What a day! The shirts look amazing. 😃 Thanks to all of our parent volunteers.
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Saturday, May 28, 2016
A Big Bite
It feels like summer is here but we still are pushing full steam ahead with learning despite the heat. There were many cheers of "YES," as we added Poetry Workshop to our daily agenda each day this week. The students are fully immersed in the final stages of our year long study of reading and writing poetry as it connects across the curriculum. We painted water colors in the style of Douglas Florian, poet and illustrator and will be writing free verse poems inspired by the painting. So much fun! Our Poetry Coffeehouse will be on Friday, June 10th at 9:00 a.m. Ms. Liz will be joining us and performing. Parents are welcome to approach the mic and read or recite a favorite poem or an original work. :)
What better way to jump into a project than by starting with a hands on activity! In preparation for Tie Dye Tuesday, another JFK 4th grade tradition, we tied shirts on Friday and learned how straight lines can create the illusion of curved lines. This will be important as we extend the geometry unit with the line design project. We discussed how much math is a part of art and everyone is excited to get started on the many mini projects involved in this geometry enrichment unit.
We are halfway done with PARCC testing in Math and we will finish this week. We are working hard. In Science we continued learning about static and current electricity and did some fun experiments with plastic wrap and paper towels AND some students were able to make a simple circuit using one wire, one bulb and one D-Cell. FUN!!!!
Our journey around the West region has been slow but steady. We learned about interesting places and natural resources of the west and will learn more about the people of the west this week. There will not be a formal test on the West region; students will have the opportunity to create a slide show in Google Presentations, with a group, to demonstrate mastery of their knowledge of the West. All work will be completed in school.
In reader's workshop we are LOVING Charlotte's Web, E.B. White. Students are making great connections across texts, especially with The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate. It is wonderful to see the students synthesize all of the skills that they have learned in Reader's Workshop this year as we complete our last interactive read aloud. Keep reading at home!
We have been enjoying our weekly 4th grade morning meeting and this week was a fun one! Our mantra was "Make it Count," which we did in so many ways. The students worked together to create the number 24, the year of their high school graduation. Thanks to Miss Farrell for the panoramic picture!
Only 16 1/2 days to go and they are action packed, fun filled days! Have a wonderful and safe Memorial Day Holiday. Thanks to all of our friends and family members who have served our great nation. We appreciate all that you have done to make this the best country in the whole world!
Mrs. Williams
Friday, May 20, 2016
A Big Bite
Today was Rock Poetry Day, a 4th grade tradition at JFK and this year was just as much of a success as previous years! So much fun for everyone! Someone said to me, "I didn't know you liked RUSH, I would never have figured you for a RUSH fan!" I am full of surprises! :) There were several Taylor Swift fans in the room, one of us even went to a concert! #goodtimes
Do you like our Rock and Roll faces? We even got to make this pose for Mrs. McNeil and Mrs. Murray when they stopped in for a visit. #ROCKON!!! Click here to see a play list of today's poems/tunes. These are links to YouTube videos, so check with your parents BEFORE clicking. Thanks for being cyber safe. It is a very eclectic mix of music but a fantastic representation of our diversity and love of poetry and music.
Congratulations to the soloists from Room 23 who will be performing in the concert this June.
Fun with magnets!
We worked very hard this week on the PARCC ELA tests and are gearing up for the PARCC Math tests next week. We found time to have fun with magnets, begin our study of the West Region, and learned some new forms of poetry. We will continue reading Charlotte's Web next week and start to wind down the end of the school year. This past week we have read 4,252 minutes as part of the school wide reading program! This is a 1,000 minutes more than last week, WOW!! Keep reading. :)
Only 22 mornings left to wake up! Where has the time gone?
Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Williams
Friday, May 13, 2016
A Big Bite
Here is a link to a video that shows us playing telephone at the end of morning meeting to discover who we had our mystery webinar with today. It was so exciting! YAY!! We were part of a 1200 school webinar with children's author, Kate DiCamillo. She had so many great ideas to share with us and inspiring words to live by. Many of us said that this was the high from our week! We enjoyed this wonderful weather by reading outside today. Spring is finally here. Ask your student about this past week, so much happened!
Monday, May 9, 2016
Saturday, May 7, 2016
Bookworm Buzz-Caldecott Edition
I have decided to take up the Caldecott Reading Challenge! This is a reading challenge that is low stress and fun! My goal is to read ALL of the Caldecott winners and Honor books since the Medal was first awarded in 1938! I was inspired by Laura Given a librarian and blogger. You can learn more about Laura and the Caldecott Reading Challenge by clicking here. I have been having so much fun ordering books from the library and waiting for them to arrive. I love it when I see an email that says "hold notification," in my in box. I will be posting my reviews on Goodreads and here under a new title called "Bookworm Buzz-Caldecott Edition." I will only be posting new reviews, so for books that I have already read, search my Goodreads reviews or search in the Bookworm Buzz archives.
I am planning a trip to the Boston Public Library one rainy day this summer to sit and read some of the books on the list. Who knows, I may even take the train to NYC and go the NY Public Library and read there too. It is possible for visitors to get a temporary library card at the NYPL and this sounds just like the type of adventure I would love to go on. I just may have to bring Mrs. Merten with me!
My plan is to read all of the Medal books first and then the honor books, which will be close to 400 books! Of the 78 Medal books, I have read 21 so far and 34 of the 300+ honor books. I have a way to go, but, this is a low stress challenge and if I can finish by the end of the summer, I will be happy! A student asked me "What do you get when you are done?" Well, I can put a cool badge on my blog but really, as I told my students, "Reading can be so much fun and I want to do this for fun!" What are your reading goals? I hope that they are fun!
Happy reading!
Mrs. Williams
P.S. At the Boston Public Library TODAY!!!!!! Now this sounds like fun! The illustrator will be there!!!!!
Make Way for Ducklings
Saturday, May 7, 2 p.m.
Children’s Library, Central Library
In celebration of the 75th anniversary of Make Way for Ducklings, Robert McCloskey’s daughter Sal and illustrator Paul O. Zelinsky read and discuss the beloved, perennial classic.
The Little House by Virginia Lee BurtonMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
1942 Caldecott winner. A beautiful story with beautiful pictures. A winner in 1942 and a winner now. So many talk worthy discussions here.
View all my reviews
1947 Caldecott winner. Such a nice story and of course, the pictures. :)
Friday, May 6, 2016
A Big Bite
We have been very busy for the past two weeks. We had out last visit from the Haffenreffer Museum and we learned all about the Hopi. It was fun! 
Ms. Liz came to JFK and worked with us on poetry. She has been coming to JFK for 17 years! We are looking forward to her return in June for the Coffeehouse.
Mrs. Greene shared photos of her trip to the mid west with us. It was very cool to see Mt. Rushmore in photos after making a flip book of the national monument. The test on the mid west will be next week.
We are continuing working on geometry, specifically measuring angles with a protractor. The test on geometry will be this coming Friday. Everyone is continuing to make good progress with reading and choosing just right books and in making good choices for end of the year reading goals. It' s hard to believe that there are only 6 1/2 weeks of 4th grade left. WOW, where has the time gone?
Have a great weekend and Happy Mother's Day to all of the moms out there!
Mrs. Williams
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