Sept 2015 Highlights and Galleries

September 2015 Highlights

(Please scroll down for more slideshows and weekly highlights.)

Highlights of Our First Week in Fourth Grade:

Aug. 31 - Sept. 4, 2015

The scenes in our Week 1 gallery help tell the story of our first week of fourth grade.

There have been many opportunities for collaboration, but our biggest collaborative project was developing the fourth grade class cheer. Anja got an idea for music and lyrics. The class built on her ideas and tweaked the words to include our new class name, the "Energetic Jaguars." When the students practiced singing in small groups, the others gave them friendly feedback. Next, the students worked in groups in the auditorium to develop dance moves. The group memberships kept morphing, along with the moves!

Adan said to Ian at one point that he was trying to develop moves that fit with the words of the cheer; he liked Ian's dance moves too and hoped they could use some: "Let's take our moves and enhance them!" Back in the classroom, Ian demonstrated some of his dance moves, and the class adopted several of his moves into the routine. The final cheer drew from each group's moves.

In math, the students worked together to solve a "Martian Math" puzzle and were quite surprised to learn that they had been doing algebra! They also applied algebraic reasoning in playing a game of "What Number Am I Holding?" They worked in teams on a scavenger hunt involving their new Everyday Math reference books. Outdoors, we played a variation of musical chairs using number bases and foam dice to create addition and subtraction problems.

In language arts, we've begun reviewing cursive and will be doing more of our work in cursive until it feels quite natural. The students wrote about one of their interests and drew self portraits on which they shared their interests. They also wrote and revised "I see, I think, I wonder" compositions as they looked into the garden areas beyond the auditorium. We made our first visit to the Oakton Library, and the students worked in small groups on a scavenger hunt involving the Dewey Decimal System.

In social studies, the students learned about and used latitude and longitude to describe locations, and we looked at different map projections. Each student got a pass for free admission to federal lands for the whole year. We visited some websites to learn more about national parks and federal lands.

Highlights of Week 2: Sept. 7 - 11, 2015

The new slideshow in our gallery helps tell the story of our second week of fourth grade.

We completed our MAP testing in reading math, and science. The students also completed Word Study assessments and timed quizzes of addition and subtraction facts.

Our timed addition and subtraction fact quizzes revealed that some of the students have gotten rusty on their fact recall. We reviewed a number of strategies for adding and subtracting, including:

* using ten as an "anchor" (Ex: 6 + 7 = 6 + 4 + 3)

* using known facts to recall other facts, including "doubles + 1" (Ex: 6 + 7 = 6 + 6 + 1)

* adding 9 by first adding 10 then subtracting 1; subtracting 9 by first subtracting 10 then adding 1

(Ex: 6 + 9 = 6 + 10 - 1; 15 - 9 = 15 - 10 + 1)

We reviewed and extended the students' knowledge of geometry terms and concepts. The students represented and named line segments, rays, and lines using straightedges to draw figures. We next focused on quadrangles and looked at the properties of squares, rectangles, parallelograms, rhombi, and trapezoids. We checked glossary definitions and determined that a square is also a rectangle, a parallelogram, and a rhombus. The students represented a number of polygons using lengths of straws and pipe cleaners, followed by paper and pencil representations, as we listened to an online reading of The Greedy Triangle. Some of the students found it challenging to draw heptagons (with 7 sides) and nonagons (with 9 sides), and we looked at variations involving concave polygons (with indented sides that look something like smiles). The students sorted pattern block shapes by different criteria. When we examined each day's morning survey, we identified the median and mode of the data. We also discussed the limits of surveys: sometimes the available choices do not reflect all of the students' interests.

We have been "reading for meaning" in science class, reviewing the steps involved in scientific investigations and learning more about metric measurements. We used balance scales and digital scales to measure a specified mass of flour and salt, and we used small beakers to measure a specific volume of water, in making our own play dough. Most of the students found that their mixtures were quite sticky and required some adjustments to the recipe. They recorded their observations and reflections. As part of this guided inquiry, the students also began estimating linear measurements. They determined which parts of their fingers approximate 1 cm and 1 inch; they measured their handspans in cm; and they measured from their elbow into their palm to find a rough one-foot measurement. These handy non-standard measurements will help us make estimates of length throughout the year. We did not have time to complete our play dough investigation: on Monday, the students will make play dough "snakes" while estimating and then measuring 25 cm and 100 cm lengths.

We are continuing to practice cursive writing skills while copying some things from the board: homework reminders and questions to reflect on during writing time. Students are welcome to compose their thoughts in whichever format they prefer. We are developing personal spelling lists from the words students use in their personal writing, and they will practice these words in cursive.

On Friday morning, in acknowledging 9/11 as a day of service and remembrance, we took some time to think about people who are willing to put their lives on the line in service careers. The students then copied two questions from the board: "What does peace mean to me? How can I be a peacemaker?" We went out into the peaceful setting of the meditation garden to reflect and write. I encouraged the students to fill a page with their reflections: some students were able to expand on their thoughts with new ideas, while other writings became a bit rambly. (It's a process!) Back in our classroom, some of the students shared their writings.

The students enjoyed their first "Second Step" character education lesson of the year, particularly the music video about walking in other people's shoes! We are thinking about and applying the concepts of empathy and respect at every opportunity.

This week, the students began meeting in their fourth and fifth grade foreign language groups.

Thursday was Safiye Kutlu's last day with us before her family moves to California, but we agreed that she will always be part of our "fourth grade family." We shared some hugs and went outside to do our class cheer together one last time.

We began electives on Friday. There are five fourth-graders in Drama, four in Math Crafts, two in Sign Language, and one in Show Choir. Everyone seemed to enjoy their first session! (The drama students could not say much about their experience, because they are keeping their play a secret for now.)

Highlights of Week 3: Sept. 14 - 18, 2015

The students participated in DRA reading assessments involving oral reading and written responses to the text, along with a reading survey. Some of the students will be completing their written responses and reading surveys during our fourth week of school.

We visited the library on Monday afternoon to check out new books. During shared reading time on Friday, we enjoyed The Librarian Who Measured the Earth (by Kathryn Lasky), the story of how Eratosthenes, over 2,000 years ago, was able to calculate the circumference of the Earth by applying logical reasoning and mathematical knowledge, while he was also compiling the first geography book.

We continued to review and extend the students' knowledge of geometry terms and concepts. We began working with compasses to draw circles (learning the terms center point and radius), and the students worked in teams of three to create enormous chalk circles on the blacktop. Some groups drew concentric circles (sharing the same center point). One group created a Mickey Mouse head with three large circles. The groups estimated the radius of each circle by walking with two-foot strides, as we had practiced earlier in the week.

The students wrote about the process of creating the chalk circles. This led into a lesson on topic sentences; the students evaluated their own and each other's opening sentences to see if they stated the main idea, and a number of students revised their compositions to include a topic sentence, additional details, and a clear sequence. Finally, the students wrote final versions in cursive; for some, this presented the greatest challenge of the whole process as we wrapped up our first writers' workshop!

We have been clarifying geometry terminology for a couple of weeks, but old notions die hard. Some of the students seem to have a hard time accepting the official mathematical definitions for certain quadrangles that they have been familiar with for years. Some of them (incorrectly) believe that a square is a rhombus when it is tilted but not when it is flat; that a trapezoid must look like the pattern block trapezoid with two equal sides; that a parallelogram has two long and two short sides (and/or that it must be "slanted"); and/or that a rectangle also must have two long sides and two short sides. For the students who need it, we continue to study the official definitions to broaden and deepen the students' understanding of how the different types of quadrangles relate to each other. We created a large, complex Venn diagram to show these relationships and to show, for example, why a square is also a specific case of a rhombus, a rectangle, and a parallelogram. We will continue analyzing, sorting, and categorizing quadrangles into Week 4 to solidify their understanding.

Another mathematical challenge was to look at a set of quadrangles that were kites and a set that were not kites, and come up with a definition for a kite. The students worked in small groups to refine their definitions, but this is a work in progress, and we will complete this analysis in Week 4.

On Monday, the students concluded their play dough investigation: taking the temperature of their play dough before and after kneading it, and estimating and measuring 25 cm and 100 cm lengths of play dough. We are just beginning a new investigation into the optimal size and shape of paper helicopters. Midweek, we spent time observing the runoff garden near the preschool playground. The students were particularly intrigued with the dried milkweed pods packed with large brown seeds with long white tufts; as each student released one seed, the tufts caught the breeze and the seeds were carried aloft, many of them rising higher than the building. This week, the students read in their science texts about a controlled experiment comparing three melting agents as we discussed independent and dependent variables. They worked with partners to analyze and complete a table with partial information regarding the variables, constants, and results of a variety of hypothetical scientific inquiries.

The fourth graders compared features of physical and political maps. They have begun learning the names and locations of the 50 states, and as part of our word study time, they have also been sorting the states according to which syllable is stressed. (For this exercise, we have been focusing on the second word of states with two-word names.)

It was a full week, and by Friday afternoon, many of our Energetic Jaguars were not feeling very energetic! After we finished our shared story of The Librarian Who Measured the Earth, the students did not want to leave the rug! In fact, they asked if they could have a little rest time, and we turned off the lights and I read a page or two aloud from their science text, in review, until they felt ready for action again. I hope everyone got a lot of sleep over the weekend!

Highlights of Week 4: Sept. 21 - 23, 2015

Please visit our photo gallery above and the related page of videos, which help to tell the story of our short but exciting fourth week of fourth grade.

The greatest excitement of our week came during two student-led investigations.

Paper Helicopters:

The students explored different paper helicopter designs to see which would spin fastest and longest. The students had been learning about independent variables, dependent variables, and constants in science class. We kept as one constant the overall length of the paper: 11 inches. The students explored with thinner and wider rectangles and with shorter and longer wing spans (and shorter and longer helicopter bodies). It was difficult to count the number of turns made by each spinning helicopter as it descended. Some students tried coloring one wing to see if it would be easier to count the turns, but it was still difficult, and so we were not able to quantify our results very scientifically. This is an ongoing investigation.

Polyhedra:

After the students completed a geometry assessment on Wednesday, I brought out two containers packed with snap-together geometric shapes. (The larger set is called Frameworks; the smaller, translucent set is called Geofix.) The students began exploring and creating with great enthusiasm. Small, collaborative teams formed naturally. Students combined several smaller creations to form interesting assemblages. Ian casually spun his square pyramid on its base and then flipped it over to try spinning it on its vertex; after several tries, he got it to spin very well like a top, and this new idea of geometric tops quickly percolated through the room. Students tried spinning the 3D shapes they had already created and designed new ones for this purpose. Perhaps the longest-spinning tops were wide and relatively flat, made from tall isosceles triangles. Overheard during the excitement:

"That spun so long!"

"Yes, 'cause we're scientists!"

Meanwhile, another team collaborated to make a soccer ball out of hexagons and pentagons. It turned out that our set was short one hexagon, so they snapped together six small equilateral triangles to form the missing hexagon. We saved quite a few of the completed shapes for further investigation next week.

Social Studies:

This week, the students each "adopted" a state and conducted Internet research to find some basic information about their states. They will be making small posters about their states next week.

Highlights of Week 5: Sept. 28 - Oct. 2, 2015

The students have begun setting personal goals on a weekly self-reflection form, focusing on qualities of effective learners, and taking a few minutes to reflect on their progress toward their goals at the end of each day.

Math:

In our current unit of study, during Week 5 we examined place value to the hundreds of millions and had opportunities for collecting, organizing, and analyzing data. Students in small groups have also started applying problem-solving strategies and have begun to explain their problem-solving strategies in notebooks that the students have named "Roaring Math."

On Friday, we collected data involving small (half-ounce) boxes of raisins. Each student made a guess as to how many raisins might be in their individual box of raisins; then, after counting the number of raisins in the top layer, the students revised their estimates before counting the actual number of raisins. We collected class data at each step in the process. (We were impressed that Dilara's initial guess and follow-up estimate accurately predicted that there were 28 raisins in her box.) We identified the maximum, minimum, range, mode, median, and mean of the actual raisin counts. The students then discussed what is a "typical" number of raisins in a box and made predictions about the number of raisins in four unopened boxes. Finally, in groups, the students discussed strategies for estimating the number of raisins in a 12-ounce box of raisins.

Language Arts:

We have begun novel studies: one group is reading Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell, and the other group is reading The BFG by Roald Dahl. The students are reading chapters at home in preparation for group discussions and focused study in class. For instance, on Friday, the BFG group enjoyed coming up with definitions for some of the tangled, humorous words used by the BFG, collecting their ideas here: BFG Language.

During writing sessions, the students have begun writing several different leads and then choosing the one that seems ost likely to draw the reader into the writing. We have also begun sharing writing entries in small groups and asking questions to help the writers to expand on their entries.

The students made cards for Jasmine, who has transferred to another school.

Social Studies:

The students have continued researching a state and creating posters. We had one online research session in the computer lab this week, and the students have continued researching their states using Chromebooks in the classroom. Each student has also referenced a small booklet with useful information about their state. Some students who have completed their posters have gone on to research other states.

Science:

As concluding activities for our first science unit, focusing on the scientific method, the students sorted science word cards to match terms, definitions, and examples. This activity helped the students to clarify their understanding of key terms, including: hypothesis, prediction, inference, independent and dependent variables, constant, and quantitative data. The students observed and described an unfamiliar object, and we sorted their descriptions into two columns: qualitative and quantitative data. In small groups, the students conducted an investigation of simple cardboard vehicles sliding down ramps, changing one variable at a time to see how different surfaces or weights might affect speed.