Sometimes You Need a Fresh Start!

You know it's going to be "One of those days" when you go to iron your pants and you discover the hem has come undone.  I should have known it was going to be one of those days.
We started out the morning with bus evacuation which upset our music class.  When we came back we had a big class discussion about our rules and being a 95% 4th grader.  After some refreshers on expectations and some table re-arranging, we were back in the saddle and going off at a full gallop!  So, just like the hem on the pants, anything that comes undone, can be stitched up.
After our complicated morning, we spent time reading the book Eli by Bill Peet and discussing the moral of the story.  We also drew lions that will become part of our next art exhibit.
Our favorite activity of the day, though, was the post-it facts activity.  Students were asked to write one fact about monarchs per post-it note.  Some kids got up to 24 facts!  These facts will later be categorized and used in our writing of our monarch books.  See some of our pictures below:

Metamorphosis

Our students are SLOWLY, but surely becoming fourth graders.  We've been working hard on following the rules and practicing expected behaviors.

In science today, we watched a You Tube video on the life cycle of a monarch.  Our monarchs unfortunately died so we've had to improvise watching the life cycle.  The students read in an article that the milkweed may have been what made them sick.  Ms. Allen has emailed Monarch Watch to inquire about the recent monarch deaths.  We are also working on our books on the life cycle of the monarch butterfly.

Super Spellers!

It's been a very busy day in fourth grade!  We had our first day of chorus and our first lesson in spelling!
We brainstormed some LONG E words today based on the spelling patterns found in the sentence: She really likes to eat green beans.  Here are a few samples: puppy, east, steal, eat, chewy, etc.
In other news, we have a caterpillar going into its J-SHAPE!

Perfect Painters

We have a class pet!  Actually, we have TWO class pets.  Our class pets are monarch caterpillars.  We're observing the life cycle of a monarch.  To do this, we will be making Picturing Writing books about our little critters.  We started our books with the first stage in the cycle of a butterfly - the egg.  

Storyworks, a literary magazine for kids, has an article on volcanoes.  The kids read a book about Mount Tambora.  It was a volcano that erupted in Indonesia.  The article highlighted the volcano's effects in NEW ENGLAND.  

More to come tomorrow - stay tuned.

Library Lions

Today we went to the library!  Mrs. Stone read us the book Miss Moore Thought Otherwise.  The book was about the first childrens' library. We also got to choose books.  You'll see us bringing home magazines and books this evening.

Super Spellers!

Today, we took a spelling achievement test.  Boy, was that hard!  We had 30 words to spell on our fourth day of school!  Phew!
A big thank you to the DeClerk family for donating a broom, dustpan, and clipboards.  We are very appreciative!
It was BATT day today.  We got to set out the books and choose one too.  You'll see us carry them home here and there.
In Daily 5, we learned about read to someone and how to sit in EEKK style.  Ask your child about EEKK!
Have a fabulous Friday and wonderful weekend! See you Monday.

Thrilling Thursday

Today in class, we wrote in our Quick Write Journals.  We wrote about Finn McCool, the biggest giant in Ireland.  One of our students wrote, "....he likes to hunt with a bow made of the rainbow's curve and arrows he made with pine trees and sharp boulders..."

In math, we had our official ENVISION math lesson. We learned about multiplication and its properties.  Did you know that if you reverse the factors in a multiplication problem, you get the same product?

We created classroom rules!  They are:

 

Our Classroom Rules, When We Follow the Rules!

Be Respectful

Be Responsible

Be Safe

Be Kind, Courteous, and Considerate

Day 2 of School

Today, we did two painting projects.  Ms. Allen read us the book The Dot  by Peter H. Reynolds and discussed the idea of "just trying."  We completed our own dots and we will be displaying them on a bulletin board near you!  Our second art project was making a self-portrait.  First, we drew with pencil and then we traced it over with Sharpie.  After that we used watercolor to paint in our details.

How We Spent Our Summer Vacation

Today, September 2, 2014, we read the book How I Spent My Summer Vacation by Mark Teague.  In class, the students brainstormed activities they did over the summer.  Here are our favorites:

• Swimming
• Visiting New York x 2
• Going to Boston - A RED SOX GAME!!
• Whale's Tale x 2
• Hershey Park x 3!
• Renewing of the Vows 
• Camping in Maine
• Riding an Airplane (FIRST TIME!)
• Six Flags
• Fisher Cats Game
• Camping with Family
• Cheer Leading
• EATING Ice Cream
• Costa Rica
• New Dog
• Hiking
• Washington D.C.
• Wedding
• Prince Edward Island