Week of March 2nd

Reading: We will be looking at different genres of literature such as fables and tall tales and discussing their morals. While doing this, we will also be preparing for reading MAP testing. Students should be studying every night for this!

Writing/Language:   In preparation for the ACT Aspire writing test, we will continue looking at on-demand writing. In addition, we will begin writing our own tall tales!

Math: We will continue in our unit on fractions this week with by converting fractions to decimals. Students will also receive a MAP study log for math to begin this week.

Science/Social Studies: In science we will conclude in astronomy with the moon phases, shadows and tides. In social studies we will continue our unit on government by discussing checks & balances,    the Bill of Rights, and citizenship.   Anchor Down these Assessments/Due Dates Branches of government- Thursday Study MAP study guides- READING and MATH nightly! Begin studying moon phases for next wk. Lunar Log nightly Mon.-Thurs. 100 Book Challenge Goals: Good- 288 steps Better- 540 steps Captain of the Week:   When we actually have a FULL week of school for me to watch and pick someone who has done something extra special, we will start back up Captain of the Week!! J   PS- Twitter still isn’t working. L Reminders from the Marina:   *Read Across America week is this week! Tuesday we will have an author’s visit and Wednesday students can dress up as a story book character for our character parade! *Spring & Class pictures have been moved to Monday, March 9th! *Students will have very little (if any) written homework this week so they can focus on studying for all of their tests (including MAP testing). Please make sure your child takes advantage of this time!

Genius Hour- 2014

At the end of the year, we did a project called Genius Hour. During Genius Hour, students were given complete freedom to pick a topic they were interested in to research and learn more about. Since this was our first Genius Hour experience, the fourth grade teachers decided to narrow down their choices to the subject of social studies. The students became "History Detectives" and immersed themselves in research and new information about their topic.

This is the list of suggested topics the students were given to help them with ideas, but they were not limited to this list. For example, some students chose the Egyptian Pyramids, which was their own idea. 

Students picked a variety of topics including minutemen, the battle of Lexington and Concord, the Korean War, the Egyptian Pyramids, September 11th, the War in Afghanistan, Lowell Mills, Hitler & the Nazis, and more!

Because of the sensitive material that come with some of these topics, we sent a note home to parents to get parent approval. If the parents were not comfortable with the student's choice, they sat down with their child and decided on a 2nd choice together. 

This is the graphic organizer students used to guide their research. Students had to focus on three specific questions they had about the event/period of time, along with other important information like who, when, and where. 

Finally, this was the list of project ideas we gave the students, but again, they were not limited to this list. Student creativity was encouraged! Just like with their topic choice, students were given free reign with how they wanted to present the information they learned to our class. 

We had a variety of types of final products including posters, models, songs/poems, PowerPoints, and PicCollages and Popplets (iPad apps). Here are some pictures of students presenting and some final products: 

The kids loved Genius Hour!! Here's what Kaden and Brayson had to say about it: 

Wofford Game

This past Thursday, the OES choir performed the National Anthem at the Wofford basketball game and our PE Club performed at half time. Both groups did an EXCELLENT job!! Great job, guys!!!

Week of February 23rd

Reading: We will be looking at different genres of literature such as fables and tall tales and discussing their morals. While doing this, we will also be preparing for reading MAP testing. Students should be studying every night for this!

Writing/Language:   In preparation for the ACT Aspire writing test, we will continue looking at on-demand writing. In addition, we will begin writing our own tall tales!

Math: We will continue in our unit on fractions this week with multiplying fractions by fractions with area models and converting tenths to hundredths.

Science/Social Studies: In science we will continue in astronomy with the reason for the seasons and moon phases. In social studies we will continue our unit on government by discussing the 3 branches of    government and checks & balances.     Anchor Down these Assessments/Due Dates Memorize & recite the Preamble by Friday Astronomy test- Friday (planets, sun, moon, day/night, seasons) Branches of government- next Tuesday Study MAP study guides! 100 Book Challenge Goals: Good- 277 steps Better- 520 steps Captain of the Week:   WOW! EVERYONE has been our Captain of the Week once!! I will be looking this week for a student who goes above and beyond to start our 2nd round of Captain of the Week!   PS- Twitter still isn’t working. L Reminders from the Marina:   *Boosterthon Fun Run- Friday, February 27th at OES *Read Across America week- Week of March 2nd *Students will have very little (if any) written homework this week so they can focus on studying for all of their tests (including MAP testing). Please make sure your child takes advantage of this time!

Beatnik Poetry Cafe- Can you dig it?

Hey, Daddy-o!

Today the boys dressed up In the 1950's Beatnik style for our Poetry Café. The boys all chose a poem to memorize and recite. They have been working VERY hard on their rhythm, expression, and memorization, and I was so impressed by their performances today! After studying so many famous poets throughout the weeks, this was such a fun way to end our poetry unit! Here are some photos of the students reciting their poems (including some special guest performances). Way to go, boys! I'm proud!!

 

 

 

 

Week of February 17th

Reading: We will be looking at different genres of literature such as fables and tall tales and discussing their morals. We will also be discussing author’s purpose.

Writing/Language:   In preparation for the ACT Aspire writing test, we will continue looking at on-demand writing. In addition, we will begin writing our own tall tales! We will also be reviewing homophones and verb tenses.

Math: We will continue in our unit on fractions this week with multiplying fractions by fractions an converting tenths to hundredths.

Science/Social Studies: In science we will continue in astronomy with the reason for the seasons and moon phases. In social studies we will continue our unit on government by discussing the 3 branches of     government and checks & balances.     Anchor Down these Assessments/Due Dates Greek & Latin Root Word Test (Number words)- Wednesday Astronomy test #1 (Planets, sun, moon, seasons, day/night)- next Tuesday     100 Book Challenge Goals: Good- 266 steps Better- 500 steps Captain of the Week:   WOW! EVERYONE has been our Captain of the Week once!! I will be looking this week for a student who goes above and beyond to start our 2nd round of Captain of the Week!   PS- Twitter still isn’t working. L Reminders from the Marina: *Boosterthon Fundraiser kickoff- February 17th *Late start day- 2 hr delay for students- February 18th *PE Club & Chorus perform at Wofford- February 19th *School Spirit day- Friday, February 20th *Boosterthon Fun Run- Wed., February 25th at BSMS *Read Across America week- Week of March 2nd

Solar System in Toilet Paper

We did our Toilet Tissue Solar System. We had to have a lot of tissue paper for that. Each 1 peace of toilet paper was 30 million miles. It took 2 rolls of toilet paper. Some toilet paper tarred apart so we had to tape it back. Neptune is far away from Uranus. Earth is about 90 million miles away from the Sun! We did not do Pluto because we did not have that much space in our hall to put 366 sheets. And Pluto is not a planet it’s a Dwarf Planet.                             

By: Nathan and Dmitriy

Week of February 9th

Reading: We will be looking at different genres of literature such as fables and tall tales. We will also be discussing author’s purpose. Students should be practicing their Poetry Café poem EVERY NIGHT!!!

Writing/Language:   In preparation for the ACT Aspire writing test, we will continue looking at on-demand writing. We will also be studying homophones and verb tenses.

Math: We will continue in our unit on fractions this week with multiplying whole numbers by fractions and fractions by fractions.

Science/Social Studies: In science we will continue in astronomy with the reason for day/night and the seasons. In social studies we will continue our unit on government by comparing the Articles of  Confederation to the Constitution.   Anchor Down these Assessments/Due Dates Be practicing for our Poetry Café- Students will recite poems THIS FRIDAY at 10:00 in the library!! SS test on AOC and Const- Friday   100 Book Challenge Goals: Good- 255 steps Better- 480 steps   Captain of the Week:   This week’s Captain of the Week is Dmitriy Lomonosov!  Dmitriy always participates in class and works well with others. He displays the character traits of cooperation, responsibility, and flexibility.  To see what Dmitriy is learning throughout the week, follow us on Twitter @glay_jessica (Note- Twitter has not been working! SORRY!) Reminders from the Marina: *Jump Rope for Heart week- Week of February 9th *Valentine’s Day party- February 13th *Poetry Café- February 13th at 10:00 in OES library *Interims go home- February 13th *No school for students- February 16th *Late start day- 2 hr delay for students- February 18th

Can you make a boat that will move by magnetic force?

 This is the process of making magnetic boats.  To make an magnetic boats you need materials. The materials are magnets, cereal box, emty bottles, toilet paper tubes, paper towel tubes, duct tape, string, tissue box, popsicle  sticks, rubber bands, lumanem foil. When you’re done you need a nother magnet to guide the boat in the water. If your boat big and heavy it will sink and if it also has holes it will also sink. Some of the problems mite face is sinking, falling apart, to wide, to heavy, and to big. And that’s how you make a magnetic boat’s.

                                                        Mason Elliott and Kyle Johnson