Fantastic Friday

Let's just say it; Chris Grabenstein is an amazing storyteller!!!  He had the kids (and teachers) laughing out of the bleachers in the multi-purpose room this morning.  Such a fun way to start our morning.  Please try to catch him at the Children's Area at the Decatur Book Festival tomorrow from 4:00-4:30- you won't regret it!

In other Friday news we had our first monthly Birthday Celebration at lunch today!  The whole cafeteria sang to Maya, Nina and Ashlyn and we snacked on cupcakes, pretzels and juice.  Thanks, moms, for organizing that!

Academically speaking we worked really hard to draft the body and conclusion of our research papers today but we just didn't quite make it to the end.  We will work hard to catch up Tuesday and write our final copy Wednesday!  In Science we talked about the adaptations predator and prey have; how predators are adapted for hunting and catching and how prey are adapted for surviving predators.  In math we took a test on place value, rounding, comparing whole numbers then finished up our word problems (it takes a while to 'explain your thinking'!) and we had a small group lesson on showing an area model for multiplying with 10 (which we will continue working with next week).  In Social Studies we worked hard to complete our poster presentations for sharing Tuesday as a review before our unit test next week. You can see them working below:

All in all a fun Friday gearing up for the end of our first term and now everyone is ready for a long weekend!!!  Enjoy and Happy Labor Day!!!

Term 1 is Wrapping Up!

Can you believe we are almost a month into 4th grade and almost through our first 6-week term?!? We have had such a jam-packed month as we have explored our Unit of Inquiry, Sharing the Planet, as well as our lessons in Language Arts and Math.

Last week in Social Studies we finished our organizers for each of the six tribes we study (Nez Perce, Hopi, Kwakiutl, Inuit, Seminole, Pawnee).  We had some great discussions about the regions and climate where each of the tribes lived and how those factors affected their clothing, shelter, and food resources.  This week we will be working in small groups to become an expert on one of the tribes and have a 'share session' Friday.  The links the kids will be using are listed under the "Student Links" tab on our blog.

In Science we have been exploring food chains and food webs as we have discussed producers, consumers and decomposers.  We will be doing group work tomorrow to create a model of a food chain in the biome of their choice.  I can't wait to see what they discover!

In Language Arts we are using our Reading skills and strategies of finding the Main Idea and supporting details as we research for our informational writing piece.  The kids have done a great job of choosing a topic and creating a 'yard' question to guide their research.  We used world book on our iPads today to begin research.  Many students saved their sources in goodreader and already started   reading and highlighting their "who's and what's".  Tomorrow we will be using a tree map or KWL to organize their findings and hopefully start our introductions!

In Math we have been stretching our brains with some great multi-step word problems!  Please keep practicing multiplication facts at home- we are using them now (multiplying by a single digit).  We will be working with multiplying by 10's, 100's, 1000's this week.

All in all it's a busy time as we are so deep into our units and are showing what we know.  It's been great to see them making so many connections!

Learner Profile Traits + Teamwork

We have enjoyed learning about the IB Leaner Traits this month. We have studied each of them; found them portrayed in story characters as well as in our classroom/classmates.  We worked in teams of 2-3 to create posters for our room to help us remember the traits throughout the year.  It was great to see the kids collaborate on a plan and be mindful and respectful of each others strengths as they worked.  :)

Decatur Book Festival

It's time for Decatur's annual Book Festival!  I hope you are able to come out and enjoy the booths, authors, food and more Aug. 31 - Sept. 1.

Here's a schedule of the Children's Stage.   Some AMAZING authors!

Saturday:

Children's Stage

10:00-10:30:	Classic Stories with Jerry Pinkney featuring Jerry Pinkney
10:45-11:15:	Click, Clack, Boo! featuring Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin
11:30-12:00:	Carnivores and Other Monsters! featuring Aaron Reynolds and Dan Santat
12:15-12:45:	Mr. Tiger Goes Wild! featuring Peter Brown
1:00-1:30:	Meet Mirabelle! And Mr. Muller! featuring Michael Muller
1:45-2:15:	George Brown, Class Clown featuring Nancy Krulik
2:30-3:00:	The Hypnotists featuring Gordon Korman
3:15-3:45:	The Watsons go to Birmingham - 1963 featuring Christopher Paul Curtis
4:00-4:30:	Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library featuring Chris Grabenstein
4:45-5:15:	Common Core Can Be Cool featuring Gennifer Choldenko, Kirby Larson
5:30-6:30:	Graphic Novels for Kids featuring Robin Mellom and Michael Fry

Sunday:

Children's Stage

12:00-12:30:	The Force is with Tom Angleberger: Origami Yoda featuring Tom Angleberger
12:45-1:15:	Moonday featuring Adam Rex
1:30-2:00:	Giddy Up! featuring Cece Bell and Rebecca Janni
2:15-2:45:	Peter Pan and Wendy: A Performance by Synchronicity Theater
3:00-3:30:	Monster Trucks and Mustaches featuring Bridget Heos and Michelle Knudsen
3:45-4:15:	Carol Reiser Award Presentation featuring Jo S. Kittinger
4:30-5:00:	Dork Diaries featuring Rachel Renée Russell
6:00-6:45:	Interactive Drumming Circle

Officially 2 Weeks in to 4th Grade!

Today officially marked 2 solid weeks of 4th grade.  And what full, fun-filled weeks they've been!
We have:

• Met all of our specials teachers (art, music, pe, spanish)
• Played at recess every day (sometimes up at the big field and sometimes out by the cafe- We've also watched the new basketball court being built and seen new playground equipment being installed by the cafe and up on the field by the swing! Just in time for the cooler weather of fall!)
• Learned about IB and about the 10 Learner Traits. 
• Established our class agreements
• Made new friends!
• Watched the F.AVE news daily and saw our first episode of CNN Student News
• Practiced our procedures and routines
• Worked with Mrs. Porter, Mrs. McKay and Mrs. Theisen in ELA and Math groups
• Learned about Reading Workshop and lots of reading strategies
• Worked collaboratively in groups
• Problem solved
• Started our reading contracts for Term 1 (read 2 non-fiction books and 1 fiction book on level)
• Been introduced to our Term 1 Unit of Inquiry, Sharing the Planet.
• Helped in the classroom and applied for class jobs
• Used iPads responsibly (and have explored many apps!)
• Worked with place value to the millions (reading, writing, comparing, ordering)
• Started learning about six Native American tribes (Nez Perce, Hopi, Seminole, Pawnee, Inuit, Kwakitul) and located their regions on a map
• Established our Edmodo and Discovery Education accounts 
• HAD FUN!!!

Thanks for helping us get to school on time with all of our materials ready to go.  Please note that the agenda/planner should come home daily with their learning targets written in (so you know what skills we are working on) and you will find HW (Monday-Thursday) in the back pocket.  The agenda/planners and homework should return the next day.  I hope to have a class family email distribution list set up this weekend and I can send quick info (notes, reminders, username/password patterns, etc) that way.

Have a great evening!

Busy Start to our Week

We've been busy bees in room 227!  We have read more PYP IB learner trait stories "Diary of a Worm" (communicator) and "Empty Pot" (nearly all!!!).  We have really enjoyed learning about the traits and we're getting good at recognizing them in each other.

In reading we have been talking about setting goals for our reading and finding times throughout our day (home and school) to read to meet our goals.  As we build stamina we will strive for a goal of 30 minutes of reading during our school day and 30 at home.  Tomorrow we will begin working with a reading partner to help us stay focused on our goals as well as be a sounding board for book suggestions and 'book talk.'  By the end of the week we will set all have our individual goals decided on and complete our Term 1 Reading Contract (to read 2 fiction and 1 non-fiction books).

In writing we are still working in the pre-writing stage as we are filling our composition notebooks with many lists and categories that will be sure to help us when we are 'blocked' and can't think of anything to write about. :)

In math we are working hard to read, write, order and compare whole numbers.  We are doing many hands-on activities to practice these skills.  We are also working on problem solving.  We are using the mnemonic device: Unique People Squeeze Lemons to help us remember the steps to solving word problems:
U - Understand (1. What do we KNOW 2. What do we NEED TO KNOW)
P - Plan - Pick a strategy
S - Solve - Show my work
L - Look Back (Check calculating, Did I answer the question, Is my answer reasonable)

In our Inquiry Unit we started off by reviewing our theme (Sharing the Planet) and our central idea (Organisms are interconnected with their environment for survival).  Today we played a survival game.  We pretended we were on a yacht in the South Pacific 100 miles away from land when suddenly a fire of unknown origin broke out.  While we helped the crew put out the fire, the navigation system was destroyed along with parts of the yacht.  Rubber life rafts with oars were salvaged along with a list of 15 items.  We worked in groups to organize/rank a list of 15 items that were salvaged in order of importance to our survival. Upon collaboration and sharing it was determined by most groups that items for personal use (food, water) were most important.  After a class discussion we learned that the items for signaling purposes were of top priority because of our situation; we needed to focus on the rescue before the personal needs because the amount of supplies we had available wouldn't last as long as it would take us to row 100 miles to land.... anyway, it was way more in depth but it was a great discussion and lesson into how our surroundings/environment affect our survival as well as how our decision affect our community. :)

Stay tuned...

Fantastic Friday

Dancing and teamwork are two ways we started this Friday!  We had our first school-wide assembly this morning to celebrate our first full week of school!  Everyone's spirits were up as we all headed up to the field.  Music was playing over the loudspeakers and classes began chanting "FAVE ROCKS!" as all the classes arrived on the field.  Once settled (and the 'wave' stopped) :) Mr. Roaden welcomed us to the field and we talked about how great it was to be a FAVE Falcon.  Next Ms. Newton told us what 2 things we needed to do to be Fave Falcons- 1. Learn and follow the IB learner traits and 2. Listen and follow directions.  She then introduced a fun activity incorporating our 10 IB Learner Traits.  We were so glad we have been learning about them because the activity was to identify the traits from large posters.  Nathan and Jukanie were our runners and they did a great job running from each poster back to the group to tell us about the images so we could decide the trait.  Nina did a great job as our recorder keeping up with all of the words being thrown around.  In the end... we WON!  We jumped around in excitement (and enjoyed fruit popsicles at lunch as a celebratory treat!).  After the game lots of teachers went up front to demonstrate 'listening and following directions'.  The teachers had to dance!!!  After the crowd settled all the classes spread out for the finale: a school dance party!  SO FUN!

Once inside, and cooled off, we got right to work on our Reading Workshop lesson today; the SLANT strategy. We practiced using the slant strategy as part of working with partners.  (Sit up, Listen, Ask and Answer Questions, Nod, Track the speaker).  We also read "Thank You Mr. Falker" by Patricia Pollaco.  We stopped throughout the story to practice our new strategy and ended the story discussing the IB traits we noticed throughout.  Some of us (Mrs. Porter included) were brought to tears by the sweet story.

Next we were off to the library for our orientation.  Armed with our iPads and reading levels we headed downstairs eager to check out our first books as 4th graders.  We signed up for Edmodo (more info to come) and checked out books.  On Monday we will begin setting goals for our reading as well as starting our daily reading logs.

Back in our room we took our spelling inventory pre-assessment then headed to lunch.  After lunch the day went quick.  Recess up on the field followed by the last 'Me Bag' presentations, a short math lesson/review, and the first drawing of CHANCE tickets.  Whew!  What a busy day!!!

Happy Weekend Everyone!!!


PS.  We are in need of a few more supplies:  Each child will need 2 more composition notebooks and 2 portfolio notebooks (the paper kind with 2 pockets and brads in the middle for inserting paper).  Thank you so much!

Also, we have snack time in our class around 9:30.  Please send a snack with your child if you intend for him/her to eat.  We eat lunch at 12:30.  Thanks!

Art with Ms. Dunbar begins our Thursday mornings.  It's great to get the creative juices flowing!  We enjoyed Art class then took that creativity straight through to our writing lesson today.  We wrote our Writing Territories today.  Writing Territories are like topics/ideas that we know a lot about.  Topics that are important to us that we can then map and turn into a paragraph (or more!).  We set up our writing composition notebooks and our first entry was our Writing Territories.  We will refer to this list when we have free writing time.  It was fun to share and hear about all the things our classmates are interested in!
Following writing we moved into math.  Our learning target to day was "I can read, write and compare whole numbers."  We reviewed place value to the millionth place, then worked on a partner game comparing large numbers.  It was lots of fun!
In Social Studies today we focused on relating our IB learner profile traits/attributes to real life.  We reviewed the 10 traits then listened for them in a familiar read aloud, A Fine, Fine School.  We shared out about ways that the traits were portrayed in the story.  Then each table worked on illustrations for 1-2 words.  We will turn some into posters to display in our room.
We had a short recess outside before the raindrops began to fall then headed in for lunch.  We ended the day with PE and Music.
Tomorrow we are looking forward to our first School-Wide Assembly in the morning as well as our library orientation!  Be on the lookout for library books this weekend!

PS.  We are in need of a few more supplies:  Each child will need 2 more composition notebooks and 2 portfolio notebooks (the paper kind with 2 pockets and brads in the middle for inserting paper).  Thank you so much!

Also, we have snack time in our class around 9:30.  Please send a snack with your child if you intend for him/her to eat.  We eat lunch at 12:30.  Thanks!

Wonderful Wednesday

For a little catching up first, YESTERDAY in reading we took the STAR reading test on the iPads then practiced finding 'just right books' by using the 5 Finger strategy.  First we look at the cover to see if it catches our attention/interest, then we read the summary on the back or inside cover, last we open to a random page in the book and begin reading.  For every word we don't know or understand we put up 1 finger.  For 0-1 fingers, the book is too easy, 4-5 fingers the book is too hard.  2-3 fingers is JUST RIGHT.  We discussed that just like each person is unique in their shoe size and fit, each person is unique in their book choices. :)  In math we worked with some problem solving. We talked about the 4-steps in problem solving (Understanding the Problem, Devising a Plan, Carrying out the Plan, and Looking Back).  We also enjoyed sharing more 'Me Bags' as well as ending the day with PE and Music.

TODAY during Reading Workshop we talked about building reading stamina.  We related stamina to endurance in that the more you practice the longer you can go.  We connected it to running, weight lifting, dancing and more.  We said the more you practice the longer you can read.  We also talked about strategies for what to do when you become restless.  Some classmates took their first AR tests of the year on the iPads.  In writing we did 'heart maps'.  We generated ideas/topics for our writing by focusing what is most important/special to us; writing from our hearts.  We are posting them on our writing board as we finish them up.  In math we worked with place value to 1,000.  We did a fun hands-on activity called "Building 1,000".  It was a great cooperative lesson that required the groups to work as a team to devise a plan for building a model or representation of 1,000 using provided items (beads, rice, pasta, pattern squares, string, etc).  Each group worked hard to come up with a strategy that worked and they were busy busy counting!  You can see some of their work in the picture below:

We wrapped up our morning working with the 10 PYP learner traits/attributes.  They are: communicator, thinker, risk-taker, inquirer, open-minded, balanced, principled, reflective, caring and knowledgeable.  We worked in teams to match definitions/characteristics to each of the words then shared examples.  Due to the rain we had an indoor iPad recess time before lunch.  We ended our day with a fun Spanish lesson from Señora Sneed.  Another fun day!

Our Day in Bullets :)

I hope everyone had a great weekend!  Today was a jam-packed Monday.  We...

• Established our Class Essential Agreements: 

1. We agree to be respectful.
2. We agree to take responsibility.
3. We agree to be safe.
4. We agree to do our best.

• learned procedures for Reading Workshop
• discussed class jobs and filled out an application for our top 5 choices
• learned about "Chance Tickets" (a reward system)
• watched our first episode of F.AVE news
• started sharing our "Me Bags" (this will take all week)
• took a math pre-assessment
• had our first Spanish class
• learned how to use the iPads responsibly (the favorite part of the day, I think :))
  
  Looking forward to another great day tomorrow!  Be on the lookout for your child's RED communication folder tonight.  It has lots of info and forms in it that need to be returned asap.  THANKS!

Busy Friday

Friday was a busy one as we continued to get to know each other.  We were encouraged to try out new seats and tables today so we could mingle with different classmates.  We talked about IB and what it means to be 'internationally minded.'  We also worked with our LINKS teacher on the 8 key concepts of IB (form, function, causation, change, connection, perceptive, responsibility, reflective).  We read a story "A Fine, Fine School" about a principal who is so enamored with the children and teachers and all the wonderful learning that happens in his school that he starts to add more and more days to the calendar and before they know it, the kids are going to school everyday- even on Christmas!  This led into a discussion of how we can have a fine, fine classroom.  We shared why school is important to us, what our classroom should be like everyday, what are goals for the school year are, how we can achieve those goals, how Mrs. Porter can help us, and what we can do in our classroom to make sure our room runs smoothly.  Following that we worked in groups to collaborate on our class essential agreements (like rules).  We ran out of time to narrow down and finalize our list but it's leaning toward a lot of agreements toward responsibility, respect, encouragement, safety and doing our best.  We will agree on the final 4 during our morning meeting Monday.  We really enjoyed heading up to the big field for recess!  Thanks to Grayson for a mesh bag full of playground balls!  The nacho bar was enjoyed at lunch and we ended the day with a group project called "Save Fred".  We reviewed the Scientific Method and worked in teams of 3 to collaborate on a plan and hypothesis for saving our gummy worm, Fred, when his boat (a clear cup) capsized leaving his life preserver (a gummy lifesaver) trapped underneath.  The goal was to get Fred into the life preserver without using your hands (only paperclips)!  Our room was full of excitement as one by one groups saved Fred.  It was exciting to see them work together and help each other test their hypotheses.  Below you can see us busy at work helping Fred!

After saving Fred it was time to wrap up our day and head home.  We were reminded about our "Me Bags" due Monday as well as reminded to bring our Agenda/Planners Monday and any books we are reading at home that we would like to read during Reading Workshop.  Happy Weekend!

Fun First Day in 4th Grade!

Room #227 was buzzing all day as we all got to know each other through activities and sharing.  We started our morning choosing our own seat, shaking hands during our morning meeting and playing the 'hand squeeze' game to warm up.  Soon after we got locker assignments (!!!!) and got all of our things put away in the hall.  The lockers are so cool and the name tags look so great- what a way to take ownership and get a sense of belonging in our class :)  We met the art teacher then took a tour of the school.  When we returned we ate snack while reading the book My Teacher's Secret Life about a student with a wild imagination and funny ideas of what he thinks his teacher does after school (pillow fights in the hallway while wearing fuzzy slippers for instance!) and then Mrs. Porter shared her life with us and then we all went to our tables for a circle map 'about me' activity to share about ours.  Next was more 'movement' team building games then before we knew it recess time had arrived!  We took a football out (thanks Avery!) and headed downstairs before lunch.  It was great to be outside and we worked up an appetite.  Pizza on day one!  The hot lunches were happy :) After lunch we met the PE and Music teachers then wrote in our planners, talked about our homework ('Me' Bag due Monday) and packed up to go home.  Day one was great and we are looking forward to more fun tomorrow!