Grade 4

Dear Parents,

I just wanted to share some of the shots from our trip to High Lawn Farm in Lenox this past week. It was part of our Service Learning curriculum on Farm to Fork…just how does our food get to our plates? Why is that important for us to know and how can we share that information to make our world a better place?

To be able to see first hand the amazing operation they have there really strengthened our understanding of the Food Supply chain. We saw the Farmer, Processor, Distributor steps all in one place. Later that afternoon we studied the paths of apples, chickens and peanut butter, where they are grown and how they are processed and distributed to the stores.

Josh Needleman of Chocolate Springs in Lenox has invited the class to come in for a discussion of the many steps that chocolate takes- from the cocoa tree to our taste buds. (He asked to wait until his busy time is over, so we will head there after Easter sometime.)

It’s important for kids to know where their food comes from so they have more of an appreciation for food and farmers,” said Alexa Fiszer, a lead environmental educator at Common Ground. [An urban farm/educational center in Connecticut.] “This [appreciation] often helps evolve kids’ understanding of the food production system and the ways in which it has evolved over the course of history.”

I want them to remember that everything comes from somewhere, and often many hands are needed along the way to get it there.

Also included in the slide show are some shots of work being done on our Tall Tales and using fraction strips to help with the concept of equivalent fractions.

There is a video of our recitation of MLK’s I Have A Dream Speech, you may have to turn up the volume for that one. What a great job they did with that, they have set a pretty high bar for next year’s class.

Finally, please send in a set of dry clothes. These warm days often create a muddy mess. Indoor shoes, sneakers or slippers as well – some kids are wearing their heavy snow boots all day.

The class and I are looking forward to seeing some of you for Bring a Parent to School Day next week & Happy Valentines’ Day to ALL!

Best, Katharine

https://photos.app.goo.gl/1qHotcttg945TXkr5

Dear Families,

Now that we have finished reading Maniac Magee we can recognize it as a Tall Tale. Not that it shares all the elements, but certainly enough to qualify. We’ve been reading them, from Pecos Bill to Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind and just this morning, Mr. Fawett invited us up to listen to some early American Folk Songs, many of which tell a Tall Tale. Soon we will craft and write our own.

In Social Studies we are deep into completing our USA maps; identifying oceans, lakes, mountains, rivers states and their capitals, understanding time zones, longitude and latitude and defining geographic terms. Finally, they shade the different regions and create their own unique maps that share the correct information displayed as they choose.

We will share our recitation of Martin Luther King’s I Have A Dream Speech this Tuesday morning with the rest of the Middle School. We have reviewed some of the more difficult vocabulary and geography as well as watched and discussed the speech; when it was given, why and the continuing impact it has on our country. I will tape it and put that up in my next blog.

Finally, long division/zeros in the quotient have been relatively painless for this group and we will be moving onto fractions and decimals shortly.

Thank you, Christina and Amanda, for our delicious lunch bunch of last week. Always a special and appreciated treat for the class.

Also, if you haven’t already, please send in a set of dry clothes and some inside shoes. Pants and shirts get wet this time of year. Also, it helps our classroom rug if we’re not tracking salt and snow from the outside.

As you know, the ERB’s will be happening next week, the first two periods of Monday-Thursday, with Friday as a make-up day if necessary. I might shift the schedule a bit to make up for some lost periods but otherwise,  there is really nothing special to do to prepare, except for a good night’s sleep and that works for everything!

The slide show below includes some shots from Open Book Quizzes, USA map work, some math work in the Distance Lab and of course, the ever-popular Lunch Bunch!

Best, Katharine

https://photos.app.goo.gl/J6wudWftFYzTBf2q7

Bonjour tout le monde!

What is the Mois de la Francophonie, you ask? The goal of La Francophonie Month, organized each year around the world, is to promote the French language in the context of cultural diversity, as well as to support dialogue and bringing together people, groups and communities interested in the Francophonie. 33 million people in the Americas live and radiate the French language around them.

We will celebrate La Francophonie Month at BCD in several ways, starting off with a crepe-making ‘atelier’ on Friday, February 1, with grades 4-8. My husband & local chef, Benjamin, will help us to assemble our ingredients and share the technique to making a perfectly thin and delicious crepe! …more details to follow, to be distributed by email per grade.

…

Another way in which students will celebrate Francophonie month is by participating in an international ‘Slam poetry’ competition, called ‘Slame tes Accents’.  Through this competition, the Center of Francophonie des Ameriques aims “to highlight the diversity of French accents hosted by the Americas, to highlight the vitality and dynamism of the Francophonie of the Americas and stimulate interest in the Francophonie by demonstrating to students the power of words. Whether French is your second or mother tongue, whether you are starting out or perfecting it, display your accents and make them vibrate in video form!”

With grades 7 and 8, we will create a video of 60 to 90 seconds. Our class slam must integrate some 15 proposed words. This is an opportunity to celebrate the richness, vitality, and diversity of the French language during the month of the Francophonie. 

Here are some objectives of the competition, which we will approach in a way that best represents our Francophone culture at BCD and our school community! …

Stimulate interest in the Francophonie of the Americas in educational institutions.

Generate the pride of speaking French and belonging to the Francophonie family.

Engage students in their learning of French.

Demonstrate the evocative power of slam.

Develop written and oral skills in French.

Among the many prizes offered is the chance to win a visit to the school by Mathieu Lippé, a popular artist, singer, and slam poet from Quebec who has enjoyed great success among young people with his “contagious” dynamism. His visit, in the form of a creative workshop, will certainly help stimulate and promote student interest in the French language.

For more information about this engaging and inspiring educational challenge, please follow the link; http://www.francophoniedesameriques.com/slame/

Best,

Mme. Daire

Dear All,

The slideshows below contain a lot of classroom activity from these past busy weeks.

Particularly moving for me was the exchange of Holiday cards, where each student exchanged a creative card with a positive, encouraging thought about another classmate. Each one was made with care and thought and meant a great deal to each recipient.

I hope the enthusiasm for playing the Prime Climb numbers game and deciphering Pascal’s Triangle is evident in the short videos. Supplementing our math curriculum with these problem-solving challenges has been great for the class to make the connections and see the patterns that are so important for building a solid foundation in mathematical understanding.

A short video is also attaching showing an activity from our Community/Service Learning morning earlier in December. As you know we have been studying our Food System. Our food – where does it come from, how does it get to us and why does it matter? The video tries to show the class putting cards in the correct order that showed how an apple from Washington State gets from the field to our plate. Our conversation that day has led to our upcoming trip to High Lawn Farm in Lenox later in January. To see a modern day dairy farm and how it produces and distributes the products we enjoy will augment our earlier visit to Hawthorne Valley Farm. How lucky we are to live where we do!

Finally, I cannot thank you all enough for your generous and, oh so, delicious Holiday gift. My cup runneth over with all those goodies that I would rarely ever get for myself – a great gift, as this class is for me.

Have a wonderful, restful and Happy Holiday!

p.s. If you do travel, I did ask the students to send a postcard to the class – 4th grade/BCD/PO Box 867/Lenox, MA 01240. Thanks.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/7GdpgPVHgAJEznaX9

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ME3qWp4mtbK95KBV8