A Big Bite

Well, another snow day, that is life in New England in the winter. I hope the meteorologists are correct and that we get to see the sun this afternoon. It was an exciting short week in room 23. We started by taking a trip to China, Hong Kong to be specific. Mrs. Fuentes asked a colleague from China, Ms. Chan, if she could bring some sand to the U.S. to add to the sand collection and she did! Here is a picture of Repulse Bay, which is the beach where the sand is from. We also were able to feel some sand from Shenzhen, China as well. It sure looks nice, especially today! Then we took a trip to Norway to see the Fjords-they were very cool to see. We have started Snow Treasure, by Marie McSwigan and the story takes place in Norway. Fjords play a very important role in this historical fiction novel. We will be working on many skills in this novel including; character connections, figurative language, summary, drawing conclusions, author's craft and how to respond in writing to reading, just to name a few. Some of the students have expressed and interest in doing a non fiction study group on dinosaurs and I am working on getting that set up for next week. In writer's workshop, we continue to write rough drafts of an essay on "A day off from school." This was the MCAS prompt from last year's long composition. In math, we have been working on low stress long division and measuring angles. The chapter 6 math test will have to get pushed back again in order to make time to cover all of the material. In Social Studies, we have finished learning about regions and resources and will begin studying New England next week. We have begun talking about the water cycle in science and are even finding time to talk about blizzards, can you imagine that? Our focus in Open Circle will be on looking at our goals for the school year that we established in September, and reevaluating those goals. We learned about Martin Luther King and the MLK holiday last Friday when Mrs. Mecklenburg showed the entire 4th grade a power point presentation about the civil rights leader. There is a surprise in store for PE, and we will be posting a video in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!

Have a great weekend! Keep reading!!

Love,

Mrs. W

Juicy Nibble

Hi Gang!
It looks like we have another day off tomorrow due to the snow. Don't worry about the Social Studies test on Friday, I will move it to next week, probably Wednesday or Thursday. Also, the chapter 6 math test will probably get pushed back as well. We will have the Spelling test, and the English test on Adverbs, on Friday. Enjoy the snow and PLEASE keep reading. If you write a paragraph (12-15 sentences, using correct spelling and mechanics, in your neatest cursive) describing what you have done with your time off from school, I will award you 10 bonus points to be used on the test of your choice! Or, you can write a poem about the snow, or your time off, and I will give you 5 bonus points on the test of your choice! Remember, you can always practice some of the yoga exercises that we have learned. Have a fun day and I will see you on Friday!
Love,
Mrs. W

Spotlight Archives

Karate Kid!

At the Core

I am so excited to offer a new club at JFK, Rise and Shine Yoga! I am a level 2 RCY (Radiant child yoga)instructor and a practitioner of Kundalini Yoga. The club will meet on Monday mornings starting on January 24th, and will run for 8 weeks. The cost of the club is $50, and you can sign up at the Lifelong Learning secure site by clicking here. Registration will begin this Wednesday. Check out my yoga blog, www.kidskeepingup.blogspot.com for information about Radiant Child Yoga, and other Yoga resources. I hope to see as many of you there as possible!
Mrs. W

A Big Bite

Happy New Year! It was a great first week back! Everyone seemed to have a good vacation, but were ready to get back to work at school. In reading, we focused on historical fiction and drawing conclusions. Mrs. Williams read Henry's Freedom Box by Ellen Levine, and The Bracelet by Yoshiko Uchida, as a way to study genre, and she read The Dot by Peter Reynolds, as a way to study drawing conclusions. She also began reading Hamlet to us, and we already know that Hamlet is drawing conclusions about his father's death that may not be accurate. In writer's workshop, we began a new personal narrative about having a day off from school. This was last year's MCAS long composition prompt for the 4th graders. We focused on writing a good lead, and using descriptive language. In math, we started long division! We are learning how to use the "low stress," method of long division which is causing some stress for parents. :) Mrs. Williams looked for a YouTube video on how to do "low stress," division, but couldn't find one. She is going to have Mrs. Merten tape her this week and post it on YouTube. Stay posted for an update.In Science, we continued to learn about weather instruments and how to read a weather map. There will be a quiz on Tuesday. In Social Studies, we started to learn about regions in the United States, landforms and climate. We can't wait to start learning all about our great country. Today, we had a moment of silence to remember all Americans, living and deceased, who come together in moments of joy and sadness. There will be a test on Friday about "what makes a region."
We got exciting news today from the Lifelong learning office. Mrs. W's yoga club has been approved and will start on Monday, January 25th at 7:15 a.m. Click here to sign up at the secure website.
By Brenna and Mrs. Williams