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)

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