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.