SBS Grade Four News

Last post for the year

2010-06-07T11:32:00.004-04:00

We certainly ended the school year with a bang! Prairie Days was AWESOME! Thank you to the parents that helped out. We certainly could not have done it without you. The class picnic at the YMCA was also adventure packed. My favorite part was playing kickball - even though I got an out for my team (sorry, guys).

This morning we started our day by watching a slideshow of the year that I put together on snapfish.com - I will be emailing you all separately so that you can view it. It is set up this way to protect privacy and make sure that only our class can view it. Next we headed out to Field Day! Seeing Mr. Rodin in the dunk tank was a funny sight.

Our Class Day will be held on Wednesday, June 9, 2010. Fourth grade classes will be participating in this event. Students should arrive in their classrooms at 9:15 – please be prompt. Early arrivals will be available between 7:30 and 9:15 in the gym. Boys should wear a coat, button down shirt, tie and dress slacks. Girls should wear a dress or skirt and blouse and dress shoes – no sandal-like shoes that do not have a heel strap. Students will process and recess as a class. After the ceremony, fourth graders can be picked up in the lower division science room. Please inform a teacher when you come to pick up your child. No aftercare will be offered on that day.

I have tremendously enjoyed working with this class. I will see most of you this summer, and I know the rest of you will be working hard either at home or with Mrs. Foley as a tutor. Enjoy yourselves!
~ Mrs. Lawless

Hornbine Trip - 4B

2010-06-07T11:17:00.009-04:00

Hornbine field trip - 4a

2010-05-20T14:34:00.012-04:00

We will hopefully have more pictures up next week to showcase the trip that Sam, Nathan and Aidan take with Mr. M tomorrow. For now, enjoy these!

Hornbine Lunch

2010-05-18T16:15:00.003-04:00

When we travel to Hornbine for a day of old-fashioned learning (Sammy, Grace, Alex, Jenna and Megan on Thursday the 20th and Nathan, Sam and Aidan on Friday the 21st) we will leave promptly at 8:15 and return at 2pm. Please arrive on time so that your child will have enough time to change into their costume.

We are going to try to make this day as authentic as possible. Please pack a lunch that does not need to be microwaved. Also, it should be packed in a cloth sack, basket or pail. If you can, try not to use plastic wrap, containers or utensils. Students will not get in trouble if they are unable to do this, but the more authentic, the better!

Remember - no nuts if you are going on the Thursday trip.

Some suggestions:
Water
Cornbread
Muffins
Bacon
Jerky
Potatoes
Carrots
Apples
Berries

Hmmm - good question!

2010-05-14T14:53:00.003-04:00

So, I got an email from a parent today with a very good question:

"What exactly do I do for Prairie Days?"

The basics are: Prairie Days is from 11-1:30 on Thursday the 27th.

Teachers and students will be in costume - parent volunteers get lucky and do not have to!

Soon you will be notified of your designated assignment. The students will perform a song and dance from music class. They will then split into groups and travel from "old-school" event to event (e.g., cooking, Handball). Some parents will lead groups of children around and others will co-lead the events. A detailed email will go out to all volunteers.

Yesterday's field trip was pretty good! Ballard Park is beautiful and is directly across the street from Rogers High School in Newport. It is a pet-friendly place for a hike if anyone is interested. Although we were able to identify different types of rocks, half of the excitement was driving on Ocean Drive and passing the many mansions. Beth Donahue took some great pictures that will hopefully get uploaded to the blog shortly.

Next Thursday the 20th, Megan, Grace, Jenna, Sammy and Alex will attend Hornbine School with Ms. Sieminski's room. On Friday, Nathan, Aidan and Sam will get a chance to go with Mr. M's room. Hopefully on Monday I will let you know what this requires. The kids will wear costumes that day, which we are organizing here at school. I believe that the lunches are supposed to be packed in an authentic way - canvas bags perhaps??

Oh - and please don't tell the Hornbine School teachers that I am sharing this with you, but I snagged a copy of the spelling words that they will have at the Hornbine "spelling bee". Some of them are: remember, slate, quill, herbs and wrap. Just saying.....

Have a great weekend! ~ Mrs. Lawless

here's a link to Ballard Park!

2010-05-12T17:55:00.001-04:00

http://www.ballardpark.org/07_park.html

Field Trip tomorrow

2010-05-12T13:37:00.001-04:00

Hi Everyone,

Our rescheduled field trip to Ballard Park will take place on Thursday, May 13. We will leave promptly at 8:15. Please make sure that your child arrives on time. It is my understand that will may do some light hiking - clothes and shoes should be appropriate for such activity. We will bring lunch with us. Please be aware that a student in fourth grade has a life threatening nut allergy. When packing snacks and lunches for the field trip, please be aware that many pre-packaged food contain nuts or nut oils.

Mrs. Mitchell has written the following so you can better understand the purpose of this field trip:
Fourth grade has been studying Rocks and Minerals in Science and will be taking a field trip to Ballard Park on Thursday May 13th to enhance their experience. Ballard Park is located in Newport and is a 13-acre nature preserve that offers beautiful trails and abundant wildlife. Ballard Park is also the location of two former working quarries and all three rock types- igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic. Students will be able to discover glacial footprints and the many uses of rock on their visit.

Pioneer Projects

2010-04-29T16:19:00.003-04:00

Pioneer Projects

In order to graduate from Apple Valley school, you need 60 graduation points. If you want extra honors, do extra projects! Remember that neatness and careful work count. All work is due June 4^th.

Group A (required) – done in school

· Report – 40 points

Group B (pick one) - done on your own time

· Write a short story from the point of view of your Apple Valley school character. You can be traveling on the prairie, building a house or in school. Your story should be 3 paragraphs long and checked for spelling. 10 points

· Make a diorama of a one-room schoolhouse. Use information from “Apple Valley School” to get ideas for furniture, etc. 10 points

· Read a teacher-approved book about a pioneer boy, girl or family. Complete an “Independent Reading Report” for it and present it to the class. 10 points

Group C (pick two) - done on your own time

· Early Pioneers Worksheet 5 points

· Settling the Far West Worksheet 5 points

· Pioneer Village Worksheet 5 points

· Pioneer word search 5 points

Don’t forget – every day that we do the Apple Valley School during Social Studies, we will check in for points and each take a Fate card!

Oh…and your graduation from 4^th grade is not dependent upon your graduation from the Apple Valley School.

Still going strong

2010-04-29T15:46:00.003-04:00

Hello!

Just a reminder that Prairie Day is coming up on May 27th from 11-1:30.

We need volunteers! Please contact Michelle Bailey or Stephanie Erickson if you are interested. If you are unable to volunteer, but would still like to attend, feel free. Perhaps you could bring grandparents to watch as well. We ask that FA siblings do not attend the event, due to the large size of the 4th grade class that will participate in the events.

Our individual Wiki website pages are still a work in progress. Soon we hope to showcase podcasts that we made in addition to our Pioneer research projects.

In Math, the last remaining topics we have for the school year have to do with Fractions, Elapsed Time and Area. We are continuing to work on our calculation skills during our Target Math competition. Very close game so far!
4A - 49,860 points
4B - 51,945 points

In P.E. we are working on our eye-hand coordination skills as we embark on softball season!

In Library, we are getting used to the Destiny search engine for FA books, and working with the Dewey Decimal system for how to locate the books that we find on Destiny.

For those of us in Mrs. Goldsmith's Art class, we are working on self-portrait playing cards. Creative juices are already flowing about how to turn these into a card game!

Coming Events:

Grandfriends' Day - May 7th

Rescheduled Ballard Park field trip - May 13th

4A trip to Hornbine School - May 20th

4B trip to Hornbine School - May 21st

Sally Borden Award Day - June 3rd at 8:30 am

The transformation from FA to the Apple Valley School

2010-04-20T21:36:00.004-04:00

Welcome to the Apple Valley School!

For many of our Social Studies classes for the remaining of the school year, we will step back in time to the 1800s. During this time Pioneer children were done helping their parents get settled on new land and they needed a place to learn. This is how the one-room schoolhouse began.

Did you know that students of all ages (from ages 4-19) were all in one class together?

Did you know that at first, there could only be male teachers because people believed that only they could discipline the students?

Did you know that when females were allowed to become teachers, they were not allowed to get married?

Did you know that teachers did not have their own houses, and sometimes ended up living with their students?

Did you know that when students didn't behave, a teacher made them sit on a stool in the corner wearing a dunce cap?

Soon you will be given a new name and a new identity. Will you be Marla, age 13, from the Lee family? They work at the general store. Will you be Robert, age 12, from the Jefferson family? They are a free African American family.

No matter what identity you get, you will be required to earn a certain number of points in order to graduate from the Apple Valley school. How will you get points? Check out some examples! An official Apple Valley School chart will follow soon.

Arriving at school on time +5 points
Completing homework on time +5 points
Keeping hands and face clean +5 points
Calling out without raising your hand -10 points
Fighting -25 points

Triplets?

2010-04-16T15:23:00.003-04:00

Nope - we don't have triplets in the classroom, just three friends who wanted to make a pigtail statement!

How is Little House on the Prairie going? I admitted to the class that when I was younger, I did not really care for the book. This time around I am realizing how full of adventure it is! Luckily, Jack the bulldog survived. Chapter 2 was very upsetting.

Please let me know if the book is too much of a struggle at home and we can get the story on the Ipods to read-along with. I have tried to break down the text as much as possible (no assignment is more than 14 pages), but when I stay for homework club I can see that it is still not an easy task. Feedback is welcome and appreciated!

Starting next week we are going to make the switch to "Cursive Tuesdays and Thursdays". All of us have neater cursive than printing, thanks to the Handwriting Without Tears program. I feel that if we don't encourage the students to use it they will never chose to on their own. Through this, they may find that they actually prefer it!

Upcoming Events:

Thursday 4/22
Arts and Poetry night. Check out the fabulous artwork from lower division!

Thursday 4/29
Science field trip to Newport's Ballard Park!

Thursday 5/20 or Friday 5/21
Field trip to Hornbine School, the one-room schoolhouse in Rehoboth. Check out http://hornbineschool.tripod.com/index.htm

Thursday 5/27
Prairie Days. You will be contacted to see if you are able to volunteer for this exciting day. Singing, dancing, lunch and activities!

Enjoy your Patriots' Day! ~ Mrs.Lawless

Moving Along

2010-04-08T11:07:00.004-04:00

Hi everyone,

With only 41 school days remaining (gasp!) we are plowing through the rest of the curriculum with full speed ahead and making sure that we are ready for the big time....5th grade! To do this, we interviewed each other and checked in to see how we were doing on our hopes and dreams from the beginning of the year. Because we accomplished them all, we were able to select new hopes and dreams for the rest of the year.

Social Studies
This week, we completed our podcasts about the Western States within our mixed social studies groups. These 2-minute commercials were a great way to present our information and perhaps make people want to take a trip out west. Look for an eventual upload with the capabilities to listen to these creative ads.

Next week we will learn about the California Gold Rush and Ghost Towns, which will wrap up our unit on the West. Coming up is a unit on the Midwest and Prairie Days. We will be reading the book Little House on the Prairie. Our attempt is to focus on the excitement and adventure, and not so much the stereotype that it is a "girly" book.

Remaining Field Trips

THURSDAY, 4/29
We will be going to Ballard Park in Newport for a science field trip to apply our studies of rocks and minerals.

THURSDAY 5/20 – Megan, Grace, Jenna, Sammy + Ms. Sieminski’s class
FRIDAY 5/21 – Sam, Nathan and Aidan + Mr. M’s class
We will also be going to the Hornbine School to enhance our study on the Pioneers. We will visit a one-room schoolhouse! Because the 4th grade class is so large, Hornbine cannot accommodate all of us. We will be split into two groups. Jenna, Grace, Megan, Sammy and Alex will go on with Ms. Sieminski and myself and Nathan, Sam and Aidan will go on with Mr. M and Mr. Pelissier.

Have a wonderful weekend! ~ Mrs. Lawless

Hello, vacation!

2010-03-12T14:39:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone,

You should have received a letter in the mail about an upcoming Health class for all of 4th grade students. The boys will be in one room with Mr. M and Mr. Williams. The girls will be in another room with Ms. Sieminski, Mrs. Lawless and Mrs. Reimer. The focus will be on puberty and the talk is tentatively scheduled for one class period during the week ending 4/9. More details about the exact date will follow.

Did you see the interesting math sheets that went home for homework this past week? We are working on 2-digit times 2-digit multiplication. We didn’t tackle it the “old school” way that I learned. The Singapore Math program teaches it a way known as “area model”. It reemphasizes number sense and makes it a lot less confusing – no need to carry numbers and add them. Check with your child if you need a tutorial : )

Over the vacation, I asked the class to read chapters 13-17 in their Hank Zipzer book and complete the questions. Soon after the return from vacation we will begin our next book, Little House on the Prarie, which ties in with our upcoming Social Studies unit on the Midwest and West.

The last piece of big news is that after vacation we will have an 8th student in the classroom! Please join us in welcoming Megan Tracey, who will be coming over from Ms. Sieminski’s classroom.

Have a WONDERFUL vacation! ~ Mrs. Lawless

5 more school days until vacation!

2010-03-05T14:54:00.004-05:00

Our week started off with an all 4th grade field trip to see the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra at the Zeiterion Theater. Although we didn't agree as to what our favorite part was, we all agreed that it was a fun time!

This week in Math we sharpened our place value skills through the millions place. By working with a partner, we were randomly handed cards from 0-9 and had to decide where to place them in order to make the biggest number we could make. Should we take a chance and hope that we would get a 9 to place in the millions? Sometimes taking a chance paid off. Other times, not so much. We will certainly be playing more rounds of Place Value War (also known as Who's Greatest?)through the remaining of the year.

Next week promises to be an exciting one -- it is our week with the Promethean Board! SBS recently got one of these interactive whiteboards, and it is being sharing amongst our classrooms. Next week we plan on doing an introductory lesson as well as a lesson on Explorers with the help of the wonderful and always helpful Mrs. Donahue. Stop by after dismissal if you want to check it out.

Have a great weekend! ~ Mrs. Lawless

New Addition to Homework

2010-03-04T14:55:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone,

We are adding the written retell component to our Read Naturally homework. We went over the guidelines today, and the class had a chance to score a re-tell that I wrote. I only scored 80 points! Looks like I will have to try it again!

Students know that a perfect score of 100 does not necessarily mean a retell will go on the Wall of Fame - but going above and beyond the requirements just might!

Writing a retell – how to score 100 points!*

Do you have a complete beginning sentence? 10 points
Do you have a capital letter & punctuation? 10 points
Are words that you could have found in the 10 points
story spelled correctly?

Do you have a complete middle sentence? 10 points
Do you have a capital letter & punctuation? 10 points
Are words that you could have found in the 10 points
story spelled correctly?

Do you have a complete ending sentence? 10 points
Do you have a capital letter & punctuation? 10 points
Are words that you could have found in the 10 points
story spelled correctly?

Did you include information from the story? 10 points

* Anything less than a score of 90 will need to be re-done

updates from Biography Breakfast

2010-02-21T18:52:00.002-05:00

Biography Breakfast

2010-02-19T13:48:00.004-05:00

This week was short, yet action-packed! On Thursday Morning, Sam's mom came in to lead an activity with all of 4th grade about learning styles. We learned about visual, auditory and kinesthetic ways to learn. We performed different movement activities and sometimes our eyes were closed. Some people found they could still follow the directions auditorily, while others found that they enjoyed having their eyes open so they could watch and see how others performed.

Thanks to everyone who volunteered their time to set up the Commons and/or bring in food for this morning's Biography Breakfast. A great time was had by all - our reports will go home Monday afternoon in our blue folders along with your score sheet! Hopefully this weekend I will also be able to upload some videos/individual student photos from the day.

Happy Heart Day

2010-02-12T11:09:00.005-05:00

We acknowledged Valentine's Day a little bit early in our classroom today! We shared cards with each other, ate some goodies and played Pass the Valentine (similar to hot potato). We missed you, Jenna!

In Math, our weekly Target Math competition is really picking up. The class is divided into two teams. The students have their own individualized pack of calculation problems that they are working on. After they copy the problem onto graph paper and solve it, they get to throw a ball at a "target" on the whiteboard, consisting of various points.

The team joins their points together, and adds them to the previous week's total. At the end of the year, all participants will receive a prize, but the winning team will get something a little extra.

The current total is:
Grace, Jenna, Alex and Sammy - 30,393 points

Aidan, Nathan and Sam - 31,3145*
* to compensate for the fact that this team has one less player than the other team, one student per week gets to double his points*

In Social Studies we are working on a variety of activities. Today in our mixed 4th grade classes we finished up working on our projects about the South. Students created power points, short movies in iMovie or projects that look similar to our Native American villages. Ask your child what their topic was and who their partners were.

In our own classroom, we created mobiles about these topics that will be hanging on display when you come for parent conferences.

In Writing we need to put the final touches on our reports about our dreamers. Today we brainstormed ideas of what we could wear for our costumes at the Biography Breakfast. We hope you are able to come - Friday the 19th at 8:15 in the Commons!

The compliments keep coming!

2010-01-28T14:43:00.008-05:00

The 4th grade keeps getting compliments on their presentation of the MLK speech. At an after school all-staff meeting on Wednesday, one Upper Division Teacher acknowledged the 4th grade teachers and started a round of applause for us. Another Upper Division teacher asked how long we had practiced for - she couldn't believe that we accomplished all we did in only 3 weeks!

We also got an email from a FA parent:

From parent email
"I attended Wednesday Morning Meeting today to see my daughter read her Book Buzz report. What I didn't know was that the 4th graders would be reciting Martin Luther King's Dream speech. Their performance brought tears to my eyes, and I want to congratulate you and your children on a rendition beautifully done."

If you were unable to see the speech, check out the video!

A place for our pets!

2010-01-22T14:17:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone,

We decided to section off a little part of our Meeting Area to showcase pictures of our pets. If you want to, please bring in one picture of your pet to add to the showcase.

In Social Studies we are continuing to study the South and are focusing on the Civil Rights period. We have been assigned random topics to study within our own own classrooms. Our class is studying the following:

Grace: Freedom Riders
Jenna: Ruby Bridges
Aidan: Little Rock Nine
Sam: Thurgood Marshall
Alex: Civil Rights Act of 1964
Nathan: Opposition to the Civil Rights Act
Sammy: Montgomery Bus Boycott

We are researching these topics and gaining more knowledge about them within our own classrooms. On Tuesday we will meet back within our mixed-4th grade classes and find out who our partner or partners are that studied similar topics. Together we will come up with a way to present this information to our classmates - maybe via iMovie, Power Point, or a skit.

Coming Up

Wednesday, January 27th - 4th Grade presentation of the "I Have a Dream" speech during All School Meeting

Thursday, February 4th - Pizza and Game Night 2010 (more information to come)

Friday, February 19th (tentative) - 4th grade Biography Breakfast. Parents invited! More information to come.

Sledding time!

2010-01-15T14:28:00.020-05:00

Who would have thought that a snow storm that happened before winter break would still bring us so much excitement?

We had a delightful time sledding down the hill where we have recess, and then explored the hills that the "far field" has to offer. It was a blast! We are all hoping for more snow : )

Inside the classroom we are working hard practicing for All School Meeting on January 27th when the 4th grade class reads a component of the MLK Jr. "I Have a Dream" speech. Please come if you can! ASM starts at 8:15.

We are continuing to read both Hank Zipzer: Niagara Falls, or Does It? in addition to The Liberation of Gabriel King. Today we were able to compare and contrast the main characters, Hank and Gabe, to discuss what's the same and what's different about them. Here is what we came up with:

SAME
They are both boys.
They are white and have friends that are African American.
They both get into trouble with adults.
They both get bullied by another student who takes away their desserts in their lunch boxes.

DIFFERENT
Hank lives in New York and Gabe lives in Georgia.
Hank is starting 4th grade and Gabe is ending 4th grade.
Hank has a dog and Gabe does not.
Hank has a sister and Gabe does not.
Hank's story takes place in the present, and Gabe's story takes places in the 1970s.

That's about it! Have a great 3-day weekend. ~ Mrs. Lawless

And we're back!

2010-01-08T11:15:00.006-05:00

Hello there! We are back in the swing of things here, picking up right where we left off.

Yesterday's field trip was amazing! We are sorry that we did not need parent chaperones for the trip. In today's blue mail folders, the students are taking home some information/coupons for the Pequot Museum. It is unfortunate that the use of a camera is not allowed. We were able to capture a picture of some students playing the Native American Ring Pin game, though!

In Language Arts this week we began reading the first book in the Hank Zipzer series, written by Henry Winkler. To my dismay (but not shock) the students did not know about Happy Days, nor did they know about "The Fonz". I was certain to show them a video of the opening theme song, and a brief clip of Fonzie at his best before we talked more about Henry Winkler.

We began our unit on the South talking about the basic geography. Today within our integrated social studies groups, we discussed some of the many events leading up to Martin Luther King Jr.'s important speech. We brainstormed ideas that we want to know more about (Whatever happened to Rosa Parks? Who were some other leaders besides MLK that tried to change things?) and will be dividing into groups to research some of these topics within our own classrooms. Then, we will come together again with our integrated classes and work on presentations (power points, skits, movies, etc.) that demonstrate our knowledge.

All of 4th grade will also be presenting a portion of MLK's famous "I Have a Dream Speech" at All School Meeting on Wednesday the 27th of January . This is an event that 4th grade started last year and is beginning to turn into a tradition. Please come if you can! All School Meeting starts at 8:15 and there are chairs along the back for parents.

Have a great weekend and stay warm! ~ Mrs. Lawless

Welcome winter!

2009-12-18T11:14:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone!

It has been a fun and productive 2009. Can't wait to see what 2010 has in store for us. In case you are wondering, here are some highlights:

Social Studies
We will be studying the South in conjunction with Martin Luther King Jr. the Civil Rights movement. We will be reading from the book, (and hopefully listening to on our IPODS) The Liberation of Gabriel King.

Language Arts
We will continue along with our Making Meaning curriculum and tie in the book Niagara Falls, Or Does It? written by Henry Winkler (aka the "Fonz"). It is along the lines of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, and the main character, Hank Zipzer has a learning difference.

Science
When we return we will check out our created ecosystems and see how different elements affected them. We used vinegar for acid rain, miracle grow for fertilizer and rock salt as well!

There is no official homework over the vacation, but an extra trip to the "prize box" will happen for those students who complete 6, 15 minute Lexia sessions in addition to 6, 15 minute Symphony Math sessions. Don't worry....I have the ability to check over the vacation if you go on (and complete the work) or not.

Coming up next week

2009-12-10T13:55:00.002-05:00

Between Tuesday's First People's Celebration and Friday's Winterfest (both of which you are invited to), next week promises to be both busy and exciting.

Today a letter is going home about the "Yankee Swap" that 4th grade will be participating in. Within our own individual classrooms we will be holding a small holiday party on Friday the 18th. Please bring in a book that your child liked and think that someone else will like. It can be that particular copy, or a new copy, and should be wrapped without a name tag saying who it is from.

We are currently participating in a project where we give and receive holiday cards from elementary schools throughout the United States. Last week, during our integrated Technology Time we created cards with the program Kid Pix. We have already received cards from places such as Florida, Louisiana, and North Carolina. Next week we will be using Google Earth to research where these schools are in relation to FA. Thank you, Mrs. Donahue for getting us involved in this project!

To read a review about Kid Pix, go to the following site:
http://www.amazon.com/Learning-Company-Kid-Deluxe-Version/dp/B0006N99K8

Making a List and Checking it Twice

2009-12-09T21:26:00.002-05:00

Nope....not making that kind of list. The list I'm talking about is a checklist with the many items you will find at our First People's Celebration, coming up in less than a week!

Are you ready to see some music performances?

Are you ready to read our Native American inspired "How Come Tales?" and find out potential reasons behind why the Bulldog has a short tail, or how the Zebra got his stripes? These stories come complete with our Storyteller dolls that were created in art class.

Are you ready to learn more about tribes such as the Nez Perce, Hopi and Iroquois by reading reports and seeing realistic villages?

You can see all this and much more on Tuesday the 15th (which also happens to be Jenna's birthday!) at 1:30pm in the Commons.

Also, I am happy to announce that we will indeed be taking a field trip to the Pequot Museum in Mashantucket, CT the Thursday after we return from our winter vacation. This will be an all-day field trip. The 4th grade teachers are very excited about this trip! We spent Veteran's Day at the museum checking it out, and even back in mid-November, the next available opening they had for our group was not until our January date. Apparently schools from as far away as Pennsylvania come up to see the museum. It really is an awesome experience.

Take care! ~ Mrs. Lawless

A New Morning Meeting Greeting

2009-11-14T10:38:00.003-05:00

Lower Division at FA uses the Responsive Classroom program. Part of this program involves Morning Meeting. The first component of Morning Meeting is picking a greeting, which is chosen by a different student each day. We greet each other in different languages, by our last names, etc. This past week, someone came up with the idea of a having a hand sanitizer greeting. You greet the person next to you, and give them a squirt of hand sanitizer. Maybe we should write to the company and see if they want to publish this greeting in their next book ; )

In other news in our classroom, this week we started a math competition called Target Math. The class has been divided into two teams. Each student has a set of index cards with various calculation problems tailored to the specific skills that he or she is working on. After copying the problem onto graph paper, solving it and having it checked, the students can throw a ball at a "target" - a grid on the whiteboard with each square being worth a various number of points.

This weekly game will continue throughout the school year, and we will add our new weekly points to our previous points. All players will win a prize at the end of the school year, but the winning team will earn a little something extra.

Have a great weekend! ~ Mrs. Lawless

Looking Ahead

2009-11-07T12:15:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone! We are looking ahead to next week when we will hopefully have our group of 7 back together again. We were happy to see Jenna return, and hope that Grace feels better soon!

I just want to remind everyone about the upcoming book fair (in the Commons) and authorfest luncheon (in the gym). 4th grade is so lucky to get a visit from Bill Harley! I can remember when he visited Stony Lane Elementary School when I was in 4th or 5th grade. It really is one of the memories that sticks out from my childhood.

The book fair lasts from the 16th-20th. The luncheon itself is Thursday the 19th. This year's lunch is slightly different from last year, being that it is a boxed lunch. This will facilitate better organization and more efficient distribution.

The lunches (consisting of a Subway sub, apple, chips and a cookie, water/milk, coffee/tea) need to be pre-ordered and costs $6 per person. An order form was sent home on Friday if you want to take advantage of this option.

Coming Up:
4th Grade presents Celebration of the First People: December 15th (Tuesday) at 1:30 pm

Check your child's Trapper next week for a handout with more information about this event and opportunities to volunteer in the classroom.

Have a nice weekend! ~ Mrs. Lawless

Our Final Special Person of the Week

2009-11-03T15:16:00.004-05:00

Alex was our final classmate to "cash-in" on the benefits (homework pass, line leader, ability to pick the Morning Meeting job of his choice) of Special Person of the Week.

We learned that Alex lives with his parents and sister Ellie. He also has three pets named Beatrice, Rumy and Gertie. Alex's favorite book is Diary of a Wimpy Kid and his favorite movie is The Great Escape. He loves the Black Eyed Peas and in his free time he likes to play video games. With a million dollars, Alex would buy as many Legos as he could. That explains why one of his shared items was a huge Lego creation. We also loved seeing his badges from different exhibits at Disney World. Thanks for sharing, Alex!

Belated Halloween Pictures!

2009-11-03T14:46:00.004-05:00

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T10:35:00.003-04:00

Apologies about the blog this week - I left my camera at work this weekend! I am unable to upload pictures of our hauntingly good Halloween costumes in addition to pictures of our latest (and last!) special person of the week. Additionally, the FA server appears to be down, so I am unable to check my email from home this weekend.

Next week we will begin our Read Naturally fluency program. This will include another component to homework, which involves taking the Ipods home throughout the week to listen to/practice our stories. This past week we did a whole-group lesson (thank you, Mrs. Donahue!) to become comfortable with the program. Thursday night homework will be the most involved, as that is the night to complete the comprehension questions. We learned strategies for answering main idea, vocabulary, and inference questions. An instruction sheet will be sent home on Monday to be kept in the trappers for reference.

At conferences, one parent had a great suggestion about communication between home and school about math. Because math homework consists of the Symphony Math program online, the parents don't really have a peek into which concepts are being taught in the classroom. It is hard to write about it on the blog, because the programs for each student are individualized. I added "math topics" to my to-do list and will email you a list (hopefully next week) about what is coming up and how those topics are taught at school.

In an effort to conserve energy, the student lead "Green Team" initiated an Earth Hour twice per month. On pizza Tuesdays, lights will be off in addition to electronic devices (including the microwave). They figured this was the best day because not as many students bring "heat ups" for lunch. If your child does not eat pizza, please try to send a non-microwavable lunch that day. If this is not possible, we will heat up before the 12:15-1:15 Earth Hour begins.

Have a great Halloween. Here's hoping you don't get too many raisins! : )

Special Person of the week - Grace!

2009-10-23T14:05:00.004-04:00

Grace had many exciting items to share with us this week. Aside from her Red Sox foam finger (a Mrs. Lawless favorite), Grace shared her awards and ribbons from this past summer when she ran track at Dartmouth High School, her collection of ceramic antique figurines, and pictures of her family on some fantastic vacations.

We learned that in addition to her pet guinea pig, Grace also has a pet newt! They live with Grace, her parents and her older brother. Her favorite band is Journey and she loves the book Diary of a Wimpy Kid. If Grace had a million dollars, she would buy a toy factory.

Thanks, Grace!

Nice to see everyone!

2009-10-23T13:43:00.002-04:00

It was so nice to see most of you this week and talk about the progress that your children are making. A copy of the conference notes and any additional paperwork that you wanted will be sent home on Monday.

I just wanted to give you a heads up about an interesting program taking place at Dartmouth Public Libraries on Tuesdays between October 27th and December 1st. Students between the ages of 7 and 10 are invited between the hours of 5:30 and 7:30 to read to a therapy dog. Please let me know if you want to attend and I will go, too. I hope to check it out one of these Tuesdays anyway. I have big hopes for my dog to be a therapy dog someday....but he's just a bit too "energetic".

http://www.dartmouthpubliclibraries.org/?p=687

In Social Studies we will be finishing up our whaling unit next Friday. We completed our board games and passed them along to another 4th grade group. We completed a rating scale to give feedback about the creativity of the game, clarity of directions and fairness of questions that were asked. The next time we meet in our whaling groups, we will see what our peers had to say.

Halloween is coming and with that means the annual Friends Academy parade. More information about that will be sent home at the beginning of next week.

Have a nice weekend! ~ Mrs. Lawless

Aidan - the latest special person of the week!

2009-10-16T20:45:00.005-04:00

Aidan was the latest student in out class to reap the benefits of special person of the week. We learned that his two older sisters also go to FA and his favorite band is Nickelback. If Aidan won the lottery, he would give some of the money to charity. Nice!

Aidan shared some pretty cool objects with us - one was a sentimental picture of himself, his grandmother and his sisters from last year's Grandparents' Day at FA. The most popular item was his flattened penny collection from locations such as the Smithsonian Air and Space museum and Buttonwoods Zoo. Thanks for sharing, Aidan!

Handwriting Without Tears

2009-10-16T20:32:00.006-04:00

So the handwriting program we use might have a hokey name, but it does have some great ideas. Today we used shaving cream on our desks to practice turning a "magic c" into different cursive letters. Did you know that once you have the formation of a cursive "c" down, you can turn it into an a, d, g....even a q!

How did we get the shaving cream to turn into different colors? You will have to ask your child the answer to that one.

Fun Field Trip

2009-10-16T19:21:00.010-04:00

Tuesday's field trip to New Bedford was action packed. Our first stop was to the Ernestina. We explored both the refurbished area, and the older area. It was impressive to learn that we were on a boat that was built in 1894 and traveled the world. She went all the way to Cape Verde, and even up towards the North Pole.

Our time at the whaling museum was enjoyable as well. Those docents know their facts! Who knew that whalers drank lemon juice to prevent the onset of scurvy and therefore brought lemon pressers on board?

The walking tour of New Bedford was unfortunately cut short due to the downpours, but we were able to visit a few historical buildings. The highlight of the day for the fourth grade teachers was the compliment that a museum visitor paid to us - his wife was a teacher for 30 years and he accompanied her on many field trips. He said he had never seen a group as well behaved as ours!

New Special Person of the Week - Nathan

2009-10-09T15:48:00.005-04:00

Our 4th Special Person of the Week was Nathan! His favorite book is 3 Cups of Tea, he likes the Beatles and if he won a million dollars, he would go on vacation. Nathan shared some items with us from vacations he has taken - including money from other countries and a wonderful photo where Nathan, his mom, dad and brother were transformed into a Star Wars scene. Thanks for sharing, Nathan!

2009-10-09T15:48:00.001-04:00

Some highlights from our week include:

All School Meeting was back in the Commons. It sounds so much better! The new sound panels on the walls and ceiling really help. Our own Nathan was one of the first volunteers to get up in front of the whole school and participate in "Book Buzz". He shared a review about the story "Three Cups of Tea". Way to go, Nathan!

On a side note, All School Meeting is one of my favorite times of the week. It is great to work in an environment that promotes such a strong school community. Did you know that All School Meeting is open to the parents? There is a row of chairs for you in the back. Don't worry if you don't know the lyrics to our school song - they are usually posted on the screen.

Art: We are making scrimshaw "whale teeth" out of clay.

Music: We are learning sea chanties.

Science: We began making our terrarium with 2-liter soda bottles .

Social Studies: Mr. Garfield came in and talked about shellfish and how he grows them. We also broke up into our "mixed-up" social studies groups again to work on a project. See if your child can tell you what the project is.

Announcements:

4^th grade will be visiting Ernestina, Whaling Museum and National Park Service on Tuesday, October 13, 2009. We will be leaving at 8:15 – DO NOT BE LATE!!! Make sure that you child eats breakfast since we will not have snack, but eat lunch at 11:00. If you’d like to join us for any of these activities, we’ll be at Ernestina (docked off Front St.) at 8:30, at the Whaling Museum from 9:00-11:00, lunch from 11:00-11:30 and a NPS walking tour from 11:30-12:30.
A parent has graciously volunteered to buy pizza for each 4^th grader as their lunch on Tuesday. If your child would like pizza, please email me or send in a note so we can have enough pizza for all. However, you’ll need to provide a drink for your child.

Enjoy your Columbus Day weekend! ~Mrs. Lawless

Sam is the special person of the week!

2009-10-02T15:18:00.002-04:00

You probably know that Sam Bennett is 10 years old, but did you know that his favorite book is Harry Potter and that his favorite movie is Scooby Doo? He likes playing video games and does not have a favorite singer. If Sam won a million dollars, he would give some away and use the rest for himself. Today, Sam shared items such as trophies and a football signed by some New England Patriots. Nice!

2009-10-02T14:37:00.002-04:00

There was a lot of activity in our classroom this week! During Health class we continued our talk about the ALERT program and how to get our bodies in the just right, ready to learn green zone. We learned about how doing different movements and exercises can help to get our bodies ready (e.g., crab walks) . Of course, Mrs. Lawless was not thinking about the fact that the classroom is located directly above Mr. Rodin's office - and that he was apparently having a meeting at that moment! He paid us a visit to make certain that everything was okay. Ooops! ; )

In Social Studies we brainstormed facts that we know and questions that we have about whales and whaling. In our own individual 4th grade classrooms we are going to research the answers to these questions. We are going to create trivia questions and create a game board during our integrated Social Studies times. On Tuesday, Seth Garfield will be our guest speaker. He works in the scalloping industry, and will talk to us about how present day New Bedford uses its natural resources. We are excited about the Ernestina and New Bedford whaling museum field trip on October 13th. If any parent would like to be a chaperone and meet us at the museum, let me know!

In Writing we studied author William Steig and learned about his use of elements of magic in his stories "Gorky Rises" and "Wizzil". We had the opportunity to create our own stories involving the creation of magic potions in our writing journals. Good times!

Enjoy your Saturday and Sunday. ~ Mrs. Lawless

Our Second Special Person of the Week!

2009-09-25T14:39:00.004-04:00

Meet Miss Jenna Hughes! She has an older brother named Jameson, a sister named Julienne and a dog named Jazzi. Her favorite singer is Taylor Swift, and her favorite movie is Nim's Island. If Jenna has one million dollars, she would buy an indoor pool and a fancy TV. Thanks for sharing, Jenna!

What a week!

2009-09-25T14:24:00.005-04:00

What a great week we had! One of the highlights was our 4th Grade field trip to Slocum's River Reserve. We walked the trails to discover hidden artwork, did a sketch in our artist journals, wrote down the name of the artist and made a guess as to what we thought the project was made out of. Some of use were inspired to think about our own projects that we will make for an installation art exhibit we are working on at Friends.

This afternoon we had a "mixed up" kind of Social Studies class. Students from Mr. M's room and Ms. Sieminiski's room joined some students from our room, while the other students went in the other classrooms. We shared our neighborhood maps with a partner, and answered their questions. Next week we begin discovering the Northeast region with a specific focus on the past history of New Bedford.

It was so nice to meet with most of you last night at Parents' Night. Please RSVP by leaving a comment on the blog if you are or are not able to attend the curriculum overview night on October 6th.

Enjoy the 3-day weekend! ~ Mrs. Lawless

Special Person of the Week!

2009-09-18T16:15:00.005-04:00

Congratulations to Sammy Mogawer, our first featured special person of the week! The class decided on what privileges should be granted upon the randomly selected special person of the week. They include:

1) Being line leader for the week
2) Being able to chose what job he or she would like to have during Morning Meeting
3) Receiving a homework pass to be used one time only for any assignments given by Mrs. Lawless (expiration date 6/8/09)
4) Being able to share 6-8 items from home that tell the class more about you

We learned that Sammy loves swimming and Tae kwon do (he has the trophies to prove it!), as well as Egypt. We also saw some items that he has owned since he was a baby! Thanks for sharing, Sammy!

Happy Friday!

2009-09-18T15:22:00.005-04:00

Hello everyone - what a wonderful week we had!

We started getting into our routines and fine tuning some schedule changes. One of these changes involved the addition of a Friday afternoon class: Tech Time with Mrs. Donahue. Today we discussed how to be safe with our laptops and how to be safe on the internet - specifically what to do if you should come across an unexpected picture (e.g., "X" it out and tell an adult). We also customized our laptop appearances and became familiar with some of the reading and math programs we will use during the school year.

With Outside-the-Classroom week taking away some of our shared Upper Division teachers, we did not start 4th and 5th grade chorus this week. Instead, we joined with our companion classes this afternoon and did a skip counting/patterning/art activity. It was a great way to end our day.

Upcoming events: The entire 4th grade will be taking a field trip on Thursday, September 24th to the Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust. They have sculptures that are similar to the sculptures we are studying in art class with Ms. Cogliano and Ms. Goldsmith. Check out http://www.dnrt.org

Another very important event happening this day is Sam's 10th birthday! Happy (almost) birthday, Sam!

Homework: Now that we are in more of a homework routine, next week we will introduce math as another component. A handout will go home on Monday with instructions of how to access the online Symphony Math program at home. I know that some of the returning students used Symphony Math this past week without even being asked. Awesome!

To be scheduled: We still need to re-schedule the remainder of our 4th grade ropes course session that got cut short during the first week of school due to the rain.

Enjoy the weekend! ~ Mrs. Lawless

Week One is Done!

2009-09-10T23:00:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone,

This week we got to know the rules and routines of the classroom, worked on a project for when the parents come to visit the classroom, and created our "Hopes and Dreams" for the school year. Next week we will move into more traditional academic programs and develop learning plans for the students.

Coming up...

In Health class on Wednesday we will begin talking about the "Alert" program. It has to do with ways to use sensory strategies to change how alert we feel in the classroom. There are five senses, and five ways to change how alert we feel: put something in our mouth, move, touch, look, or listen. I am hoping that this link will work for you: http://alertprogram.com/assets/Alert-Program-Handout.pdf

One major way that this will be implemented in the classroom is by allowing students to chew gum. Things have changed from when many of us were in school and chewing gum could get you into a heap of trouble! We will provide sugarless Orbitz gum in various flavors, or you can feel free to bring in your own. Please let me know if anyone has an objection to this.

We will begin a unit on the Northeast region of the United States in Social Studies from now though October. We will learn about seaport towns and cities, and will eventually move to learning about the city of New Bedford.

In order to get to know each other better, next week we will begin Special Person of the Week! This student will be selected randomly and every student will get a chance to be the special person over the next seven weeks. More information about this will go home on Monday.

Thank you, 4th graders for making this a wonderful first week!

Enjoy your weekend. ~ Mrs. Lawless

Great 1st Day!

2009-09-08T15:20:00.004-04:00

Hello everyone!

September is a time of new beginnings. Friendships are renewed and new acquaintances are made. Our class of seven joined with the other fourth graders (a total of 38 of us!) for a wonderful afternoon of team building.

This blog will generally be updated on Fridays as an electronic newsletter, as a way to reduce paper and do our part to help save the Earth. For today, I wanted to update it to let you know a few things.

1) Every Friday your child will bring home the blue plastic envelope with your child's corrected work for the week. This envelope will also be used for any interim communication from the office, so please keep a look-out for it. Just be sure to return it the next day : )

2) Thank you for sending in the items that were on the class supply list. We are in the process of setting them up as OG binders, portfolios, or in some cases homework folders.

3) Your fourth grader will have homework Monday through Thursday, even if it is to read for 20 minutes. Homework assignments will be written in your son or daughter's homework planner. Assignments should not take more than 45 minutes to complete. If they do, please let me know. For tonight, the only homework was to check out this blog and have your child share his or her schedule with you.

4) There will be times when we may need parent volunteers to either help in the classroom or attend field trips. We will try and schedule these opportunities on different days and at different times so hopefully, it can fit into your schedule.

Reminders:
This Friday is the other half of our team building, which will involve going outside in the woods for the low elements ropes course. Please wear or bring long pants to school that day, in addition to bug spray.

Please bring a water bottle to be kept at school. Hydration is important, and the students will be allowed to keep it at their desks.

Looking forward to more days like today! ~ Mrs. Lawless

Welcome, Friends!

2009-09-03T16:20:00.001-04:00

Hello Fourth Grade Families!

Looking forward to school starting next week. See you soon!

- Mrs. Lawless