Bookwoorm Buzz

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another great historical fiction to add to your list!  This book is a bit of a challenge for most 4th graders due to some of the themes and lack of background knowledge in reference to the historical references.  I loved the relationship between the sisters and their unique personalities.  Their relationship with Cecile, their poet mother, is definitely talk worthy.  My middle school friends should definitely give this book a try.


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A Big Bite

What a week it was in room 23!  The rain on Monday helped us get right back into the swing of things for the last big push of 4th grade.  In eight weeks you will be 5th graders!  We finished chapter 10 in math, learned more about wild weather events and the Midwest region of the United States.  We organized our books bags, and wrote more poetry.  On Thursday we celebrated Poem in your Pocket day, and Shane read The Pasture, by Robert Frost, on the announcements in the morning.  The highlight of our week was the  Hopi Program from the Haffenreffer Museum at Brown University!  Mrs. Silvia was our anthropologist for for our trip to the Hopi reservation. The pictures above show just some of the highlights from this program.  We learned about the history and culture of the Hopi people and were able to participate in some Hopi customs, like the naming ceremony, and the  butterfly dance. We ground corn and made pinch pots.  Everyone had an opportunity to hold the artifacts from the museum.  It was one of the best "virtual field trips," we have ever had.  Thanks to the PCC for providing us with this great opportunity.  Next week, Ms. Liz, the JFK poet in residence will be with us to guide us on our poetry journey this year.  I can't wait for everyone to meet her, she is so cool!

Poetry Please!

Another wonderful poem, this one is by Cate.  She used her Douglas Florian painting as her muse.

Sunset Over the Meadow

By:Cate 

(inspired by Robert Frost)

Whose Meadow this is

I think I know

He lives in our village though

Where the grass won’t grow

The grass is soft here

And feels of silk

The flowers are blooming

Different colors are flowing

Turquoise, violet and pinks glowing

All these are flowing

But I must pass because…..

I have miles to go before I sleep

And miles to go before

I

Sleep

Bookworm Buzz

Grown-Ups Are Dumb! by Alexa Kitchen

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

4th graders will enjoy this book and some of the silly stories by 10 year old Alexa Kithche, but will quickly realize that they are JUST AS TALENTED as the authoress herself. You too can be a cartoonist, just stay motivated and keep working!

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Bookworm Buzz

Touch Blue by Cynthia Lord

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really liked this book, so many talk worthy points and memorable characters. I especially liked the use of "good luck sayings," at the start of each chapter to engage the reader in the story. This book is just right for spring 4th graders, but will be a bit of a challenge to new 4th graders. The ending left me wanting more...and you will too!

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Bookworm Buzz

Big Nate Goes for Broke by Lincoln Peirce

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another great installment in the Big Nate series. I love the lesson here-believe in YOURSELF and never give up. I also like the new character DeeDee and how her friendship with Nate evolves throughout the story. Enjoy!

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Bookworm Buzz

Saving Zasha by Randi Barrow

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A very interesting historical fiction about dogs in Russia post World War II. If you like dogs, and reading about dogs, then this is the book for you! It is just right for 4th graders and a great example of historical fiction. Thanks to my niece Sophie,also a 4th grader, for recommending this book to me. Let me know what you think!

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Bookworm Buzz

I Smell A Pop Quiz!: A Big Nate Book by Lincoln Peirce

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A collection of all school related comics. Very funny, I love these teachers! Thanks for letting me borrow it, Jake!

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Juicy Nibble

O.K. gang, you know I have a BIG stack of books to read for the week, keep checking back for my updates! I know everyone brought home at least ONE book, and many of you have two. I can't wait to hear about your book adventures!

A Big Bite

What an incredible week we had in room 23! I was told several times, "Wow, what a great day, I don't want to go home!" Art and Poetry were our themes and it stretched across all curriculum areas. As Brendan informed us, it was National Children's Poetry Week, and we really immersed ourselves in this philosophy. We began the week in writer's workshop by painting watercolor pictures on paper bags in the style of Douglas Florian artist and , poet. We will be writing poems based on our paintings after vacation. In reader's workshop we listened to Hate That Cat, by Sharon Creech and had some very interesting discussions about how the character Jack has grown and changed from Love That Dog. We even learned some American Sign Language! In Math we have started a unit on symmetry and created art work for writing poetry. We did A LOT of drawing, cutting and creating in math this week. I can't wait to share our "Creepy Clown," poems. They even "creeped out," Mrs. Toye! In Science we have started to learn about motions in the oceans and watched some . really cool videos about rogue waves and tsunamis. In Social Studies we are learning about the Midwest. Some of us really want to see the Badlands of South Dakota and the art will continue when we create paper models of Mount Rushmore! Friday was "Rock Poetry Day," in room 23. We created visual imagery dictionaries and drew in them as we listened to our peers play their tunes. I will post a playlist later this week, but some of the poems that were analyzed were: You've Got a Friend in Me, by Randy Newman; Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne; Baby by Justin Bieber; Firework, by Katy Perry; Benny and the Jets, by Elton John; Fearless, by Taylor Swift; and Fireflies, by Owl City. There were some deep poems to read and analyze. In Art class with Mrs. Hess, the students created Sum-E paintings. We will write Haiku poems about these paintings. Enjoy the week off, the weather looks great!

Mrs. W

Juicy Nibble

It was a short week at JFK. On Monday, Jeremy Reiner, meteorologist from Channel 7 Boston, came to JFK to talk about weather with all of the 4th graders. It was incredible! We also started to learn about the ocean and tides. In Social Studies we finished our tour of the southeast and everyone did a great job on the test. Language arts has been all about poetry! We are writing poems, reading poems and listening to poems. We read Love That Dog by Sharon Creech and listened to Walter Dean Myers and Robert Frost read poems. Walter Dean Myers has an awesome voice and we could listen to him all day. Have a great long weekend.