One Last Lesson Before Thanksgiving...
11/16/2017
This week the Fourth Grade was working hard on the first drafts of their new epics! The week started with a detailed, in-depth analysis of the typical structure of most plots. From the opening conflict, through to the death and rebirth and the triumphant resolution, Fourth Grade took a long, deep look at stories and their flow. In the pictures above and below, you see examples of plot and story structure for epic tales. These structures start out with a clear protagonist, a clear antagonist, and a clear conflict that ultimately leads to a climactic final confrontation and resolution. In the plot structure diagrams below, Fourth Graders attempted to fit their own stories into the plot structure diagrams, finessing their stories in a way that assured they would be fully fleshed out. As you can see, there's an awful lot of work that goes into these plot structure diagrams. Events and details often have to be jumbled around in order to create a compelling narrative. But it wasn't all about narratives, and Fourth Grade also took a look at the Water Cycle -- the cycle by which water flows around the planet... And a little bit of Social Science...In Social Studies and Science, students learned that water evaporates from the surface of the oceans and other bodies of water, and then condenses in the sky. While trapped in the clouds, water is transported around the surface of the Earth until enough of it condenses and it returns to the Earth in the form of rain -- which joins rivers, seas and oceans. Then, the whole cycle starts over again! A simple, everyday example of this happens in our bathrooms when we take a shower! Water, in the form of steam, rises to the ceiling and can collect. If enough of it accumulates, it forms water droplets that 'rain' down the walls or drip from the ceiling. In the photos below, students check out the amount of condensation on the inside of a window in winter versus the amount of condensation on the outside... can you guess what the difference was? HAPPY THANKSGIVING!Pacific Northern Academy will be CLOSED for Thanksgiving Week! Safe travels and enjoy the holiday! See you when we get back!
Math, Movies & Money!
11/9/2017
Though the night was draining and not always easy, the Star Wars Hero's Journey Movie Night event was a great success! The Fourth Grade students ended up coming away from the night with a $21 profit and a lot of stories to tell! Though not everything went as smoothly as planned (and many issues arose that hadn't been planned for), the fourth grade decided that they would like to try an Empire Strikes Back Movie Night after the Thanksgiving Break in November (with some adjustments to the schedule and planning). The students decided to put the money they made into a classroom pot and apply it toward the next movie night. This week, the students also took a look at numbers in Fourth Grade Math, where students worked in teams to put together ratio tables. A ratio table is a structured list of equivalent (or equal value) ratios that helps people to understand the relationship between a ratio and a numbers (see the photos below). Fourth Grade Math worked with numbers as high as 72, starting with 1 (For example, 1 x 72.) and working their way up to, in some cases, 30! (For example, 30 x 72.) Finally, this week saw the Fourth Graders working on one math puzzle, per day, at each of our Morning Questions. The students were challenged to solve various puzzles by working together. In the video below, you can watch them as they work to whittle away at one puzzle! As you can see, the Fourth Graders really seem to get into it... sometimes so much so that they're late for Morning Meeting! EMERGENCY RECESS!(Because when it snows you just have to have one!) HUSH HUSH & ON THE QTPNA is looking for green beans!
Pacific Northern Academy is gathering green beans to take to the Thanksgiving Blessing this Sunday, November 19th. PNA is also looking for volunteers, so if you can go, please let the staff know! Well, the Fourth Grade made up for a short week with what was probably their busiest week of the year (to date). The students planned out their movie night, partied for Halloween, conferenced with Six Grade, started some new concepts in Math, and then ran the Big Night! First up, the Fourth Graders got to work on creating posters to advertise Movie Night. Together, the class created several rough drafts and designs before approving a few that they thought were eye-catching enough. Afterward, students did their best to place posters in places that were strategic. The advertising worked, as you'll see later... The next day was Halloween, and in addition to participating in the school Halloween Parade, Fourth Graders were treated to an awesome Halloween Party! The Fourth Graders got a chance to show off their costumes, eat lots of snacks, make slime and mingle with their parents! Next time you see Fourth Grade parent Danica in PNA's halls, please make sure to thank her for all of her hard work coordinating! With everyone in costume that day, Math Class that day was a little surreal, as students participated in Number Corner and learned some new techniques for using ratio tables. The following day, the Fourth Grade (along with First, Second, and Third) were treated to an interactive performance of the Wizard of Oz. Students from all around Anchorage were brought up on stage to play the parts of Dorothy, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion and the Scarecrow along with professional actors. In the last photo, you see none other than Fourth Grade Math Class's Piper on stage playing Dorothy in the climactic final confrontation with the Wizard of Oz! A Morning At The Theater!Now, all of these things might have been more than enough for an ordinary week, but this was no ordinary week... Believe It Or Not, the Week is (Still) Not Over!Fourth Grade worked with Sixth Grade as they continued to gather and collect post cards from all across the United States. The goal is to get one from each and every state, and the students are certainly on their way, as you can see from the post cards pinned on the map! Mr. Yancik's Wayward Cats...Once upon a time, when Mr. Yancik was in fourth or fifth grade, he had a cat. The cat's front paw was run over by a car, and that cat limped around the house, getting tons of sympathy from Mr. Yancik's family. The cat got so much sympathy, in fact, that he got spoiled and learned that whenever he wanted to come inside the house, or get a snack, or a tummy rub, all he had to do was raise his injured paw and look sad, and then Mr. Yancik's family would do anything he wanted. Mr. Yancik grew up to be a teacher, told this story to his students, and when he came back to the classroom one afternoon he found this... Oh, yes, and there was one more thing -- the Fourth Grade's presentation of the Star Wars Hero's Journey Movie Night -- which went off with nary a hitch! While things got slightly behind schedule, a great time was had by all! In the video above, Fourth Grade introduces the Hero's Journey to nearly thirty other students from around the school. Snacks of the night were popcorn, pizza and punch (alliteration not intended). In the video below, the Fourth Graders receive applause at the conclusion of the event! Just For Fun!Hush Hush & On The QTHonestly, I'm just so exhausted at this point I can't even think about next week!
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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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