Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Saturday, November 3, 2007
This week in 4th Grade...
Dear Families,
This week has been filled with excitement, lots of stimulation and fun! The Halloween carnival was a huge success. The learners loved dressing up in their costumes. They were also responsible for escorting their k/1 buddies to the event. They were very responsible and helped their buddies feel more comfortable in an often over stimulating environment. It was very impressive. Here are some photos from the day:
In Social Studies, we finished our group explorer presentations and posters. Learners have been working hard on these over the past few weeks. Each group was assigned a specific explorer. Then they researched their explorer and created a timeline based on their voyages, watercolored portraits, mapped their routes, and wrote a short report about their explorer and their significance in California history. The posters are up in the classroom. Please stop by and take a look at them. We were really impressed with how hard they worked on them. This was their first big group project, and they really did a fantastic job!
In math, learners began to experiment with double digit multiplication through the exploration of base ten blocks. Stacy taught a lesson on Thursday about the power of ten in multiplication. It was interesting to have the learners really think about what it meant to multiply by tens, instead of "you just add a zero". They were challenged to really think about this statement by looking at patterns and building equations with cubes, rods, and flats. Next week learners will continue to explore this concept looking at areas of rectangles and will continue their work on basic multiplication facts.
Please remind your learners to work on their spelling and keyboarding homework that is due at the beginning of next week.
Have a terrific sunny weekend!
This week has been filled with excitement, lots of stimulation and fun! The Halloween carnival was a huge success. The learners loved dressing up in their costumes. They were also responsible for escorting their k/1 buddies to the event. They were very responsible and helped their buddies feel more comfortable in an often over stimulating environment. It was very impressive. Here are some photos from the day:
In Social Studies, we finished our group explorer presentations and posters. Learners have been working hard on these over the past few weeks. Each group was assigned a specific explorer. Then they researched their explorer and created a timeline based on their voyages, watercolored portraits, mapped their routes, and wrote a short report about their explorer and their significance in California history. The posters are up in the classroom. Please stop by and take a look at them. We were really impressed with how hard they worked on them. This was their first big group project, and they really did a fantastic job!
In math, learners began to experiment with double digit multiplication through the exploration of base ten blocks. Stacy taught a lesson on Thursday about the power of ten in multiplication. It was interesting to have the learners really think about what it meant to multiply by tens, instead of "you just add a zero". They were challenged to really think about this statement by looking at patterns and building equations with cubes, rods, and flats. Next week learners will continue to explore this concept looking at areas of rectangles and will continue their work on basic multiplication facts.
Please remind your learners to work on their spelling and keyboarding homework that is due at the beginning of next week.
Have a terrific sunny weekend!
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Field Trip To Lawrence Hall of Science
An exciting day was had at the Lawrence Hall of Science. Arrived
overlooking an overcast bay and climbed a life sized whale and an
enlarged DNA model. Walked around the inside and outside of a hands on
museum. Attended two exciting and very informative classes; Volts and
Jolts and ElectricCircuitry. Explored coils, magnets, circuits, wires, current and static electricity
, wires, lamps (light bulbs), batteries, series circuits and parallel
circuits. We drew representations of circuits, created
circuits,mimicked electrons with little green balls, and had a
"shocking" ending to our day atLHS.
Thanks to Susan, Emma, Jacqui, who helped pre-trip;
all of our drivers: Jessica, Jay, Tim, Jacqui(our alternate), Ginger,
Pam , Grace and (last minute add on), Yvonne; to the last 4 drivers
mentioned who problem solved when a car broke down while heading off to
start the trip,to Elisa and Daniel our teachers atLHS, and to all the families who fund and support field trips.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
LATEST 4TH GRADE UPDATE
ARTIFACT MUSEUM
It was nice to see the respect each learner exhibited towards everyones objects during our artifact museum time. In reflection, one learner shared, " I liked how everyone took it seriously." They really seemed to grasp the meaningfulness behind the activity. Learning that their own family has a rich history with a story to tell, as well as their fellow classmates, will hopefully add depth to learning the stories that are connected with California's history. A few photos are enclosed. Please visit our room to see the write ups and photos of each learner with their object displayed.
LAB DAY
It was all about Magnets for this week's Lab Day. After some free exploration with magnets last Friday, the learners continued their lesson with some observing lodestone, seeing what a magnet attracts/doesn't, seeing what a magnet can attract an object through, lines of magnetism (magnet's force field/lines of flux), and poles. We'll be continuing to answer questions in the weeks ahead.
BUDDIES
Robin and I really enjoyed being a part of the first K/1- 4 buddies meeting. The fourth graders really stepped up to the plate in their role as "big buddies". After singing, meeting new buddies, new handshakes, and some activity time, the fourth graders said the experience left them feeling, "proud", "like a teacher", "responsible" and "mature". They really felt good about themselves and their ability to help mentor a younger child.
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