Dear Families,
We had another great week together as we nearly brought the month of April to a close. Read on through the captions to find out why students just could not stop saying the word "fun" this past week. Remember, you can click on a picture to view it at full-size.
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| Students could hardly contain their excitement with the mirrors we've been using in math to reflect and "move" objects on the page! |
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| "This is fun!" was a very common phrase across the week during math :) |
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| Art Docent lesson on transformations--reflections (flips), rotations (spins), and translations (slides). Perfect timing! Same day, in fact, as when we began to study the same content in math. Thanks to our Art Docent, Lisa Purdon, for another great lesson! |
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| Students created a base shape--ask them how. This was a very interesting set of steps. Then they decided what the "rhythm" or pattern would be--flips? slides? or turns?--across the page. Students performed the transformation, then traced in pencil, then over in sharpie marker, and finally adding color with crayons. |
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| Trade Simulation! 4th grade students participated in a simultaneous trade simulation as part of our Pacific Rim Trade unit in Social Studies. Our class had 5 groups, each trying to build a car. Other classrooms tried to "build" airplanes, computers, and homes. Groups started out with some of the required inventory, but also had to do a fair amount of trading within and between classrooms. |
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| Let's make a deal! Students in our class met with trade representatives from other classes to trade inventory. |
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| Keeping very careful track on the in-class and traveling trade representatives' inventory sheets was very important! |
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| Finished Art Docent projects. Also, our essays are finally up on the wall! :) |
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| Mirror mirror. Partners had to mirror a series of moves made by one another during math class in order to model the concept of reflection. |
Reading
- Continued studying the concept of theme in reading
- Looked at the song lyrics of "Yellow Taxi" to analyze theme. I didn't tell students at first that it was a song, so they were surprised when I played it for them. We compared the difference in rhyme and meter between the two forms
- Students looked at a poem by Shel Silverstein called Smart, analyzed theme and responded to their reading
Writing
- We're so close to wrapping the fictional narrative unit. Students have been working so hard to publish their picture books.
- Author's chair is soon to follow!
Social Studies
- Wrapped up our Pacific Rim trade unit with a couple quizzes
- We'll quickly cover some Washington State Government information and then move back to Science
Math
- Started Unit 10, and if you haven't read the captions for the above pictures--students love it!
