Warm Weather Week

Dear Friends and Families,

This week was a wicked cool week filled with learning. Here is what we've been up to:


In Reading, we continued WIN block and The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1963. We started learning more about the character of Byron and how he's not just a bully, he's also sensitive at times. He accidentally killed a bird and was really upset by it. Kenny was kind of confused how is brother who was so tough could have reacted that way.

In Math, we started another problem-solving unit around a field trip and fractions. Students had to figure out whether submarine sandwiches split between different sized groups would be fair or not. They presented their thinking in a math congress.

In Social Studies, we learned about the Greensboro Sit-ins and the Freedom Riders. We read the book Freedom on the Menu and thought about the different forms of non-violent protest that happened during the Civil Rights Movement. We watched a film and students were very thoughtful listeners given that the material was pretty advanced. Students understood that the Freedom Riders were purposefully breaking the law in Southern states to draw attention to the injustice of it all.

In other news, students prepared for their Student Led Conferences. The first round of students have presented and we are so proud of their presentation skills and their growth this year.

Until next week,
Ms. Lee, Ms. Swaim, Ms. Wilder, & Ms. Avellino

It's March!

Hello Fourthlandian Families!

Today was an energetic and active week. Here is what we have been up to:

In Math, we continued to learn about shapes in our geometry unit. We created a Polygon Family Tree to think about the categories of shapes and understand, for example, that a square is also a parallelogram and a quadrilateral. Here is a picture of the Polygon Family. We also took our Unit Test and will start a new unit on Monday.

In Reading, we finished Fig Pudding. It ended in a really funny scene involving...can you guess? Fig pudding! We all laughed a lot. Then we started a new book called, The Watsons Go To Birmingham 1963. It goes along with our study of the Civil Rights Movement which is pretty cool.

In Social Studies we are still learning about the Civil Rights Movement. We learned about the Little Rock Nine and Ruby Bridges and how they were brave and integrated schools long after Brown vs. the Board of Education. We also went on a field trip to the John F. Kennedy Museum/Library. We learned a lot about The March on Washington and even got to do a mini-march of our own. There were a ton of teenagers watching us which was weird. Here are some pictures.

 

Have a great weekend, readers!
Matt & Ms. Swaim

Back After Break

Hello and fabulous Friday,

This week was a busy and fun-filled week. Here is what we were up to:

In math we started a new unit on geometry. We learned about points, lines, line segments, rays and parallel lines. We thought about what shapes are polygons and what shapes are not. We also learned that polygons are closed shapes with straight sides. Here is a picture of what we came up with.

In writing most of us finished our essays on Google docs. Some of us still need more time to edit.

In reading we listened to more Fig Pudding.  There was a really sad part where one of the main character's brothers dies. We also started new WIN groups and some of us are in them and some of us are doing independent reading work.
  
In social studies we are still learning about the Civil Rights Movement. We read a book called Rosa's Bus about Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. We also read part of the book Remember by Toni Morrison and thought about the Supreme Court case "Brown vs. the Board of Education." We learned that the court ruled that "separate is never equal" and African Americans deserved the right to learn in the best schools too. We started a time line and added the first events to it.






In other news, we replaced the star chart with a jar that we fill with post-its that we earn for our attention-getting strategy and transitions. The jar has different lines marked and we already earned our first goal. We get to sit wherever we want on Monday. Woohoo! The next goal is another pajama/movie day and the final (and biggest goal) is to have a celebration (you might even be invited!). Today we had our 70 star reward and wore pajamas and watched a movie. Here is a picture of us enjoying the movie.
Next week we have our first field trip. Don't forget to send in the signed permission slip!

Have a nice and fun-filled weekend!

Samantha, Ms. Swaim, and Ms. Lee 

Snow-day Week

Dear Families,

Our afternoon was action packed so blogging got away from us. The teachers are writing to update you on all that we accomplished.

In Reading, we finally finished up Biography Project Presentations and got invested in our grade-wide read aloud of Fig Pudding. Students are loving how author, Ralph Fletcher brings a scene to life through sensory detail. Today, he had all of our mouths watering describing blueberry pie.

In Writing, we are publishing our Opinion Essays. We also wrote an essay in one sitting to show all that we've learned about essay-writing. Our next unit of study is coming right up and will have us writing informational books about the Civil Rights Movement.

In Math, we finished our unit on division and angles and took a tricky end-of-unit test. We practiced for the test with a game of Math Jeopardy. Today, we had a guest teacher come in for Problem-solving Friday. Mr. Smalley showed us a picture of a giant sculpture made out of cans. We asked a lot of interesting questions and eventually tackled the problem, how many cans are there in total? We were very excited by the strategies used and the math discussion in which students shared their thinking.

In Social Studies, we began to think about the history that came before the Civil Rights Movement, discussing slavery, segregation, and Jim Crow Laws. We also stepped back to think about the idea of oppression and how it can rise out of stereotypes. We read a book called William's Doll and had an interesting discussion around the stereotypes we know exist in the world. Here is a picture of the Cycle of Oppression that we learned about. 

Finally, the Fourthlandian Store opened and students were excited to buy fidgets, arts and crafts, and other unique items with their hard-earned Fourthlandian dollars. We also have some budding entrepreneurs thinking of creative ways to earn money. Here are some of the businesses opening soon.

Enjoy your vacation and stay warm out there!

Best,
Ms. Swaim, Ms. Lee, Ms. Wilder, and Ms. Avellino

The Post of the Week

GREETINGS FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS!

In Math we learned a new math method called the partial quotient method for division. It's pretty tricky and fun at the same time.  Here is a picture of how to do it:

In Writing, we are still drafting our essays. We used our Opinion Check-lists to see how we are doing with essay writing and set goals. Many of us are almost finished with their drafts and are excited to choose new topics.



In Reading, we have been presenting our Biography Projects. Here are some pictures. Those of us who have made posters, you will get to see these soon when we bring them home. We also started a grade-wide read aloud (they're reading it in Ms. Allen's room AND Ms. Temple's rooms too) called Fig Pudding. 

In Science we thought about weight lines and put the samples of sand, soil, mineral oil, and water on the weight line where they made most sense. We then looked at the weight lines that different students designed and thought about what made them good and what made them not so good. We decided that good weight lines are labeled with equally spaced intervals with the unit clearly marked.


In other news, Quiet Time is getting better and better and it's more and more peaceful. We had Understanding Our Differences on diabetes and allergies. We even had a guest from Newton North High School named Cole. He had an allergic reaction when he was two. An exciting thing was that we earned 11 stars, a Fourthlandian record! We got to have a dance party and relax at the end of today. We also earned more money and paid rent! Finally, Dr. Curran came and taught us a mindfulness practice of ringing a chime. Here is a picture of us being mindful.

Have a nice weekend!

Maria, Matt, and Ms. Swaim

Week of MLK Weekend

Greeting Fourthlandians Families and Friends!

This week was a short week but we accomplished a lot! Here is what we've been up to.

In Writing, we worked on our opinion essays. We wrote introductions and conclusions and next week, we'll be putting all of it together into a draft. Here is a picture of our essay folders that we put together to organize our writing.


In Math, we finished up our problem-solving unit on the Teachers Lounge. We thought about remainders and how remainders can be different depending on the unit. For example, for money, you can split a dollar into change but if you're dealing with tables or people, you have to round up. We also took an end-of-unit assessment.


In Reading, we have been hard at work finishing our Biography Projects. Most of us are making google presentations. We've been pretty independent on all of this which our teachers are excited about.

In Science, we explored the question, "do materials with the same volume have the same weight?" We used digital scales to measure sand, soil, mineral oil and plain water (scientifically H2O!) and discovered that they weigh different amounts. Some of us predicted this and others were surprised. We learned that different minerals make up rocks.




We also focused on improving Quiet Time. Before, it could be noisy with people moving around. It's getting more and more peaceful and even teachers are able to have their own quiet time. An exciting update is we got PAID!!!! We each earned $50 and learned how to fill out our bank log.

Today, we went to a Creative Arts and Sciences Presentation on Rocks & Minerals. Here are pictures of us at the different stations.

Goodbye and have a good weekend!

From,
Ms. Swaim & Matt Chung

First Week Back in the New Year

Hello there,

Happy holidays and a happy, happy New Year! This week has been a more relaxed week though we've accomplished a lot. Here is what we've been up to:

In Writing, we have been working to come up with thesis statements and three reasons to prove them. Ms. Swaim is writing about how "Dogs make their owners better people." Other people are writing about family members and other topics they feel strongly about.

In Reading, we have been doing research for our Biography Projects. We chose important people and are learning about their lives so that we can create projects. Some of the projects are really cool. We can make google presentations about our person and we can even make a fake Facebook Page for them. We are starting to use computers next week. Some of the people we're studying are Albert Einstein, Amelia Earhart, Elizabeth Blackwell, Nelson Mandela, Taylor Swift, and many more.

In Math, we started a new unit of problem-solving. We work in partnerships to solve tricky math problems around vending machines. We made posters to explain our thinking and presented them at a "Math Congress." Next week, we are solving another cool problem about an amusement park.

In Science we started a new unit called, "Earth Beneath Our Feet." We explored earth's materials and tried to identify them by observing them carefully. Here is a picture of us observing:

In other news, we have started a Fourthlandian Economy. We have designed money and we have applied for new jobs that we are going to be paid for next week. Some of the new jobs include: Peace Officer (the MOST wanted job, to help students resolve problems), Bankers (to pay us), and the Landlord (to collect our rent).

We also had a special visitor today, Mr. Swaim (Ms. Swaim's dad). He told us an Ananzi story and another story about bees called "Woe is Me Bones." We really, really want him to come back to tell more stories.

Your bloggers,
Shira & Samantha (and Ms. Swaim)