Colonial Day 2011: Slideshow!

A 3 Year-Old Recites Poetry

Here's some inspiration for Ms. Bragg's class poetry performers! :-)

An ABC news story that summarizes the viral video 3-year-old poetry reciting phenomenon...

The viral video that started it all: "Litany" by Billy Collins

Shorter, but with great expression, hand movements, and cool costume: Tennyson's "The Eagle"

Morning Message: Friday, 12-16-11

VIDEO: National Geographic 7 Billion People!

VIDEO: Highlights of Jametown Well Excavation

VIDEO: America, the Story of Us: Life in Jamestown

Morning Message: Tuesday, 12-6-11 (Ms. B was out on Monday.)

VIDEO and PODCAST: Werowocomoco from History Is Fun and Radio Report from Voice of America

Voice of America report about finding Werowocomoco:

Virginia Indian Tribes Today: Videos

William and Mary student and scholarship recipient talks about her Mattaponi heritage.

Voice of America report on the Monacan Tribe.

Army report on collaboration with the Rappahannock tribe.

Morning Message: Friday, 12-2-2011

Morning Message: Thursday, 12-1-11

IB Learner Profile Explained by SCA Delegates

Click here to watch the video TJ's SCA made.

Morning Message: Wednesday, 11-30-11

Primary Years Program Overview Video

Morning Message Catch-Up: Monday and Tuesday, November 28th and 29th 2011

Morning Messages: Yesterday and Today! (Tuesday and Wednesday, November 22nd and 23rd 2011)

 

Morning Messages: Last Friday and Today! (Monday, 11-21-11)

Morning Message: Thursday, 11-17-11

Morning Message: Wednesday, 11-16-11

Morning Message: Tuesday, 11-15-11

Election Results!

Ms. Bragg voted in Alexandria last Tuesday and many of your parents voted here in Falls Church... Some even voted inside TJ!

Who won?

Click on the links below to see the results!

Falls Church:

• General Assembly>House Of Delegates>Member House Of Delegates (House Of Delegates 053)>Votes By County/City 
• General Assembly>State Senate>Member Senate Of Virginia (State Senate 035)>Votes By County/City 

Morning Message: Monday, 11-14-2011 (First Day of 2nd Quarter!)

Geography Bee is less than a month away!

Round 1 of the Bee is Thursday, December 8th. You'll have more fun on Bee day if you study at least a little bit for the challenge. TIP: visit Ms. Bragg's portaportal and open the "Geography-- Outside the Curriculum" folder where there are lots of fun games that will help enhance your geographic knowledge and grow your brain! Click on the screenshot below to go directly to Ms. Bragg's portaportal.

And don't forget about Ms. B.'s last blog post on the Bee... You can return to that if you want to watch some videos about what it's like to be in the national finals of the Geo Bee or find out how the contestant from Virginia gained all his geographic knowledge.

Morning Message: Wednesday, 11-9-11

Election Day! But what are people voting for? (Hint: It's not the president!)

As we discussed this morning, many of us saw signs of TJ being a "polling station." What's that word "polling" mean again? And which "ward" does TJ go with?

We looked at what and who people are voting for in Falls Church. Click on the screen shot below to go to the list of "ballot items." Then you can explore the candidates' websites. Who would you vote for if you could? And what's a "ballot" again?

How is Virginia state government similar and different from the federal government? What's that word "federal" mean again?

Morning Message: Tuesday, 11-8-11

Morning Message: Monday, 11-7-10 (posted one day late-- oops!)

Online Assignment!

Hello 4th Graders!

Here are your assignments for the afternoon. Have fun and grow your brain!

1. If you haven't already, complete On the Trail of Captain John Smith, including your note-taking sheet. When you finish ou may play the mini-games for up to 7 minutes.
2. Watch The Real Jamestown: Beyond the New World to learn more about archaeologist William (Bill) Kelso and how he discovered the site of the Jamestown fort.
3. 15 MINUTES: Close your computer and take out your writing notebook. Turn to a clean sheet and write the date at the top. You may write about ANY subject. For example, you could write about your experience on Halloween or about what it was like to discover artifacts in Jamestown. It's up to you! Try to put your pen down on the paper and not pick it up... Just write and write and write for AT LEAST 15 minutes.
4. Complete Study Jam: Properties of Addition
1. Step-by-Step: Home
2. Step-by-Step: Watch Out!
3. Step-by-Step: Try It!
4. Test Yourself
5. Then you may sing the karaoke song up to 3 times(!) before moving on.
5. Play The Jamestown Online Adventure. For this one, you'll need to get another notetaking sheet from the laptop cart up at the front of the classroom. Be sure to read the directions CAREFULLY to get full credit!
6. Watch this cool video of a craftsman making glass at Jamestown Glasshouse.
7. 15 MINUTES: Type to Learn
8. 15 MINUTES: Math>Math Facts folder on portaportal

Morning Message: Thursday, 11-3-11

Morning Message: Wednesday, 11-2-11 (posted one day late-- oops!)

Math Online Assignment!

Scientists and mathematicians often create or use models to figure out a problem or to understand relationships. Thinking Blocks is a really smart way to visualize Math problems through models. We'll be practicing how to use them this morning. The first couple Thinking Blocks we try will seem really easy, but later on it will get much more challenging. We'll start out with Part-Whole Models. At first, we'll just do 2 parts... Then we'll make it slightly more challenging by doing 3 parts.

• You'll work with a partner.
• You'll take turns using the mouse.
• You'll both record on paper and show all  your work.
• You'll do 5 problems on Part-Whole before moving on to 5 problems with Ready for 3?

On the Trail of Captain John Smith: A Jamestown Adventure!

Welcome to another online assignment!

Today, you will be traveling with Captain John Smith... As you do, you will need to take quality notes on the note-taking sheet I've provided. This assignment will be graded and will be added to your binder.

When you are TOTALLY done following Captain Smith, THEN you may play the mini-games found in between the segments. But do NOT rush through! Remember these notes will be graded.

Pumpkins grow on trees?

Stephanie shared this story with us yesterday. So I thought we could take a closer look.

What does the word "viral" mean in this video clip?

Morning Message: Tuesday, 11-1-11

Morning Message: Wednesday, 10-26

Morning Message: Tuesday, 10-25-11

Morning Message: Monday, 10-24-11

How to Subscribe to the FCCPS Morning Annoucements

STEP 1: Visit the FCCPS Morning Announcement Subscription Page

STEP 2: Then plug in your email address and click subscribe.

Certificates from the American Math Challenge are here!

Everyone did a fantastic job! I'm proud of all of you. You can take home your certificates today!

This describes how you earned points.

Morning Message: Friday, 10-21-11

Morning Message: Thursday, 10-2-2011

Online To-Do List!

Hello 4th Graders!

We're going to continue with our online to-do list, while Ms. Bragg works with students on reading testing. Please continue to be quiet, considerate, and focused on your work. You've done a great job so far!

REMINDERS:

• You can only play games and look at sites that are  specifically linked on Ms. Bragg's portaportal. You do NOT have permission to go outside those specific links.
• You need to keep track of your time on your time log.

Have fun and expand your brain!

TO-DO LIST

1. NO MORE THAN 10 MINUTES: If you haven't done it yet, explore the Authors' Folder on portaportal.
2. Scroll down in Ms. Bragg's blog to watch the video the winner of the Virginia State Geography Bee made. It's the one labeled "National Geographic Bee 2011: VA Finalist."
3. 2 MINUTES: If you have not already, click on this link to vote on the current Scholastic News poll.
4. About 10 minutes: Estimate Whole Numbers Study Jam (step-by-step and test yourself).
5.  ? MINUTES: Watch VA Trekkers: USS Wisconsin
6. Watch this video about VA Regions made by students. So cool!
7. NO more than 10 MINUTES: Explore the Science> Natural Resources folder on portaportal.
8. About 10 MINUTES: Addition With Regrouping Study Jam (step-by-step and test yourself).
9. About 10 MINUTES: Play Cool Math: 2 and 3 Digit Scratch. You'll need to use scratch paper.
10. 15 MINUTES: Type to Learn

National Geographic Bee: What is it really like?

Morning Message Catch Up

Unfortunately, there were some technical glitches and last Friday's as well as this Tuesday's Morning Messages were lost :-(

But here today's and Monday's messages. So sorry for the delay in posting!

Laptop Assignment!: Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Hello 4th Graders!

Here is your to-do list for laptop use this afternoon. You will need to record the start and stop times for each activity on the sheet that I've given you.

Please remember that Ms. Bragg will be pulling students for reading testing so it's extremely important that you are quiet, considerate, and focused on your work.

REMINDER: All of the sites you visit and games you play MUST be specifically linked on Ms. Bragg's portaportal. In other words, there are specific links to games on FunBrain that you can play. You canNOT play any old game on FunBrain.

Have fun and expand your brain!

TO-DO LIST

1. About 10 MINUTES: Do the Place Value Study Jam (watch the video and test yourself)
2. TIME? Watch National Geographic: John's Smith's Voyage of Discovery
3. About 10 MINUTES: Do the Expanded Notation Study Jam (read step by step and test yourself)
4. 15 MINUTES: Type to Learn.
5. 15 MINUTES: On portaportal, open the Virginia Studies>VA: Geography Review Games and Quizzes folders. Play the games here for 15 minutes. This will be a fun way to study for our VA Geography test next week! You will, of course, get flashcards as well.
6. 10 MINUTES: On portaportal, open the Geography: Outside the Curriculum folder. Play games and take quizzes in this folder to prepare for Round 1 of the Geography Bee in on December 8th. True contenders for the state and national bees study a little bit every day!
7. 10 MINUTES: On portaportal, open the Author folder. Explore at least two different author folders-- watch videos, read book excerpts, read interviews, etc.
8. 2 MINUTES: Click here to vote on the current Scholastic News poll.
9. About 10 minutes: Estimate Whole Numbers Study Jam (step-by-step and test yourself).

Cool Online Math Test Today: Star Math

Click on the Star Math logo to go to the sign-in page.

Math Olympiad Tryouts Coming Up

Tryouts are on Monday the 24th.

If you are really excited about trying out for this contest, you may want to study using one of the following links, which are also available on portaportal under the Math> Math Olympiad folders.

Math Olympiad Problem of the Month

Math Olympiad Sample Problems

VIDEOS: Judy Blume, one of our favorite Authors

Check out these videos of Judy Blume.

Morning Message: Thursday 10-13-11

The American Math Challenge 2011: Coins, Coins, and More Coins!

Ms. Bragg has set up passwords for you to play The American Math Challenge. It's run by the same company that created the software for World Maths Day, which many classes had fun participating in last year. I'm hoping that it's as fun as World Maths Day. Check it out and we'll find out together! Here is some information on the challenge from the mathletics USA blog:

Here's a pic of where you can sign in on the Mathletics homepage:

 

Here is a direct link: The American Math Challenge

 

Morning Message: Wednesday 10-12

Morning Message: Tuesday 10-11-11

Morning Message: Friday 10-7-11

Read for the Record 2011: Llama Llama Red Pajama

To learn more about Read for the Record, visit their website.

Morning Message: Thursday 10-6-11

Morning Message: Wednesday 10-5