Happy Friday!
The class had an awesome visit to middle school today. They started the day with Morning Meeting and a Bingo game led by Tr.s Sherry and Karen. Following that was an assembly in the theater. Tr. Christa did a planting activity following in Science. From what I hear, we will taste the result in a few weeks! There was a visit to Tr. Fred in art where student made pictures of what they imagined after a dimly lit storytelling moment of the celestial type. From what I hear, “Lunch was the most amazing meal ever!” At the end of the day we all enjoyed making Valentines Day cards for our book buddies and having a little celebration of the ending of ERB testing! Thanks to all of you who sent in treats! We even had enough to share with Tr. Hal’s class. I can guarantee your kidos will be wiped out tonight! Being a fifth grader is tiring!
Today we did a fun and REALLY challenging activity! We have been discussing the Bill of Rights and what rights we have as US citizens. Today students were given a newspaper and they needed to find an article that either demonstrated a right being violated or a right being upheld. Students had to refer to the Bill of Rights and determine the amendment that came into play. In some cases, it was more than one. For example, an article about a trial and sentencing might be covered under the 6th and 8th amendments. Students seemed really interested in the articles that they read and the challenges of determining the amendment that matched. We discussed how current the Bill of Rights is in today’s society and students are beginning to see that it is a living and breathing document. Below are some pictures taken from the activity.
Dear Families,
We have a lot of exciting events leading up to winter break and I wanted to give you a list of dates and times for reference.
Friday, December 2nd 9AM-10AM is our winter concert in the auditorium
Friday, December 2nd 10AM Book Fair in the PA room. You may either send in $ in the morning with your child, or stay and shop after the winter concert. The book fair is also open additional times for you to come with your child.
Tuesday, December 6th in the Forge trip. We will leave around 9AM and return to school around 1:30. Please be sure your child will be dressed weather appropriately for the day. We will be outside for long periods of time. If it is cold, hats, and gloves and warm footwear will be necessary. In case of rain we will cancel the trip and reschedule for another time.
Tuesday December 13th at 1:30 we will attend the middle school assembly on African Folktales
Wednesday, December 14th at 12:15 is the preliminary Geography Bee. See below for more information.
Friday December 16 Sing. More info is to follow from the school.
Geography Bee:
We will be conducting the preliminary round of the National Geographic Geography Bee in classrooms on Wednesday, December 14th at 12:15. All the students in fourth and fifth grades will participate. The final round will be held with the top 5 students from each grade on January 10th at 1:40. There is no required practice for the bee. However, if you child is interested, they may go onto the official web site. There is information about the bee as well as different sample quiz questions each day.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geobee
As always, feel free to let me know of any questions you may have.
Betsy
We are off to a great start learning all about maps and map skills. This week we focused on cardinal and intermediate directions and the use of a compass rose. Students made their own compass roses on DVDs. They enjoyed being artistic in their designs. We will have them hanging on the bulletin board in the hallway in a few days. After making their own compass roses, they used them to help determine directions using maps and atlases. For example, what direction might one travel from to ? It helped us practice finding states and understanding their relation to others. At first I gave the students a blank outline map of the and quickly discovered they did not know the states only by outline. It seems like that will be a likely next step for us to study. We are looking forward to receiving our materials from the National Geographic Geography Bee and getting started practicing for that!
Awesome New Computers!
We had such a great time using the new computers in fourth grade today. Within four minutes of distributing the computers, everyone was busily typing their memoirs we have been working on in class. You might enjoy a few of the new photos I have posted below. Now that we are up and running, it is even more important that children practice their typing. It was very clear that they were not all familiar with the keyboard, and they were asking lots of questions. The more they practice, the easier it will be to type in class. So, look on the links page and be sure your child is working with one of the typing programs listed.