CURRENTLY IN 4th grade
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Highlights of Week 33 (April 18 - 22)
In Math, we have started our last official unit of the school year on Geometry. This week, we learned the terms and symbols for several figures including a point, line, line segment, ray, plane, intersecting lines, parallel lines, perpendicular lines, the 3 main types of angles. In Geometry, as all Math, every answer has to be exact. Q - Have you heard of a FLIPPED CLASSROOM? It's a current educational buzz word. Flipped classroom is an instructional strategy that reverses the traditional learning order by delivering instructional content, often online, outside of the classroom. In a flipped classroom, students carry out research at home and use educational technology such as instructional videos to learn content rather than the teacher providing it directly in class. THEN . . . . students come to class ready to discuss and do projects with the guidance of the teacher based on their learning at home. This week, we had a flipped classroom about Earth Day. Students researched key Earth Day terms at home, such as 'recycle' and 'compost,' as well as the history of Earth Day. They also wrote a paragraph about how they will take care of the earth using their newly learned vocabulary. THEN .. . . on Earth Day, April 22nd, we had a class discussion about the importance of the holiday and students made models of the Earth using styrofoam balls, paint, and their chrome books as research tools. (photo above) In Social Studies, we worked hard on the 22nd Mission. We also did a mapping activity on the 3 main routes to CA from the east coast to the California for the Gold Rush. To help with this, we watched a powerpoint about these routes. The Cape Horn route is the one the Jack and Praiseworthy are on in The Great Horn Spoon. Highlights of Week 32 (April 11-15) LACMA TRIP - Thursday, April 14th - Click Blue Button directly above for pics of our trip! LANGUAGE ARTS READING - We have started a new chapter book that we will be reading together as a class, By the Great Horn Spoon by Sid Fleischman. This is a classic book for 4th grade as it's a historical fiction work based on the California Gold Rush. Concurrently, we will be learning about this period in California History. WRITING - Students did a guided writing activity last week based on the 4th grade business sale. We wrote the first part together as a class. Then students had to add a review of their business in their own words. Then I edited the writing and students will do a final draft next week. It is beneficial to students to have good writing modeled for them and to rewrite a final copy from an edited draft. SPELLING - Last week spelling included definitions. The subject areas were missions and math. For the spelling test, I said the definition and students had to write the word and spell it correctly. MATH - Last week we learned how to find the perimeter and area of two-dimensional shapes. We are also practicing topic tests which cover all the different math topics taught this year and require students to apply basic knowledge to solve problems. Highlights of Week 28 (March 14 - 18) LANGUAGE ARTS - Congratulations Room 218 on meeting one of our goals of this week - to finish Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing. We had 3 chapters to go. We approached this goal with dedication. Activities included a group activity making character posters, partner-reading out loud, writing an opinion statement using supporting details from the chapter, a HW assignment to read out loud, identify the speakers in a dialogue, and practice reading comprehension. For the last chapter, students made a picture and caption of any part they wanted and then we did a share-around at our tables. GREEK ROOTS - This week we studied several Greek roots including 'aud,' 'thermo,' 'bio,' 'geo,' and 'ology.' STEAM - The motorized car project is completed. It was rewarding to see several students produce running cars and especially those who kept trying new things to improve their cars. I'm convinced there are budding engineers among us! MATH - We worked with standard (customary) units of measurement this week including length and capacity. We did conversion problems that required converting feet to inches, etc. ART - Our Picasso Abstract Self-Portraits are complete and on display in and just outside our classroom. It's looking like a museum! We used oil pastels, watercolors, and sharpies for the portraits. We also created a Picasso folder with sketches, poems, and biographical notes. SOCIAL STUDIES - WHAT's PBL? PBL stands for Project Based Learning and it's one of the features of our school. We are currently in the early stages of PBL with a Project called The 22nd Mission. 22nd? Yes. Though there are 21 missions in California, we are going to create the 22nd! In Project--Based Learning, students apply knowledge aligned to state curricular standards to a real-life challenge, work in teams, and produce a public product. To read more about PBL, click on this link: http://bie.org/about/what_pbl Highlights of Week 26 (Feb. 29 - March 4) MATH - Last week, we worked with Mixed Numbers which are numbers that include a whole number and a fraction. The main skill we learned was multiplying a whole number by a fraction which often results in an improper fraction. Then students had to reduce the improper fraction to lowest terms by converting it back into a mixed number and reducing the fraction to lowest terms. Needless to say, times tables came into play! LANGUAGE ARTS - AUTHOR STUDY: We have completed all the book commercials for our 1st author book and are preparing for the 2nd project which will culminate in an Authors' Party. And who will the authors at the party be? They will be the authors of the books we read and ourselves. In Writing Workshop, we are well into writing our own narratives that are inspired by the excellent writing of our selected author. Perhaps we took one of the minor characters on an adventure of their own or imagined the setting leading to a whole new place with a whole new story. In whichever case, we are being influenced by the writing of our author. For the 2nd author project, scholars will be blogging about their book on Edmodo.com. In their blog, they will share what they think is the most important part of the chapter and note what is "good writing" about each chapter. At our AUTHORS' PARTY on April 1st, they will come dressed as a character from one of the books, and have one table space to represent their author and the 2 books he/she wrote. You decide what goes on your table - your laptop running a slideshow? a box with special objects? a diorama? Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing: We completed Chapter 6 last week. We focused on three different settings - the dentist's office, the shoe store, and Hamburger Heaven. Students related their personal experiences to these settings. Students complete an assignment that goes with each chapter, usually in the form of written responses. Class Newspaper - We are currently preparing an issue of the AEA student created newspaper. Ilan will be the editor-in-chief, and this issue will focus on technology. SCIENCE - We will be building motorized cars this week. This is an extension of our unit on circuits and motos. SOCIAL STUDIES - MISSIONS - we are learning about the dramatic changes the native tribes experienced when they began living in the missions, controlled by the Spanish settlers, led by Father Junipero Serra. Each student will represent one mission with a model and explanation. ART - We are studying famous artist, Pablo Picasso this month. For our first project, we made self-portraits in an abstract, cubist style using oil pastels and sharpies. Highlights of Week 23 (Feb. 9 - 12) MATH - We focused on adding multiple digit decimals this week, and also reviewed and practiced long division. Once again, I can't emphasize enough the importance of mastering the times tables. Please make every effort to do so and if you enjoy online math practice, there are several options on the websites page (right here, right now!) LANGUAGE ARTS - This week, we worked hard on Writer's Workshop. We are writing narratives that are influenced by our first author's book. For some this means taking a character in the book and setting him/her on an adventure all their own. For others, it means allowing the excellent writing style of the author to influence our narratives. Consider vivid description, building suspense, dialogue, unexpected but believable twists - the writing techniques authors use that qualify them to be great mentors for our writing. SPELLING - This week we reviewed the important distinction between 'ie' and 'ei.' There is a little jingle that helps: It's i before e except after c or when sounding like A in neighbor and weigh. Of course there are the exceptions and those just have to be memorized! Since Friday was a little unusual what with Mr. Fishler teaching President's Day lessons the first half of the day and needing to fit in our Valentine festivities and a Nature Walk the second half , we had a class spelling bee instead of a formal test, (though some still chose to take the test on paper). Spelling bees are both fun and educational because the correct spellings are reinforced whole class as you go! TALES OF A 4th GRADE NOTHING - It wouldn't be right if I didn't update you on Peter's latest adventure with his little brother Fudge! As you recall, Peter is in 4th grade . Well, in Chapter 3, 2 yr. old Fudge pretends to be the family dog and decides he'll only eat if his food is put under the table in a bowl. Mr. Hatcher has enough of that, puts him in the bathtub, pours his cereal on his head at the end of the chapter. That settled that. I asked students to discover for themselves why the chapter was titled The Family Dog by reading silently and explaining this in writing. Book Commercials were broadcast in our class this week. We are hearing about some great books for upper elementary! SOCIAL STUDIES - We made our way to the school's art room this week to work on projects about the early exploration of California circa the 1500s. Topics were divided up and included famous explorers, transportation, reasons for exploring, and maps. The products are mainly large-scale and hanging on a board in the class. Beautiful work, Room 218! SCIENCE - We had a brief start to working with actual motors this week and will continue next week. Week 22 in Review (February 1-5) Language Arts - We have started a new class chapter book, Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing by Judy Blume. A complete set of books was donated to the class by Jordan's family. (Jordan's mom, Ana, is our room parent). This is greatly appreciated as not only do we each have our own copy, but this is a children's masterpiece. Using only the "power of prose:" description, dialogue, humor that appeals to children, and amazing character development, this book creates vivid pictures in the reader's mind and tells a wonderful story of a 4th grade boy and his lovable family. We have completed the first two chapters and already feel at home with the Hatcher family and their newest family member, Dribble the turtle, won by Peter (4th grader) at his friend's birthday party for coming closest on a jelly-beans-in-the-jar guessing game. In class, students took the voice of Dribble the turtle, and wrote excellent accounts of how they ended up in the Hatcher home, what they think of each family member (Peter, Fudge, Mr. and Mrs. Hatcher), etc. I also provided a 'how-to-draw-a-turtle' handout and they drew their own versions of Dribble. This work is displayed on our Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing board. Math - Last week we learned the steps of long division and practiced, practiced, practiced. You must know your times tables inside out to complete long division problems accurately and efficiently. Social Studies - We started a new unit on early California explorers, circa, 1500s. Students created maps illustrating the paths of different Spanish and English explorers from Spain/England to California. We also wrote about the main reasons that the explorers ventured out on the wild seas. Next we will look at their method of transportation. Science - We are continuing our unit on Energy. Special Event - On Thursday, we hosted 4 students from China! It was a wonderful experience! We represented our class and school beautifully, helping the students feel welcome and enjoy their day with us. They participated in our class activities focusing on Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing and the Chinese New Year for which we wrote good luck messages and designed red envelopes. Students used a handout to write Good Fortune using Chinese letters on the envelope. We also made celebratory red paper lanterns! As you can tell, red is a very important color for the Chinese New Year! Week 20 in Review (January 19 - 22) Living History Week - Somehow Living HIstory Day (Tuesday) in Room 218 turned into Living HIstory Week! Students needed more time to set up and do their tribe presentations than anticipated. This was mostly due to the use of technology, which was a pleasant surprise for us! We enjoyed the slide shows and powerpoint presentations. Images speak volumes when it comes to history, bringing the time period to life. Some students brought hand-made artifacts and hard copy images, which were equally informative. We now have a small Native American 'museum' in the class. Craft projects completed in class include a Chumash cave painting, clay Chumash artifacts, and a weaving representation since most California tribes did a type of weaving with natural materials. Finally we had a Meeting of the Tribes ceremony where we met in solidarity and shared a poem or chant about the most important aspects of our tribe. We first applied face paint which was common in native ceremonies. MATH - Please master your times-tables if you haven't. This week I introduced the 60 second sweep, which helps with speed. We finished our unit on simplifying fractions and started a VERY IMPORTANT weekly math problems page which will be sent home every Monday. Please take your time and work out every part of the problems carefully. BUSINESS PLANS - We are designing business plans as a culminating project to reading The Lemonade War. Students must apply at least 3 business principles shared in the book to their plan. And . . . . we have the approval to set up a store at school and sell actual products. More information coming soon! BECOME AN AUTHOR EXPERT - Students have all chosen their acclaimed authors and secured their first book. They are reading 5-10 pages a night. In class we will be working on Book Chats and applying the style and techniques of the author to write our own narratives. Week 19 in Review (January 11-15) WRITING: This week we wrote several short responses in our writing journals. Topics included 1) Write in detail about one goal. The variety of goals shared and the steps to reach them were impressive: improving at skiing, becoming a veterinarian, becoming an astrophysicist, improving at times-tables speed and accuracy. I edited each paragraph for proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling, and students "published" on a paper lemon to place on our 7 Habits Tree for Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind. Kidspeak: Work hard at a goal. 2) My business plan, 3) Dr. King's Dream/My Dream READING: We are currently finishing a chapter book that my former 4th grade students were reading in class: The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies. Since the new students do not have this book and we're at the end, I'm finishing it out loud . Students from my former class met in small groups with the new students to "catch them up." That process was meaningful for all. Now that we are coming to the end of the story . . . . . we are doing a culminating project together as a class - CREATE YOUR OWN BUSINESS, using business principles shared in the book. This is very exciting for the students. Some students are so excited they have already started working on advertisements and flyers at home. I will meet w/ Mr. Fishler to propose their business plans to see if we can actually sell items to raise money for the school, or perhaps with an in-class economy. Update provided next week! NEWSFLASH: AUTHOR STUDY STARTED! 4th graders got a chance to preview their author's first book in class on Friday by drawing a detail from the cover illustration, reading the first several pages, and describing the first important event of the story. MATH: We have been continuing our fractions unit, focusing on the skill of reducing fractions to lowest terms after finding the sum or difference. This requires a solid knowledge of the times-tables. In addition, we took a timed times-table test and many students need to improve their speed/accuracy. I am also in the process of assessing the new students in the 4th grade math skills covered so far this school year. SOCIAL STUDIES: This week we focused on the life and contributions of Dr. Martin Luther King. We read excerpts from his speeches, watched Youtube biography videos and listened to a book about his life. We then completed a writing/art project which resulted in a beautiful bulletin board display. Meanwhile at home, students are preparing for our culminating project for the Native American unit - Living HIstory Day where students will take the role of a California Native American. SCIENCE: We started our next Science Unit on Energy. Our first investigation was on the relationship between speed and kinetic energy. We built ramps with 2 different heights and used toy cars to test and record data and come up with conclusions. All science investigations are recorded in our interactive science journals. Week 15 in Review (Nov. 30 - Dec. 4th) Highlights of the Week: Language Arts - While practicing for our holiday play, we are building reading fluency, comprehension skills, and oral language. Besides the fun and seasonal factors, it provides a great opportunity to develop strength in these areas. In addition, this week we wrote detailed paragraphs about our Thanksgiving break and winter poems or descriptions to go with the winter scenes we painted. 4th grade read and did an assignment on Chapter 7 of The Lemonade War and 3rd grade read a story in their anthology about a girl named Phoebe who collected EVERYTHING! Cursive - Upper and lower case F and G. Art - We painted beautiful winter scenes, inspired by the images in our winter songs and visuals. Math - In Math, we started a unit on Fractions. This included an inquiry-based group project where students explored fraction strips divided into different equal parts but were the same size. I asked them to discuss and report on their findings (patterns.) They discovered 2 main patterns: 1)Each strip equals one whole but is divided into a specific number of equal parts and 2)as the denominator gets larger, resulting in more parts, the fraction gets smaller. For example 1/8 is smaller than 1/2. We also did several worksheets on identifying and comparing fractions. Social Studies - We continued working on our in-class Gabrielino reports, focusing on how they dressed. It was fascinating to learn how they used local trees, plants, and animals to make their clothes. Science - In Science, we completed our Antarctica habitat study. Students converted their Google research (on Chrome books last week)to published topics on Climate, Adaptations, and Did you Know? These are hanging on our display. The following Next Gen Science Standards were addressed in this unit: 3rd grade: Ecosystems - Being part of a group helps animals obtain food, defend themselves, and cope with changes. Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits -Many characteristics of organisms ar einherited from their parents. - Other characteristics result from individuals' interactions with the environment. Many characteristics involve both inheritance and environment. - The environment affects the traits that an organism develops. - In a particular habitat, some kinds of organisms survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all. Earth's Systems - Weather and Climate - Climate describes a range of an area's typical weather conditions and the extent to which those conditions vary over years. 4th grade From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes - Plants and animals have internal and external structures that serve various functions in growth, survival, and behavior Week 13 in Review (Nov. 16 - 20) Room 218 had a special week! We took a bus trip to Encino to attend a concert with 900 students from around Los Angeles! Together we listened to music from the Sephardic and Mexican cultures and to instruments from the 4 orchestral families. In addition, we had the chance to try these instruments in the "petting zoo" that preceded the concert. After the concert we went to Encino Park to eat lunch and play! See more pictures on Shutterfly! During the mornings this week, students used Chrome Books to do Google Research. We researched Antarctica habitats, animals, climate, and food web. We used this research to add details to our mural. It's definitely looking like an icy informational display! Early in the week, students were also asked to look up an acorn's tree and lifecycle and use this information to illustrate a poem called, "November Acorn." In addition, students researched topics on the first Thanksgiving. Several students wrote scenes for a play about the first Thanksgiving, being as historically accurate as possible. Room 218 is busy preparing for our school holiday show! So exciting! The show is scheduled for Thursday evening, December 17th, with details to follow! STEAM - Students made a Thanskgiving design/craft project during our STEAM block on Friday and are looking forward to bringing these home on Tuesday! Week 12 in Review (Nov. 9 - 13) In class, we are focusing on the 7 Habits of Happy Kids one habit at a time. Last week we filled our 7 Habits Tree with 1st Habit Leaves, completing the sentence, "I am Proactive When . . . . .." Answers included "when I stand up for what is right," "when I do the right thing when no one is looking," "when I try to find solutions to problems," "when I play on a team." In MATH, both grades focused on the steps of long division. Here's where knowing the times tables is essential as multiplication facts are needed to divide. In WRITING, the class is developing their opinion pieces. These will eventually become 5 paragraph essays. I am showing them an effective way to organize and present their ideas. In SOCIAL STUDIES, we are continuing our Gabrielino reports. For each section, students study primary source photos of the tribes' achievements, habitat, and life-style to develop a deeper understanding. In SCIENCE, we are studying habitats. As a class we are exploring Anarctica, which is a combination of habitats, and are in the process of creating a mural and giant map of Antarctica in the classroom. The holidays are coming! In addition to our core studies, we are learning about the first Thanksgiving and preparing for our school's upcoming Holiday Show on December 17th. Week 11 in Review (Nov. 2 - 6) Room 218 had a busy and productive week! SOCIAL STUDIES - We started in-class Gabrielino Native American reports. This tribe was local to the Los Angeles area. We are using a website I printed out to create teacher-guided reports. STEAM - Our steam activity this week was tied to Social Studies. Students were given natural materials (shapeable twigs) to create their own Gabrielino shelter (ki). Extra challenge - Make it disaster-proof. A PEEK INTO OUR WRITING PROCESS - Students write throughout the week in our class. We are focusing on two separate skill sets - developing/expressing ideas and applying conventions (proper spelling, grammar and punctuation). The first set is addressed during Journal Writing when the focus is on formulating and writing down a collection of organized thoughts on a topic. It is also addressed during the first stages of the WRITING PROCESS - Prewriting and Drafting. During PREWRITING, students gather their ideas, jot down a web of free-flowing notes, draw a picture, look at a picture, get inspired, and set their minds to write. Next comes DRAFTING, when they compose the "sloppy copy" of the actual piece. The second set of skills (conventions) is addressed during the next stages of the WRITING PROCESS - Revising and Editing. During REVISING, students enjoy improving their first drafts. They know they have a great start yet are inspired by the thought of their audience down the road to make their writing even better. They ask, "What can I add? What detail is important to include? Does each sentence make sense when I read it?" During EDITING, they correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar mistakes with a peer or teacher. Now it's time to PUBLISH!! MATH - We are approximately at the middle of our times table mastery. Many students have demonstrated mastery of all tables through the 6s. However, some students in both grades need to improve. PLEASE consider flashcards in this pursuit. As you practice with flashcards, make 3 stacks - 1) I absolutely know these! 2) I know these but not fast enough, and 3) I don't know these. Your goal before each test is to have all your flashcards in Stack 1 and be able to zip through them very quickly. Week 10 in Review (Oct. 26 - 30) Room 218 had a wonderful week! WRITING - Several students published their narratives and started our new writing assignment for Writer's Workshop - an opinion piece. Students will be required to form and support an opinion. This is a writing standard for both 3rd and 4th grade: "Write opinion pieces on topics or text, supporting a point of view with reasons (and information - 4th gr.) It will be exciting to watch these pieces develop! MATH - We had a times table review week of 0s - 4s. We also learned how to multiply 2 and 3-digit numbers by a 1 digit number. We practiced morning, noon, and night! We had a quiz on Friday before our fall festivities and will send these home this week. READING - 3rd grade spent part of the week writing a one page summary of the chapter book they read at home, part creating a diorama of a setting, and part reading out loud and discussing a new story in Reading Street about ancient money. 4th grade spent part of the week answering comprehension questions on Chapter 3 of The Lemonade War and part creating a diorama of a setting from this book. STEAM - We met our goal - to create Candy Corn Catapults! It was really fun and made the students feel like real engineers! Afterwards, we measured and recorded distances the candy corn travelled! What a treat! Week 9 in Review (Oct. 19 - 23) Room 218 was very busy learning and creating this week. Highlights by subject: WRITING - While finishing up our narratives, we took a break to write autumn poetry using the writing process: pre-writing, composing, revising, editing, and publishing. I was impressed with students' imagery. We added some published poems to our autumn board in the hall. If the weather is too warm for fall, at least we have our artwork and poetry to remind us of the season! BTW, rough drafts and final copies of our letters to the President were sent home on Friday. CURSIVE - Last week we mastered letter 'B.' READING - 3rd grade finished their take-home chapter book and final journal topics this week in preparation for an in-class writing and design project next week. In class, they completed an assignment on a Reading Street story, The Supermarket, which explores the development of the supermarket from farming to trade, marketplace, general store, and finally the supermarket we know and love. 4th grade continued reading The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies. Both grades are developing comprehension and fluency skills, while attaching personal meaning to what they read. MATH - We are currently at the end of a Common Core unit called Numbers and Operations, and focusing on the operation of multiplication. We have explored the underlying concept using arrays and multiplication stories. We are concentrating now on mastering times table facts and long multiplication. Times table accuracy and speed will be essential for all units to come! In addition, 4th grade started challenging Common Core problem sets. SOCIAL STUDIES - We have started a unit on Native Americans. Students were asked, "What are the Tongva?" then provided a handout from Franklin Canyon Park on the native Tongva people (also known as Gabrielino), and discovered what they are from the information sheet (inquiry based learning). They chose 5 facts to write and share in a class discussion. The next day, they made a Know/Want to Know/Learn Chart which will be the basis for further research on this tribe. 4th grade will also explore other California tribes. STEAM - Room 218 participated in a STEAM challenge on Friday afternoon using shoe-box lids, egg cartons, cardboard, a brad, straws, and a marble. Their job was to creating a functioning pinball machine. Photos of the class working on this are posted on the Shutterfly site. While happily rising to the challenge and persevering the trial and error associated with design projects, students learned two features of a simple machine: INCLINED PLANE and LEVER. ART - We have almost completed our Starry Night paintings inspired by artist, Vincent Van Gogh. Week 8 in Review (Oct. 12 - 16) We had a busy and wonderful week! Here are the highlights: Writing - We completed the entire writing process in composing letters to the President of the United States. I could see the pride on students' faces as they expressed their appreciation and concerns to President Obama. We first brainstormed what we might include in a letter to the President and discussed how the tone must be very respectful, then drafted our letters, which I edited. Last, students re-wrote on patriotic stationery. Some students included a hand-drawn picture. We sealed them in a big manilla envelope to give to Noa's family to take with them to the White House!! I will send home copies of their letters next week for you to see. We also are working hard now to publish our peer and teacher -edited narratives. CURSIVE - So exciting! We started learning/perfecting cursive writing this week! The class is excited. I ordered more books on Thursday night and they will arrive this weekend. On Monday, everyone will have his/her own book! Reading - 3rd graders started a special reading assignment at home called "Blast Off Rocket Readers." Each night students read from a chapter book and complete a special journal page. On Oct. 26th, they will write a one-page guided summary, referring to their journal pages, and design a room from the setting of the story inside a shoebox! Meanwhile in class, 3rd graders are working in the 3rd grade anthology, Reading Street. 4th graders are reading The Lemonade War, and completing a variety of comprehension, fluency, and creative activities based on the elements and plot of the story. Math - Both grades are building their multiplication skills. We also started math challenges in class provided the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Ms. Rose shared this program, and it's wonderful! Ask your child about the 9-dot, 4-line challenge. My students wanted to work on this challenge endlessly on Friday. More to come! STEAM - We started a project which requires students to construct two elements of a simple machine - an inclined plane and a lever. However, we need more intact shoe box tops for the whole class to be able to make this project. Week 7 in Review (Oct. 5 - 9) Here are the highlights of last week: Last week, Room 218 students finished their Reading Workshop books and final project. I appreciate the creativity and thoughtful work that went into their cereal box projects. We completed our first SCIENCE investigation last week on FORCE and MOTION. Students rotated through 3 stations conducting investigations on balanced and unbalanced force, the relationship between force and the size/weight of an object, and the predictability of motion. We also started our next artist study on Vincent Van Gogh and will be painting Starry Nights in class this week in honor of fall. Week 6 in Review (Sept. 28 - Oct. 2) Here are the highlights of last week: Language Arts - Last week we worked on a reading assignment at home. Practicing fluency (reading out loud) is a required reading skill for 3rd and 4th grade. Reading and interpreting poetry is also part of the Common Core ELA Standards for these grades. Three autumn poems (by the famous poets, John Clare, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Robert Frost) were sent home Monday. Students were asked to practice reading them out loud nightly until Friday when they read one to me out loud. I was impressed with many children's reading and could tell they had practiced. Students continued to work on their book project for reading workshop. The cereal boxes have been transformed and next week, they should be completed. See details below under Week 5. Math - We started GUMBALL MATH which is a times table program that includes weekly tests and a paper gum ball machine to keep track of progress with paper gum balls. So far everyone has one gum ball for mastering their 0s and 1s tables. Last week we completed our unit on Long Subtraction and modeled the concept of multiplication using manipulatives. What is the times table that represents 5 boxes with 4 jars of jam inside? 5 x 4 = 20. So we have officially started our Multiplication Unit. The problems will grow progressively harder for both grades. 3rd and 4th grades will continue to work out of their respective Envision books. Look for website HW as well. Social Studies - We had a very exciting week in Social Studies, completing our group region posters (which all came out amazing). Once the posters were completed, students met with their region group to practice and polish their "performance." I was so proud of all of their hard work and dedication to this project. We held the regions contest in the auditorium with our class and the other 4th grade as the voting population. One of our students capably announced each region and kept the posters organized and I provided background information on the project . When all presentations were completed, two poll workers issued official ballots. When the final count was tallied, the Desert Region won with 20 votes. GREAT JOB EVERYONE!!! STEAM - Can you create your own region based on your knowledge of what a region contains? Room 218 can and that's just what we did for STEAM this week (and a part of the week prior). Students drew up their designs in their journals along with a description. I edited their descriptions and during our STEAM BLOCK Friday they made final maps/drawings and final drafts. Week 5 in Review (Sept. 21 - 25) Last week, we worked on these exciting projects: Writing Workshop Narrative - A narrative is a made-up story, often based on one's real life experiences and observations. Students are at varying stages of the writing process with their narratives. Some are still drafting and developing their stories. Some finished and are ready for a writing buddy to give them revising suggestions for how to make their story even better, more interesting, and more detailed. This is often done by asking the writer clarifying questions. Some authors shared their story with the whole class to get input too! Writers also had a mini-lesson on adding dialogue (conversation) to their story and were encouraged to do so after the lesson. Cereal Box Project - IN CLASS PROJECT For Reading Workshop, after finishing their book, students are following these instructions (click on button above) using a cereal box and other materials. Part of the process is making rough drafts first, having them teacher-edited, then rewriting on the special cut-out forms. Don't forget to put a prize inside! CALIFORNIA REGIONS CONTEST - You could feel the excitement on Friday as students started preparing their posters for Wednesday's presentations and voting. It was wonderful to witness student region experts coming together with research in hand and deciding what to include on their posters based on the requirements. I told them they have to include a catchy title and sections on the animals, vegetation, land/water, and fun/interesting places to visit. Everything has to be neatly done because their poster is part of the contest. Presentations will be made on Wed. to my class and Mr. Kline's class followed by voting for "best region." In addition, Ms. Lin's class asked to have region visits for which I'll send my students in their region groups to quickly share their posters. TOPOGRAPHICAL MAPS OF CALIFORNIA - Students completed salt and flour maps by painting them according to an elevation key they created. Bonus points for labeling neighboring states. MATH - Both the 3rd and 4th grade math books focused on long subtraction last week. It is essential for this skill that students know when and how to regroup (borrow from the place value to the immediate left.) This coming week we start a multiplication unit! Look for timestable practice and weekly quizzes based on student need. I want to see all my students test out of weekly quizzes and that will involve assessments at the start of this unit. SCIENCE - We made the covers and rubrics on composition books for our Interactive Science Journals! Can't wait to start our first unit. Check back here at the end of next week to hear what we did! Week 4 in Review (Sept. 16-18) A Packed Mini Week! This week we did the following: 1. MATH - Mass practice review of estimating sums and differences. Check your child's HW folder this weekend for corrected work and mastery of this skill. 3rd graders also had an adding place values lessons in preparation for long addition. 4th graders practiced comparing greater numbers. 2. READING WORKSHOP - We had our first reading buddy share this week. This is where readers have the chance to share their thoughts about their book with a reading partner, which I assigned. Using a format called 'Say Something ,' students shared from the section called, "I predict." 3. POETRY CLUB - We are currently reading selections from T.S. Eliot Cat Poems. So far we have read and illustrated "Jellicle Cats" and "Gumby Cat." It will be exciting to listen to excerpts from "CATS," the musical. 4. CALIFORNIA REGIONS UNIT - Studying the California regions sets the stage for learning about how native peoples used the natural resources in their surroundings. Students made outline maps of the regions and are exploring one region in depth. Today half the class made physical maps of CA using salt and flour dough. The other half will make theirs Monday. Later next week they will make a key and paint them. Week 3 in Review (Sept. 8 - 11) Room 218 had a productive week! It was wonderful meeting the parents who were able to attend Back to School Night on Sept. 10th. Here is the link to my handout from that night: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4GGmXixrYXuMEx1WkFBZEZ4aU9vbjE2VVA3UUlzWE9xWTE4/view?usp=sharing Here are the highlights of our work in each subject last week. Language Arts - 1. To prepare our 'WHO'S WHO in Room 218?' board, students answered questions about their interests, hopes, and wonderings. I edited their rough drafts and they wrote final copies in their best printing or cursive. On this board are also the Wordclouds created at home. 2. 3rd and 4th grade spelling work throughout the week and Friday test. 3. READING WORKSHOP focusing on characters in our books. 4. 3rd grade explored the 4 elements of a story - Characters, Setting, Plot, and Theme by making a mobile. They started their next project on sequencing using their anthology story, "How a Kite Changed the World." Sequencing is the ability to identify key events in the story that happened first, second, third, etc. It's a skill that good readers use. This week, students will create a project based on the first step of this assignment. 5. WRITING WORKSHOP - This week, I taught a mini-lesson on how to get writing ideas and asked my students to apply the suggestions to develop one story (narrative). Writing a well-developed narrative using the story elements mentioned above is a 3rd and 4th grade ELA standard. Where do writers get their story ideas? Often they come from real life experiences and observations and are then imaginatively remixed. What do you do when you have written a story and say to yourself (and your teacher), "I'm done." One good suggestion is to take a part of your story and do a "push-up!" Take one scene and picture it in your mind. Now, whatever you picture, write it down. Pay attention to the details. Write it down! 6. POETRY CLUB - T.S. Elliot's 'Jellicle Cats' Math 3rd graders explored addition properties and estimating sums and differences. 4th graders explored estimating sums and differences and long addition. Note on Estimating - To estimate a sum or difference, you do not get the exact answer. Some students spent lots of extra time finding the exact answers when what they needed to do was round each number and then add or subtract, resulting in lots of 0s in the answer! I will review estimating this week. Social Studies 3rd and 4th graders are learning the geography of Los Angeles and California in preparation for creating their own topographical maps! This week I will also assign each student a specific geographical feature to independently research and create a project about. STEAM Engineers at Work! During our Friday STEAM block, teams of students were given the same amounts of raw spaghetti strands and mini-marshmallows and asked to create the tallest free-standing structure they could. They first designed a plan on paper for how they would approach this challenge. Students worked together closely to build their structures. ( No tape allowed!) When done, they measured the height with rulers. Two teams tied for tallest structure, reaching 15 inches high. We then had a scientist debriefing where we discussed weight distribution, gravity, and balance. WEEK 2 in REVIEW We put the ART in STEAM this week. We learned about famous Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920) and painted self-portraits and portraits of class members in his unique style. While working on our paintings, we listened to Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saens who was a contemporary of Modigliani. |
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In Math, 3rd and 4th graders worked on place value and rounding. 4th graders practiced the additional skill of comparing numbers using the correct symbol. 3rd graders need to know their place values from the ones to the thousands. 4th graders need to know up to the ten thousands place. Students applied their knowledge of place value to design their own place value charts. In Language Arts, 3rd and 4th graders started Reading Workshop. During Reading Workshop, students read a chapter book at their just-right level, take notes, and share reflections with other students. The teacher confers with individual students about their book and provides mini-lessons on good reading strategies. Finally the students prepare a self-designed project in class about the book. Ask your child which chapter book he/she's reading in class and what it's about so far. Reading Workshop is one of the programs we will use this year in addition to group readings of the 3rd and 4th grade anthologies and literature clubs where groups of children read the same chapter book. In Social Studies, 3rd grade students are becoming experts on Los Angeles and 4th grade students on California. Our current topic is geography. This week, we learned about three components of a map: compass, key, and lines of latitude and longitude. We also thought about what things we'd like to learn about our city and state and started exploring informative materials with a partner. It was great to see students excited to discover landmarks, state symbols, geographical features, and interesting facts. |
Albert Einstein Academy is a STEAM school. Did you know there are several websites that teach coding to children! This is a T(technology) activity they can do at home during free time. Click on the button to the right to check out such sites. Students can earn stars in our optional class Investigate Club for sharing something they did with coding.
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