Dear 4th Graders and 4th Grade Parents,
The past 7 school days have been eventful! Please read this recap of the past two weeks together so that 4th graders have a chance to show off their critical thinking skills and new knowledge. Also, parents might learn something new! I learn from the 4th graders every day!
INQUIRY: SCIENCE
- 4th graders are now flower and pollination/fertilization experts. We watched and discussed Bill Nye’s Flowers DVD and we studied our plants flashcards to prepare for our flower dissection. Students worked in pairs to dissect a daylily. Dissection results were displayed in the hall. At the end of the week as more flowers opened up we were able to repeat our dissection. Each 4th grader took a dissection chart home with them last Friday. These are fun to share with family and should help students construct their plant project.
- The plant project is our first major project of the year. We’ve spent a lot of time talking about expectations and managing time. We’ve also looked at examples from last year. Family members can help out by providing supplies and advising on time management and technique (ex: “You know it might be easier to keep your display neat if you type your descriptions and labels and then paste them on.”). It’s extremely important that 4th graders complete the work independently-- all the work should be done by their own hand. RESOURCES:
- The assignment sheet lists all the essentials-- read it carefully and use the checklist.
- All 4th graders have an information sheet about the reproductive parts of a flowering plant.
- Many 4th graders have checked out books from our school library about plants. The city library also has many wonderful books.
- The “Plants” folder on portaportal has many helpful and intriguing websites, images, and video clips.
- After several days of recording observations, we took down our lima bean germinators and examined the germinated seeds up close. This experiment answered some questions for us-- like, Do seeds need sunlight to germinate? 4th Graders: What were our findings? And why do we think we got those results? Some 4th graders decided to take their germinated seeds home and plant them. 4th Graders: Be sure to report on the results of your home plantings. Pictures would be great to share with the class. You could take one every few days to chart your plant’s progress.
- On the 19th, we were treated to a lesson in the outdoor classroom. We went on a habitat hunt and constructed a food web. This lesson was an excellent introduction to our next unit on ecosystems, food webs, and adaptations. Thank you to Mrs. Updike, Mrs. Bossart, and Mr. Trauberman for making this fun fresh-air activity possible.
- Our plants unit will flow flawlessly into our ecosystems unit because plants are an indispensable part of the ecosystem. Mr. Bill Nye demonstrated this for us in his Food Web DVD. We had lots of fun singing and rapping along with the Food Webby Web music video at the end of the DVD.
- To understand why plants are so special, we’ve begun to examine Photosynthesis in detail, using some very interesting links collected on portaportal. We will be starting an experiment next week that will show us evidence of Photosynthesis.
- 4th graders have been working together in groups to design and conduct their own experiment to answer this question: Do plants need light? We saw from our last experiment that seeds don’t need light to begin growing (to germinate). But what about after that? Students composed plans and hypotheses for their experiments. They also determined what should be kept constant to keep the experiments fair.
- Yesterday morning, we spent time in the computer lab completing assignments online. Students watched video clips, played games, and read illustrated texts online. Families can also enjoy these links here.
- Can humans eat flowers?
- When you dissected the flower what surprised you? What did you find interesting?
- What are the male and female parts of the flower? How do you tell the difference between the two?
- Which part of the flower contains the ovules (eggs)?
- Why is the stigma sticky?
- What is a pollinator and how do flowers attract them?
- What is glucose?
- What can plants do that we can’t?
- What happens to the ovary after the ovules are fertilized?
- How do we know that a tomato is a fruit (a swollen/ripened ovary)?
- Question for the parents: Did you learn anything new about flowers/plants?
- What is your plan for your plant project?
- Describe the germinator experiment to me.
- Why did the seeds in the closet germinate just as well (if not better) than the ones on the window?
- Before the lima bean plants have leaves, how do they get energy? What do they eat?
- When you took them down, what were your germinated seeds like? Did anything about them surprise you? Were your seeds similar or different from others in the class?
- What did you find on your habitat hunt?
- How were plants, animals, and the nonliving environment (air, water, the sun, rocks, etc.) connected? How did the web show that all these things were connected?
- Can you remember any of the Food Webby Web song? Is it hard to rap that fast?
- In the experiment you designed, what is the manipulated variable?
- What do you think will change in response to your manipulated variable? In other words, what do you think the responding variable will be?
- How did you make sure that your experiment is a fair test?
- Where you surprised by the time-lapse videos? Did you know that plants moved that much?
- Which time lapse video was the coolest? Can you show me?
- Can you use any portaportal links to help you complete your plant project?
INQUIRY: VIRGINIA STUDIES
- 4th graders have been doing a great job studying for their upcoming Jamestown test on December 4th. In the mornings, we usually take some time to study with colleagues. This is a highly recommended technique! Not only is it more fun to study with friends, they also remember things from class that our families haven’t experienced. Many 4th graders will benefit from setting up a play/study dates-- study for the test for a half hour, then play for a half hour, so on and so forth.
- Last week we practiced our absolute location skills, using latitude and longitude.
- We reviewed some of the hardships that Jamestown settlers faced. This was no trouble at all because our 4th graders are already so knowledgeable about America’s beginnings in Virginia.
- Finally, we practiced answering short-answer questions in complete sentences, which is much harder to do than answering multiple-choice questions!
- What does it mean to export a product? What cash crop was exported from Jamestown to Europe?
- What does brackish mean?
- Can you use the word “labor” in a sentence?
- What is an “economic venture”?
- What is the economy? (This is a tough concept to describe for both adults and kids!)
- What are “charters”?
- What is your study routine? How much do you study per day? How much do you think is appropriate?
- Which concepts/flashcards are the hardest?
- Do you feel like you’re ready for the test next week?
READING
- We were lucky to have a guest reader on the 17th. Mrs. Updike (Sam’s mom) brought in a special book, "Roxaboxen" by Alice McLerran, which sparked a discussion about imagination and creativity (one of our PYP attitudes). Parents and Families: Ms. Bragg is still looking for more guest readers. Only 3 topics have been taken (creativity, risk-taker, and integrity).
- In reading our last issue of Scholastic News we were able to make connections to Virginia’s history and culture. In the cover article “A Matter of Pride,” we read about students who are trying to keep the Cherokee language alive. The Cherokee language is a part of the Iroquoian language group that we’ve been studying. You can listen to the Cherokee National Youth Choir here.
- We completed our first written assignment for "Oyster Moon." Each student had to write one comprehension question for each of the first 5 chapters. Students will give these questions to one of their classmates to complete.
- How did the story “Roxaboxen” illustrate creativity?
- What did you find interesting about this issue of Scholastic News?
- What were some of the “Oyster Moon” comprehension questions that you wrote? Will they be hard or easy for your classmates to answer?
WRITING AND WORD STUDY
- In word study we’ve been studying the patterns to adding -s or -es to make a word plural.
- In writing we’ve been using “All the Places to Love” as a mentor text. We choose mentor texts because the author has done something in it that we admire and we want to learn from or imitate it. In “All the Places to Love” we admired Patricia MacLachlan’s vivid language. Vivid language creates a crisp clear picture/movie in our head (like an HD plasma screen). Some examples: “crows that swaggered like pirates,” “where trout flashed like jewels in the sunlight,” and “where ducklings follow their mother like tiny tumbles of leaves.” After reading, we made a list of the places that we love. From this list we chose one place to write about. We’ve written on this topic two times now and the results have been really impressive! 4th graders are writing with greater ease and enthusiasm. Many have taken journals home to continue writing. The most important part of writing is sharing our work-- because writing is, after all, about communication. Hearing about all these special places, described in vivid sensory detail, has made Ms. Bragg long to visit them and experience them for herself!
- What was the special place you wrote about it?
- Would you share your writing with me?
- How did you use vivid language?
- Can you think of an author whose writing you’d like to imitate?
ASSEMBLY
- Today we were treated to a dance performance and mini-lesson from Dr. Janaki Rangarajan, who specializes in Bharatanatyam dance, a form of classical south Indian dance. Dr. Rangarajan showed us that this form of dance can be used to tell a story. The movements were both graceful and extremely intricate. 4th graders learned some elementary hand movements including “the swan,” “the dog,” and everyone’s favorite “the fish.”
Questions for Discussion:
- What was most surprising about the performance?
- Can you teach me the dance movements that you learned?
FRIDAY AFTERNOON CLUB AND OTHER REWARDS
- Students earned a group reward of a mini-dance party this week. We all had a lot of fun listening to pop music, showing each other dance moves, and playing with balloons.
- Each week students have the opportunity to earn Friday Afternoon Club (FAC), which begins around 2:55pm. All students automatically have Study Hall on Friday (same time), unless they earn FAC. To earn Friday Afternoon Club, students must complete all home and classwork and they must exhibit kind and respectful behavior. FAC is a chance for us to enjoy a snack and check out a cool cartoon like Word Girl or play some fun games.
- So far I have been providing snack for the 4th graders who have earned FAC. For the rest of the year, I would really appreciate it if families could donate a snack. I have made out a schedule-- please see paper version or google calendar. If your scheduled date doesn’t work for you, feel free to switch with another family. I ask that you send in snacks (for 23 kids) that are easy for you to make/buy and bring in AND something that is easy for the kids to eat. Some examples of snacks from the past: chips, cookies, brownies, fruit, and bags of popcorn to be popped. REMINDER: We have a peanut allergy in our classroom. So no peanuts please!
I know we’re all looking forward to Thanksgiving and a few days of rest. I hope 4th graders get the chance to visit with family and friends and perhaps share some of what they’ve been doing in class.
Wishing everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!
-Ms. Bragg
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