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June 2016 Highlights
 

Highlights of Week 37, May 31 - June 3

 

Math: We concluded a short unit on rates, including unit pricing and evaluating the reasonableness of numerical statements. We reinforced skills and concepts related to adding and subtracting integers.

 

Language Arts: Some of the students worked on independent research projects while others wrote personal experience compositions related to Career Day, Field Day, and the Memorial Day weekend. We also integrated reading and writing with science and social studies inquiries.

 

Science: The students dissected recently-cut tulips and identified each part. We also opened up the large pistils of a few aging tulip plants in the garden and studied the embryo sacs inside. We learned about a variety of ways in which plants adapt to their surroundings in conditions of limited light, warmth, or water. We kept daily watch on the bald eaglets, who are "branching" (hopping out onto branches) as they get ready to fledge.

 

Social Studies: We learned more about colonial life in Virginia as the capital moved to Williamsburg and eventually to Richmond. The students took an assessment. We began learning about life in Virginia during the period leading up to and including the Revolutionary War.

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MAP Testing:  The students completed end-of-year MAP testing in Reading, Math, and Science.

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Field Trip to Great Falls Park, June 7, 2016

 

When we arrived at Great Falls Park, our park ranger, Georgine, set us up to watch a brief film about the park, and the students each received a Fourth Grade Pass to the National Parks. We toured the park, marvelling at the high water marks from significant foods and we gazed at the falls, swollen and muddy from recent rains. We learned about the short-lived one-mile canal on the Virginia side of Great Falls, constructed to allow boats to navigate around the falls. We looked at the remains of the canal and the remains of the related town, Matildaville.

 

The students enjoyed climbing into a pothole formed from swirling high waters over hundreds of years. They were excited to see a range of wildlife: a frog by the spring house at the Matildaville ruins, a crayfish in a small creek, spiders, a small snake, a calm deer resting in the woods, horses and riders, and, as we departed, a doe and fawn racing across a meadow.

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After a picnic lunch, the Energetic Jaguars were very energetic indeed, playing tag and then moving their play to a rocky area safely away from the gorge where they could climb, walk across a fallen tree, and engage in creative play.

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Some of the students drew pictures of animals or rushing water.

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At the Visitor's Center at the end of our visit, some of the students sat in a small kayak and looked at the exhibits. One of the small films featured interviews with some of the adventurous kayakers who brave the waters around the falls.

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Other Highlights of Week 38, June 6 - 10, 2016 - our last week of school! - Part 1

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Just as we are getting ready to "take flight" into summer adventures and fifth grade, we have been excited to watch the baby eaglets prepare to take flight. The first eaglet fledged on Sunday when none of us was watching. The remaining eaglet has been perched on a branch above the nest all of Monday and Tuesday. On Monday, one of the parents was in the nest for awhile, possibly bringing another meal and perhaps to provide encouragement. Sometimes the eaglet flaps its wings and we are sure it is about to take off - but not quite! (Surely it will happen sometime during this last week of school.)

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I was completely surprised and touched by the going away / retirement party near the end of the day on Tuesday, after our return from Great Falls. Mr. Akpinar was in on the plot and took me out of the room for a minute on the pretext of answering a question I had asked earlier in the week, and the students were all missing from our classroom when we returned. Mr. Akpinar suggested that perhaps Mrs. Bicak had taken them outside, and in fact, there they were - hiding under a table in the shade of a tent, accompanied by Mrs. Trimner and Mrs. Akpinar! I was very touched by the lovely rose bush, the framed display of photos and students' kind comments, the gift card, and the refreshments. Thank you, all, for your thoughtfulness!

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More Highlights of Week 38, June 6 - 10, 2016 - Part 2

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The students designed and constructed folding paper towers to give to the fathers on the last day of school. We completed assessments in math and science. We read some more about the Revolutionary War period. We cleared out desks and organized papers. We observed ongoing changes in the garden beds. We continued to peek in on the eaglets and were happy to see both eaglets continuing to spend time in and around the nest, even after they had both fledged.

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During the Science Day explorations, the students gathered around to watch the Cup Tower competition. Many towers came tumbling down before they could be measured. Laila finally decided that her tall tower was tall enough, and it turned out to be the tallest. We only had one fourth grader in the Build a Barge competition, but we enjoyed watching as the contestants added more and more coins to their aluminum foil barges until they sank. The ice cream sculpture competition got pretty messy as the students shook and banged their sealed bags of ice and salt to turn the inner bags of milk and sugar into ice cream. Dilara and Begum (grade 3) were the resident experts on this competition, since they had practiced many times in preparation for the Science Olympiad. Building on their expertise, most of the students decided at the start of the competition that they would shake their bags for 13 minutes. Most of them were able to build ice cream sculptures with their homemade ice cream. Safiya's ice cream tower was the tallest, by 1/4 inch.

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Speaking of quarter inches, we also measured the fourth graders' growth one last time. Over the course of the past nine months since the first week of school, the students' growth ranged from 1  5/8" to 2 1/4". A couple of students grew an inch or more just in the past three months!

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On Friday, we welcomed four fathers who were able to join our Father's Day celebration. We played some rounds of "One of these things is not like the others," with father/student teams drawing four things on whiteboards and everyone then dropping their name marker on the item that they thought was not like the others. We also played several rounds of a friendly game in whic the father and student whose answers were closest won the round: "How long do you think the father's left foot is?" "How many days has it been since the student's last birthday?" "How many plates are in your home?"

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At the final assembly, we thoroughly enjoyed the Drama Club's spring play. Many fourth graders were in the cast. There were some moments of high drama and humor! During the awards portion of the assembly, we were proud of Laila and Safiya for coming in first place in their Science Day competitions; we acknowledged Dilara and Ian for being the most helpful; and we congratulated many students for receiving honor roll recognition.

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There were lots of hugs and a few tears as everyone said good-bye for the summer, and we said good-bye to Dilara, who is moving back to New Jersey. The year has flown by. From start to finish, we felt like a fourth grade family. We kept the students' fourth grade family portraits up on the wall all year long, but now the portraits, like the students, have moved on. I hope you all have a wonderful summer and that you'll keep in touch!

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