I hope everybody had a wonderful Spring Break, filled with both relaxation and adventure! The students all returned last week with lots of stories of their travels and exploits, and were ready to dive head first into our spring term.
Prior to Spring Break, the fourth graders were very lucky to take part in a joint project with the ninth grade. The students were matched up in groups of four and five, and each group selected a state to create a commercial highlighting multiple aspects of their chosen state to intrigue and entice viewers to want to come and visit. Each group got together and brainstormed ideas, created a bank of information that they already knew or wanted to find out about, and came up with what they wanted their commercial to look like. This was a wonderful opportunity for the students to learn research skills, to conceptualize what they wanted to highlight in their commercials and how they would accomplish that, to act and perform before a camera in their commercials, and – ultimately – to edit and polish their commercials to best portray their chosen states. The project was completed just last week, and both the ninth and fourth grade classes will get their first looks at their finished commercials this coming Wednesday. Everybody is really looking forward to it!
Hard at work!
Fourth and ninth grade groups researching their State commercials
In English, we spent time last week practicing writing in preparation for the WrAP test that we will be engaged in starting on April 11. Dr. Gebhard sent an email out last week about the WrAP Test, and I want to reinforce that this is nothing the students should be concerned or worried about. Previously the WrAP Test has only been administered to the 7th and 8th grade, so this will be the first time the 4th through 6th grades will be taking it. We worked on writing from a prompt and editing their paragraphs. This week we will practice using the WrAP test rubric on two practice prompts so everyone will have a good understanding of what they will encounter during the actual test the following week. We will also this week begin a new in-class reading book, Kneeknock Rise by Natalie Babbitt. The story is about a young boy, Egan, who looks to get to the bottom of the mysterious creature who roars at the top of Kneeknock Rise, and the challenges he encounters with the people of the town he lives in who celebrate the mystery of the monster. This book is a perennial favorite among my past students, and I am looking forward to exploring it with the class.
Last Friday was also April Fool’s Day, which – in French – is Poisson d’Avril, on which children try to play a joke on their teachers or friends by sticking a picture of a fish on their backs. In honor of this day, our fourth graders all made colorful fish that they worked to “stick” onto the backs of unsuspecting students and teachers. Take a peak at what my back looked like after they were finished.
Poisson d’Avril!
Just a head’s up that in a month – on May 5th – we will be heading out on our much anticipated field trip to Boston for an overnight at the Museum of Science! Much more information about the trip will be coming next week. Everyone seems to already be excited about it, as am I!
