Juicy Nibble

Pictures and video from Science this week. Ask your child about the experiments!

A Big Bite

We have had another incredible week in room 23. On Friday, in addition to team spirit day,Mr. Adams, an electrical engineer from Raytheon came to talk to all of the fourth graders about the engineering process in order for us to begin working on our first engineering project, Puffmobiles! He came around to each classroom and worked with the individual teams on their designs. These videos above show Mr. Adams working in our classroom. We are very excited to get started building our Puffmoblies next week. A goal of the project is to learn how to work in cooperative groups, in addition to the engineering goals. Ask your child about this fun fourth grade tradition. We have finished chapter one in math and have taken the first math test. In Reader's workshop, we have continued to work on reading stamina during independent reading time, and we are making good progress. As a class, we have read 92 books so far this year and are on track to read over 1,000 books by the end of the school year! Many of us are making good decisions when choosing just right books, and putting books on hold that are a bit of a challenge. In Writer's Workshop we have continued writing goals for the school year and have taken this piece of writing to publication. Also, we have begun writing rough drafts of list poems, which is a style of free verse poetry. Mrs. Williams read several list poems from Georgia Heard's book, Falling Down the Page. In science we have learned more about the scientific method and will do some experiments next week. Our goal is to build terrariums on Thursday, and we will be needing a jar and plant clippings for this experiment. The study of maps and globes in Social Studies continued with a focus on latitude and longitude. We will be learning how to find exact locations on a map or globe given specific degree coordinates. An Open Circle goal for us is to follow the guidelines that we set up as a class during the first week of school, particularly the goal that includes being a good listener and not talking when others are talking. This is proving to be challenging for us, but with more focus, I am sure that we can be successful with this goal. Thanks to Mrs. Macchi for helping me meet my goal of 20 followers, and to Mrs. Toye for putting me over the top! Until next week,

Mrs. Williams

A Big Bite

Our first full week is done and everyone did a great job! We have continued with Reader's and Writer's Workshop, finished chapter 1 in Math (the test is Tuesday!) made a map of the world using paper puzzle pieces in Social Studies, and started learning about the Scientific Method in Science. We celebrated Constitution Day on Friday and began our celebration with a visualization activity and listened to the Preamble of the Constitution. Then the students participated in small groups to discuss the Bill of Rights. They had to whittle the first ten amendments down to 5. Overwhelmingly, the students chose to keep the 1st, 8th and 10th amendments, and chose to discard the 2nd and 5th amendments. Ask your child about this activity, and see if they can tell you about the first ten amendments to the constitution. Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Williams

Author Alert

Dear Reader,
Here is an excerpt from an email that I received from the Wellesley Booksmith about some upcoming author events at their store and at the Wellesley Library. It looks like there are going to be some pretty fantastic authors making appearances, I am having a hard time trying to figure out how I am going to get there to see all of them. I have attended several events sponsored by the Wellesley Booksmith and have always had a great time. Getting to meet real authors is such an exciting experience, I hope you can make it there for at least one event. Here is the email:


EVENTS – The event season is kicking into high gear and below is a sampling of a few great authors that we are welcoming in the near future.

John D'Auria - Ten Lessons in Leadership and Learning
Join us at the store on Monday, October 4, 2010 at 4:00 pm (for an educator presentation) and 7:00 pm (for a parent presentation) as popular educator and former Wellesley Middle School Principal John D'Auria discusses his newly published book, Ten Lessons in Leadership and Learning.
Co-sponsored by Teachers21.

Patricia MacLachlan - I Didn't Do It and Word After Word After Word
The Wellesley Free Library welcomes celebrated author Patricia MacLachlan on Friday, October 8, 2010 at 4:00 pm as she discusses two of her latest books in the Wakelin Room.

Julie Berry - Secondhand Charm, The Rat Brain Fiasco and Curse of the Bizarro Beetle
On Thursday, October 14, 2010 at 7:00 pm, enjoy an entertaining evening at Wellesley Booksmith with author Julie Berry as she celebrates the release of her latest books.

Annie Barrows - Ivy & Bean #7: What's the Big Idea?
Visit the store on Monday, October 18, 2010 at 4:00 pm and catch award winning author Annie Barrows as she discusses her latest book in the Ivy & Bean series.

Sara Pennypacker - Clementine, Friend of the Week
The Wellesley Free Library hosts author Sara Pennypacker for a reading of her latest Clementine book on Saturday, October 23, 2010 at 2:00 pm in the Children's Room.

Laurie Halse Anderson - Forge
Join award-winning author Laurie Halse Anderson for a stirring presentation on Friday, October 29, 2010 at 4:00 pm in the Wellesley Free Library's Wakelin Room.

As always, check our website, www.wellesleybooksmith.com, for the latest event news.

A Big Bite

Week 2 is over and I can't believe how quickly it has gone by! We have continued to make great progress in reading and our book count for the year is 17! What an impressive number so early in the school year! If we keep reading at this pace, we will certainly read over 1,ooo books this year. In writing, we have been developing goals for this school year and have continued to work on our biopoems. Check out the post from Friday that lists some of the poems which have been completed! Geometry continues to be the theme in math and our first test will probably be early next week. Science and Social Studies will get started this week with a unit on Maps and Globes, and a unit on the Scientific Method and Life Cycles. The 12 inch jar, which can also be an empty two liter bottle, is due next week. In addition, we will celebrate Constitution day on September 17th. On Friday, we saw a presentation about the different musical instruments that students can study through the after school music program, and information was sent home with the students. This will be our first full week and I am sure that it is going to be great! Thanks to everyone who has been signing up to be a follower of The Shiny Red Apple-I am up to 15 followers, 5 short of my goal. Can you help me reach my goal?
Enjoy the rest of the weekend,
Mrs. Williams

Bookworm Buzz

Dear Readers,

Book Three of the Amulet series, The Cloud Searchers, by Kazu Kibuishi, continues the story of Emily the Stonekeeper and her quest to save her family. This is a just right book for many fourth graders, but the story will not make sense if you have not read the first two books in the series. The story opens with Prince Trellis and Luger, facing the realization that they have failed the Elf King and face the ultimate punishment, death! Emily and Navin have been reunited with their mom, who is not very trusting of Leon, Emily's teacher. The Star Wars connections are very strong and I can't help but imagine that Leon is very similar to Obi Wan Kenobi. There is even some "Jedi like" training in this book and there is a also the introduction of a character who resembles Han Solo. Overall, I enjoyed this book and am anxiously awaiting Book 4. Let me know what you think!

Read on readers,

Mrs. W

Poem of the Week

We have been working on bio poems. Here are a few examples:

Addison
Friendly, hopeful, grateful, caring.
Sister of Brooke, Allyse, Rashanna.
Who loves Drawing, swimming, playing with friends and family.
Who feels joyful, lucky, loved.
Who needs love, friends, laughs.
Who gives happiness, joy ,kindness.
Who fears spiders, snakes, bees.
Who would like to see Hawaii, Maine, and Niagara Falls.
A resident of Franklin.
H.



Johhny
Caring, nice, kind and funny.
Brother of Amanda ,Kassidy and Tyler.
Who loves cats, dogs and mice
Who feels happy, confused about what to read next, and surprised about how nice Mrs. Williams is.
Who needs friends, family and pets.
Who gives friendship, toys to charity and clothes to charity
Who fears the dark, snakes and clowns.
Who would like to see the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty, and Niagara Falls.
A resident of Franklin.
L.



Shaelin
Red headed, fun, silly, helpful
Sister of Nolan and Gavin. Daughter of Cindy and Jimmy.
Who loves my family, water, and going to Gavin’s hockey games to see my friends.
Who feels happy to have two brothers to play with, lucky to have Mrs.Williams for fourth grade and excited for the weekend!
Who needs my own room, a new sweatshirt, and lunch.
Who gives my parents a hard time when I have to get up in the morning, presents to my brothers on their birthdays and food to my brothers
Who fears rats, snakes and wasps.
Who would like to see Disney, Washington D.C. and Hollywood.
Resident of Franklin
M.



Nitin
Athletic, nice, smart, friendly
Brother of Ravin and Rachita, son of Priariat and Mukesh
Who loves sports, family and fruit
Who feels happy to have a great family, neighborhood and lots of friends
Who needs friends, love and good grades
Who fears rats, mice, and spiders
Who would like to see flying squirrels, the Eiffel Tower and the Great Wall of China
A resident of Franklin
C.

A Big Bite

The first week of 4th grade is over, I can't believe how quickly it went by! I am so proud of how hard everyone has settled into the routines and the great effort demonstrated by all students. So much has happened this week in math, reading and writing, in addition to all of the fun "get to know you," activities. I am hopeful that we will be able to assemble our book bags for Reader's Workshop(RW) next week as we continue the launching unit in RW. Today was our first "Poetry Friday," in writer's workshop, and we learned about bio poems. We read a bio poem by Mrs. Mecklenburg and then wrote our own. After the rough drafts were completed we used the Alpha Smarts to begin final copies. We will post some poems as they are complete. It is going to be a great year!

Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Bower for signing up to be a follower of the blog, that makes 9! I almost half way to my goal.

Have a great Labor Day Weekend,

Mrs. W

Juicy Nibble

Day 2 was another great day! Everyone was excited to learn and we were able to accomplish a lot! We have retired the words "I Can't," and have brainstormed many different ways to ask for help instead of saying "I can't." Ask your child to tell you about this special activity. We are off and running with Reader's Workshop and the students are already adjusting to the routines of reading in 4th grade. Reading isn't a competition sport where success is determined by a winner. Everyone is a winner when they read, and all of the students in Room 23 are winners so far!

It was wonderful to see so many parents at orientation today. If you were unable to make it, all of the handouts were sent home with your child today. Thanks to Mr. Macchi for being such a good sport this morning! :)

Kudos to Mr. Chaudhury for becoming the newest follower of The Shiny Red Apple. My goal is to get 20 follwers by the end of the year. Can you help me reach my goal?

Sleep well, Earl is coming!

Mrs. W

A Big Bite

WOW!!! The first day is done-gosh that went by really fast! What a great bunch of students so far. Sadie said it best, "I like the different mix of people in here!" Me too, Sadie! There are plenty of pictures from the first day which I will post as soon as I have permission from parents. I am looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible tomorrow. Thanks to Mrs. Pipe for signing on as a "Follower," of the blog-way to go! Have a great night! Try to stay cool.
Mrs. W