News and Notes 5/23

News and Notes

From Fourth Grade

Adventures in Long Division

The fourth grade mathematicians are becoming increasingly more skilled with long division.  This week we practiced the long division algorithm by playing bingo, deciphering secret codes, and even solving word problems involving baked goods.  The more we can work through the steps of long division, the closer we come to being proficient with this essential computation skill.  Our grumbling and hesitation related to long division has significantly lessened as we have become more confident with our abilities.  How exciting it is to add long division to our list of math concepts we've conquered this school year!

Questions?

A rule for the inquiry-based Junior Great Books is that the teacher, as the discussion facilitator, should only ask questions.  During our first few "J.G.B." discussions the students are a bit uncomfortable with the fact that the teacher isn't giving them the right answer or affirming their ideas.  Instead, their ideas only spur on more questions.  It is interesting to watch how students start to build upon each others' ideas and use evidence from the text to support their thoughts.  This growing independence in thinking is an essential skill of a lifelong learner.  Being able to find evidence to support our inferences and conclusions is one way we demonstrate a true and deep comprehension of a subject.  The fourth grade readers are certainly showing their skills, even in the face of endless questions!

Symbiosis

As we looked more closely at ecology this week, we discovered a very interesting term: symbiosis.  The basic idea is that certain organisms have relationships in which one or both organism relies on the other.  We discovered that in some ecosystems there are organisms that live in symbiotic relationships.  Each fourth grader selected a native organism to learn more about.  They researched the habitats, food, life cycles, and interactions with other organisms in the ecosystem.  We ended the week with a simulation demonstrating how organisms in the same ecosystem rely on each other.  We experience how even a small change in an ecosystem can have a large impact because of these relationships. 

Ending Well

It's official.  Spring fever has reached the fourth grade.  The mixture of end of year testing and beautiful weather has allowed for some lapses in our decision making.  This week we took some time to reflect on how we want to finish the school year.  With about one month left, we all created plans for how we are going to end the year well.  From staying focused on learning to using kind words to being safe in the classroom, every fourth grader had great ideas for how to finish well.  After an amazing year of learning and community, we want these last few weeks of our time in fourth grade to be fruitful and enjoyable!  Thankfully these fourth graders are amazing planners and have created some very specific and completely doable plans for making these last few weeks the best of our whole school year!  So, onward we push, in eager anticipation of all the fun and learning we still have left to look forward to as fourth graders!