Grammar Review Game

http://www.studyzone.org/testprep/e4topic.cfm?TopicID=33

 

Here is a great game to review your grammar skills!

My Old Kentucky Home

Practice, Practice, Practice- Makes Perfect :)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5H_GOxqzhJk

Hands-On Day- Plants and Animals

          Today in Studio 214, it was hands-on day!  We completed six different stations in science, which took all afternoon.  The pictures of some things we completed are below.  We used hand-held microscopes to look at plant and animal cells.  We also cleaned feathers that were covered in oil.  Students had five minutes to clean it in order to keep their bird alive.  Most birds survived!  Another station we completed focused on bird adaptions with their beaks and students tested different types of "beaks" to see why animals adapt to their environments to survive. 

Happy Earth Day!

          We celebrated Earth Day today in Studio 214 by planting a tree on our school campus.  In collaboration with our local Conservation Office, we planted a pear tree.  We can't wait to watch it grow and produce fruit!

Main Idea "In a Bag"

          Today is hands-on day so for reading, we have been studying main idea with supporting details.  We used ten paper bags and stuck a passage inside, with a question attached to the outside.  Students rotated to each bag and worked with partners to read the passage and answer the questions together.  They had to provide proof from the passage to justify their responses.

The Science Guy

 

         

 

          The Science Guy visited CCES yesterday and boy, did we have fun with some cool experiments!  He did some experiements with open and closed circuits, force and motion, and inertia with our students, just to name a few topics.  We learned so much!

For free resources, emails, and experiment ideas that are linked to the new common core science standards, visit: www.hookedonscience.org

Sweet Kids!

          My kids are so sweet and thoughtful!  Last Friday, one of my students made my son a crayon box and brought it to me to give to him!  Ryan loved it and I just had to share because it was so kind!

 

Creating Units- Van de Walle

          One of our first measurement lessons this week came from the great math resource written by Van de Walle.  Students created their own units and used them to measurement a few things in our room.  Then we glued the units down to a piece of paper to demonstrate how rulers are created.  It is always very interesting to see their thinking when they start to label their rulers because you can really see what they understand conceptually about measurement.

Picnic

          This week, we got to begin having lunch in our courtyard again since the weather has been so nice!  We have a weekly group competition and whichever group gets the most points by Friday, gets to have lunch in the courtyard!

Courtyard Cleanup

          As a service project for our fourth graders, we are responsible for taking care of our school courtyard.  This week we pulled weeds out of the flower beds and it looks so nice and it has been the perfect weather to enjoy it each day!  Last year, we collaborated with the high school FFA to completely redo the courtyard.  We applied for grants to pay for the project and tied in the work to what we were doing in math and science with measurement and plant life.

POP! The Invention of Bubble Gum

         

 

 

 

 

          We read "POP! The Invention of Bubble Gum" this week in reading.  It is a beautiful, nonfiction book by Meghan McCarthy that explains all the events that took place during the invention of bubble gum.  Students chewed some bubble gum and we had a little bubble blowing contest and then we discussed a text structure- sequencing.  Students wrote down the steps of how to blow a bubble, using lots of details.  Then they switched with a partner and that person had to do exactly what the steps said, to see if they could blow a bubble with only the directions given.  What students realized, is that if they left out details, the bubble could not be blown!  Then we created the artwork to go with our sequencing steps for a display.

For other great nonfiction books by Meghan McCarthy, visit the site below!  Happy Reading!

http://www.meghan-mccarthy.com/books.html

Measure Me!

 

 

 

 

 

 

          We started measurement this week and we measured our partners as our second lesson. Students measured each other's height, length of hair, feet, palm span and a few other items using the units of inches.