Monday Message 

Hi Parents,

Did you know that the Earth is a giant magnet?  It has a north pole and a south pole, just like a magnet.  We can detect this magentic field by using a compass. 

The kids discovered this concept last week.  They moved the compass needle with a magnet.  They then moved the needle with a magnet after running a wire under a compass.  They then moved the same needle with a battery and a wire under the compass.  

They learned that magnetism and electricity act in a simliary way.  They then made an electromagnet that used electricity to pick up small washers.  

Ask your child all about it!

Our third-quarter project is writing a biography.  We will mostly do this in class. 

Students may pick any American who has positively impacted our country.  The theme of this project is "e pluribus unum" - out of many, one.   It is the motto of the United States.  

In this project students will learn to take notes, cite primary and secondary sources, establish fact from opinion, and write a five paragraph essay with an introduction, body and conclusion. 

We will start this week by picking a person with the help of Ms. Pielo in the library.  Research will start next week.   More information can be found here. 

Ask your child all about it!

Hi Parents,

In science we have been talking about conductors and insulators.  Did you know that magnetism and electricity are very similar?  You can spin a magnet to make electricity, such as with a generator.  You can also use electricity to spin a magnet, such as with a motor. 

The kids tested various objects to see if they were conductors or insulators.  The kids found that magnets don't stick to all metals, only those with iron in them, like steel.  Electricity flows through several types of metals, with copper being the best.  

Ask your child all about conductors and insulators.  They know a lot!

Hi Parents, 

The kids got the basics of fractions last year in third grade, but now we move into more advanced concepts.

This year we look at:

* Making equivalent fractions
*Finding common denominators
*Finding the greatest common factors
*Simplifying fractions
*Adding and subtracting fractions
*Adding and subtracting mixed numbers
*Converting improper fractions

The best way to start off with this is by using fraction strips.  We continue with that this week.  

Ask your child all about it!

Your child can get an A+ in math this quarter!  Really. 

No matter what your child has for a math grade now, he or she can still get an A+.  If the children did not know the material earlier, do they know it now?  Let's find out. 

To the left is the "Semester 1 Target Quiz".  This is pretty much one problem from each week so far.  This is a compilation of everything that has been taught so far this year.   There is a video for each problem that explains what to do.  

On January 14th we will give this quiz.  If your child can get 100% on it, then he or she will get an A+ on the next report card.    

Practice makes perfect!

Hey Parents,

We had a good time before the break.  In the morning we did some fun academic activities.  We played mental division bingo and other games. 

In the afternoon we brought out the treats and watched a movie.  We had some technical difficulties, but overall we still enjoyed ourselves.  

The kids did a super job cleaning up after themselves before the year ended.  They all cleaned out their desks and lockers. 

We are looking forward to a fresh start to the new year.  The quarter ends next week, so we are almost half-way done.  We are making progress!

Hi Parents,

Last week we started working on electricity in science.  The kids were given a battery, two wires and a bulb.  Could they light the bulb?  

In the end everyone was able to do it.  They learned that you had to make a circuit.  Electricity has to travel in a circle.  It leaves the negative end of the battery, goes through the wire, through the filament, and then through the other wire and back to the battery.  Some kids also learned about a short circuit!  Things got hot. 

From there we will continue to add things to our circuits, like switches and motors.  We will also learn about other types of circuits. 

Ask your child all about it!

This quarter we spend a lot of time working on division.  We started last week developing the concept, and the best way to do that is with math manipulatives.

The kids started out with twelve chips, and we divided them up into two groups, then three groups, then four groups, but when we divided them into five groups... we had some leftover.  A remainder!

Learning these simple concepts with real objects makes it all so much more understandable.   Seeing is believing.

Once the kids have the concepts, we move from concrete items to drawing visual representations and then to just using numbers.   It works!

Hi Parents,

What a wild week it was at Landstuhl Elementary last week.  Not only was it Spirit Week, but it also snowed almost every day. 

Whenever it started to snow everyone ran to the windows to watch.  So, of course, we had to take the kids outside often. 

For some students, this was the first time they had ever seen snow.  Even though it really wasn't much, the kids were able to scrape together enough to make snowmen and snowballs.  They had a blast. 

Thank you for dressing your child correctly.  Some kids went out without hats or gloves and they learned the hard way that this was not much fun!   Ask your child about it!

The kids did a super job with the Hall of Heroes project.  We hung them up and they look fantastic.

Each child was also given the chance to present his or her slide to the class.  Not everyone wanted to get up in front of the room.  

Language arts involves reading, listening, writing,  and speaking.  Reading and listening are forms of input.  It is how we get information.  Writing and speaking are forms of output.  It is how we give information.  

Often in school kids write, read, and listen, but it is not often that they get to speak.  Well, this time they got their big chance!

Ask your child all about it!

Hi Parents,

Well, the mealworms have hatched  into darkling beetles.  The beetles will lay eggs, and then more mealworms will appear.  These critters will last all year reproducing and reproducing.   

In addition, we now have pill bugs and sow bugs in our rooms.  The kids call them rollie pollie bugs, but only the pill bugs roll up.  We took a close look that their structures and the functions of those structures.  

It is science.  It is hands-on.  Ask your child all about it. 

Hi Parents, 

We had witches and goblins and skeletons and fairies and.... a taco!

The kids all came decked out in their costumes last week and it was a crazy day.  Luckily the foggy mist disappeared  and the sun came out and we were able to get outside and burn off some of that energy.  

In the afternoon the children passed out treats and we went back outside again.  It was quite a scene.  

Several students went out that night and hauled in even more candy.    In all, we had a very good time.  

Ask your child all about it.

Hi Parents,

Well, the mealworms have begun to hatch into darkling beetles.  The beetles will lay eggs, and then more mealworms will appear.  The kids are learning about metamorphosis and life cycles.  

Additionally, we now have pill bugs and sow bugs in our rooms.  The kids call them roly poly bugs, but only the pill bugs roll up.  We will use them to test which environments they prefer.  Dark or light?  Wet or dry?  Warm or cool?  Let's find out. 

If that wasn't enough, we also have our plants and guppies.  The classroom is getting crowded. 

Ask your child all about it!

Yes, the students use calculators in math... sometimes.   Let's take a look. 

A major goal in 4th grade is to get students to answer multi-step word problems.  Having the kids read and write and do the mathematical calculations altogether turns out to be overload for their brains.  For this reason they are allowed to use calculators.  

Every week they get one word problem for which they need to solve and write the answer.  We have them use part of the question in the answer, along with citing information from the problem and explaining their work.  They use a format called R.A.C.E.   The kids love it!

Ask your child all about it!

Let's see what's happening in science...

Last week the kids started to look at mealworms.  They began by observing their structures and behaviors and how this helps the worms survive. 

Later they will observe the changes the worms go through on their way to becoming darkling beetles.  These changes will happen over the next several weeks. The kids will see a metamorphosis. 

The kids keep science notebooks and record their observations.  They also design and carry out simple experiments to see what stimuli creates a response. 

Ask your children all about it!   I bet they have something interesting to say.

Hi Parents,

Once a week we make it to the library for check-out.  In general the kids are allowed to have five books checked out at a time, but this is pretty flexible.   If they have a good reason to check out more, they usually may. 

There are no restrictions on what type of books they may choose.  There is enough required reading in the classroom, so in the library they are allowed to follow their own interests and check out what they find most appealing.  They are, however, limited to two graphic novels.  (see above)

The library is well stocked with fiction and non-fiction books.  It also has an expanding collection of audio and digital books.  

Ask your child all about it!

Yep, we've been farmin'. 

We are planting corn, radishes, clover and sweet peas.  The kids made a mess... and then they cleaned it up. 

As scientists, we are exploring the tolerance levels of the seeds to certain conditions.  In this case, each group is planting eight cups of seeds with varying amounts of both freshwater and saltwater.  Over the next few weeks we will continue to add the same amounts every few days. 

Some plants are going to thrive, and some are not going to do too well.  From that we will be able to determine the optimal environmental factors for growth. 

Ask your child all about it!

More good news....

We let the kids pretty much sit and work where they wish.  We have flexible seating.  During instruction the students are in their desks, but during work time they may mostly work anywhere they wish in the room.

Some kids like to work on the floor.  Some like to work standing up.  Some like to work at their desks.  Some like to work with partners and some like to work alone.  We leave it up to them. 

We also have flexible groupings that change over time.  We pick the groups, but the groups change depending upon what your child needs most.   Ask your child!

Who does your child eat lunch with?  Well, everyone has a lunch buddy... or two.  

The kids can sit wherever they want, and with whomever they want.  However, we made sure that from the first day everyone had a lunch buddy.  Some kids were new to our school and we set up partners for them for lunch and recess.  Nobody sits alone. 

Now, some kids want to sit with kids from our class, and some kids want to sit with kids from the other class, and that is all right too.  

Some kids like to sit in a big group and some like to have a bit more of their own personal space.  It is all their choice. 

Ask your child all about lunch!

Hey Parents,

Here is some good news:  We get your children out of their chairs... a lot!

They come to school, and they do math and then we go for a 2-minute run.  The kids then get about ten minutes on the playground.   We come in to work for an hour, and then the kids go to recess and lunch.  We then work for another hour and the kids go to specials.  We then come back to work until the end of the day.  

All in all the kids are out of the room every hour.  We keep them moving. 

Most kids can do the run, but some walk.  Our goal is to get them all to do the run and it will come as they get in shape. 

Ask your child!  He or she will tell you all about it. 

Hi Parents,

We had a superb first day.  Everyone came in, and left, with a smile on his or her face.  All the children were happy to see their old friends and meet new ones.  

The students all got lockers and cubbies.  We unpacked all of our supplies and labeled our things.  It is okay if you did not have everything on the list, as we seem to have more than enough.  

Overall, it was a great day.  We are happy with the mix of kids.  It will be a great year.

We are off to a perfect start.  

Every year we give dozens of jackets away to charity.   We donate all of the items in the "lost and found" bins.   This happens at Winter Break, and the end of the year. 

It is amazing how these bins fill up.  Kids leave their jackets on the playground or in the cafeteria or in specials, and we have no idea who they belong to .

Write your name on everything.   Write it on your clothes, your backpack, your computer case, and on all of your supplies.   

Things get lost and we want to return them to you. 

We are building a new school! It will be done for school year 2028-2029. 

It will cost $65 million.  Can you believe it? 

Right now there is a lot of dust and noise.  The demolition of the old wings happened over the summer.

This view is looking north. 

For reference, our current 4th grade building is located where you see the green area behind the new school at the top of the picture.