reading AT LEAST 20 minutes each night

-please complete and return the forms sent out last week (re: conduct, computer use, and student photos)

- over the weekend you should have also recieved a bright orange permission slip for me to use your students name and picture in this blog, please complete it and return to school, feel free to ask if you have questions

-if you need more forms please let me know

This week in math we focused on place value and representing numbers in different ways. You child should be able to explain to you how to write a number in standard form, word form, and expanded form. One of the more exciting things we did in math was "Design a Monster". Students were given a set of blocks with different values. After building their monster they found it's value based on value of each block. We then ordered the monsters by value from least to greatest. This would be a fun activity to do at home as well. Use the key to try it out yourself :)

Green Triangles = 1
Orange Squares = 10
Blue Rhombuses = 100
Red Trapezoids = 1,000
Yellow Hexagons = 10,000

In reading we focused on choosing "just right" books and how that helps your child grow as a reader. We also began talking about good habits that help readers grow such as predicting, making a mind movie, wondering, etc. We will explore these more deeply in the coming weeks. 

In Social Studies we did a broad overview of NC geography. Hopefully your child has a general idea of the location of the 3 regions of our state and characteristics of each of them, including bodies of water, cities, and natural resources.

In writing we are continuing to gather ideas for writing topics and build stamina- seeing how long we can write each day without stopping. We are just starting to talk about what it means to take an idea (short entry in their Writer's Notebook) and "grow it into a story by adding details, using their senses, etc. 

Happy 2nd Day of School!

Welcome to the 2014-15 school year! 

We are off to a wonderful start in 4th grade!

A HUGE thank you to all of you for the generous donations of supplies for our classroom. Our cabinets are well stocked and we should have enough for a large chink of the year!

I thought I would share a few things with you that I am starting to get questions about, we will get more in depth at our Parent Info Night, but for now:

-students may bring a snack each day, we will usually eat them during independent reading time, no candy, only water to drink (bugs are a big issue)

- our lunch time is 10:55, recess will usually follow (unless we go outside early to avoid the heat) and specials are from 12:05-12:50

-reading homework is for 20 minutes each night

- DON'T FORGET, we now get out of school at 2:35, not 2:20 like years past

-if you need extra copies of any beginning of the year forms, please let me know

Here's a little peek into our day...

We talked about math in general, and I had students write sticky notes about what they did and didn't like about math. Once we got each students ideas on the chart we grouped them based on repeated comments. This was VERY helpful for me to see that many of them prefer to work alone and many more dislike repetitive tasks. 

 My preferred way to teach math is through stations. This will each student spend time working the way they are comfortable, while also pushing to try new things as well.

Thank you again for a wonderful start to the 2014-2015 school year!

Weekly Update 4/22

I hope everyone had a Happy Easter and enjoyed the long weekend!

We have hit the ground running, starting the week off with our final in-school Science field trip for this year. This time students rotated through 3 different classes: Eco Explorers, Energy Matters, and Body Works. I was SO impressed by the vocabulary and concepts that students remembered from earlier in the year!  If you haven’t yet sent in the fee for this, please send it in by this Friday, ($21). Here are a few highlights from our wonderful day!

*hanging out with Parker the Tarantula

*looking for snails, earth worms, and other critters :)

   

*reviewing conduction, convection, & radiation   

          

*matching organs to body systems

*sheep hearts....EWWWW!

Next week we will have our annual Spring Buy 1, Get 1 free bookfair in the library. It will be open each day from 7:45-3:15. Students must be accompanied by an adult to shop at the book fair.

This Friday evening (4/25) the PTA is hosting a Movie Night in the gym. They will show Frozen starting at 7pm, Moe’s will be here selling dinner from 5:30-7:15.

Important Dates:

May    7 FULL student day (originally this was an early release day)

          23 Science EOG (5th grade only)

          26 Memorial Day- No School

          27 Reading EOG

          28 Math EOG

June     5 5th Grade Recognition Program, 8:30am in the the gym

           6 Last day for students, dismiss at 11:20am

     

Happy Friday Everyone! 

We have a couple of very busy weeks coming up! Please read through the following info and reminders.

The countdown to the DC field trip has begun! As someone who loves to travel but doesn't get to very often, I always get so excited about this trip! While it is a tremendous amount of work to plan, we are SO appreciative for all parent chaperones. It would truly be impossible to pull off this trip without your help and hard work. 

Week of March 3-7
-Monday we will have visits from middle school counselors to explain courses and registration
- Wednesday is an early release day
-Thursday and Friday I will be in Raleigh for the NCTIES technology in education conference
-Thursday PARENT INFO MEETING, Thursday March 6 @ 5:45pm  in the media center
(we will go over what to pack, what not to bring, groups, and other reminders)

Week of March 10-14
- Monday your child will bring home DC tshirt(s), these should be PACKED to be worn on FRIDAY of the the trip
-Tuesday students will visit their respective middle school, please return the blue permission slip
-remember that we will no t meet at school for the trip, we will meet and leave cars at the Wal Mart parking lot in Hillsborough


http://hesdolphins.blogspot.com/2014/02/college-getting-there-from-here.html

Spoke too soon....

...when I called last week a crazy week!!! While we have had quite a short week, it has been pretty productive.

Today our class began a program called Junior Achievement. This is a continuation of a program that the students have been participating in since 3rd grade. Mr. Michalski will be with us every Friday afternoon this quarter for Junior Achievement. Here is an excerpt from the teacher guide explaining this program:

Junior Achievement uses hands-on experiences to help young people understand the economics of life. In partnership with businesses and educators, JA brings the real world to students, opening their minds to their potential. 

Because of our short day, I chose to deviate from our nonfiction/Westward Expansion unit to use our reading time to learn about an important anniversary. Tomorrow is the 54th anniversary of the Greensboro Sit Ins so we read aloud the book, SIT IN: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down by Andrea Davis Pinkney. Students analyzed the authors choice to highlight/bold certain phrases and quotes such as, "Practicing peace while others showed hatred was tougher than any school test". 

-A few announcements-

The Hands for Habitat Lego Blitz has been rescheduled for Wednesday February 19th in the Orange High School cafeteria. Registration will begin at 3:15.

Please cut out, count, and send in any "Box Tops for Education" that you have been saving.

**Last week yearbook order forms were sent out in grades k-4. Each 5th grader is given a yearbook as a going away gift from the PTA.**

What a crazy week here at HES!

Thank you so much to all of you who could make it out this morning to our DARE graduation ceremony. I am so proud of all of the kids hard work, especially on their essays. They worked on them independently with only one revision conference with me.

We have begun working on a research project to help us prepare for and get excited about our upcoming Washington DC field trip. Each student has chosen a topic and is currently researching. Before beginning our research we spent several days learning about how to choose appropriate books and websites for kids to use to conduct research. We identified ways to determine reliability and validity of a source and the pros and cons of book research versus internet research. Mrs. Shopmeyer did a wonderful lesson with them focused on identifying clues that a website might not be reliable….ask them about the “Northwestern Pacific Tree Octopus ”! If your child has headphones they may bring them in to keep in their locker. Now that we are using our computers regularly we are finding headphones to be very helpful.

**DC TRIP UPDATE**

- final payments due Friday 2/7,  let me know if you are unsure of your balance
- if you signed up as a chaperone but didn’t specify which parent will be attending, please let me know ASAP

**SUPPLIES NEEDED**

We are in desperate need of either:

mechanical pencils OR pencils & individual sharpeners

any donations will be greatly appreciated