News and Notes 4/11

News and Notes

From Fourth Grade

Metered Measurement

Our work with measurement continued this week in mathematics.  Instead of exploring customary units like inches, pounds, and cups, we moved into the metric system of measurement.  In some ways, the metric system is much more "kid-friendly" because the rules for conversion stay the same.  The students were excited to find the pattern of the metric system, which is basically the same as our base-ten number system.  This week we explored how to measure length with meters, capacity with liters, and mass with grams.  We also learned a bit about making conversions in the metric system by multiplying or dividing by a power of ten.  As we conclude this foundational study of different units of measure, we look forward to our next topic in which we will be asked to apply this measurement knowledge to hands-on measurement challenges. 

In Search of Clues

The fourth grade readers are going in search of clues.  As we continue to practice making inferences while we read narratives, this week we focused on finding evidence from the text to support our ideas.  It is exciting to see the students using multiple comprehension strategies together to get to a deeper understanding of the text.  As we read texts that are progressively more complicated, it is beneficial to have a variety of comprehension strategies at our disposal.  Making inferences is becoming second nature to many of the fourth grade readers, which means their reading experience will become more deep and rich.  In a room full of enthusiastic readers, it is exciting to see how these comprehension strategies are making the reading experience that much more enjoyable!  The trick now is finding a strategy for getting the students to put their bookmarks in...

Brilliant!

Our study of energy has lead us to some en"light"ening discoveries this week.  As we delved deeper into energy, this week we discovered that light is a special kind of energy.  We learned some important vocabulary about how light energy works: it is reflected, refracted, and absorbed.  After reading and watching how light energy works, it was time for the fourth grade scientists to explore light in a hands-on activity.  Using a variety of different tools, including flashlights, mirrors, glasses, and prisms, the fourth graders created their own "light obstacle course."  These courses were the way that the fourth graders demonstrated their understanding of light energy.  After much planning, we were able to present our obstacle courses to each other.  We pulled the blinds, shut off the lights, and enjoyed some very exciting lights displays.  These fourth grade scientists did a great job of creatively demonstrating their understanding of light energy in action.  Brilliant! 

Resourceful

As the fourth grade writers begin to dig more deeply into their research projects, we have spent time this week looking for resources.  We have already learned the importance of finding sources to support our ideas, and so this week we took time to pick out the "just right" sources.  What excitement we felt when we found a website, book, magazine, or video that gave us the information we had been searching for!  These researchers have certainly proven  themselves to be committed and resourceful in their search for information for their research projects!