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!