Juicy Nibble

Here are some pictures of Dylan and his family in the Grand Canyon.  Looks like he got to go on the helicopter ride afterall!  We can't wait to hear about the trip! :)

Bookworm Buzz

I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King, Jr.
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I LOVE Kadir Nelson and this book is another treasure.  The accompanying CD of Dr. King's speech is an added bonus.  The illustrations are truly amazing and my favorite is of the two hands held together.  Both Mrs. Perry and I GASPED when we got to this page.  This is such a nice addition to our Kadir Nelson collection.


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Little Rock Girl 1957: How a Photograph Changed the Fight for Integration by Shelley Tougas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Students interested in the civil rights movement and the integration of schools will enjoy this book.  Also, those interested in photo journalism and using photographs as a means of telling a story will love this book.  I especially liked the "Where are they now," section of the book.  Great non fiction read for students.


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Juicy Nibble

More blizzard photos!  Here is Will and his sister, Ella.  Sure looks like fun! :)

A Big Bite

We started off our week celebrating Chinese New Year, had Valentine's Day in the middle of the week and ended with Winter Wonderland.  I can't believe that February Vacation is here!  This school year is flying by, when we return to school, March 1st will be on Friday. WOW!! In math we finished our study of fractions and everyone did a great job on the test.  We will be studying measurement next.  In science, we finished our unit on humidity and precipitation and those test scores were awesome as well.  We are continuing our studies of the Northeast and did a fun puzzle activity on the resources found in our region.  Some students were able to finish their essays during writer's workshop and are ready for the last writing project before the long composition test.  We are 2/3s of the way through Snow Treasure and should finish sometime after vacation. It is a very exciting story.  On Valentine's Day, we read the myth of Cupid and Psyche.  We will be studying mythology more in depth in March.  The book order came in and Mrs. W was able to share many new books with the class.  We even have a copy of the 2013 Newberry Winner, The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate.    Make sure you click on the link, it will take you to the book's website which is REALLY COOL!  There is a waiting list to read this book because everyone wants to read it.  Miss Decker will be taking over for three days when we get back to school and we are excited for her as she continues on her journey to becoming a teacher.
For fun, we made paper plate snakes to celebrate Chinese New Year.  It is the Year of the Snake.  Party in a bag was a blast and we even did the Cupid Shuffle as an entire 4th grade on Valentine's Day.  Check out the video!  Winter Wonderland was fun and everyone looked relaxed in their pajamas.  Even if you didn't wear pjs, it was still a great day!
Have a wonderful vacation.  See you next week!

Juicy Nibble

Matt sure had fun during the blizzard.  I LOVE the Savasana (deep relaxation) pose, though it might get cold pretty quickly! :)

Juicy Nibble

More blizzard photos!  Matthew helped with clean up and then jumped in it!  Kyle had fun with his dog, Maddie.

Juicy Nibble

More blizzard photos!  Dylan and his brother Justin jumping off the deck.  Meg and Sophie, before and after the snow.

Juicy Nibble

Here are the first Nemo Blizzard photos for our class.  Claudia in a snow pile AND Claudia in her favorite yoga pose, Dolphin.  Way to go, Claudia!!  We are SO glad you are feeling better.

Bookworm Buzz

Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I remember when I fell in love with mysteries, it was in the 4th grade!  There are some themes in this book(alcoholism, abandonment) that will need to be explained to some 4th graders, but the themes of friendship and family are just right.  My middle school friends who enjoy strong characters and a good mystery will enjoy this book. A good choice by the committee!


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I Survived #7: I Survived the Battle of Gettysburg, 1863 by Lauren Tarshis

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another great installment in the "I Survived," series.  Students who enjoy the Civil War, Lincoln, and history will enjoy this book. This book is another way for us to celebrate African American History month.  Mrs. Merten knows that I love this series, so thanks to her for getting it for me.  I love when my friends recomend books to me :)

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Bookworm Buzz

Baseball Hour by Carol Nevius
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Alex showed me this book because he knows I love baseball, just like he does and I love poetry.  The illustrations are done in Sepia and are very cool.  We will need to get a classroom copy of this book to add to our baseball bucket.  I love it when friends give me great book recommendations.  Thanks, Alex!


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Falcon by Tim Jessell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dylan showed me this awesome book.  It is narrative non fiction, which is a genre that we are learning more about all the time.  The illustrations are AMAZING.  Everyone couldn't wait to get their hands on this book. Check out  Tim Jessell's website.

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A Big Bite

Ok gang, this one is for you :)

Parents, and fellow GOT fans, this one is for you :)

 

Who would have guessed on Monday that we would be having a snow day on Friday? Not me!! We learned about blizzards in this great book by Christine Caputo, called Blizzards.  We also spent time learning about glaciers and icebergs. It was amazing to learn that 1/10 of an iceberg is visible and 9/10s is underwater.  There are some cool videos on the internet about icebergs. One of our favorites was a video of an iceberg flipping over! We are excited to learn about the Northeast and have colored maps of the region we call home.  Fractions continue to be a focus in math.  We will have a quiz on Friday.  In writer's workshop we are ready to start the final copy of our essays.  We wrote the introduction and conclusion paragraphs this week before we began revising and editing.  Our read aloud, Snow Treasure. is getting very exciting and we are learning more about the use of "cliff hanger," by authors.  There have been some great book talks this week.  Will talked about Underworlds by Tony Abbott and Grace talked about How to Tame a Bully by Nancy Wilcox. Mrs. W said that we should bring home a few books on Thursday, just in case the blizzard kept us in for a few days.  Someone asked if they could bring home their whole book bag and Mrs. W said, "YES!!!"  She was happy to know that we would be reading LOTS over the next few days. :) :)

Next week will be the week before vacation.  We will be celebrating Valentine's Day on Thursday with "Party in a bag."  Students are allowed to share Valentine's with each other.  Also, Friday will be the second annual Winter Wonderland Day at JFK.  We can wear pajamas and Mrs. W and Mrs. Merten have a special activity planned for us.  Enjoy the weather, measure the snow fall and READ!!!

A Big Bite

The week went by quickly in room 23!  We started the week with a presentation from the Haffenreffer Museum (see post below) and also learned about regions in the US.  We will start a more in depth study of the Northeast next week.  In science we have been reviewing the water cycle and will be learning about icebergs and precipitation in the next two weeks.  In Open Circle, we made a pledge to stomp out name calling as part of  "No Name Calling Week."  We have worked more on our essays and will begin organizing our drafts this week.  In Technology, many students worked on Power Point Presentations at home after learning about them with Mrs. Merten. Free verse poems were all the rage in poetry workshop.  We have some very talented poets in our class.  Snow Treasure is an exciting book and we are having a fun time examining the author's craft and relating her style of writing to our own.  We took a test on fractions in math and everyone did a great job.  We will continue learning about fractions during the next two weeks and we will have a quiz on Friday the 15th.  Miss Decker has been doing more and more with us which gives Mrs. W a chance to work with us more often in small groups and/or individually.  This has been great.  We are sad that the Patriots aren't in the Superbowl, but we are looking forward to Superbowl Sunday anyway!

Bookworm Buzz

A Dog Called Homeless by Sarah Lean
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Simply put, I loved this book.  It's a book that is just right for spring fourth graders and my older friends.   There are some tough themes in this book; death of a parent, homelessness, elective mutism and unlikely friendships to name a few.  It will be exciting to read this book with friends because there is so much to talk about.


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