When Pigs Fly!

This week has been a very bust one in fourth grade! The biggest event has been starting Dear Mr. Henshaw. We have been reading together in class as well as at home. We started this book by talking about our favorite authors. We wrote letters to our favorite authors and we will eventually send them out.

We have continued to work on our comprehension. I even threw a pop quiz there was which really scared them! It also proved to them how so many of them just rush through their reading and don't read for understanding. We had to go back and read the first 10 pages before we were truly able to answer them. I would challenge you, as parents, to ask your children what they are reading. Read a bit yourself and ask them some comprehension questions to see if they are reading for understanding.

Science brought our first experiment in the classroom! We learned how plants that are in sunlight produce more gas/oxygen then those that are in less sunlight. The kids started their science notebooks and worked hard on drawing as well as writing about their findings.

Today we talked about idioms. We, of course, had a blast talking about them. I think they especially liked the lesson because some of them I say frequently...."Zip your lips please!" I often tell them that they can have free time "when pigs fly" so we got a good laugh at all the ones we thought of today.

Have a great weekend!

Space Shutle Endeavor

Today was the type of day that teachers long for. I walked in this morning planning to discuss the shuttle fly over for a bit but ended up throwing out all my lesson plans for the day and ran with the kids excitement over the space shuttle!

We brought out the iPads this morning and spent an hour pouring over the NASA website. The kids were so excited to use the iPads! We got to read all about the space program, the different shuttles and about how the program was ending. After we finished reading we spent a long time outlining what we had read together so that we could write summary paragraphs. Students ended up writing 5 paragraph summary essays! To say I was proud of them doesn't do it justice.

After we had read all about the space program we headed outside to see the fly over. We honestly had no idea what we would be able to see but the plane flew RIGHT OVER our heads! It was truly amazing. I am pretty sure that the teachers were more amazed than the students but I am glad they got to experience it.

Your kids worked so hard today! Please make sure to give them HUGE kudos for their essays. A 5 paragraph essay isn't really a 4th grade standard but because we did so much together I knew they would do well!

We did get some free time with the iPad's as well today. We spent some of our math period playing math games which was really fun for them. Next week we move into Chapter 3 in our math books.

Language Arts this week was really focused on grammar. I found from reading students writing that
we really needed some grammar help. Using "is" and "are" particularly give us trouble so we spent a lot of time talking about that. Next week we will get started with our "Dear Mr. Henshaw" unit. Please make sure to send the book in with your student if you didn't order it from me.

Over the weekend please start looking for a shoebox. We are going to start an at home project in the next week that you will need a shoebox for. If you can't find one, I might be able to find one left over from the Festival.


Finally, please visit the NASA kids website with your children over the weekend. Once you have done that please have them answer the following question by leaving a comment on this blog.

What part of the space shuttle burns for 2 minutes and is then dropped into the ocean?

ITBS Is Over!

I dislike testing about as much as the students do. It throws everything off schedule and I long for the days when we are back to normal days. Thankfully, Monday we will be back to normal!

Although we spent each morning testing we managed to do some really exciting things this week. The kids got to do art for the first time with me this year. It can be really had to fit art into the schedule so this week we got to do several projects.

The first project we did was after learning about the color wheel. We talked about primary and secondary colors. We also discussed how they compliment each other. After our discussion we did a project called "Warm Hands." Students had to trace their own hands and then color in based on warm and cool colors. This project was as much about listening and following directions as it was about art.

The second project we did this week was with watercolors. Each student got 4 leaves and were asked to trace them by overlapping them. Essentially, it was supposed to look like a pile of leaves when done. Half way through, they weren't looking so good. The kids were frustrated, I was frustrated, it wasn't looking good. On Day 2 we water colored them and they turned out AMAZING!!! I actually love them so much I hung them on our front windows. Stop by and check them out.

On Wednesday we got to experience science with Mr. New. The kids were so excited to visit the science lab and I think they had a blast. We learned about how bird have different shaped beaks allowing them to be able to eat different goods based on their beaks. Students got to use different "beaks" to try and eat different foods. They had a great time!

I'm going to share our final art project next week because I want to be able to get some great photos to share. In the meantime, I hope you have a great weekend and that I see you all on Sunday at the fall festival!

Going Back to Basics

The past 2 days have been pretty rough in 4th grade. No, ITBS testing isn't too hard, it's that students have forgotten how to follow directions and doing things correctly in class. Tomorrow, as I mentioned to them today, we are going "Back to Basics."

Everyone knows what a good line looks like, they know how to come in quietly, how to keep their hands to themselves. I know this because I have seen it! Starting tomorrow they are going to show it to me. We are going to work on it, even if it means relining up 10 times or re-entering the class over and over until we get it right. It could be ugly :-)

Please talk to your students tonight to talk about how important this is. Yes, there are a few kids who are always doing the right thing and are consistently following directions BUT more often than not, everyone slips up sometimes. I really appreciate your support in this.

In the meantime, we have been doing some amazing art in class this week. Today was especially great because students stepped into help each other as they finished their own projects!  I won't give too much away right now but instead will share a few photos....

Moving Right Along

I promised the kids that I would post the finish photo from the Color Me Rad race last weekend. We had a blast running together. It is really fun to be building this new amazing community!

 We finished Sarah, Plain and Tall today. I love that the children really got a feeling for what life was like back in the 1800's. They spent a lot of time answering comprehension questions which helped the practice re-reading passages to find answers as well as how to properly answer questions while using complete sentences. After ITBS testing we will be ready to take on our next novel together!

Social Studies has taught us about the 4 regions of California...the coastal region, mountain region, Central Valley and the desert region.  We spent time talking about the climate in each of the regions. We also spent some time learning about longitude and latitude. Finally, we learned how to read an elevation map.

We wrapped up Chapter 1 in math and have moved onto Chapter 2. Inverse relation and fact families were reviewed and students made some fact family flowers to decorate the room! We started working on rounding numbers up to the millions.  Having that many numbers in front of them has proven to be a little tricky!

Next week is ITBS testing. There will be no homework, which the kids are VERY excited about. It is very important that you give your student a good breakfast and have them get enough sleep.

This week, I want to leave you with some information about the characteristics of 4th graders. Of course, every child's development is unique. Every child hits milestone on his or her own timetable. The list below is only given as a reference to help you get a better understanding of your child. I am including info. on both 9 and 10 year olds.

The Nine -Year-Old

Physical Development

• Girls generally ahead of boys in physical maturity
• Improve coordination and reaction time
• May have poor posture; lots of physical habitual movements; fingers in hair, slouching, picking at nails
• Stomach aches, headaches, leg pains common
• High energy, often playing to the point of fatigue
• Inconsistent appetite and sleep patterns

Social and Emotional Development

• Enjoy being a member of a club
• Increased interest in competitive sports
• Learning to take responsibility for his/her own actions
• Begin to see parents and authority figures as fallible human beings; sees adult inconsistencies and imperfections
• Peer conformity in dressing is important
• May begin to be interested in the opposite sex
• Self-aware
• Concerned about being right or wrong, being fair; may complain about fairness issues
• Have great need to be in a group, but are also individualistic
• Need to be in control of some choices
• May become deeply attached to a best friend
• Can be sullen and moody

Intellectual Development

• Concrete Operations Stage of Thinking is solidified for most children, they can reason logically and organize thoughts coherently.  However, most thinking is done about actual physical objects.  They cannot handle abstract thinking very well unless abstractions are related to something they have directly experienced.  Even if they can make abstractions, they still learn best through active, concrete experiences
• Showing signs of being more responsible, inner directed, an independent worker
• Appreciate being trusted
• Interested in many different types of reading:  fictional stories, magazines, how-to project books, and non-fiction informational books
• May develop special interest in collections or hobbies
• Better able to understand concepts
• Are becoming much less egocentric and are able to understand the perspectives of others; better understanding the concept of “audience” when writing
• Less interested in fantasy; more involved in the real world
• May have problems with increased homework demands
• Age of negatives:  “I can’t,” “boring”
• May be less imaginative than at earlier grades

The Ten -Year-Old

Physical Development

• Girls are generally ahead of boys in physical maturity; onset of puberty for some girls
• Increase body strength and hand dexterity
• Large muscle development is advanced
• Handwriting often sloppier than at nine
• Have improved coordination and reaction time
• Desperately need outdoor time and physical challenge
• Complaints like stomach aches, headaches, leg pain, etc. usually less than at nine
• Snacks and rest periods helpful for growing bodies
• Appetite fluctuates but is generally good

Social and Emotional Development

•  Fairness issues peak and can be solved
• Like clubs, activities, sports
• Humor is broad, labored, and usually not funny to adults
• May discuss contemporaries in terms of capabilities; his reading or his math
• Usually direct, matter fact, clear-cut
• Generally easygoing, content, friendly, and balanced
• Usually less anxious, exacting, and demanding than at nine
• Talkative; likes to tell stories about something they have seen, heard, or read about; can talk something  “into the ground”
• May belittle or defy adult authority, but are closer to their families then at many other levels
• Enjoy both family and peers
• Developing more mature sense of right and wrong, good at solving social issues
• Often interested in caring for animals, boys and girls may be interested in horses, but girls are especially interested
• Shrug off responsibility; can usually toss off criticisms and bad grades
• Likes and dislikes are described in very specific terms
• Note passing, sometimes about the opposite sex

Intellectual Development

• Can be voracious readers
• Expressive, talkative, like to explain
• Cooperative, competitive and inquisitive
• Classification and collections of interest; like to organize
• Able to concentrate, read for extended periods
• Good problem solvers
• Like to complete a task but doesn’t usually wish to enlarge or elaborate on it;  wish to try
     everything
• Interest span is short
• Have a stricter ethical sense than most other ages
• Very concerned about fairness
• Generally love to memorize, but don’t generalize or correlate facts, or care what to do with
    the knowledge
• Often enjoy “place” geography--names of states, capitals, but vague about actual geographic
  characteristics
• Not able to plan own work, need schedules
• Better able to see the perspectives of others
• Most interested in concrete learning experiences and learning of specifics
• Like to talk and listen more than work