Not So White Winter

Wassup human beings!

This week was a short and hectic week. Here is what we've been up to:

In Writing, we are trying to free-write on lots of different topics to inspire our essay-writing. We looked at a 4th grader's free-writing from last year and noticed how he wrote on the topic of friendship for more than a page. We practiced writing our own entries and pushed our thinking with prompts like "an example of this is" and "to add on..."

In Math, we took our Unit 5 Math Assessment. We also spent today building snow-people. The parts of the snow people (like their noses, buttons, hats brooms) weighed different amounts and had different prices. We weren't allowed to spend more than $25 and it couldn't weigh more than 50 pounds. Here is a picture of the snow-people we eventually built:


In Reading, we read the biography, Miss Moore Thought Otherwise about a woman who got children's rooms in libraries. We also read, As Good As Anybody about Abraham Joshua Heschel and Martin Luther King, Jr.

In Social Studies we finally got to do an activity on the Everglades in Florida. We were each assigned an animal or thing in the Everglades and then we worked to figure out how we were all connected. Here is a picture of the web we created.





We also had our final round of Non-traditional Homework Presentations. Here are all their pictures:



 
 

We hope you all have a great Winter Vacation!
See you in 2016!

Your bloggers,
Shira, Samantha, Billy, Matt, and Lena (and Ms. Swaim, the typer)

PS
Merry Christmas and a belated Hannukah

Week before a three day week

Hello-

This week was weird/action-packed week. Here is what we've been up to (dunn...dunn...dunn...)

In Reading we are still learning about biographies. We read the biography, Who Says Women Can't be Doctors? and thought about women's rights and how the setting of the time period was unfair. We also started wondering, who gets biographies written about them. We learned about the possibility of having a Social Justice Workshop (after break) where we discuss challenging topics that have to do with fairness.

In Writing, we continued to brainstorm entries for our opinion writing unit. We also had a Writing Celebration and finished our stories for good. Here are some pictures of the celebration. A LOT of family and Franklin teachers came!    

In Math, we are still in the middle of our multiplication unit. We took our 5s and Shira took her 12s test. We learned about expanded notation and practiced the box method and the partial product method for multiplication.

In Social Studies, we finished up our study guides of the South East and are having our quiz show today.

In other news, there are no Fourthlandian birthdays until January 15th (two students share a birthday) and January 19th!

Well, see ya later (said in a Western accent)
Shira & Samantha

The Blog

Hellooooooooooooo!


This week was a crazy but somewhat normal week. Here is what we were up to:


In Math, we started a new unit on multiplication! We are learning the box method and the partial product method. Here is a picture of the box method strategy and a youtube video of the partial products method:



In Reading, we are in the midst of a Biography Unit. Some of us read Wilma Unlimited while others of us studied Nelson Mandela and read the picture book version of his autobiography Long Walk to Freedom. Both groups thought about setting and the individuals amazing character traits.

In Writing, we have been working on opinion essays. We practiced the structure of essays by writing a quick draft using the thesis statement, "I love ice cream." We supported our thesis statement with reasons and evidence. Next week we will begin thinking about how the content of our essays is just as important as the structure.

In Social Studies, we continued learning about the South East. In other news, we had our second round of Non-traditional Homework Presentations. Here are some pictures of our presenters.

Goodbye virtual tiny people,

Shira, Samantha, Matt,  Ms. Swaim, 
The Computer, & The Virtual Tiny Pixals

The Great Visit

Hello Fourthlandian Families!

This week was a busy and action-packed week because we had a long holiday weekend. Here is some of what we did:

In Math, we took a unit test and our 4s multiplication fact test. Some of us took our 9s and a 50 fact test. We also learned a lot about decimals before our unit test (how to add them, subtract them and plot them on a number line). We did A LOT of practice before taking the test.

In Reading we finished our unit of study on Short Stories. We learned about theme and how it is the heart of the story, and the message that the author really wants you to know. We read Fly Away Home which was a sad story about a boy who lives with his dad in an airport.

In Writing, we took an on-demand to finish up our realistic fiction unit. We also started opinion writing on topics of our choice. Next week we are going to learn about essay writing and will choose topics we REALLY care about. Ms. Swaim is going to be writing about how dogs make the best pets. 


In Social Studies, we started studying the South East region of the US. We labeled maps of the region and started South East study guides to learn about the land and resources of the region.

In other news, we had our first round of Non-traditional Homework presentations. They were really good and we have a lot of pictures of the presenters:

                     

          







                        











We also had author and illustrator, Kevin Hawkes visit. He was AWESOME and showed us how he draws and illustrates books. Here are some pictures:



Goodbye and see you soon!
Samantha, Shira, Matt, and Ms. Swaim

A Long Week

Hola Fourthlandian Families!

This week was a very cool week! Here is what we were up to.

In Writing, we started publishing our realistic fiction stories. We are typing on laptops using google docs. We are enjoying the typing.

In Math, we are studying decimals and how they relate to fractions. We learned more place value and that to the right of the ones place is a decimal point and then tenths and hundredths (and even thousandths). We have been practicing writing decimals as fractions and as base ten blocks with the flat being one, the base ten block being a tenth and the cube being a hundredth. 

In Reading, we are still in our Short Story Unit. We have been learning about plot and read Mr. Lincoln's Way by Patricia Polacco. We learned about the different parts of plot: introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, and conclusion. We've been meeting in our Reading Groups too.

In Science, we've been learning about volcanoes and earthquakes and got to watch some brainpop videos. We are looking forward to different units where we'll get to study rocks and minerals. Next up, we're studying the South East.

In other news, we made a movie for All School Meeting showing what it looks like to follow the rule, "Do your best work" in the classroom. The movie will be shown at All School Meeting on Wednesday. We also had Dr. Curran visit as a guest teacher. She taught us a game called "Ly"where we acted out a describing word that ended in 'ly. The class then guessed and by the end of the game we had a whole whiteboard filled with describing words. Here are some pictures:

Another cool thing was that on Thursday we had Understanding Our Differences and got to learn about different ways that people learn. There were two speakers, Dana and Rae who had ADHD.

Have a great weekend and Thanksgiving if we don't blog before then!





See ya in one-two weeks!
Shira, Sabrina, Samantha & Ms. Swaim

Four-day week in Fourthlandia

Good Afternoon Fourthlandian Fans!

This week was a weird, four-day week! We had Veterans day on Wednesday which made for a strange week.

In Math, we took the Unit 3 test and started a new unit on decimals. We took our 3s multiplication test and will be taking our 4s next Friday (a week from today). This week was our last week of Subtraction WIN Block. All of us improved our subtraction skills.

In Reading, we read a story called "Zlateh the Goat" and focused on the setting of the story. We learned that setting is the time, place, and culture of a story. In "Zlateh the Goat" we learned that the story took place in a setting very different than present day. We also continued to meet in our Reading Groups, although we missed two days because of a weird week.

In Writing, most people finished their short stories. We had a lesson on re-visioning our writing with different "glasses" on. The glasses weren't real but helped us look at our writing with a different focus each time we read it. We tried to revise our dialogue, our setting, and making sure we show rather than tell. We also made sure our characters weren't seeming like fake, cardboard characters.

In Science, we built the layers of the earth using clay. Some of us sketched pictures but most of use wanted to build with clay. We labeled the different layers and learned that the layers are the core, the outer core, the mantle and the crust. Here are some pictures of our models:

In other news, we started planning for non-traditional homework presentations. Many of us are very excited and have already chosen our topics. We also have new take-a-break desks and have set up our classroom a little differently.

See ya later alligators!
Samantha & Ms. Swaim

A Busy Week in Fourthlandia

Dear Fourthlandian Fans,

This week was a busy week. Here is what we were up to.

In math we were doing a lot of review for the Unit 3 test. We practiced elapsed time problems with open number lines. We also started solving number sentences with variables. Finally, we continue to practice and remind ourselves of the difference between prime and composite. "P-R-I-M-E, only factor is one and me!"

In Reading, we started our short story reading groups. We met and made book group rules and some of us even named our book groups (Fourthlandian Blue Cobras and the Purple Fourthlandian Falcons). We read different short stories and thought about how characters were revealed. We then used our Reading Response Journals to record our noticings in a bubble map.

In Writing, we are working hard to finish up our Realistic Fiction stories. Some of us are already editing them.

In other news, we started Science this week and we are learning about the earth's crust, the mantle, the inner core, and the outer core. We also had a Creative Arts program that was really cool. We heard music from Trinidad, Brazil, Spain and some other far away places. Here are some pictures:

Have an awesome and fun weekend!
Samantha & Ayla

It's Halloween!

Aloha Fourthlandian Parents!

In social studies we did a trivia game on the North East and finished our study guides. We are starting a science unit next week!

In Reading, we continued with our short story unit and read the story Porluck and compared it to My Rotten Red Headed Older Brother. We also wrote a few CERs. We are working at improving our evidence by making it really specific.

In Writing Workshop we had a mini-lesson on “turning on the lights” by adding setting. We are working against a deadline of next week to finish our first drafts!

 In Math, we learned about elapsed time problems and variables. We are preparing for a unit test next week. Factor pairs and prime numbers continue to feel tricky. Here is a picture of our math word wall.


In other news, we finished making our Job Chart. Here is a picture. Today is Ms. Catlin’s last day. Unfortunately, she has to go back to Vermont to get rest. We are sad to see her go. If Ms. Catlin’s reading, we miss you already!

Tomorrow’s Halloween!

Your bloggers,
Samantha, Neah, Shira & guest blogger, Ben

The right on time PRIME post

Hej Fourthlandian Parents (that is Swedish for hello!)

This week was a hard week of learning. We kept busy and here is what we were up to.

In Writing, we continued to write our stories. We thought about how dialogue should be meaningful and not just filler. We also thought about how action, dialogue and description can really bring our writing to life.

In Reading, we started a new Short Story Unit. We read Pobody's Nerfect and The Goodness of Matt Keisar. We practiced reacting to the character of Mia in Pobody's Nerfect who is sad because all of her "supposed" friends don't come to her birthday party. She eventually learns that her true friend is Paolo. The Goodness of Matt Kaiser is about a boy who's not very good. We haven't finished it yet (except for one of our bloggers, she read ahead!). We learned about our characters by tuning into Action, Dialogue, Description, and the Reactions of other characters.

In Social Studies, we are wrapping up our study of the North East. Our trivia game is on Monday and most of us are feeling prepared.

In Math we are studying multiplication and have learned a lot of math vocabulary. We've learned about prime numbers, composite numbers, square numbers, factors, products, and multiples. We also started practicing our facts with fact triangles.

Streganona, Fern, and Amelia Bedelia

In other news, Tuesday was "Dress Like a Character Day." Here is a picture of those of us who dressed up and our teachers in their costumes:

And it was Nathan's birthday! Evan's mom also came in to teach us about Veterans and next week, we are going to write them letters :) Finally, tomorrow is the Halloween Bash. We hope to see you there!

Have a nice weekend!
Neah, Shira, Samantha and guest blogger, Matt

Two weeks away and we're back!

Hola Fourthlandian Families!

This week was a short week because of the holiday. We haven’t blogged for two weeks because school was cancelled on Friday. We’ve been busy though and here is an update.

In Writing Workshop, we have started writing our stories with action and dialogue. We’ve been working to bring our characters to life so that they seem real (and not like cardboard). We also looked at the leads from some professional writers and noticed how they hook their readers. We are trying to do the same in our stories.

In Reading, we took the first and second part of the GATES assessment. We liked the vocabulary section better because it took less time than the comprehension section. We also worked to learn twelve power verbs by reading Ron’s Big Mission and Harvesting Hope, The Story of Ceasar Chavez. Here is a picture of the twelve verbs that can help us think deeply about our reading.

In Math, we took a unit assessment on subtraction, place value, and line plots. We started a new unit on multiplication and learned about Function Machines. We learned about a new piece of homework to master our multiplication facts. We have to study them for 20 minutes a week but we got to decide how we would study. Some of us took a fact test to see if we already know our multiplication facts.

In other news, we  earned twelve minutes of extra recess today and our first afternoon recess (from earning stars). We had Town Meeting this week and we talked about how we could create Fourthlandian money and get paid for our jobs. We are excited for that. It was also Shira, Matt, and Ms. Catlin’s birthdays. To the left is a picture of our birthday peeps. Also, we finally started using our backjack chairs (with a row of us in chairs) Below is a picture of us learning in them.

Ciao!

Shira, Neah, & Ryan

First Full Week Back in Fourthlandian

Hello!

How ya doin?! This week was a very busy and tiring week. Here is an update on everything we did in Fourthlandian!

In Math, we plotted the length of our feet on a line plot. We also practiced different strategies for addition. We did the partial sums method and some of us learned the column addition method. Later in the week, we practiced subtraction with the trade first method. Here is a picture of what the trade first method looks like ----->






In Reading, we worked up to 17 minutes of stamina. Here is a picture of what it looks like to read with stamina (thanks to two of our bloggers for being the models).


We also learned a way to respond to our reading called CER. The C stands for Claim, the E stands for Evidence and the R stands for Reasoning. We are going to practice writing CER reading responses again next week.

In Writing this week we continued to plan our Realistic Fiction Stories. We developed our character's traits thinking about what they look like and the character traits they have. We were reminded how to use the graphic organizer of a story arc to plan our stories.

In other news, we got our Fourthlandian Jobs! We can't list all of them because there are TOO MANY but we're super excited!!!! We signed our job contracts and thought about the things we need to do to do our jobs well. We also started a new star chart where we earn stars that will count towards bigger rewards and afternoon recess. Finally, we celebrated Nate's Birthday.

Ciao,
Your Official Bloggers
Shira, Samantha and Neah


PS We are starting Homework next week. Yay!