Mysteries, Engineering, Building, Art and Halloween--All in a Day

This week was alive with the excitement of Halloween.  The girls wrote stories, worked math problems, quizzed their parents on their favorite candy, graphed the results, and guess what?  The fun is not over!  The girls will be counting their own candy tonight, so we can compare the data.  It's called real life math! One of our favorite activities was with the fabulous, creative book projects that were presented today.  The girls explained the process of making them and wove that into the fabric of the story they had read. These girls are on fire with learning! Then they built their own haunted house, complete with lights! At some point, everyone participated.  A lot of discussion, planning, some engineering, some art and real-life building took place.  They even lit up their house.  Now, all they need is spooky music!

Swimming Starts November 4

                                                                                                October 28, 2014

            On Tuesday, November 4, your daughter will begin the swimming unit of her Physical Education class.  The classes will be held every Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday through November 14.  If there is a deviation from the schedule, the girls will be notified.

            Swimming is a wonderful fall activity; however, there are a few pointers to remember.  Your daughter should come to school wearing a one-piece swimsuit under her school clothes.  She should bring a swimming bag in which she stores her underwear (in a plastic, Ziploc bag, please), towel, swim cap, goggles, hairbrush, and a healthy snack, as well as anything else she may need. This next item may not apply because of the current warm weather, but tights are a troublesome piece of clothing to put on after being in the pool, so it is recommended that they not be worn on swimming days.

            This year the girls will swim from 8:00-8:45. Upon arrival at school, the girls can drop their backpacks in the classroom, then go to the playground, as usual.  When they are dismissed from the playground, the class will walk to the Kenny Center for swimming.  We are looking forward to a wonderful two weeks of swimming!

           

           

Math, Math, and More Math

The girls are having a ball as they learn how to gather and organize data, so that the numbers mean something to them. At any moment in our classroom, you might see the girls measuring each other's heads...just in case they might want to sell hats or having a" Musical Moment" to the tune of Happy. Do you know how many times Pharrell sings the word "Happy"? They do, and based on that, they know how to find the median, mode and range. Organizing data with Halloween candy is next, as well as, Halloween problem solving. Fall is in the air, and that is the perfect way to have fun doing a word problem! We are finishing Number the Stars, doing some wonderful research on our Famous People of the Forties, and in the process, learning how to take notes and do a bibliography the digital way---very cool. After we have our next FlexTech session this Wednesday, ask your daughters to show you how to do this. You won't believe it!

 

Official Fourthies Today!

Today was an important day in the life of our fourth grade girls.  They became official Fourthies, and with that comes responsibility, the opportunity for leadership, and the opportunity to have fun helping others in our school.  The girls were beyond excited to sign the Fourthie Pledge, which will be displayed proudly in our classroom. They were especially thrilled to receive their gold Fourthie cap.  We even allowed them to wear the caps to lunch, so everyone could congratulate them.

They will keep the caps at school and wear them on carpool duty and when we go on Field Trips, as well as on other special days. Remember to ask your daughter to show you her copy of the Fourthie Pledge. Terrific day in the fourth grade!