Weekly News
December 6, 2021 - January 7, 2022
READING
Flashlight Friday
MATH
Blankets of Hope
November 29- December 3, 2021
Current Events Presentations
This was the first week of our Current Events Presentations. Each week, three students will share about a current event they think is important and is impacting our world.
This week's articles were:
"Should Zoos Still Exist?" Time For Kids
"America's Top Young Scientist Wants to Use Music Therapy to Improve Mental Health" DOGO News
"Scientists May Have Discovered an Exoplanet That Orbits Three Stars!" DOGO News
Human Machine Unit
Math
Word Work & Creative Writing
November 22-23, 2021
Thanksgiving Meal Planning
November 15- November 19, 2021
Math
Human Machine Unit
Author Visit
November 1 - 12, 2021
Leading the Lower School Morning Meeting
Each Monday morning, the fourth graders take turns leading the lower school in a Morning Meeting. There are 11 student jobs each Monday, so there are a lot of opportunities to practice public speaking and leadership throughout the year.
Morning Meeting Leader Jobs
Meeting Host- Introduces each part of the meeting, the meeting's emcee!
Greeter- This student welcomes everyone to the meeting and introduces a new way to say Hello in a different language.
Weather Reporter- Shares the weather for the upcoming week.
Birthday Leader- Recognizes the students with birthdays that week and leads the lower school in singing Happy Birthday.
Announcements Leader- Shares important announcements that pertain to the whole lower school. These can range from announcing upcoming events to reminding everyone to flush the toilet and keep their cubbies clean!
Leader in Me Pledge Leaders- These 5 students teach the lower school students the hand motions and words of the Leader Pledge.
Leader Awards Announcer- Reads the week's leader in me awards. Teachers and students give awards to students who show leadership by following the 7 habits. It is an honor to receive a leader in me award, especially from your peers!
Specials Classes
In French, students are learning about the seasons and temperatures.
In library, students had a chance to zoom with author, Catherine Gilbert Murdoch.
Last day to order a signed copy of Murdoch's books is this Tuesday, November 16th.
In music, students are learning how to write and play their own music!
Human Machines Integrated Unit
This week students considered what would happen if their body didn't have bones. In the activity, Skeleton Hand, students combined science with art: they traced their hands, then added see-through bones to their picture, making their own skeleton hand. In the second lesson, students discovered the mechanism by which their muscles control their bones to move their bodies. In the activity, Robot Finger, students constructed a model of a human finger and observed how pulling on a string (a model for tendons) causes it to bend at the joints. Students then extended this activity by making a Robot Hand!
Illustrative Math
Over the last two weeks, students have gained an expanded set of understandings and strategies for reasoning about the size of fractions. This week, they further developed these skills and worked to compare fractions with different numerators and different denominators.To make comparisons, students may used visual representations, equivalent fractions, and their understanding of the size of fractions relative to benchmarks such as 1/2 and 1.
Students are learning to write equivalent fractions with a particular denominator as a way to compare any fractions and another opportunity to apply the idea of factors and multiples. Having a numerical strategy notwithstanding, students are still encouraged to use flexible methods to reason about the relative size of fractions.
October 25-29, 2021
Reading Workshop
Spooky Science: Extracting Pumpkin DNA with the Upper School Physics Class
Pumpkin Math Continued: Baking Pumpkin Sheet Cake
Roycemore Carnival
Making 3-D Globes
October 18-22, 2021
This week in fourth grade was Leadership and Kindness Week. Students led the Lower School Monday Morning Meeting for the first time, wrote thank you letters to teachers and staff, cleaned up the trash in the park, practiced active listening during student interviews to practice Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood, and on Friday afternoon walked to Mason Park and had a wonderful time playing with all of the lower school students.
Since it is October, students participated in many Pumpkin Math activities. Using the pumpkins they harvested from the Roycemore School Garden, students began by estimating and predicting the amount of seeds, weight, circumference and number of creases in their pumpkin. Students worked in 6 different groups to cut open their pumpkin, take all the seeds and pulp out, separate the seeds and count the seeds based on a strategy that was discussed and decided by their group. Some groups counted by 2's, 10's, and 20's. Students entered their data on a bar graph and will analyze all of the data they collected this upcoming week.
In reading this week, students are working diligently to read their just right books intensely. We learned to focus on new, difficult, and interesting vocabulary words. Students are "reading with a pencil" to annotate their thoughts, questions, wonderings, ideas, and feelings as they read The Tiger Rising. As they read their just right books, they are practicing the new skills we are focusing on in class.
Enjoy the many pictures from this exciting week in fourth grade!
October 11 - 15, 2021
Math: Fractions
Fourth graders are using a computer program called Moby Max to review math skills while making progress in a class board game.
As students complete math problems correctly, they move forward in the board game and the program gives them a more difficult problem.
Language Arts
Reading Workshop
Reading Workshop is in full swing in 4th grade! Students are excited about reading and logging in their books. This week we focused on how to "read intensely" instead of just reading the words as fast as we can. We want to read intensely and gather all the information the author carefully placed on each page. Here is the chart that helps us remember how to "read intensely!"
Word Work
Integrated Unit: Geography
September 27-October 8, 2021
Morning Meeting Theme: Habit #5
Seek First To Understand, Then Be Understood
Reading Workshop
Integrated Unit: Geography
Latitude & Longitude
This week during our Geography Unit, students learned about latitude and longitude. Students had fun learning how to use latitude and longitude coordinates to create symbols.
This week, during the Monday Morning Lower School Meeting, Ms. Hilda shared books in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month.
MATH
September 20-24, 2021
Math
This week in math the students began Unit 1: Factors and Multiples. Using tiles and centimeter grid paper, students worked in groups to discuss and build rectangles using different side lengths. To build on the concept of area, students were given an area and built as many rectangles they could with that area. By the end of this week of exploration and building, students learned about multiples and factors in a meaningful way and stretched themselves to be able to explain their math thinking with their partners.
Reading Workshop
This week launched the beginning of the 40 Book Challenge. Each year, the fourth graders are challenged to read 40 just right books with different genres. Students were super excited to get started! We set up our notebook with reading logs and students and reviewed what a good fit book is and is not. Fourth graders will be bringing home their reading notebook and just right book in their tote bag each day. Please help them remember to bring it back to school the next day in case we have some extra time to get lost in the reading zone! The goal of the 40 book challenge is to get students hooked on reading and set up good reading habits that will continue as they grow.
September 8 - 17, 2021
Class Jobs: Persuasive Writing
This week the fourth graders brainstormed what jobs they thought we needed to have to make our classroom run smoothy. Then students filled out a Job Application that included writing a paragraph to explain why they should be hired for the class job they chose! Students love how official the application process is and their persuasive paragraphs are quite convincing! Students will repeat this process every six weeks so they will have the chance to try out different classroom jobs.
Morning Meeting Themes : Friendship & Leader in Me Habits
This week the fourth graders continued to discuss the qualities of a good friend. Students learned about Habit 2: Begin With The End In Mind from Leader in Me. The fourth graders discussed goals they could have for improving academically and behaviorally at school and at home. Next week, students will set individual goals in reading, math and writing.
Reading Workshop
This week the fourth graders learned about literary genres. After taking notes on fiction and nonfiction genres, the fourth graders organized our class library by sorting all of the books by genre. Students also found books they would like to read and added them to their Reading Wish Lists.
Integrated Unit: Geography
As an introduction to our geography unit, students are starting close to home and branching out by learning their address, city, county, state, bordering states, country and finally the continent we live on. This week, students also explored many interesting facts about the 5 major oceans of the world.
August 30 - September 3, 2021
Lower School Monday Morning Meeting
The whole lower school met for the first time since March 2020. We have so missed this tradition! It is an exciting time for sharing and building our lower school community. Ms. Finley Odell spoke to the students about the theme for the year, "Take Off!" She told stories of students who have become change makers as a result of their "taking off" to fulfill their dreams. Soon the 4th graders will be leading this meeting every Monday!
Students enjoyed eating snack and lunch outside this week!
ROYCEMORE GARDEN
The 4th graders harvested lima beans and tomatoes from the that were planted by last year's 4th graders!
Cursive Writing and Keyboarding
This week for writing, students learned how to use the Typing Club to learn keyboarding skills. In addition to keyboarding, students began working in their cursive handwriting workbooks. This week students copied a poem in their best cursive. At the end of the year, they will write to same poem to see how much they have improved.
Morning Meeting Theme: Friendship
During our morning meetings this week we read books about how our words can impact others. As a class, students discussed the concept that words are powerful! They can make a person feel amazing or they can make someone really feel hurt and once words are spoken, kind or unkind, they are forever imprinted on the heart. Ask your 4th grader about the "Toothpaste & Heart Lesson!"
August 24 - August 27, 2021
Welcome Back to School Fourth Graders!
First Day of School
Find a Friend Who....
The fourth graders participated in a find a friend scavenger hunt to learn about their classmates!
Writing Workshop
Notebook Cover Picture Collage
Sharing pictures and experiences is a great way to get to know one another! This week, students were busy cutting and glueing pictures to the cover of their writing notebook, to represent themselves and their interests. Students will use these pictures for inspiration and ideas during Writing Workshop this year!
Morning Meeting
This week, friendship was the theme of our morning meetings. We read, The Name Jar and Two Feet, Four Sandals, two books that give examples of how friends care for one another. As a class, students brainstormed, revised and edited a paragraph about the qualities they want in a friend. Students wrote a "Friend Wanted" advertisement, for their final draft, to share what kind of friend they hoped to find.
TEAMWORK!! SAVE FRED!
The fourth graders worked in groups to save a hapless gummy worm named Fred who managed to capsize his boat and lose his life preserver.
The challenge: Working together, students must rescue Fred, turn his boat right side up, and put on his life preserver – all without hurting Fred or dropping him into the “lake.” But students can't touch anything with their hands. Each student has one paperclip to use.
This activity encourages students to develop teamwork, problem solving, communication, and fine motor skills.
All four of our groups succeeded in saving Fred!! Each group illustrated their plans and shared their strategies with the class.
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
