Snowball Fight in September!

Snowball fight!  Yes, you heard it right!  Our class actually had a 'snowball fight' on the first day of school.   It's an unusual activity for school, but it served several purposes.  The biggest idea behind the snowball fight was for students to share information about themselves. 

Students completed the 'snowball worksheet' and when finished crumpled it into a 'snow'ball.  (The worksheet contained 'getting to know you prompts' such as "Something I like to do..." "Something I'm nervous about this year..."  "One thing I'm excited about this year...")  Names were purposely left off the papers.  When everyone was ready the class was divided in half and took their places on opposite sides of the room.  With their 'snowballs' in hand, we counted to three and let the snowballs fly.

When the 'exchange' was over students picked up a snowball and opened it up making sure they didn't have their own.  Then, they tried to guess who the paper belonged to by reading and sharing the clues.  It was a great way to learn something new about one another.

Papers were returned to their owners and then we had another discussion (based on this lesson from a New York Teacher).  Students were asked to get all the wrinkles out of the paper.  Impossible right? I told the students the wrinkles represented harsh words or actions and no matter how hard you try to fix it or say your sorry - a mark is still left. 

We vowed to be good to each other and I believe this class will be true to their words!  It was a great start to building a strong 4th grade community.
 

Welcome Class of 2013-2014

Welcome to the Fourth Grade.  Planning on you having a wonderful year of learning with your classmates and me! This blog will provide a "window to our learning" for you, your families, relatives and hopefully many others.  (What I love about this blog is that you and your families can leave a comment in the section below!)

Fourth grade is such an exciting year.  We will spend the first week or two getting to know one another and working on some team building activities.  We will also spend time building our reading stamina. We will start out small and reach the goal of reading at a sustained pace for 30 minutes! You will be hearing a lot about the Daily5 which will give you many CHOICES on your reading journey. This year there is a new math program called EnVisions.  I think you are going to enjoy learning math with the help of this new program!  

We are going to have a great year!  Looking forward to meeting you and getting to know you.  Please fill out this "All About You" Survey. (click on these words: All About You) It will help me get to know you before we meet face to face!  Click and you can get to know more about ME!

I'll be looking out for you on the first day of school.

End of the Year Activity - Roller Coasters

Desperado, Nitro & Goliath are just a few of the roller coasters students learned about on the last 2 1/2 days of school.   This thematic unit (designed by a teacher, Lovin' Lit,  from Louisiana) included activities that related to all areas of the curriculum from reading non-fiction articles, recording and analyzing statistics, using map skills, to comparing and contrasting kinetic & potential energy.

Videos and pictures of roller coasters were used to engage students.  Sharing their war stories about being on a roller coaster helped them make connections.  Then following directions students slowly created a lap book using the information about the roller coasters.   They made bar graphs, learned about energy through this song.  The final activity was to build their own roller coaster using simple materials.  The designs were unique and many worked.  I believe if we had more time - ALL of them would have completed the challenge.



 As the temperatures remained high during the day, so did the level of engagement.  Students are encouraged to visit the eBoard site to design their own roller coasters via an internet program.

It was a great way to end the school year.  Please feel free to leave a comment (and especially leave a comment if you visit a roller coaster this summer!).


 

Back to the Basics of Writing

      Written by: Grace M. (& Mrs. Carroll)

     On Thursday, June 6th, we were lucky enough to Skype with Jerry Blumengarten, author of the book “Energy Kids”, written for and energy company similar to NSTAR. He is a former New York City Teacher and Librarian.  He now compiles resources and houses them on his own "Cybraryman Man's Educational Websites."

     During our discussion, Mr. Blumengarten gave us helpful tips about writing and the many steps you have to take to write a book.  He used his "Cartoon Book" to guide us through the process.

    We Skyped just in time for our “Night At The Museum” project.  It will definitely improve our grades because he spoke to us about taking our time researching and writing a detailed script.  For The Night at the Museum Project we will be researching a famous person then writing a script and performing as though WE are that person.  Night at the Museum will be held June 20th for parents.

Culminating Activities for Little House

Written by: S. Grant (and Mrs. Carroll)

Little House in the Big Woods is a story about a little girl's experience in the great woods of Wisconsin in the mid 1800's.  The students in the class completed many activities.

They have read the book, by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Then, they filled out their lapbook. The lapbook was made from two folders stapled together and when they got to a certain part of the story, students would write in the space provided for that subject. After writing, they would decorate and color the inside and outside of the paper.

Lapbook

Next, students filled out their Log Cabin shaped vocabulary book. The book was filled with the words that they didn't fully understand. Students researched the words in the student dictionaries provided.


After the story, they created the Characters in a Can and made a "person" out of a can based on a main character from the story. On the 24th they had their Prarie breakfast and the Hoedown. The breakfast consisted of eggs, pancakes, breads, juice and much more.

Character in a Can Project

The last part of the day was the most exciting...A whole school assembly highlighting the fourth graders for our Annual Hoe Down.  The whole school was invited to wear their country western gear to get in the spirit of the activity.  Fourth grade students learned several country western dances including the Virginia Reel and Cotton Eyed Joe.  After each class performs the dance they choose members of the audience to try the dance with them.  The final dance consists of the entire school doing a line dance!

Through these activities life in the Little House comes a little bit more alive for the students! 



 

Letters to Thank Our Veterans

We started writing "Thank You" notes to a veteran in honor of Veteran's Day.  Before writing I prepare a lesson to discuss the meaning of 'veteran' and 'service'.  (I use this interactive poster below to help the students build an understanding. Scroll your mouse over it -click if there is a red circle to go to a website or play the music & video. ) The letters thank these brave individuals for their service, sacrifice, bravery and courage. Very often my students get a response from their veteran and this year it was no different.  Many of those who wrote back explained about their time in the armed forces and the places they have been.  Many stated how this is the "first thank you" they ever received.  In this process the students end up learning more than just history and geography.


 

This year we have extended our writing by sending notes several times throughout the year to a local VA Hospital.  A local member of the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) has been gracious enough to come in and speak with our fourth graders about how meaningful and important it is to recognize and thank our vets.  Mr. Frank tells the students how 'thrilled' the veterans are when they receive these cards and letters as many don't have family and therefore, don't receive mail.  He says that these notes are a highlight.  

I really didn't believe Mr. Frank until the other day when one Trever received a letter in the mail from one of the veterans in the hospital.  He mentioned in the note that he had undergone open heart surgery and was feeling particularly down.  He went on to say how that note "made his life!"  It gave him the strength to get better.  Also included in the note was a patch from the 1st Infantry Division which the gentleman had had since 1967!




We had to take our Thank You's even one step further.   I learned about this organization called, Honor Flight Network.  This non-profit organization flies World War II vets and terminally ill veterans to our nation's capital to see the memorials.  (My dad flew with them from Michigan to Washington, DC and had a most memorable trip!)  Recently, I learned there was an Honor Flight New England so I asked all the fourth grade students if they would be willing to write ONE more Thank You. Of course these great kiddos said "Yes!"  This time we researched the National World War II Memorial so we could weave in a fact or two with our thank you's.

The power of these notes is undeniable. 

 Here's what I received by email from Joe Byron, founder of Honor Flight:  Thank you to you, your children and your colleagues for the letters to our HEROES. I am sure that our most senior veterans will forever cherish the letters and cards that they receive in their "MAIL CALL".

But the power of these notes is not just for the veterans.  It truly gives my 10 year old students a chance to recognize the efforts of others while learning about our country's heroes.  Students are interested in what these folks did during their time in the service.  They really take such pride in their work because they know it is important work! It would please you to read these heartfelt letters of thanks and know that today's generation  (your child!) really does care!



More Resources:

Operation Gratitude:  Writing Letters & Sending Care Packages to Veterans

A Million Thanks - Year round campaign to show appreciation to Veterans, past, present & future.

Praying Mantids & Cicadas

What do Praying Mantids and Cicadas have in common?  Ask your child as that was a homework assignment late last week. Or better yet, have them show you the assignment in Edmodo!

The other day we just happened to be lucky enough to be part of a mini lesson about Praying Mantids.  A middle school Science teacher from New Jersey was LIVE Streaming a lesson.  DanDan the ScienceMan  has been waiting for his Praying Mantid egg sacks to hatch.   My students watched as the enthusiastic teacher spoke about the insect.  We quickly reviewed the information following the 5 minute lesson.  (Watch a pre-recorded version of the lesson HERE - there is a brief commercial beforehand).

Interestingly, that very same day, during our math period, I had planned my own lesson on an insect...the Magicada Septendicum or Magic Cicada.  This cicada comes out once every 17 years and this happens to be one of those years. (The math lesson was about prime numbers.) Watching the students as they watched the video of these fascinating creatures was priceless.  See the pictures below and then watch the video for yourself!

Incorporating different areas of the curriculum in one lesson helps students make connections.  It embodies what life is like in the real world - science, math, reading, writing and other disciplines all coming together instead of separately.

Video of Magicada Septendicum