Field Day

We had a great time!  Here are some pictures from our day!

Field Day

Field Day is coming up on Friday.  Please send you child with a water bottle, sunscreen, and a towel (for lunchtime).  This will help keep them hydrated and sunburn free!

Regular Spelling This Week

Hi!  This week is various words that are homophones, so everyone is going to take the regular list.  This is great practice for all students.  They should do their spelling homework based upon the first twenty words.  The test will be on all twenty-five words this week.

Electricity Lab Reports

This week, we brainstormed questions that we still have regarding electricity and how it works. After we created the list, the students chose the question that they would like to answer and are working on a lab to answer it! The students had to develop a list of materials, a hypothesis, and a procedure to answer the assigned question. Each of the groups will present their results using photos and videos that they took. Their Power Points are on Edmodo!

Blood on the River

This week we have started the novel Blood on the River by Elisa Carbone. This story is about a boy named Sam Collier, an orphan assigned as a page to Captain John Smith, on a journey to the New World. The students are reading the story through the eyes of Sam through his struggles and triumphs on this dangerous journey. The struggles of the journey to the New World are truly brought to life through Sam's eyes. It is a great story about about the importance of relying on each other and working together towards a goal. Ask your child about what is happening as we read each day!

Interested in Being a Patrol?

Are you interested in being a patrol?  Are you interested in helping others?  If your answer is yes to these two questions and would like to be a patrol next year, there is a meeting on May 9th at lunchtime recess to tell you all about it.  Attendance is mandatory.  I was a patrol when I was in 5th grade and love it!!!

MAP Testing

In the next couple weeks, your child will be participating in spring MAP testing.  They will take the Math MAP test on Friday, April 25th at 1pm and the Reading MAP test on Monday, May 5th at 9:15 am.  You can help your child by ensuring they get plenty of rest the night before and have a healthy breakfast.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

Exploring Electricity!

In science, we are focusing on electricity and circuits. The students and I have had a lot of fun experimenting with static electricity, lighting a light bulb using wire and a battery, learning about conductors and insulators, and teaching each other about alternative energies that are being developed. Through these experiments, we have learned about completing a circuit, what materials conduct electricity well, working a fan, and how switches work in our houses! We even did some additional research on clap lights! We will be finishing up our unit on electricity this week by exploring electrical hazards and how to prevent them. Here are some pictures of us exploring electricity!

So many artists in 4-1!

In writing, students have thought about character traits from characters in James and the Giant Peach. For their final writing assignment, students had to think of three character traits that describe James and support their thinking with examples from the text. We have been working on supporting our thinking with textual evidence and these writing pieces shows how far they have come! They also had to make a cover for their final writing piece and I was amazed at the artists that we have in the classroom! Here are some examples of the fantastic cover art!

Greek Mythology

As part of a two week study on Greek Mythology, students have learned about mythological characters commonly found in stories from Ancient Greece. They have read stories and profiles on specific Greek Gods and the ways that they interacted with each other on Mount Olympus. Students have also been thinking about phrases that we use today that come from Greek Mythology. They have  done individual research and thought about how a specific Greek God might react to an interview being done on them. To summarize the unit, students practiced and performed plays of common Greek myths. They were extremely excited to show off their acting skills and perform stories that ancient Greeks used to explain how the seasons came to be, where spiders came from, and what can happen when you are greedy. Here are some pictures from the fabulous performances that were done!

Explorer Research

The students were hard at work on their explorer research and we will finish them up on Monday.  Check back soon to see their advertisements!

Have a great spring break!

I just wanted to wish everyone a wonderful spring break!  I can't wait to hear all about the adventures the students went on during their week off.  If you want to email a picture of your vacation, I would love to share them with the class!