Thursday Thoughts

What a great day!

We started out reviewing homophones. After that, we checked and corrected our math homework. In our work with Thinking Maps, we reviewed the Circle Map and then went on to look at the Bubble Map. The Bubble Map is used for description. The students wrote rough and final drafts of a paragraph about “My Character.”

After recess, we started on another art project. We’ll use this time starting next week for Science and Social Studies and we will be working jointly with room 18 on these areas. Our work today – which we will finish tomorrow – was on gesture. The students studied some artists’ work here. They then posed for each other and drew quick line sketches.

At 11:00, when second recess was over, we went out and played kickball with room 18. We’ll start regular PE next week. I hope it is a little cooler then!

In the afternoon, we read another chapter of Island of the Blue Dolphins. We did some activities to develop the ideas of beat and meter in music. And, in math, we looked at the millions place.

Homework:  (1) Do the letter E and letter F cursive review sheets. Letters should be written 9 more times, sentences 5 more time. (2) Do the Island of the Blue Dolphins study sheet. Please put answers on a separate sheet of paper. (3) Do “Millions” on pages 8-9 of the math book, and “Puzzling Place Values” on the back of the answer sheet. There is a mistake in page numbers on the answer sheet; the students were told to correct it. (4) Practice the multiplication and division facts on the sheet. Remember, this is the same paper that will be given as a quiz on Friday.

First Real Day of School

The second day of school is the first day in so many ways. This is when the students start using the textbooks; this is when the real work of fourth grade begins.

We had a pretty good “real first day.” We started working on Thinking Maps. These are graphics which help students become aware of 8 essential thinking skills and to use these cognitive skills throughout the curriculum. Today we worked on the Circle Map. This helps students work on brainstorming. We used it to help write a paragraph called “All About Me”. As we do each of the eight maps, students will complete some short writing assignments. These will be compiled into a book the students will proudly show their parents at Back to School Breakfast next month.

We also worked on an art project dealing with different types of lines. After looking at the work of a couple contemporary American artists and discussing how they used lines in their paintings, we practiced making the five different types of line – horizontal, vertical, diagonal, zigzag, and curved. The students were then challenged to create posters for a favorite cause and to use as many of these types of lines as they could in their drawings. Here are a couple examples.

We also began reading Island of the Blue Dolphins. and looked at the thousands period in numeration in math.

Homework:  (1) Do the letter C and letter D cursive review sheets. Letters should be written 9 more times, sentences 5 more time. (2) Do the Island of the Blue Dolphins study sheet. Please put answers on a separate sheet of paper. (3) Do “Thousands” on pages 5-7 of the math book, and “Changing Places” on the back of the answer sheet. (4) Practice the multiplication and division facts on the sheet. Remember, this is the same paper that will be given as a quiz on Friday.

Welcome

I would like to welcome all our students and families to the 2012-2013 school year.

We had a most productive first day. I had a chance to meet many of the parents as the day began, and while I was talking to them and doing the usual paperwork the students completed information sheets and and interest inventory. They also completed a reading skills test that we will correct tomorrow. We went over lots of rules and procedures. The students interviewed each other. They went used the information from their interviews to writer short compositions. We did rough and final drafts.

The students also drew each other and used oil pastel for color. Many of the results were excellent!

In the afternoon, the students finished their portraits and worked on a math placement test.

I want to make sure all the parents know about the evening orientation meeting on August 23 at 5:00 pm.

Homework:  (1) Do the A and B cursive review sheets. (2) Do the multiplication and division practice sheets. The students will do these papers for homework today, tomorrow, and Thursday. They will have the same paper for a test on Friday. It will be timed then.

Reruns

A nice day, but almost a complete repeat of yesterday! We just had a different chapter in The Cay and a different math lesson. Well, I guess it’s the season for reruns on TV, too!

Homework:  (1) Write spelling words 6 to 10 five times each in cursive. Write one sentence for each as well. (2) Do “Classifying Words” worksheets. (3) Do “Interpreting Graphs” pages 384-385 in the math book. Also do “Graphing True of False” on the back of the answer sheet. (4) Do the “Multiplication” and “Fractions” study sheets.

Back in the Saddle

CST tests are over and we start back to a more regular schedule. We’re practicing the play quite a bit, of course. But we’re also starting on a new book, Theodore Taylor’s The Cay, and we’re learning about making and conducting surveys.

Homework:  (1) Write spelling words 1 to 5 five times each in cursive. Write one sentence for each as well. (2) Do “Making Compounds”, “Short Vowels” and “Long Vowels” worksheets. (3) Do “Data from Surveys” pages 383-383 in the math book. Also do “State Predictions” on the back of the answer sheet. (4) Do the “Multiplication” and “Fractions” study sheets.

Field Trip Pix

I seem to have had a blog brain freeze in the last couple weeks. I guess it’s the play and having my mind preoccupied with some other stuff.

Here are a couple pictures from our field trip to the IMAX theater and the California Science Center. They loved the 3-D movie, particularly the glasses!

The hurricane simulator was a big hit.

Here are a few from the Autry Museum. The gold panning was definitely the best part.

Eureka! We found … pyrite! Sigh, I guess you don’t get real gold for a 1 dollar admission.

Homework:  (1) Do “Edison Sees the Light” and “Will it Light?” questions. (2) Do pages 460-463 in the math book. (3) Do the last By the Great Horn Spoon! study guide.

Warm Wednesday

Gosh, it feels like summer doesn’t it?

We started work on a research project in Tech Lab today. We read another chapter in Horn Spoon, and we continued our work with functions and equations. We had another productive play practice – this time with the benefit of Mr. Pratt there! – and the students went to Mr. Pratt to learn more about the Gold Rush.

Homework:  (1) Write spelling words 11-15 five times each in cursive. Write a sentence in cursive for each one. (2) Do “Meter and Rhyme Schemes” page 307 and “Homographs” page 308 in the Practice Book. (3) Do the study sheet for Great Horn Spoon chapter 8. (4) Do “Multiplication and Division Patterns” on pages 422-423 of the math book. Also do “Experience Expressions” on the back of the answer sheet.

Terrific Tuesday

Homework:  (1) Do spelling words 6-10. (2) Do “Vocabulary” page 302 in the Practice Book. (3) Do By the Great Horn Spoon! chapter 7 study sheet. (4) Do “Addition and Subtraction Problem” on pages 418-419 of the math book. (5) Finish “Hidden Picture” graphing.

Quick Post

Mr. Pratt was out with bronchitis, so I was pretty busy trying to fill his shoes practicing the play. It sure makes me realize how much talent he has!

We had a good, productive day. Mr. Garrison was Mr. Pratt’s substitute, and the students went to him for History while I led his class through the beginning of the magnetism unit I did with our class last week.

Students had ample time to get started on the homework below.

Homework:  (1) Do spelling words 1-5. (2) Do “Phonics” page 302 in the Practice Book. (3) Do the Latitude and Longitude worksheet (4) Do By the Great Horn Spoon! chapter 6. (5) Do “Formulas,” Math pages 418-419. (6) Do Hidden Pictures 1. This will be due on Wednesday.

Finding our Compass

Today was again a productive day, and we had a pretty good time even if the teacher was a little grumpy. We checked, corrected, and discussed all our homework. We read a pretty interesting selection on coral reefs from the Treasures book. We did a little more work on our language periodic assessment. It’s the last one for the year! I’m happy about that!

We did a couple of fun activities in Science today. The students made compasses using a doughnut magnet.

Then they became magnetism detectives. They had boxes in which magnets were hidden. They had to figure out where the magnets were in each box. This was chaotic but a lot of fun.

We read another chapter in By the Great Horn Spoon! and reviewed coordinate grids. They also had A LOT of time to get a head start on the assignments below.

Homework:  (1) Do spelling words 16-20. (2) Do the spelling jumble. (3) Do “More and Most” pages 299-300 in the Practice Book. (4) Do the Great Horn Spoon chapter 4 study sheet. (5) Do “Problem Solving” pages 410-411 and “Test Prep” on pages 412-413 in the math book. (6) Do the weights and measurements study sheet.

Washers and Spacers

It was a pretty ordinary Wednesday. We checked, corrected, and discussed homework. We read a selection from the Treasures reader about coral reefs. We went to Tech Center where the students finished working on their “podcasts.”

After recess, we continued our discussion of magnetism. The students learned yesterday about how opposite poles attract. Today we did an experiment to measure how much other objects can weaken that force of attraction. The students had a balance with two cups in it. One cup also had a magnet in it; this one sat on a plastic pole with another magnet. In the other cup the students placed washers until the force of magnetism broke.

They then began putting spacers – they look like small poker chips – in between the two magnets to determine what would weaken the magnetic force. They graphed the results.

We did more work on coordinate graphing and we ended the day with play practice.

Homework:  (1) Do spelling words 11-20. (2) Do “Hyperbole” page 295 and “Description” page 296 in the Practice Book. (3) Do By the Great Horn Spoon! chapter 3. (4) Do  Math “Length of Line Segments” pages 408-409 in the Math book. (5) Do the Measurement worksheet.

Inductive

Today zipped right along. We checked, corrected, and discussed homework. We had a particularly productive practice with the “Marian, the Librarian” sequence in The Music Man.

In Science, we discussed the idea of induced magnetism some more. Students experimented in determining how induced magnetism in one iron object could create further induced magnetism in others. They had a lot of fun doing this as you can see!

We read another chapter of By The Great Horn Spoon! We continued working with coordinate graphs in math.

Homework: (1) Do spelling words 6-10. (2) Do “Vocabulary” page 291 and “Compare and Contrast” page 292 in the Practice Book. (3) Do the “Magnet Meets Magnet” study sheet. (4) Do the study guide for By the Great Horn Spoon! chapter 2. (5) Do “Shapes on a Coordinate Grid,” Math pages  403-404. (6) Do the Measurement worksheet.

Magnetic!

I hope everybody had a nice break. Mine was too short and after spending all that money getting the house painted, there was nothing left to go on a trip anywhere. Oh, well. We did start by sharing our vacation experiences this morning, and as some of the students discussed going to Hawaii, Mexico, and Russia I felt like I had traveled a bit through their experiences!

We began some of our test prep today in place of the usual journal writing. After that, we went to the auditorium where the students did some Music Man rehearsal. It was a bit painful to discover how much they had forgotten, but I am sure they will quickly remember some of the lines and songs which they used to know so well.

We are starting on our magnetism and electricity unit in Science. The students began today by testing various materials to discover if they were attracted to magnets or not. They came quite quickly to the conclusion that only objects containing iron were attracted to magnets.

They also went around the room and tested everything they could find to see if these things contained iron. They liked being iron detectives!

We began reading By the Great Horn Spoon! today. This is a fantastic novel about the California gold rush.

We also started learning about Cartesian coordinate graphing in math today. Amazing what these fourth graders learn these days, isn’t it?

Homework:  (1) Do spelling words 1 – 5 in the usual way. (2) Do “Phonics” on page 290 of the Practice Book. (3) Do the study sheet for chapter 1 of Great Horn Spoon. (4) Do “Graphing” on pages 402-403 of the math book and the “Treasure Map” activity on the back. (5) Do the Weights and Measurements practice sheet.

Halfway There

It was another pretty busy day – at least for me. I had two meetings I had to attend between 8:30 and 9:30. Thanks to Jan Worthy and to Lee Garrison for helping with the class while I was gone. We had Tech Center today as well and the students worked their on their “podcast” PowerPoint presentations.

After recess we went to the auditorium and did a run-through of The Music Man. Mr. Pratt kept the rehearsal moving along productively.

Our unit in Treasures right now deals with animals and their habitats. Students are working on some pictures to along with these for our “Big Question” bulletin board. Some are pretty impressive, aren’t they?

Homework: (1) Write spelling words 11-15 five times each in cursive. Write one sentence for each word. (2) Do the Spelling Jumbles (3) Do "Writing Frames," page 283 and "Latin Roots" page 284 in the Practice Book. (4) Do the study questions on page 605 of the hardcover Treasures book. (5) Do “Area” pages 362-363 in the math book and “Perimeter” on the back of the answer sheet. (6) Do the “More X 3” practice sheet.

Hurried

It was a pretty hectic day! We had a couple good play rehearsals, plus we went over a new story in Treasures and introduced metric measurement.

Homework: (1) Write spelling words 1-5 five times each in cursive. Write one sentence for each word. (2) Do "Vowel Teams," page 277 and "Vocabulary" page 278 in the Practice Book. (3) Do “Metric Measurement” pages 355-356 in the math book. (4) Do the “More X 1” practice sheet.

Just a Regular Thursday

 

Homework: (1) Write spelling words 16-20 five times each in cursive. Write one sentence for each word. (2) Do “Articles,'” page 275, “Chronological Order,” page 276, “Synonyms,” p 271, and “Articles,” p 274 in the Practice Book. (3) Do the “What’s X? 4” practice sheet.

The Hollow Trees

Today’s highlight was a performance by The Hollow Trees, a folk singing group from Topanga Canyon. They were a lot of fun!

Fast

Tuesday’s are hectic, so here’s a quick post with just the homework.

Homework:  (1) Write spelling words 6-10 five times each in cursive. Write one sentence for each word. (2) Do “Author’s Purpose” page 267 and “Foreshadowing” page 270 in the Practice Book. (3) Do “Ordering Integers” on pages 340-341 of the math book. (4) Do the “Erosion” study questions. (5) Do the “What’s X? 2” practice sheet.

Springing Forward

This was the first day after the time change, and I’m happy to report that nobody came at 9:00 looking confused this year. I guess now that we all look for the times on our phones it helps us be a little more aware of the time change.

We did all the usual Monday stuff. We had some play practice after recess and I took all the students who will be in the chorus. These are the good singers – the other students will have speaking or dancing parts,

In the afternoon Holly Priebe-Diaz from the district led the students in an anti-bully assembly.

Homework:  (1) Write spelling words 1-5 five times each in cursive. Write one sentence for each word. (2) Do “Open Syllables” page 265 and “Vocabulary” page 266 in the Practice Book. (3) Do “Comparing Integers” on pages 338-339 of the math book. (4) Do the “Weathering” study questions. (5) Do the “What’s X? I” practice sheet.

Ordinary

It was a pretty quiet, ordinary Thursday today. We did more work on our “visual stories” and the rough drafts of the stories that they are telling. We went over homework. We read and discussed a story about desert animals in the Treasures book. We took a math test, but we will not get that corrected until tomorrow.

Homework:  (1) Write spelling words 16-20 five times each in cursive. Write one sentence for each word.  (2) Review the “Walk in the Desert” story in Treasures. Complete the desert animals adaptation chart we started in class. There should be 10 plants or animals and an adaptation for each. (3) Do page 255 in the Practice Book. (4) Do the “Identifying Minerals” study sheet. (5) Do Dividing Money 4 practice page.

The spelling word search is optional.

Stone Cold

What a weird week for weather! It seemed like July on Monday when we walked to the museum. Today it felt like December … in Fargo!

Despite the cold, we had a pretty good day. We started with more work on our “visual storytelling” and some students already began to turn these into traditional written stories. We read a selection from Treasures. We went to Tech Center where the students spent a lot of time on the typing program.

After recess, we had Science. The students were challenged to figure out which of the following minerals below are part of granite. We’ll be discussing this a bit more tomorrow.

We were supposed to have an assembly on bullying, but it was cancelled at the last minute. You learn to be flexible teaching fourth grade. So, we had time for some play practice for some of the students while others auditioned for chorus.

Homework:  (1) Write spelling words 11-15 five times each. Write a sentence for each word. (2) Do pages 253-254 in the Practice Book. (3) Do “Working Backwards” on pages 328-329 of the math book. Also do “Test Prep” on pages 330-331. (4) Do “Dividing Money 3”.

Writing Test

Today was the state writing test. This is the first part of the CST testing for fourth grade. I think the students probably did pretty well on it since they have had a lot of practice in writing stories.

After recess, Mr. Pratt worked with some of the students in the auditorium on a couple of the scenes from the play. I worked with most of the class and some of Mr. Pratt's students on algebra using the Hands-on Equations program.



Homework:  Write spelling words 6-10 five times each. Write one sentence for each word. Do the spelling jumble. Do pages 258 and 259 in the Practice Book.  Do "Words to Equations" on pages 325-326 of the math book. DO the “Dividing Money 2” practice sheet.

LACMA

We had a great field trip today to LACMA. It was a walking trip, and the weather was absolutely perfect. The students always complain about walking a couple miles, but this year I think they did the best ever at keeping up a good pace. We made it there in just under 40 minutes. That’s great since we had to stop to wait at the light for a couple changes to get everybody there.
At the museum, we were divided into groups of 7 or 8 students. Each docent gave a slightly different tour from the objects on display in the Art of the Americas galleries. Photography is prohibited in the museum during school visits, so I borrowed some public domain photographs to show a few of the things most of the groups saw.

One of these was a ceramic model of the Mesoamerican ball game.

Another was a screen depicting a native wedding celebration in Mexico in the colonial periods. The students were fascinated by the volador and no doubt wished that we could have one installed on our playground!

And, of course, what visit to LACMA would be incomplete without stopping and discussing David Hockney’s iconic “Mulholland Drive”?

We had lunch – always for students the high point of any field trip – at the amphitheater being the museum in the park. We kept up our brisk pace on the way home and came back in time for a math lesson and a head start on homework.

Homework:  (1) Write spelling words 1-5 five times each in cursive. Write one sentence for each word. (2) Do pages 262 and 263 in the Practice Book. Students will NOT be doing 262 and 264. (3) Do “Multiplication and Division on pages 322-323 of the math book.  (4) Do the “Dividing Money 1” practice sheet.

In Like a Lamb

We had a gentle beginning of the month both in weather and in our classroom climate. I’m pretty sure that both will continue to be great!

Other than orchestra being cancelled, it was a pretty normal Thursday. We started a writing project today and the first step in that was to tell the story visually – pictures, no words. We will be finishing that tomorrow and starting on the writing portion of it.

Homework:  (1) Write spelling words 16-20 five times each in cursive. Write one original sentence for each word. (2) Answer the “Critical Thinking” questions on page 527 of the hardcover Treasures book. Be sure to answer thoughtfully and in complete sentences. This will be collected and graded. (3) Do “Choosing Correct Meanings” worksheet. (4) Do “Equal or Unequal?” on pages 318-319 of the math book. Also do “Connection Detection” on the back of the answer sheet. (5) Do “Fractions 4” review sheet.

The word search is an optional review for the spelling test.

Flying

We began today with writing, as we often do. Today, working on their storytelling abilities, the students were given this story starter:  “As the helicopters whirred overhead, I knew the police were after me. How was I ever going to prove I was innocent?” The stories were great! Some were filled with lots of action, others with mystery, and still others were funny. I particularly enjoyed the story where I had the been the victim of students who had finally had just too many homework assignments!

We read “My Brothers’ Flying Machine” in the Treasures book. This story, by the acclaimed children’s author Jane Yolen, is about the Wright brothers. It is told, however, from the perspective of their younger sister. This allowed us to discuss the difference between a first-person narrator and an omniscient third-person narrator. It allowed us to distinguish between historical fiction and narrative non-fiction.

After recess, we continued “thinking like a geologist.” The students were give four mystery minerals. They again examined them for color, streak, hardness, luster, cleavage, and magnetism. They then used a mineral chart to help identify them.

After lunch recess, we reviewed for the math test and then took the Topic 12 test. We went to mixing:  some students worked on the play, others went to art, while others went to PE. After mixing, we corrected the math test. The results are on the gradebook. I also gave them time to get a head start on the homework

Homework:  (1) Write spelling words 11-15 five times each in cursive. Write one original sentence for each word. (2) Do the spelling jumble. (3) Do “Author’s Perspective” page 243 and “Personification,” page 246 in the Practice Book. Students do not do the back page of either page. (4) Do “Fractions 3” review sheet.

A “Purr-fect” Day

Before the bell rang, we had an unexpected visitor outside room 19 today.

The cat’s visit might have been an omen of what I can only call a “purr-fect” day.

We started out working on writing responses to literature. This is a blanket term that is used today to discuss anything which asks the reader to think about a piece of writing, evaluate the actions of characters in the story, think of possible motivations for the writer, or imagine being in the same situation described in the work. It is such a broad idea that it makes it actually pretty hard to teach it, even though it is a crucial fourth grade standard. We used last week’s Treasures story, “The Earth Dragon Awakens” to help us master this form. The students had to write an introduction, a body paragraph that summarized the story, and a second body paragraph which explained what they would do in a similar crisis.

After that, the students went to Music. Mr. Lawton introduced songwriting to them today – specifically, the ballad form – and in the process regaled us with his skills on the banjo.

We practice about the first quarter of the play in the auditorium. Mr. Pratt is doing a superb job with our student actors, and the students are doing a great job learning their lines. This is the opening train scene, “Rock Island” where the sales representatives are all discussing how their business is changing, but you still have to “know the territory.”

After lunch, we did Science. We students are learning to identify minerals using color, streak, luster, cleavage, and other properties. Today, we looked at calcite, quartz, fluorite, and gypsum.

Homework:  (1) Write spelling words 6-10 five times each in cursive. Write one original sentence for each word. (2) Do “Homophones” page 251 and “Quotation Marks,” page 252 in the Practice Book. (3) Do “Problem Solving” pages 310-311 and “Test Prep” page 312-313. Also do “Follow the Mystery Number on the back of the answer sheet. (4) Do “Fractions 2” review sheet.

Playing Around

We had a busy day with a lot of very productive practice on the play! I should have taken some pictures….

Homework:  (1) Write spelling words 1-5 five times each in cursive. Write one original sentence for each word. (2) Do “Phonics” page 241 and “Vocabulary” page 242 in the Practice Book. (3) “Multiplying and Dividing Decimals,” pages 307-308 of the math book. (4) Adding and Subtracting Fractions review sheet.

Remember, tomorrow is NOT shortened day schedule. Dismissal will be at 2:30. Don’t ask me why. I have no idea!

Quick Post

It was a pleasant and productive day in room 19. We worked on writing narratives and discussed pronouns. We checked and corrected our homework. We finished reading the San Francisco earthquake story in Treasures. We learned about adding and subtracting numbers with decimals.

Homework:  (1) Do spelling words 14-20. Write each word five times each in cursive and write a sentence for each one. (2) Do “Draw Conclusions” page 231, “Technical Manual” page 234, “Multiple Meaning Words” page 235, and “Possessive Pronouns” page 238. The other side of these pages are NOT assigned. (3) Do “Addition and Subtraction” pages 299-300 in the math book. (4) Do “Fractional-Decimal 3”.

The word search is optional today.

Practice, Practice

Today we did a fair amount of practicing for the play. We worked on some of the songs and materials for it with Mr. Lawton during music time and we also worked together in the auditorium after recess.

We also checked our math tests from Friday – results are on the gradebook – and did the usual stuff.

Homework:  (1) Write spelling words 1-7 five times each. Write one sentence for each word. (2) Do “Diphthongs” and “Vocabulary” on pages 229-230 of the Practice Book. (3) Do “Possessive Pronouns” and “Quotation Marks” on pages 239-240 of the Practice Book. (4) Do “Rounding Decimals” on pages 293-294 of the math book and do “More than One Way” on the back. (5) Do “Fraction Decimal 1” worksheet.

Grrr!

Just the homework on this – grrr! – rainy day. I gave them most of this to keep them quiet during lunch time, so most people should be either finished or almost done.

Homework:  (1) Do spelling words 11-15. Write each one five times in cursive and write a sentence for each word. (2) Do the spelling jumble. (3) Do pages 217, 218, and 223 in the Practice Book. (4) Do “Decimal Multiplication 3” worksheet. (5) Do pages 282-283 in the math book.

Talking Trash

Our day began with an assembly about the environment. Our presenter was a gentleman named Michael Klubock who created a group called the Malibu Foundation for Environmental Education. He explained how trash ends up in the oceans and on the beaches because of the storm drain system and showed how plastic and other pollutants can be fatal to fish and birds.

We did all the usual things in addition. We checked and corrected our math from Friday. We read “The Ants and the Grasshopper,” a Chinese fable, and discussed the elements of fables. We examined four different minerals in Science – basalt, limestone, marble, and sandstone – and read about calcium carbonate. Tomorrow they will be using a mild acid – house vinegar – to test for calcite in these rocks. We read some more from James and the Giant Peach. Some of the students practiced songs or lines from The Music Man while others went to art or PE during our mixing block. Finally, we discussed the relationship between fractions and decimals in math.

Homework:  (1) Write spelling words 1 to 5 five times each in cursive. Write a sentence for each word. (2) Answer the questions on page 459 of the hardcover Treasures book in complete sentences. (3) Do the “Calcite=Calcium Carbonate” study guide. (4) Do the “Alphabetical Order” and “Pronunciation” worksheet which go along with James and the Giant Peach. (5) Do “Fractions and Decimals” pages 276-277 in the math book and “Shady Spots” on the back of the answer sheet. (6) Do the “Decimal Multiplication 1” practice sheet.

Boring

After yesterday’s adventures, today had to be a bit dull. And it was.

We began the day by clearing out and organizing portfolios. We corrected our math tests from Monday. The results are on the gradebook. We spent the time we would have normally spent on homework going over our math packets for the last four units, and those are also recorded on TeacherEase. We reviewed yesterday’s field trip and the the students made a chart of activities and new knowledge. They started to create a multi-paragraph composition about their trip.

After recess, the students went to Mr. Pratt for Social Studies. After lunch, I gave them 45 minutes to work on the field trip composition. They went to their usual mixing activities today. In math, we started on decimals today.

Homework:  (1) Write spelling words 16-20 five times each with a sentence for each one. All of this should be in cursive. (2) Do “Replacing Telling Statement” and “Inflectional Endings” on pages 203-204 of the Practice Book. (3) Do “Pronouns” on pages 213-214 of the Practice Book. (4) Do “Cloze Reading” and “Sequencing Events” worksheet. (5) Do “Decimal Place Value” pages 270-271 in the math book and “Decimal Patterns” on the back of the answer sheet. (6) Do “Adding, Subtracting Fractions 4” practice sheet.

Also, finish the composition about the field trip to the Leonis Adobe if that was not finished earlier.

Leonis Adobe

Today we had our field trip to the Leonis Adobe in Calabasas. It’s a great field trip, and it fits in perfectly with where the students are in the fourth grade history curriculum.

The Leonis Adobe is a kind of living history museum where the students get to take part in all kinds of activities which help them to understand what life was like on a Southern California ranch in the 1880’s. The students were divided into various groups, and the groups took turns going around to different activities. The group I monitored went first to a tortilla making activity.The students mashed up corns and learned how to turn the masa into tortillas using a press.

They also learned how cream is turned into milk.

They then learned about roping cattle and had a chance to practice tossing a lasso.

They learned what life was like before washing machines and driers. Was that ever a revelation!

Pumping water from a well, however, seemed like something they’d like to still do.

And ringing the dinner bell to call ranch hands to meals was definitely fun.

They learned about brands and had an opportunity to make their own marks, first on a piece of paper and then on a piece of faux leather.

Seeing the animals, like this magnificent draught horse, was a huge highpoint.

And feeding alfalfa to the Merino sheep and the goats was by far everybody’s favorite activity. 

Traffic was reasonably decent today, so we made it back in time to listen to a bit of James and the Giant Peach and to have a competition to solve the word search first.

Homework:  Enjoy the rare day off!

Rainy Days and Tuesdays

You have to learn to be flexible in fourth grade. Things just happen and you adjust to it. Our rain – such as it was, at least so far – was one of those things. Mr. Lawton getting laryngitis and cancelling class was another. You adjust and find something else to do.

We mostly reviewed for the math test, took the math test, and read and discussed our Treasures selection for the week. It’s an interesting informational article about ants. Our new reading series is quite heavy on nonfiction reading. That helps prepare the students more for middle school, I suppose. Fortunately, most of the selections are pretty good.

Homework:  (1) Write spelling words 6-10 five times each. Write one sentence for each word. (2) Do the spelling jumble. (3) Do “Matching Antonyms” and “Determining Feelings” worksheet. (4) Do the “Adding, Subtracting Fractions 2 worksheet”.

Also, students need to be sure that they are finished with the final draft of the animals/teamwork story. We started on this draft on Monday and they also had ample time to work on it today in class.

Congratulations!

Room 19 did an amazing job on the coin drive. We raised over 1000 dollars! Yes!

We were not the first-place winners, but our performance was so stellar that we will be receiving the pizza and movie prize.

Thanks so much, room 19 families, for your generosity! Thanks, students, for your enthusiasm.

More Testing

Sigh. Today was the mandated Quarter 2 math test. Why schedule it the week after the Literacy Test? I suspect nobody was in charge of thinking about that.

Still, I think they seemed to do pretty well on it. At least these new tests, once they have been scanned and entered into the district’s computers, do provide teachers with some helpful feedback about what specific skills need work. That’s more than the old ones used to do.

Other than that, we worked on editing our teamwork stories, and we read a little about ants to introduce our week’s story in the Treasures book.

Homework:  (1) Write spelling words 1-5 five times each in cursive. (2) Do “Vocabulary” and “Description" on pages 205-206 of the Practice Book. (3) Do “Character and Moral” and “Greek Roots” on pages 209-210 of the Practice Book. (4) Do “Write an Equation” pages 261-262 and “Test Prep” pages 264-265 in the math book. Also do “Crazy Quilt” on the back of the answer sheet. (5) Do “Adding and Subtracting Fractions 1” worksheet.

A “Gem” of a Day

As usual, we started the day correcting our homework. We went to the library. We took our spelling test. The students bubbled their answers for the Literacy Periodic Assessment onto the Scantron forms and they took their fractions quiz. The results of that are on the gradebook; the spelling test will be there shortly.

After recess, we worked discussed birthstones. William brought in a set of these gems for all of us took look at. The students then planned advertisements for their own birthstones using all the techniques we have studies about persuasive writing. Here is an example from room 18; I did this project with them during the Science block last week. 

Most of the students will be finishing this assignment over the weekend.

After lunch, we did math and we switched for our mixing activities. We ended the day with the Reflections awards assembly on the yard.

Homework:  (1) Finish the gem advertisement. (2) Do “Subtracting Fractions,” pages 258-259 in the math book. (3) Do the second draft of the teamwork story. We started this story on Monday and worked on it in small groups yesterday.

Quiet Day

If I were Garrison Keillor, I’d probably start it with something like “It was a pretty quiet day in room 19, our hometown….” It was a pretty uneventful day here, but those are some of the best for learning.

We worked finished our Literacy Periodic Assessments today (except for bubbling in the blue answer sheet). We learned more about hardness as a property for identifying minerals. We read more of James and the Giant Peach. We discussed adding and subtracting fractions with unequal denominators.

Before going on to the homework, I thought I’d show an example of one of their art projects with Mrs. Choi.

Homework:  (1) Write spelling words 16-20 five times each in cursive. Also write a sentence for each word. (2) Do the spelling word search. (3) Do “Understanding Special Meanings” worksheet. (4) Do “Evaluating What You Read” worksheet. (5) Do the “Birthstones” study sheet. Be sure to use the Science Resources book. (6) Do “Unlike Denominators,” pages 256-257 in the math book. (7) Do “Comparing Fractions 4” practice page.

Scratching

In the last few weeks, the students have been learning about the missions and the Spanish colonial period with Mr. Pratt. One of the things they did in room 18 was to do pictures of some of the particular missions. Here are a couple particularly great ones

Today was a pretty ordinary Wednesday. We checked, corrected, and discussed out homework. We did a little more on the second Literacy Periodic Assessment. We went to Tech Center where Ms. Richard had them work on their “Vacation” podcast project.

In Science, the students reviewed the idea of using properties such as color, transparency, and texture to help identify minerals. They agreed that since so many minerals looked similar, other tests would be helpful. So we talked about hardness as a property and the students learned about the scratch test. They then took Monday’s mystery rocks and scratched them with fingernails, cooper pennies, and steel paperclips. This helped them to figure out which one was quartz, which was calcite, which was fluorite, and which was gypsum. They had a pretty good time doing it.

In the afternoon, we corrected the math test and listened to James and the Giant Peach. Our students went to Mrs. Choi for Art while Mrs. Cha’s class came here for music. In math, we’re discussing addition of fractions with like denominators – an easy concept for most of them.

Homework:  (1) Write spelling words 11-15 five times each in cursive. Also write a sentence for each word. (2) Do the spelling scramble. (3) Do “Determining Cause and Effect” worksheet. (4) Do “Making Inference” worksheet. (5) Do “Like Denominators,” pages 253-255 in the math book. (6) Do “Comparing Fractions 3” practice page.