Post #14

Happy Thanksgiving!

Post # 13

A good chunk of our week was spent testing. The girls are working hard to keep their focus and to bring their best effort to each test. We did manage to work in several fun, creative, and innovative activities. We dabbled with Buncee, which is a web based multi-media creation tool. The girls had a blast and once again their creativity shined. The girls will use Buncee to tell a story using their Wordly Wise words. Here's an example of a Buncee slide:

The girls played Decimal Turkey War and created a Decimal Turkey. They listened to decimals and combined their geometry skills to build a turkey with vivid colors and geometric shapes. Several girls are going to town with Solve me Mobiles. And more girls are asking for accounts to participate in this number sense thinker! I joked around and told the girls that I could sit back during the fraction unit because they have mastered basic skills and can teach the unit:) While we are on the topic of math enrichment, Greg Tang has put together a Thanksgiving challenge similar to what the girls did on Halloween. The challenge is optional and due on December 2nd. Mrs. Applewhite left a set of math masters (also optional) for the girls to work on since we missed our time with her due to ERBing (we made ERB testing into a verb).

A special thanks to Lucy for bringing delicious muffins for us all to enjoy! 

Some important information:

* The Outreach Canned Food Drive ends on Monday. Please check your pantries and send in what you can.

* Book Fair is on 12/2 @ 2:30

* ERB Schedule

Girls-

Blog question.... Not a question this week, but a request. Please bring a grocery bag to school for cubby cleaning and organizing.

Post #12

What if Fourthies could line the highways with billboards? The girls photographed our beautiful school and their beautiful friends and made motivational billboards that celebrate who we are. We uploaded the billboards to values.com (a site that we visit often for discussion starters and pick-me ups). Several of the billboards are now published on values.com and all are posted outside our classroom.

History4fourthies has taken us into the turn of the 21st century. We discussed the events of September 11, 2001 and looked at the emergence of technology in society. Did you know that the first iPod was a big hit in 2001? The girls now understand how many hours, days, jubilees, etc. they have been alive and practiced rounding and reading big numbers. This history4fourthies job included a reflection on gratitude. The girls added up their blessings and all that they have to be grateful for. Sometimes you just need a little reminding:) Magazine covers featuring the presidents was the culminating activity for our presidential research:



Our class book clubs were formed this week. The girls are reading All of a Kind Family by Sydney Taylor. The novel is set in New York City at the turn of the 20th century and tells the story from the perspective of the five young daughters. The girls will read and discuss the novel with their book club. Each week a different member of the club will lead the discussion. There should be some lively conversation.

Decimals were the hot topic in math. The girls read, wrote, compared, and plotted decimals. We also worked with order of operations and had a little fun "Splating" the answers to the equations. The literary device, personification, was introduced in language arts and also spotlighted in some EDPuzzle problem solving- Oreos are milk's favorite cookie and Goldfish is the snack that smiles back. The girls included personification in their writing and made dog food, pencils, phones, flowers, and animals express feelings and opinions. More on personification next week. Boy Band Friday was back this week. The girls practiced their calculation skills listening to N Sync and Justin Timberlake was voted as the class favorite.

We enjoyed watching the book trailers created in Animoto. The girls chose themes, pictures, and music that represented the plot and conflict of their book. I love their creativity!

ERB testing is next week. The schedule is posted on the blog. We chatted about the importance of rest and a positive attitude during a long week of testing. Unlike in third grade, ERBs are not read to the girls. This seemed to please most of the girls. There will be no written homework next week nor a fact check. The girls should continue to review and study their spelling and Wordly Wise words for quizzes on Thursday and Friday.

One more thing.... This fabulous group of Fourthies earned their second 25 compliments! I am so proud of them and the way they work as a team, support one another, and model our school values. A celebration is in the works.

Girls-

Your blog question is.......

What color is Justin Timberlake's shirt? Click here to submit your answer. Click here to make a suggestion for our Compliment Celebration.

Post # 11

It's hard to believe, but the first quarter of fourth grade is over! 

What a bountiful fall week we had! The field trip to Mt. Vernon was picture perfect. Ellie S. was the class photographer. She was hard at work capturing the beauty of George Washington's home. The girls toured the property, watched several 4-D movies and spent time in the education center. We were even treated to a private fife march with one of Mt. Vernon's guides. Our bus driver told me that she has never driven a finer group of students. She was amazed by the girls behavior and manners. 

President slideshows are being presented. The girls are practicing there public speaking and learning about the presidents of the 20th century. We are moving into the decades beginning with the turn of the the 21st century. The girls will learn about key event from the current millennium and from their we will go back in time. 

The girls worked with they're Halloween candy data. They created spreadsheets, analyzed there data, imagined opening a candy story, wrote a slogan/jingle. Several girls even composed music to go along with their jingle. Here's a graph sample:

We assessed Unit Three on Monday and are moving into Unit Four which focuses on decimals. Ask your daughter to explain the connection between decimals and manners. I couldn't resist working in a little character development when we started the decimal unit. 

As you know, our book reports are created in class and will always involve a multi-media element. The girls developed a story map, chose images that represented key events, and music that reflected the tone of they're novel. The plan was to create an iMovie book trailer. The plan fell through. iMovie was having a failure to thrive so we quickly shifted gears and used Animoto for Education. I used my frustration/disappointment as a life lesson and (hopefully) modeled the importance of being resilient and looking for alternatives when confronted with a stumbling block. Here's the good news.... the book reports look amazing. Several girls have finished; others will do so next week. Take a sneak preview here. 

The girls will be introduced to many different ENRICHMENT ACTIVITIES during the second quarter. Soon there will be an ENRICHMENT page on our Fourthie site. Enrichment is not just for early finishers. All girls are encouraged to stretch themselves and explore areas of interest. I introduced Solve me Mobiles this week. Solve me Mobiles take number sense to a whole new level. Accounts were created for interested girls. Maybe your daughter can explain:

Spelling is no longer a one size fits all. Girls are welcome to move along at there pace as long as they're spelling in written work continues to be correct. I will continue to assign spelling lists every other week for those girls who feel comfortable at that pace. All are welcome to come in for "Jump Start" Tuesday through Friday (beginning at 7:30) to take spelling quizzes early, work on enrichment activities, or simply get ready for the day.

Girls- The blog post mystery question is...... What homonym have I used incorrectly throughout this post? Type your answer here or you can wait until Monday.