PICTURES OF WHAT IS HAPPENING IN GRADE 4
Gingerbread Houses & Gifts-- t The Musketeers spent about an hour this morning decorating their gingerbread houses. They did an amazing job! I think the houses came out beautifully. Thank you to all of the families that made this project possible whether you were able to donate ingredients, candy or time---THANK YOU!
Students also spent part of the day creating gifts for their family members.
We wrapped up our day by attending a poetry slam & readers' theatre in the library with grades 4, 5 & 6.
A Visit from a French Voyageur--History came alive in the 4th grade classroom at Cavendish Town Elementary School. Jean Pierre, a French voyageur from Quebec, traveled the Connecticut River to the Black River to pay a visit to the 4th graders. He brought with him beaver pelts and fox pelts and talked about how he worked for the Hudson Bay Trading Company. Jean Pierre shared the 4 different ways he can make a canoe, and proving to students why birchbark is the best material for him to build a canoe from. He shared stories of his travels, including a story about an encounter with a black bear and a story about his Indian friend, Kahote.
Jean Pierre also brought with him a bit of geography and showed students how they can travel by water from Burlington,VT to France.
Food Chain and Food Web Unit--In our food chain & food web unit, students worked first through a couple of soil experiments to decide what would be the best soil to grow plants in as we needed to make sure that our terrarium environments for our live animals would be suitable. We investigated our local soil, purchased soils and hummus to determine the best four terrariums. The first animal to arrive for our terrariums were crickets. We did scientific drawings and looked closely at what a cricket really looks like. We then investigated earthworms and did a few behavioral analyses to learn more about earthworms.
We also borrowed a Furbearer Kit from the VT Fish and Wildlife Department. The kit has skulls, pelts, castings of tracks and scat. The students worked in teams to determine what went with what to set up a museum. We have not yet finished this museum exhibit. Stay Tuned!
Readers' Theatre--This year, our entire school is working with consultant David Liben to help improve reading instruction K-6. One aspect that we are all working on is fluency. This isn't just about reading quickly, but making our reading seem like a conversation. Making sure we use intonation, phrasing and expression. Below are pictures from our first readers' theatre that aligned to our food chain unit.
Union Street School Adopts CTES--Union Street School in Springfield began a Project-Based Learning unit around how to help the flood victims of Hurricane Irene. They decided to adopt CTES. On the first day of school they baked all of the delicious muffins we enjoyed at our Opening Day Breakfast. They also created huge banners for every classroom with lots of positive messages. The next week they sent in some more baked goods and cards that 3rd and 6th gade enjoyed during the district testing. The following week, more cards arried that were shared with other classrooms. They wrapped up their unit by sending in 3 books for every single student in our
building. The pictures below are of me passing out the bags of books to the the classes. In return, we sent thank you notes to the 4th grade teams at Union Street School. Our class has decided to do a book swap each month because there were so many great books that were donated to our classroom, we wanted to be able to share them with each other.
Fire Safety Day--The Proctosville Fire Department spent some time at our school on a rainy miserable day teaching the students about fire safety. As you can see by the pictures, the fire department showed the 4th graders about how the hoses work on the truck. While they were doing the demonstrator, Bob Glidden was engaging the students in some basics around fire safety. Each time they got a question correct, he would signal the fire truck crew to go higher and higher with the water.
First Week of 4th Grade--The students in 4th grade began to get to know each other a bit better. We played many cooperative group games to build trust and increase communication with each other. One of their favorites is an activity called "All In". Students had to work together to get everyone inside of 1 hula hoop.
We also did some "Sticky Team Building". During the first week ofschool, 4th grade students all gathered around a table and were passed 3 marshmallows. Immediately, everyone wanted to eat them, but was told that instead they had to share with the group:
• “Something about who you are.”
• “Something that you are interested inlearning this year.”
• “Something that you are worried about.”
We then tossed the marshmallows intothe pot on the stove, one at a time, as we shared our answers, began to melt our worries away, and melt together who we are. The students decided to add a cup of “support”, a cup of“caring”, a cup of “teamwork”, a cup of “honesty”, a cup of “perseverance” and a cup of “responsibility”. The students quickly made the connection that the treats represented how they would need to stick together and support each other if we are going to reach our goals.
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