Little Miss Wonder

We are full of wonders in room 402, and we love to explore the  Wonderopolis  website to encourage inquiry with our wonders of the day! 

The girls have started becoming "Miss Wonder" when they lead the class discussion on what students wonder about a topic, discuss the video, read and discuss the article, discover what the wonder vocabulary words mean in context, and choose other students to share what they learn! 

Here are some of the girls getting to be Miss Wonder! 

In Reading to go along with our PBL Unit "Tread Lightly," we are learning about nonfiction text features! Students/parents-if you post a comment creating a caption for one of the following pictures, you will earn a LUNCH BUDDY pass!! Your caption must be a complete sentence about what the photograph is of and what you learned from that wonder of the day! Your caption should also include your name and the picture number. 

#1

#2

#3

Bulldog Spirit Day!

This week is Red Ribbon Week at OES!!

Monday-Bulldog Spirit Day

Tuesday-Dress for Success

Wednesday-School Spirit Day

Thursday-College, University, and Military Day

Friday-Career Day

For Bulldog Spirit Day, we had a BHS Football player come speak to our class about being "Drug F.R.E.E." Normally, there are NO boys allowed in our classroom, but we decided to make an exception!

We learned about about making good, healthy choices to stay drug F.R.E.E...

F-Friends!

R-Rest!

E-Exercise

 E-Eat healthy!

Thanks for visiting our classroom and teaching us!!

Our Natural Homes

We had an exciting adventure into the "Wonder Room" this week to learn about our distinct environments, which goes along with our PBL "TREAD LIGHTLY" and our Science Unit on Animals! 

Each distinct environment has its own plants, animals, and climate. Animals have different adaptations to survive in their own environment. The distinct environments that we will learn about in Science in the next couple of weeks are: Tropical Rainforests, Swamps, Polar Regions, Deserts, and Rivers & Streams!

The girls got the opportunity to build their very own environments filled with the plants and animals that live there!

13 Original English Colonies

We created our very own pic collages on the Southern, Middle, and New England colonies!

How do humans RUIN the earth??

To KICK off our PBL...we had a poster of the Earth that got walked on, spilled on, crumbled up, etc throughout the day. The earth poster represented our very own Earth and the ways that we don't take care of it!!

Some of our answers were littering, not recycling, wasting water, water pollution, oil spills, chemicals, car fumes, etc. 

Parents and students, what are some other ways that humans don't take care of the Earth and why is it important to LOVE our Earth??

Post a comment!!

Save "Fiona" the Fish!!

We started our NEW PBL this week on "Tread Lightly" 

To go along with this unit and to teach students how important it is not to dump waste, trash, etc. in the water we completed an activity with different scenarios that all led to dumping products into clean water that harm the animals that live there (like Fiona the Fish).

After each scenario, we would answer-How is Fiona??

Here is Fiona in her clean water!

In her clean water, she is doing great!

Fiona had to swim through soil and chemicals...how is Fiona??

She had to swim through litter from some nearby picnickers..how is Fiona??

Oops..an oil spill...how is Fiona doing now??

Chemicals!! How is Fiona doing?

Factory spills...how is Fiona doing??

Ugh...waste water!

Salty slush!! How is Fiona doing??

How is Fiona doing after facing trash, oil, chemical, factory spills, etc??

Poor Fiona!!

After the activity, we discussed what water pollution, how humans can impact our water in a negative way, and why it is important to LOVE our earth and save animals like Fiona!

Week of October 27th

Check out what is happening this week in room 402!!

Ride the Weekly Wave:

Math-We will continue practicing multiplying double digit by double digit numbers. We will be using different strategies such as the area model, lattice multiplication, standard, window, and expanded form. Check out our blog this week for videos and study tips of multiplication strategies! We will also begin basic division.

Reading-We will be continue off our new “Tread Lightly on the Earth” PBL this week!! We will have guided reading groups with leveled articles on the topic and practice using non-fiction text features in the War of the Woods: The Pacific Northwest Logging Argument book. Students will use evidence from BOTH sides of the argument-loggers vs. environmentalists.

ELA/Writing-In Writer’s Workshop, we are practicing how to make sentences more interesting by using conjuctions. We will integrate these lessons with reading as we write an argument for or against logging based on War of the Woods.

Social Studies-We are reviewing why the 13 colonies were split into 3 regions and what the main differences are between New England, Middle, and Southern colonies. We will test on the 13 colonies this Friday.

Science-We will continue our Animals unit as we learn about how organisms affect their environment. To go along with our PBL, we will be learning ways that humans negatively and positively affect the air, water, and trees through videos and articles. 

News from the Beach:                         

**Field Trip Forms and $$ for Historic Brattonsville (on Nov. 6^th) are due Friday, October 31^st!! Be looking for a reminder/information sheet this week!

Upcoming Events:  

·       Oct. 28^th Tuesday- AWARDS DAY AT 8:30!

·       Red Ribbon Week is this week! (Tuesday-Dress your Best, Wednesday-School Colors, Thursday-Favorite College Shirt, Friday-Career Outfit for CAREER DAY!)

Subway Fit Challenge is this week-we will be recording which students eat fruit & veggies, go on walks, drink water, and exercise! Help me encourage your child to make HEALTHY choices!!

Set Sail for…Upcoming Tests/Projects:

·       Thursday-Vocabulary Test on PBL vocab. Words *Study TIPS chart of 8 words in “Tread Lightly” Section of Reading Notebook

·       Friday-Social Studies Test on 13 original colonies *Study 2 sets of notes and colony classification is Social Studies notebook

·       Friday-Reading Test on Non-Fiction Text Features *Study NF Text Features foldable and notes in Reading Notebook

Homework for the Week:

(please refer to your child's agenda daily for more details-this is only an OUTLINE of what to expect):

·       Read  2 steps (30 minutes) for 100 BC and sign Reading Log *every* night

·       Return Signed Papers by Tuesday *sent home Monday*

·       PBL Vocabulary Flashcards

·       Study for Social Studies and Reading tests

100 BC GOALS: 

Good-121

Better- 220

CASSY is our *star* student this week for showing the life skills of RESPONSIBILITY and INTEGRITY! Way to go Cassy!!! :) 

Our Class Precepts

What are precepts?

Precepts: "words to live by; directions given as a rule of action or conduct"

In the novel we just finished, Wonder, August's English teacher, Mr. Browne, gave the students a precept each month as words to live by. Our class took precepts from the novel and analyzed them to see what they meant and how to live them out. After our novel study, the students were challenged to write their OWN precepts (the words that they live by). They could create their own or give credit to another source. 

Here is our poster of our class precepts: 

Madison and Zion decided to write a precept together about the importance of FRIENDSHIP :)

Stay tuned for some student bloggers to tell you more about their own precepts!

Week of October 20th

Check out what is going on this week in room 402!!

Ride the Weekly Wave:

Math-We will be practicing mutliplying double digit by double digit numbers. We will be using different strategies such as the area model, lattice multiplication, and expanded form. Check out our blog this week for videos and study tips of multiplication strategies! We will test over double digit by double digit this Thursday.

Reading-We will be kicking off our new “Tread Lightly on the Earth” PBL this week!! See attached letter for more information on the standards, activities, and texts we will use. We will have guided reading groups with leveled articles on the topic and introduce non-fiction text features in the War of the Woods: The Pacific Northwest Logging Argument book.

ELA/Writing-In Writer’s Workshop, we are practicing how to write complete sentences rather than fragments or run on sentences. We will integrate these lessons with reading as we write an argument for or against logging based on War of the Woods.

Social Studies-We are learning about why the 13 colonies were split into 3 regions and what the main differences are between New England, Middle, and Southern colonies as we make our very own “pic collages!”

Science-We will wrap up our Animals unit as we test on Animal Senses and Learned v. Inherited behaviors on Wednesday. On Thursday, we will do a hands-on STEM activity that goes along with our new PBL- learning how pollution affects “Freddy the Fish.”

News from the Beach:                         

**Fall Festival will be October 23^rd!! Please send in $ or donations for our fall basket!! J

Upcoming Events:  

·       Oct. 19th thru Oct. 31st – Start of Subway’s® Fit for Life Challenge

·       Oct. 20th thru Oct. 23rd – Fall Book Fair

·       Oct. 21st – Fall Make-Up Pictures

·       Oct 21^st and 23^rd  – Student Led Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences: 3:00pm-6:00pm **look for reminder letter

·       Oct. 22nd – Sir Readalot’s Royal Court Dress-Up Day (in recognition of the Fall Book Fair)

·       Oct. 23^rd -Report Cards

·       Oct. 23rd – OES Fall Festival: 5:00pm-8:00pm

Oct. 24th – NO SCHOOL for students

Set Sail for…Upcoming Tests/Projects:

·       Thursday-Math Test on Double Digit by Double Digit Multiplication (*using the four strategies, study notes in Math notebook)

·       Wednesday-Science Test on Senses and Inherited v. Learned Behaviors (*study notes in Science notebook)

·       Wednesday-Language Test on Complete Sentences

Homework for the Week:

(please refer to your child's agenda daily for more details-this is only an OUTLINE of what to expect):

·       Read  2 steps (30 minutes) for 100 BC and sign Reading Log *every* night

·       Return Signed Papers by Tuesday *sent home Monday*

·       Science homework sheet on learned/inherited behaviors

·       Math Multiplication Practice Sheet

100 Book Challenge Goals

  Good: 105 steps

  Better: 200 steps

Buddy Bench Dedication Video

Dear OES All-Stars, 

We are proud to present the entire video of the 4th Grade Buddy Bench Dedication on Friday, October 10th. If you missed the dedication, watch the video by clicking on this link, and if you were able to make it-thanks so much for your support and please share the video with your friends and family!! :)

BUDDY BENCH DEDICATION

Buddy Bench at OES!!

I could not be any more PROUD of our amazing 4th grade all-stars!! It was truly an amazing, "WONDER-ful" day ending our first PBL CHOOSE KIND! Throughout the unit, we read the novel Wonder, encouraged random acts of kindness with a kindness meter, learned about the types of bullying through various genres of text, created kindness bracelets where each color represented ways to be kind, and we researched and built our very own buddy bench!

 We had the Buddy Bench Dedication and Reveal in front of all of OES students and families!! We dedicated the Buddy Bench to August Pullman, the main character of Wonder, who inspired us to be courageous, to look beyond appearance, and how to be a true friend. "I think there should be a rule that everyone in the world should a standing ovation at least once in their life..." (-Wonder by R.J. Palacio) 


*Link to Wonder Quotes to live by: https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/16319487-wonder 

The Dedication Agenda:

First, Honor Choir performed a special song about friendship.

Next, Football Players from Rainbow Lake Middle answered our questions about have they been bullied, what did they do, and how not bullying but choosing KIND really can change the world!

Then, we had some incredibly hard-working, confident, and caring students from each of the fourth grade classes give speeches about what the buddy bench is, how it is used, what they types of bullying are, and how the buddy bench can be used here at the OES playground. ZION from our class did an absolutely outstanding job talking about the creation of the buddy bench!! We are so so proud of you, Zion!! :)

Listen to Zion's AMAZING speech about a young boy named Christian and how the Buddy Bench was created!!

After the student speeches, we had the ribbon cutting and Reveal!!!

Finally, we heard some special words from Dr. Patterson quoting R.J. Palacio

Here is the link of R.J. Palacio, the author of Wonder, writing about Auggie's birthday *that Dr. Patterson read from* http://rjpalacio.tumblr.com/post/33298039991/happy-birthday-auggie 

We also celebrated October 10th as August Pullman's birthday by singing "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" in the cafeteria and enjoying cupcakes and treats :)

Here is the video of 4th Grade singing "Happy Birthday" to August!

4th Graders and Families-post a comment below...what was your favorite part of the Buddy Bench Reveal day??

All of 4th Grade with the Buddy Bench! :)