Works of Wonder

Fantastic Fourth Grade!

Amidst this meaningful holiday season at Mazel Day School, fourth grade has been working rigorously to stay on top of their learning. In all general studies subject areas, including math, science, reading, writing and social studies, the boys and girls are regularly immersed and practicing both old and new skills. Below, you will see brief yet detailed explanations of what we've been focusing on and doing in class along with some pictures of the children at work. 

Now that we are in the middle of October, fourth grade has become accustomed to the routines and, I am so pleased to say, are demonstrating more independent learning behaviors. We've got an exciting month ahead and I am once again excited to see what all of the boys and girls will produce as well as how they will synthesize and apply all of their newly gained knowledge.

SCIENCE

In science, we will soon be concluding our focus on chapter one in which we touched upon structure and properties of matter.

 Our last experiment required that the children work in groups. They had to conduct a test to see which of four paper towel companies makes the strongest paper towel. Each student had to come up with his or her own valid hypothesis. Then, we defined strength as the  "wet strength" of the paper towel. Each child in a group had a specific responsibility during the process. At this point, we limited our paper towel strength test to only one trial. 

The purpose of the experiment is to recognize and understand that different properties of matter are suited for different purposes. Fourth grade is getting used to recording data and, as a group, we will analyze this data to see if our experiment was sound or not. We will discuss what canbe done to make our test better and more precise. 

It was absolutely incredible to see so many of the children working together in such enthusiastic and inquisitive ways. The "problem solvers" and "detectives" emerged in each and every student!

Our next experiment will help us conclude chapter one.  We will build a ramp with varying surfaces. The boys and girls will use a toy car to test what type of surface is the best material to use for the car to travel. This connects to the physical property of texture. The purpose of this is to reiterate that different materials can be used for a variety of intended purposes. The children will be given a brief lesson, chapter review, instructions and materials.  They will be responsible for setting up the experiment and, with teacher supervision and guidance will collect data as they test each material. 

Then, it's onto chapter two! Stay tuned for pictures of the next experiment and for information and updates of our latest scientific inquiries and discoveries!

Counting Pennies

How much can the paper towel hold?

Working together 

MATH

Chapter two has been an adventure for most of the class, including me! :-)

We practiced estimating in order to decide whether quotients and products are reasonable or not. The boys and girls had to use two forms of estimation:rounding and front end estimation.

We used our number sense to figure out which method would give us a closer answer. This chapter called for the students to use their multiplication and division skills. We reviewed our facts and went over the steps of long division. 

Next, the class learned about factors of numbers. The children had to identify the names and functions of numbers within equations (factors, products, divisors, dividends and quotients) and then use Math in Focus strategies to figure out the factors of given numbers as well as greatest common factors.

Most recently, we learned about prime and composite numbers and will be using The Sieve of Eratosthenes to to further explore prime numbers. The chapter will conclude with identifying multiples of numbers, specifically least common multiples of a set of numbers. We will have a chapter quiz and then a test. 

Chapter 3 is right around the corner. This chapter will give fourth grade the opportunity to review and master multiplication and division. In this unit, we will also look at real world applications of multiplication and division.

Reading and Writing

Reading

We are on the tail end of our reader's workshop launch unit. Fourth grade loves read alouds, independent reading and buddy reading. Lately, we have been engaging in buddy reading. This allows children to analyze and discuss writing styles, new vocabulary and to practice identifying genre and appropriateness of books for reading levels.
One particularly useful skill that children have been using is the "sticky note" method. Practicing this habit will allow students to become highly effective readers rather than passive ones. I love the way many of the students request post-its so that they can mark a favorite part, post  a question or formulate a response to something crucial in the book or story they are reading.
In the coming weeks, we will look at ways to determine meanings of unknown words, identify multiple meaning words, synonyms and antonyms, set personal reading goals, among other important reading skills. Fourth graders will also practice referring back to text to make inferences and use explicit details from their reading to support their thinking and ideas.

Our library is ready for use and a checkout system will allow the children the opportunity to check classroom books out to take home. :-) 

Writing

In writing, we continue to work on our autobiographies. The end product will be a multiple chapter book about their lives. Currently, we are still thinking, drafting and practicing the best ways to describe characters and events in effective ways. 

The boys and girls have been using first person to draft their personal narratives. To guide our writing, we've continued to use mentor texts. This means that we listen to and read memoirs and parts of autobiographies written by other authors. The children have loved listening to those excerpts and always ask to hear more. They are able to notice how these writers effectively use language to draw in the reader and to paint pictures with their words. This exploration guides the children in their writing. 

During these coming weeks, we will be revising our Introduction and My Family chapters. I'm so pleased with how expressive the fourth graders are! Their voice and sense of humor comes through in much of their writing, too. 

I'm so excited to read what the children produce as we continue and conclude this personal narratives unit!