The fourth grade has been very busy during the past few weeks with the end of the Winter Term, and the completion and presentation of their State Poster Projects in history! Each of the students created wonderful posters that highlighted important facts about their selected states. Each student researched interesting information about an important historical person from their state, as well as historical facts, and some “fun facts” that made everyone think and maybe even chuckle a little bit. Additionally, the students chose a place in their selected state that they might want to visit someday and shared information about the location. All of the posters were fantastic, and the presentations they gave were even more so! The students’ presentation skills have improved significantly since their last project, showing how the opportunity to speak frequently in front of one’s peers provides a comfort level and skill development that will serve them well as they progress through their school years and beyond. Be sure to check out the featured photograph that showcases one of the excellent posters the class created.
In English, the class is wrapping up their reading and discussion on There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom by Louis Sachar. The incidents that take place in and around the school in the story have struck a chord with the students and has inspired the class to have some incredible discussions. Each of the students has seen themselves in one or more of the characters, which has allowed the story to truly resonate with the class. For example, in the story the main character, Bradley Chalkers, is asked to create a list of things he would like to talk about with the school counselor. The list grew to three pages in length, and included insights into what was truly important to him, even if it was something that might be considered mundane. The students laughed about, questioned, and discussed this list in depth. They volunteered other things that could have been on the list, as well as things that Bradley included that they did not understand why. This in turn led to even more discussion, and ultimately a better appreciation for Bradley as a character and, more importantly, the revelation that different things are important to different people and that is what is truly important to understand. We will be finishing the book up this week and the students will be engaged in a writing piece to wrap up their work on the book.
In order to liven up our spelling and vocabulary studies, I have recently asked the students to create “silly sentences” that incorporate our spelling and vocabulary words for the week. I thought you all might enjoy a representative sampling: 1) “I got a trophy for sticking a fish through my ear.” 2) “Mexican llamas concentrate on eating crinkly potato chips.” 3) “It concerned me that I had not put on my pants right side out.” 4) “My mom’s statue of a metallic chicken is a menace to cheese.” 5) “The bough couldn’t hold the rabbit and it landed on a small family of burritos.” The kids are enjoying the creation of these “silly sentences,” and I will be sharing more of them with you in the future.
In math, the students have furthered their study of multiplication and division. While they were challenged by the division, they have all caught onto each of the topics that we have covered. We have recently begun a unit on data collection. The students will be creating a survey on a topic of their choice, and will present it to students in other grades. The information / data collected from the survey will then be analyzed and graphed in different ways so that we can see the results of our survey in mathematical terms. I hope it will be a project they will enjoy!