News and Notes 12/12

News and Notes

From Fourth Grade

Blizzard Bags

Winter is upon us.  The fourth graders are demonstrating their enthusiasm for the change in weather by cheering each time they see white flakes falling from the sky.   The Kearsarge District has formed the Blizzard Bag program in response to the historical dilemma of "snow days."  Instead of making up missed days in June, we now have the opportunity to learn from home when the snow and ice prevent us from being able to safely make it to school.  This is a huge undertaking for families and friends, so many thanks goes to each of you who helped the fourth graders navigate their first Blizzard Bag day of the year.  It seems likely that the New Hampshire winter will provide us with more opportunities to sharpen our long-distance learning skills, so thanks in advance for your continued support of the fourth grade learners during our Blizzard Bag days!

Exploring Vocabulary

Words have power.  It seems to be a universally accepted truth.  This week the fourth graders added to their vocabulary.  We learned a new format for acquiring and processing through vocabulary during reading.  We discussed terms like antonym, synonym, and definitions of words.  We explored some different graphic organizers and tools we can use to analyze new words.  We also added quite a few key terms to our math vocabulary journal.  It seems like the power of words and increasing our vocabularies will help us in any field of study! 

Winter Recess

Here is a friendly reminder that as we enter the winter season, fourth graders should come to school prepared to play outside.  The essentials would include snow pants, jackets, hats, mittens, and boots.  We've also spent some time in school talking about how to be safe and have fun at school and at recess during the wintertime.  This means things like wearing the appropriate gear and avoiding unsafe choices like throwing snowballs.  Wintertime is magical for fourth graders and we want to make sure that we can all enjoy this time of year while staying safe!

School and Home Connection

Coming home this week is the first "monthly project" for fourth graders.  These projects are designed to give students opportunities to explore concepts we are learning in class in greater depth at home.  This first monthly project relates to our recent study of simple machines.  Families are encouraged to get involved in the process of monthly projects!  The hope is that these projects will be a fun and simple way for students to share their learning and make connections beyond the classroom environment.  Thanks to our families for all your help with this new piece of the fourth grade journey!

An Ode to Blizzard Bags

An Ode to Blizzard Bags

The ice that shines on the trees,

The snow and temperatures that freeze,

All mean one thing for today...

Not off to school, at home we stay.

Safe in our houses warm and snug,

Is it a snow day? We question, then shrug.

Out come the books and papers new,

That tell us of Blizzard Bag-ish things to do.

And though teacher and school be far away,

Learning adventures are here today.

No need to grumble, worry, or fret,

Fourth grade learners are really set,

To learn and explore on their own,

A chance to show how their minds have grown.

Then when to school we will return,

We'll talk and share of what we did learn.

And if you reach a place of trouble,

Call out to your teacher on the double.

Enjoy this day of adventures in learning,

For back to school we'll soon be returning!

Zero the Superhero

The fourth graders have created their first math comic demonstrating their knowledge of subtracting across zeros.  Enjoy!

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News and Notes 12/5

News and Notes

From Fourth Grade

Celebrate Reading

This week the fourth graders celebrated their out-of-school reading successes.  In honor of the more than 8,000 minutes they have read out of school, the fourth graders participated in our first Ready, Set, Read Day of Celebration.  When asked how the students would want to celebrate their reading milestone, they all agreed that a day full of "just reading" would be their preference.  So, that's what we did!  We dressed like some of our favorite book characters, we wrote alternative endings to familiar stories, we read with family members and friends, and we listened to read alouds.  Basically we just enjoyed reading.  Many thanks to families who visited for our monthly family read together time after family lunch.  Also, thanks to Ms. Simpson who made a surprise guest appearance as our mystery reader.  What a great day of fun and celebration and learning!  We are certainly looking forward to the next chance we have to commemorate our learning in such a remarkable way!

Big Multiplication

Somehow the size of a number can cause a math problem to drastically change in difficulty.  In many ways the basic concepts that apply to numbers in the tens apply to numbers in the ten millions.  But it just doesn't always seem to feel that way.  This week the fourth graders were presented with some "big" multiplication problems.  Instead of multiplying a single-digit number by a single- or double-digit number, they were asked to multiply it by a number in the thousands or millions.  What we observed after a while, using our place value smarts, was that the process is the same no matter how many zeros are in the numbers.  By the end of the week we were multiplying many of these "big" multiplication problems in our heads in a matter of seconds.  With just a little bit of thinking, some multiplication snap facts, and a good foundational understanding of place value, these fourth grade mathematicians are proving themselves to be very capable with multiplication problems of all sizes!

Reading is Good!

Throughout our Day of Celebration, the fourth graders wrote down ideas defending the importance of reading.  Here are a few of their thoughts on why reading is good:

·         You can use your imagination when you read.

·         It gives you something to do!

·         You can learn when you read.

·         You can feel successful when you read a book.

·         Books can make you happy.

·         Books can help you learn new words.

·         Reading is entertaining.

·         Reading will help you with a better future.

Ready, Set, Read Day

In celebration of over 8,000 minutes of out of school reading, the fourth grade readers participated in the Ready, Set, Read Day of Celebration.  Full of surprise guests, film/book connections, and all kinds of reading, the day was a fun way to enjoy and celebrate our reading.

 

 

 

 

Surprise guest reader Ms. Simpson