Internal Organs

Ms. Karen brought a really cool object for the students to get a first-hand viewing- I will call it an object because it just sounds weird to say she brought some internal organs to class! lol She brought in real pig's lungs that were attached to a pump and the kids could see how the lungs functioned when air was being forced into them. We only had one student get sick- the rest thought it was very cool and interesting. The students have been discussing things that can harm their body and why they should stay away from certain things like drugs, smoking, and alcohol. Check out what happened!

Panther Reader

Fourth and fifth grade teachers were discussing ways to encourage our students to read more non-fiction texts and came up with a cool plan! We created a Panther Reader bookmark and students will have an opportunity to read twenty-five Science or Social Studies books to earn a ticket for a party at the end of April. Our wonderful librarian has a cart filled with science and social studies books for our students to check out and read each day! Students must take the AR test on the book and score at least 85% or higher on each test. We started this project two weeks ago and many students are already halfway finished with their books! Many books on the cart covers information we have studied already this year and it's a great way to review what we've learned so far. Keep up the great work Studio 214!

February Students of the Week

Electromagnets

We created electromagnets today in science class. Students were given a bag of items to test to see if they would attract to their electromagnet. We had some very interesting "wonderings" so I'm going to see if I can locate some more resources to test some of these out in class in a few days!

February 23-24- Blog Reporter Studio 214

Cameron reported for us over the tasks we have completed and learning targets we have been covering for the past two days- February 23-24. We have a "new" set area to record our blog reports each day that includes a director's chair and cool background!

Blog Visits are Rising!

We have gained some visitors on our blog, which is great news! As you can see above, we have had 5,752 visits on our blog and that doesn't count mine. I love that so many parents and students are checking our blog on a daily basis- it just inspires me to blog even more from Studio 214!

February 22- Student Blog Report Studio 214

Wednesday, February 22

Studio 214 Student Reporter: Miss Chelsea

Kentucky Teacher Article- Standards Based Learning

http://www.kentuckyteacher.org/features/2012/02/letter-grades-%e2%80%98standard%e2%80%99-bearers-no-more/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+KentuckyTeacher+%28Kentucky+Teacher%29

I read a great article this morning that discusses moving away from only letter grades to a system that is very similar to what we are using in fourth grade this year. (The link for the article is above.) This type of grading focuses on standards based learning and not on assigning grades for behavior, extra credit tasks, or fluff daily assignments. Through this type of grading, students know exactly what we are studying and how they are doing, whether they've mastered that target, developing, or at a basic understanding of that target. This system has made such a positive impact in my classroom!

February 21- Student Blog Reporter Studio 214

As often as possible, we are going to include a student reporter to explain learning targets for the day and tasks completed in our classroom. I would like to do this each day a student is absent so they can hear exactly what we covered while they were gone.

After the student reports, they will use a scoring rubric to critique their report, after watching it on our blog. We are trying to tie in more public speaking and student self-reflection. With our schedule being tight, we are getting creative to come up with some fun, unique ways to incorporate these skills into things we are already doing in Studio 214.

Our first report comes from a volunteer, Miss Zoe!

Western States Regions Quiz

Here are the states we will have our next social studies quiz over- the Western states which we color coded purple. The quiz will be on February 23. It will include Alaska and Hawaii.

Super Reader Ballgame at CCHS

Last Friday night was our Super Reader ballgame at CCHS and we had six students from Studio 214 who got to be recognized for reaching 100 AR points! The students who were recognized were Elijah, Morgan, Lauren, JP, Cameron, and Hannah. I can't wait for more of our students to reach their 100 points by the end of the school year- I'm so proud of all their hard work!

KEEP READING, PANTHERS!

Valentine's Day Box Contest

Students who wanted, participated in a Valentine's Day box contest where they created a box to hold all their Valentine's cards from their peers. A teacher from another room judged our boxes and here are our winners! We had some very creative boxes!

3rd- Daylin

2nd- Cameron

1st- Lauren

Candy Fractions

On our hands-on day this week, we completed a math task using some of our Valentine's Day candy. Students had to use their candy to find the fraction of each color and then they had to write an equivalent fraction for each. They also had to order the fractions from least to greatest. Of course, they got to eat their candy at the end of their task!

Toymaker

We had a special guest this week who showed our students how to make primitive toys. They also got to play with some of the toys during his visit!

Spelling Bee Winners- Fourth Grade

Our spelling bee winners in fourth grade are as follows:

3rd place- Cameron Owsley

2nd place- Kassidy Phelps

1st place- Morgan Ferguson

Congratulations!

Let There Be Light

On our hands-on day this week, we studied how to make a closed circuit. Students were given the opportunity to figure out themselves by working in pairs, how to create a closed circuit. They had to use two wires, a power source, and a light bulb. It took a few tries, but they got it! It was really neat to watch their trials and I was just as excited as they were when they got their bulb to light! They had many wonderings about this experiement and throughout this unit, hopefully we will be able to test all of those out!

Ordering Fractions

Here is a game that can be used to practice ordering fractions with common denominators!


http://www.ixl.com/math/grade-4/order-fractions-from-least-to-greatest

Comparing Fractions

http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=157734&title=Compare_Fractions

Here is a great video we found to show how to cross multiply and compare fractions!

Midwest Region Quiz

Here is our next region, the Midwest region, that we will have a quiz over on Thursday, February 16th. Students will have a word bank, but they still must make sure they are spelled correctly or it will be counted incorrect on their quiz. We had a question about that and I just wanted to clarify.

Space Projects are Out of this World!

Lots of effort has gone into all of these projects- thank you for all the hard work and time that everyone has put into their space projects!

The Research Is On

Students have started their research today on the state of their choice! They are using the kid-friendly search engines listed on our blog resources (at the bottom) and the page I created using "Live Binders" which is a free resource (it's awesome). We talked about some different occupations that require lots of research in case they may be interested in that someday as a job. After we complete our research, they will put their information into a power point show and will present it to our class. I can't wait to see what they discover about each state!

KWL Chart

We started our next science unit this morning, which is on electricity. Here is an example of a KWL chart one student completed showing what he knows already about electricity and what he wants to learn. The last section will be finished after our unit that will describe what he has learned!

Rubrics

In Studio 214, we have been using a lot of rubrics and I just wanted to show you how they work. When a student turns in an assignment with a rubric, they score themselves first. This is a great way to reflect and see if they have completed everything they needed to complete on the assignment. I take their rubric and score the task also, using a different color than they did the first time. Sometimes they score themselves lower than I do- they're pretty tough on themselves! I then add up their score and average it to get their final grade for the task. Here is a picture of a rubric we used recently to score science space projects. I also try to write some type of feedback on the rubric so we can continue to grow as students!

iPods in Studio 214

Our school has two iPod carts with a total of fifth iPods that classrooms can check out to use with lessons or to use as a reward for student behavior. As one of our options for the Panther Store, students can purchase an iPod pass with their behavior sticks the earn each month for good behavior. We love using the iPods!

Super Readers

We have three new Super Readers in Studio 214 who reached 100 AR points! Way to go JP, Morgan, and Lauren!

A Trip Across the United States

Here is a site you can visit to find our United States Project guide and rubric, along with some research sources to find your information. Students in Studio 214 get to choose which state they would like to research and they will take the information they collect and create a power point slide show. After our shows are complete, we will present them to the class. I will attach a speaking rubric at a later time, so students can prepare what they will say to their audience. Have fun researching!

http://www.livebinders.com/play/present?id=303031

Space Projects

Students are currently working on their science projects about space. They were given an option on what they would like to complete for the project and the scoring rubric was attached, so they would know what they would be scored on. Here is an example of one completed project and the task and rubric. Thank you, Maria, for letting us post your project! She did a beautiful job! All projects are due February 10th.

KPREP Practice

We are preparing everyday for our upcoming K-PREP assessment, which is our KY state assessment. This year, students will be required to answer some multiple choice questions, short answer questions, which are not as long as open response questions and extended response questions. The question below asked students to solve a division problem and then they had to list the steps they took to solve the division problem. I was impressed with many response and we also were able to see some areas to improve over the next few months.

Pattern Block Fractions

This week we have been learning the basics of fractions. This morning, we created geometric shapes using pattern blocks and students had to figure out the fraction of each color of the objects. They also had to create certain objects by looking at the denominator in the fraction and figuring out which shape could make the object. Some questions were pretty challenging!

100 AR Points

Elijah reached his 100 AR points for the school year last night at the Family Learning Night! Whoo whoo! Don't forget the Super Reader basketball game is next Friday night, February 10th, at CCHS!

Too Good for Drugs Program

Ms. Karen is completing a ten week course with Studio 214 about having good influences in your life- not bad ones! We are very excited to have this program incorporated into our weekly schedule! Each week, students are encouraged to think of positive influences in their life and set goals for their futures!

RTI (Response to Intervention)

Our RTI class consists of many different tasks going on at the same time. Over the past few weeks, we have been focusing on Lexia Learning, which is a great reading program that accomodates all levels of reading, including phonemic awareness and reading comprehension. We also use Math Whiz, which is a math program that is great for reviewing materials and also introduces new content when students are ready for it. The students take a test at the beginning of the program to see what their math age is and their games are based on that assessment. During RTI, the teacher can work with students one on one and in small groups on the different skills they have not mastered in the classroom. Some students are also working on enrichment tasks if they have mastered the skills we are working on. The pictures below show some of the things we have been doing recently during RTI!