A Big Bite

Our week started and ended with two great science presentations.  On Monday, Danielle Niles, meteorologist from Channel 4 in Boston spoke to all of the 4th graders about weather and her job as a scientist on television.  It was fun and we were recorded for the Thursday morning wake up message on WBZ.  Did you see us? We were great!  On Friday, Mrs. Weber, a scientist and teacher at FHS, spoke to all of the 4th graders about Astronomy and its connection to astrology.  She made great connections for us with our recent unit of study in reader's workshop on Greek Mythology.  She showed us the programs and apps that she uses with the high school students and shared some hands on astronomy wheels for us to look at this week. These are some of the free apps that she talked about: Sky Map, SkyKey or Night Sky Lite.  This is a link to the Youtube video that she shared with us about star size.  Finally, this is a link to the Stellarium program that Mrs. Weber uses with her students.  It was a wonderful program and the students LOVED it.  We have such a talented parent community at JFK and it is so special when parents share their talents, experience and passions with us.  Thanks, Mrs. Weber!!!

We are loving our new interactive read aloud, The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. We can't wait to read this book each and every day. Ask your child about the story and the themes that they are tracking.  Everyone is discovering different themes in this book; it is wonderful!

 We will continue the PARCC testing this week and everyone is doing a great job, giving it their best and staying positive.  We have discussed that as a trial, some of the questions will seem simple and some will seem difficult.  It will be important for the test developers to learn what is appropriate for 4th graders and what may not be appropriate. We decided that this is like a science experiment and it is fun to be a part of the process.  

It is time to start a new science unit, which means that we will be changing cooperative groups. Students should click here to take this week's survey.  This will give me some idea about who the students would like to work with for the next month or so.

Have a great week!

Mrs. Williams