STICKER MADNESS!
9/29/2017
This week, the Fourth Graders went a little crazy with spirit, as they did their best to show their Pacific Northern Academy pride! Some of the students whose parents were quick with their email managed to get the answer in to last week's secret newsletter question, thereby earning their kids a (cheap and inexpensive) prize. The kids covered themselves in stickers even as they showed their pride in being being American by displaying the red, white, and blue! In addition to Monday's flag day, there was also Tacky Tourist Day, Animal Day, Dress Up Day, and finally, Pajamas Day! Here we see the Fourth Grade hosting the Third Grade for a combined morning meeting! Have you ever seen so much red, white, and blue in one place? I think not! Over the past week, the Fourth Grade has been studying the Five Themes of Geography, as well as the use of longitude and latitude on maps. This is in an effort to prepare them for a solid year of studying United States geography. Students start by learning to plot coordinates on an X/Y axis, and then move on to learning about plotting coordinates on a map, as well. In this way, techniques in one class are reinforced in another. Above, you see a map of the United States in which students were asked to find the locations of various states and cities using only latitude and longitude. Finally, using many of the techniques in both Math and Social Studies that they'd studied over the past few weeks, the kids mapped out the geography of their own classroom. Students were broken up into pairs and asked to plot the locations of furniture and other objects around the Fourth Grade classroom. This exercise combined mapping, which we've been studying in Social Studies, with the Multiplicative Comparisons, something we've been working at in Math class. In this way, techniques and ideas learned in one class are used in another to connect them to real world uses as well as reinforce mastery. And, Sometimes You Just Need To Get Out... Dancing In Math Class
9/22/2017
Though many of the Fourth Graders (and Third Graders from Mrs. Orbase's class) love math, sometimes it's hard to sit still. Because of that, we decided to start our class off this week with some dancing. As you can see from the video above, it really got everyone's blood flowing and jumpstarted quite a few brains (including the teacher's brain). This week in Language Arts, the Fourth Graders got down to some serious business as they learned the differences between proofreading for errors and grammar and editing for style, pace and form. We started out by writing summaries of a story, The Gold Coin, that we had read together. In this way, the entire class could discuss and debate how it was best to break down and summarize the work of another author. Who were the characters and how did they change? What was the plot and how quickly or slowly did it unfold? What problems did the characters face and how did they overcome them? By doing so, the Fourth Graders put on training wheels in order to study everything that goes into making a story clear and compelling to a reader, and then distilling it down to the essentials. Tuesday was picture day and, for a few brief hours, the Fourth Graders were looking quite sharp. This was, at least, until after pictures at which point everyone changed into slightly more casual attire (including, okay, their teacher, as well). In the pictures below, you get some exclusive sneak peaks at how they, and the rest of the school, looked! Finally, this week the Fourth Graders took on more of a mentoring role, providing clues to the Early Kindergartener's class as to the location and whereabouts of two gingerbread people. It seems the EKers baked them on Thursday, only to have them disappear Friday night. Through process of elimination, the EKers followed clues and hints that brought them to the Fourth Grade classroom, where our students helped them in their search. I am happy to report that the EKers were reunited with their gingerbread people. (And the gingerbread people were happily consumed!)
Classroom?! Who Needs A Classroom?
9/11/2017
Not all learning takes place in the classroom, and this week the Fourth Grade class was out and about in Anchorage building team spirit and camaraderie! Who needs a classroom, anyway, when there are so many sunny places to learn outside? First, on Monday, Fourth Grade took a trip to nearby Ruth Arcand Park with the entire school for the annual Fall Outing, a time when the students have a chance to interact with each other and enjoy the last gasps of summer! The weather was warm and sunny as Fourth Grade split up and joined teams of mixed ages and grades to participate in games like "A Cold Wind Blows, One Fish Two Fish, and Overboard!" But, as you can see in the video below, the grades weren't always split up and one of the most memorable parts of the day involved the entire school playing an old PNA favorite: Knights & Dragons! Things weren't all silly games this Thursday, however, when Pacific Northern Academy's Third, Fourth and Fifth Graders went for one more adventure at Powerline Pass on the south side of Anchorage. Students were once again broken up into groups and asked to brainstorm, design and then plan out an experiment themed around the idea of "The World In A Square Foot." Groups were tasked with looking at a single square foot of land to see what they could find! Coolest of all, each group was asked to come up with a team name (in the case of the team below, they called themselves 'The Firewall') and codenames for each member of their team, as well. The mission was to build team spirit and camaraderie while getting to the bottom of some serious scientific questions! But, okay, it wasn't all about science and there was some tomfoolery at the end of the day, when the teachers led the students (and joined the students, in some cases) in a serious game of Turtle Tag. In the video below, you can see the chaos that ensued... The day was a grand success, and the students got to know each other and conduct some awesome experiments under the wide open Alaska sky in full view of the unbelievable mountains!
No classroom would ever be complete without a comfortable couch for snoozin' and readin', and the fourth grade classroom is no exception. Over the summer, the second through seventh grades all moved one room over and, during the move, many teachers took the opportunity to say 'Out with the old, in with the new!' The couch that we had used last year was looking a little rough around the edges, and so we decided to toss it! The only problem was, we didn't have a couch to replace it! That changed this week, however, when a very generous parent was kind enough to donate their own! Here we see most of our fourth graders enjoying it!
In (slightly) more serious news, the fourth graders have been working with the Bridges program for their math curriculum this year. Bridges takes an unconventional approach to mathematics that really helps to build understanding of math concepts. One of the features of Bridges is 'Number Corner,' a supplementary addition to math class that helps kids explore, refine, and master concepts and patterns that they will be using for their entire lives. Below, you see the 'Calendar Grid' and 'Calendar Grid Observations Chart,' two features of our classroom that keep students on their toes and thinking about math.
Each day, students take fifteen minutes out of their schedule to gather around the Calendar Grid and flip over another card. Each card corresponds to a certain date and, as the cards are flipped, patterns begin to emerge. The students work together to find these patterns and then apply them to real math that they will use in class, or, in many cases, to real life! In the photo below, students Rock Paper Scissors their way through exploring a number line.
You can find the Calendar Grid, Observations Chart, and other Number Corner items, in the front of the room near the whiteboard. Please feel free to explore and check it out whenever you're picking up or dropping off!
For more on Bridges Mathematics, and the Math Learning Center (the creators), please click the button below!
And, for pretty much no reason other than fun, below you see the fourth grade's impromptu performance of the classic song, 'Hard Knock Life,' from Annie: The Musical! Enjoy!
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Martina HenkeMartina Henke has been a K-8 educator for 30+ years. A life-long learner, she loves working with kids of all ages, new technology, great books, fiber arts, and her wonderful family! Archives
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