What is ROYGBIV?

Students, need help remembering the colors of the visible spectrum? Watch our ROYGBIV video again for some extra help!

Don't forget that we used a tool called a PRISM to separate white light into the colors of the rainbow.

Can you build a crate strong enough for the Boston Tea Party?

Today students were presented with a STEM building challenge- Can you build a crate strong enough to protect your tea from the Boston Tea Party with a limited amount of supplies?!

Students did a GREAT job with this!! Some crates lasted over 45 minutes in water before the tea was damaged! Following the building and testing, students were asked to reflect on their building- what went well? What would you change? What was the biggest challenge? What do you think- How would YOU build a crate to withstand the Boston Tea Party?!

Where does our trash go?!

After learning about the importance of the 3 R's and that our trash goes to a landfill, a site where trash is BURIED, students looked more closely at the layers of a landfill and how they work. We studied text features such as diagrams and cross-sections to see the different layers. Then came the fun part! After drawing their own diagram of the layers, students got to build their own EDIBLE landfills. They sure were tasty!

 

 

Week of 12/1/14

Reading:  We will be discussing our culminating activity of an Action Plan. Be looking for notes home about this Monday! We will also be reading articles about eco-friendly inventions and be working on paraphrasing & summarizing. Finally, we will be participating in a Socratic Seminar about the loggers vs. environmentalists debate.

Writing/Language:   We will continue our five paragraph letter to King George pretending we are either Loyalists or Patriots.

Math: We will begin our unit on fractions this week by looking at different visual representations of fractions and using a number line to order fractions.

Science/Social Studies: In science we’ll continue our unit on light with reflection, refraction, and absorption. In social studies we will continue discussing the causes of the American Revolution in preparation for our test on Tuesday.   Anchor Down these Assessments/Due Dates SS test on the Road to the Revolution- Friday Reading vocab test- next Wednesday Sci. light test- next Friday   100 Book Challenge Goals: Good- 165 steps Better- 300 steps   Captain of the Week:            This week our Captain of the Week is Hunter Loftis! Hunter is a very hard worker and always tries his best. He displays the character traits of: creativity, curiosity, respect, and cooperation daily in class. To see what Hunter is learning throughout the week, follow us on Twitter @glay_jessica Reminders from the Marina: *LOOK for GRADED PAPERS MONDAY! SIGN AND RETURN TUESDAY PLEASE!! *LOOK for an ACTION PLAN project explanation MONDAY!     -Polar Express Pancake Breakfast- Sat. Dec. 6 at Applebee’s- Order a ticket and I’ll be your waitress! PTA/4th Grade Christmas Program- Tuesday, Dec. 16 at 6:30 Chic-Fil-A Spirit Night- Dec. 18 ½ Day for students- Fri., Dec. 19, Christmas break the 19th- Jan. 4th

Week of November 24

Have a happy Thanksgiving!!!! :)

Reading:  We will be discussing the 3 R’s- reduce, reuse, and recycle- by reading and analyzing both fiction and nonfiction texts.

Writing/Language:   We will be discussing comma rules and continue our five paragraph letter to King George pretending we are either Loyalists or Patriots.

Math: We will FINISH our unit on division this week! When we return from break we will begin our unit on fractions!

Science/Social Studies: In science we’ll continue our unit on light. In social studies we will continue discussing the causes of the American Revolution by looking at an eyewitness account of the Boston Tea Party and participating in a STEM activity related to this event!     100 Book Challenge Goals: Good- 165 steps Better- 300 steps Anchor Down these Assessments/Due Dates PBL Vocab list #3- Tuesday The Friday we return (Dec. 5)- SS test on the Road to the Revolution Captain of the Week:            Due to it being a short week, there will be no Captain of the Week. To find out what we ALL learn throughout this week, follow us on Twitter @glay_jessica   Reminders from the Marina: *LOOK INTERIM REPORTS MONDAY! SIGN AND RETURN TUESDAY PLEASE!! -Thanksgiving break NO SCHOOL November 26-28 Gobble Gobble! J     -Polar Express Pancake Breakfast- Sat. Dec. 6 at Applebee’s- Order a ticket and I’ll be your waitress! PTA/4th Grade Christmas Program- Tuesday, Dec. 16 at 6:30 Chic-Fil-A Spirit Night- Dec. 18 ½ Day for students- Fri., Dec. 19, Christmas break the 19th- Jan. 4th

Thanksgiving Lunch at OES

Thanks to all the parents and other family members who were able to join us yesterday for Thanksgiving Lunch!! :)

The Case of the Boston Massacre

Today our 4th grade detectives were presented with a new case to investigate! During the Boston Massacre, British soldiers shot and killed five colonists! BUT, was it self-defense or murder?!? It was up to our detectives to study the crime scene and evidence to find out!! They studied primary source documents of illustrations of the Boston Massacre from a variety of viewpoints, investigated different pieces of evidence such as snowballs and clubs, and took into consideration the scene of the crime (winter, night time). After close investigation at the scene of the crime, they came back to the station to listen to four eye witness accounts. Each account had a slightly different take on what actually happened, so students had to look for similarities and differences between the stories. Throughout the entire process, students kept notes in their detectives notebooks for both sides. At the end, they analyzed their evidence and made their decision.

What do you think- did the British soldiers commit murder, or was it an act of self-defense?!

The Crime Scene:

 

 

Ready to investigate!

 

Analyzing the eye witness accounts

 

 

 

Listen to one of our eyewitness accounts here!

Distinct Environment PicCollages

Look at everything we've learned about our Distinct Environments!!