This Week in Fourth Grade

Field Trip

Our classes had a wonderful time on the field trip on Friday!  Students explored the Discovery Museum in Acton and learned through playing with sound, light, engineering, and other science topics.  It was wonderful to watching everyone making new discoveries and enjoying each other's company.  We couldn't resist taking many pictures of our students enjoying their learning.

Learning about tension and sound.

It was fun trying to make face violins! 

Experiencing how sound travels in waves.

Fun with light!

Working together!

Having a blast in the Air Play exhibit! 

Make a tower out of Keva blocks as tall as we are?  No problem!

Tomorrow's engineers.

The life-sized Legos were a hit!

Testing out the light table...

Always a lot of fun at the water tables!

Having fun with sand and a pendulum!

It was amazing to see what was inside this geode!

Can you see part of his name? (Ant!)

It was amazing to see how hot different parts of our bodies were!

Hanging out with friends!

Just a reminder that we do not have school on Friday this week because of Good Friday!

Have a great week!

Jaime and Jen

This Week in Fourth Grade

Field Trip Info

We have a field trip coming up next week to the Science Discovery Museum in Acton on Friday.  There has been a lot of difficulty in determining the date of this field trip with the bus company and museum and we apologize for the short notice.  The permission slip went home on Friday and is included here.  You may also email your permission.

If you are available next Friday and would like to join us to chaperone, please let us know.  Chaperones will have to drive themselves and pay their own admission. 



Non-Fiction

This week during Reader's Workshop we learned how non-fiction can be organized in a number of different ways.  We also learned that if we can identify the structure, we increase our ability to understand the text and determine the important information.  In addition, we practiced taking notes according to the structure of our text and also worked on becoming experts on the Southeast region. 

Writing Workshop

Last week the kids worked towards reaching the goal that they set for themselves as a writer.  The kids were focusing on the setting in their story, adding more to the turning point in their story, or painting a picture with their words. 

For homework this week the kids will be working on getting their stories ready to be published.  I am attaching the sheet that will be sent home with the kids tomorrow explaining the expectations. Students that don't have access to a computer will be given paper to write their final copy on. We will be printing any stories that are typed on Friday. 

Realistic Fiction Publishing Homework

Have a great week!  

Jen and Jaime

This Week in Fourth Grade

No More Snow!

We just simply did not spend enough time together last week due to all of the snow days!  Just as we gained steam, the week was over and we were hunkering down for yet another round of snowball fights, sledding and hot chocolate.  We hope that everyone was able to keep their power and stay warm.  Let's hope we get more time together this week!

Non-fiction

Last week in Reader's Workshop students worked on summarizing the main idea and supporting details in the non-fiction texts they were reading.  We talked about non-fiction can be a challenge because of all of the information that is thrown at us as we read.  A strategy to help with this is to stop after a chunk of text and summarize quickly before moving on.

This week in Reader's Workshop students will be applying this strategy while learning about the Southeast.  They will combine their social studies learning with their reading and work on a presentation teaching others about the Southeast.  When they are finished, we will be sure to share!

Writing Homework

We are trying to finish up our Realistic Fiction writing unit, but the weather is really not helping!  To help move our unit along, this week's writing homework will be slightly different.  We are taking a break from the Week-long Paragraph homework.  The kids will instead be expected to work on their realistic fiction story for at least 20 minutes each night.  A paper will be sent home with your child explaining the expectations for this week's homework.  There is also a place for your child to write down what he/she did as a writer each day as well as a place for you to sign.

Realistic Fiction Writing Expectations- Week of March 12th

Time Capsule Closing Ceremony

This week your child will be coming home with a sheet about collecting items for a time capsule.  As you may have heard, on the last day school the 4th graders participate on a Time Capsule Closing Ceremony as a way to celebrate that they are moving onto Quinn.  More information about the ceremony will be sent home closer to the end of the school year, however, it is important for your child to actually start collecting items for the time capsule now.  I am attaching the letter that will be sent home below for you to look at (in case it doesn't actually make it home).  Your child can add as much or as little as he/she would like to add to his/her time capsule. The list of items is simply a suggestion.  

A question we are often asked is about the size of the tote.  We have found that anything from a shoe box to a small/medium size tote will work.  Here are some examples of what kids have brought in in the past....

    

                 

Please let us know if you have any questions.  Your child will not be bringing in the time capsule until the middle of June.  More details to follow....

Time Capsule Ideas Letter

Have a great week!

Jen and Jaime

This Week in Fourth Grade

On Friday we celebrated Read Across America Day.  A reader from Intel came into our class and read a couple of Dr. Seuss books.  We also got a visit from the Cat in the Hat himself!  

Regions

This week students utilized power point presentations on the chrome books to help them learn the vocabulary needed to support their upcoming research about the regions of the United States.  Next week they will read about the Southeast region and begin working towards a project in which they will present information about the Southeast region to the rest of their classmates utilizing an online presentation program called Prezi.  This unit will also support the non-fiction reading unit we are starting in reader's workshop.

Non-Fiction

We started a new unit in Reader's Workshop this week!  Students are stepping out of fiction and freshening things up by diving into non-fiction.  There was quite a buzz in the classroom this week as students discovered new information about topics they were interested in that they couldn't wait to share with their classmates.  Next week we will learn main ideas, supporting details and text structures.

Students are still allowed to read whatever genre they want while they are reading at home.  As long as they are reading 20 minutes every night, I am happy and they will continue to grow as readers!  Please let me know if I can support you in any way as you support your child at home.


Painting a Picture (with our words)

Before vacation we had brainstormed lists of adjectives based on the five senses.  We call these adjectives sensory details.  To help us practice using sensory details, each small group got a calendar picture.  As a group they needed to describe their picture with such specific details that the rest of the class could actually pick out their picture from a larger group of pictures. 

Math Workshop

We started our fraction unit last week.  We spent a lot of time decomposing fractions into smaller parts.  Ask your child what it means to decompose a fraction!  We also started to think about how repeated addition with fractions can also be written as a multiplication sentence. 

By the end of the week the kids prepared for an upcoming relay race.  They needed to work in teams of 3-4 and decide how they were going to break apart a mile race into smaller parts.  Each "runner" would need to run at least 1/10 of a mile.  It was great to see their problem solving skills put into action.  After deciding on their race strategy, they needed to determine how to break apart the mile course on a map into tenths.  Hopefully if the weather cooperates this week, we will be able to get outside and actually hold our relay race!

Have a great week!

Jen and Jaime