Poetry, Mystery, and More…

Poetry has been a constant theme this year in 4^th grade. Every Monday students receive a “Poem of the Week” assignment where they read a poem and respond to questions about the poem. On Fridays we do an activity related to the poem. The poetry selections have been varied to expose students to a diverse styles, elements, and forms in poetry. Recently, students wrote more verses to Langston Hughes’ poem: Dreams. This was a great exercise in sticking to a patterned form and creating a metaphor with rhyme. Last week students read two poems about Martin Luther King and brainstormed words relating to peace and equality. Each 4^th grader wrote a poem about peace and will be reading his/her poem at our All School Meeting-MLK celebration this Wednesday at 2:20. Our poems reflect each student’s creative writing style and choice of form. Sharing at our writing at All School Meeting will be another good experience in public speaking as well as be an opportunity for 4^th graders to take a leadership role in school life. Every class is asked to participate and take the stage from time to time and present for the school. Our poems are terrific and will be appreciated in this MLK celebration.

We continue exploring elements of Mystery in all subjects this winter. Last week we neutralized a base (ammonia) with a strong acid (vinegar) on turmeric paper. Turmeric (the yellow spice) turns dark red when it comes in contact with a basic compound such as ammonia. We stained the turmeric paper red with ammonia and then used vinegar to magically make the red stain disappear back to yellow. This week small groups have been given an alchemist- change experiment to practice and then present to the class.

Exciting News!

“Stone Beehive” Trip planned for Mon. Jan. 30, 1-3 p.m.

Thomas Wessels, ecologist, natural historian, author, Antioch University professor, will come with us to the mysterious “beehive” stone structure on Banning Road in Putney and give us his interpretation of what this structure is and why it was built. We have several of our own Stonehenge-like structures here in Putney. It is a mystery. Who built these amazing underground stone caverns? When? Why? Tom Wessels has some interesting theories and he has offered to show us the “beehives” and tell us some fascinating stories! We will need 2-3 drivers for this afternoon outing.

Visiting the Beehives will lead us to do some research in other non-fiction mysterious phenomena such as Big Foot, crop circles, Atlantis, the Bermuda Triangle, etc. This is fascinating 4^th grade material!

Please sign up for a conference- Thursday, Jan 26^th (call Tammy)

Peace!

Emily

Happy New Year!

Welcome winter! The ski shed is open and ready for skis but we are obviously still waiting for that first snowstorm… Any day now… We had a great January soccer game on Monday. It is cold enough, but without snow it just doesn’t seem like winter in Vermont.

The excitement is really bubbling in fourth grade. Tuesday winter sports are a wonderful way to be outside, getting exercise and enjoying friends. Our schedule changed slightly; we have art on Tuesday mornings and our snack time is before recess to accommodate for having a class directly after recess. Our Homework routine will stay the same. Time management is an important 4^th grade skill. Homework can carry over if need be. Please remind your child to read for 30 minutes on weekdays too.

Students have been mastering their skills with large number multiplication. We have practiced the partial product method, the traditional method (multiplication with trades), and the lattice method. It is fun to solve problems with different algorithms and get the same answer. Students choose a method they like best and the math program has kids reviewing all the methods. Our next chapter brings division (partial-quotient method) and measurement of angles with protractors.

Before the holidays we read a short non-fiction book about the Fur Trade (1600 Europe to Colonial Times in the New World) called Fur Traders and Trappers. It was a good study of both history and point of view. There was a lot of confusion among the early settlers about the territorial right to trade for fur in New England. Disputes were solved in a variety of ways. We looked at a very comprehensive website: http://www.canadiana.ca/hbc/hist/hist1_e.html as a great example of a web-based historical resource.

This week begins an inter-curricular Mystery Theme. We are reading a short novel called The Real Thief by William Steig. It tells of a wrongly accused goose and a thief who admits to his mistake. Students are collecting vocabulary words in small groups and learning words for a Jeopardy game we will play next week. In science we tested things for acid and basic pH on paper dyed with red cabbage. We will do several experiments to look at chemical properties and simple ways to observe changes and chemical reactions. Magical mysterious science is the theme as students work in groups to use materials, record results, and investigate why changes occur.

All for now,

Emily

Dates to Remember:

Monday, January 16th: MLK Day, No School

Thursday, January 26th: Conferences, No School