A Message from the Sky

Hi Students! Ms.Launey here. If I look tired it's because I am. I have been in this plane now for 3 hours. (I used my webcam to take this picture.) I am on my way to Las Vegas. That is my layover stop before I get back on the plane and head to California. I am typing my post on the plane but I have to wait to post it on the blog until I arrive at the Las Vegas Airport and can get online. Chet and I are so excited to be going to California. (I had to pack him in my checked bag, so he is relaxing in the baggage section of the plane. I promised him I would find a way to keep him in my purse on the way back so he could see some slot machines in the Las Vegas Airport.) Neither of us have been to California before so this is going to be an exciting adventure. 

Even though I am so excited about my trip, the feeling is bittersweet because I am sad that I don't get to read the last two chapters of "The Thing About Georgie" with you. I know I am going to miss the best parts! Will you please keep me up to date by commenting with a report of what happened in Chapters 24 and 25? I don't think I can wait until I get back. So many things have happened in the last couple of chapters. I can't believe that Jeannie "the Meanie" is actually not  that mean at all. I would have never predicted that! Well....I have to run, the pilot just told us to "store carry on baggage" and "turn off any electronic devices".  Have a great weekend and a Marvelous Monday and I will see you on Tuesday for our first field trip. I look forward to getting your comments!

Ms.Launey

P.S. Chet keeps bugging me to take him to Hollywood. He wants to see some movie stars. Should I take him?

Multiplication Clusters

The past few weeks we have been working on "building" multiplication clusters during our math workshop. The students learned how they could model clusters using array cards and then transfer their work onto graph paper. If you attend Open House tomorrow night, be sure to take a look at the student work posted on our bulletin board so you can better understand how we use arrays to represent multiplication problems.

Multiplication clusters are a way of decomposing a multiplication problem into simpler facts which can be determined using mental math. The cluster is then recomposed to find the product of the initial problem. Multiplication clusters usually fall into three main categories (addition, subtraction, or doubling).

An example of an addition cluster for 9 x 8 might look like this:

...5 x 8 = 40
+ 4 x 8 = 32
= 9 x 8 = 72 (40 + 32)

In order to solve the more difficult problem of 9 x 8, the 9 can be decomposed into 5 + 4 and two simpler problems are created. In other words, 9 groups of 8 is equal to 5 groups of 8 plus 4 groups of 8. It is important to remember, at this stage, that we are only decomposing one of the two factors.

A subtraction cluster for 9 x 8 could be:

10 x 8 = 80
- 1 x 8 = 8
= 9 x 8 = 72 (80 - 8)

Similar to the addition cluster, 9 x 8 is looked at as a combination of two simpler problems. In this case, 10 groups of 8 minus 1 group of 8 equals 9 groups of 8.

Finally, a doubling cluster for 9 x 8 could be:

9 x 2 = 18
therefore 9 x 4 = 36 (18 doubled)
and 9 x 8 = 72 (36 doubled)

When you double one of the factors in a multiplication equation and keep the other factor constant, the product of the new equation is doubled. If you double the number in each group (9 groups of 2 doubles to 9 groups of 4), the total doubles from 18 to 36.

As we progress into bigger numbers, multiplication clusters will become an invaluable tool for our students.

Our Open House Scavenger Hunt

At 4-Corners, we love to empower our students and instill leadership. We know that the best way to learn something is to teach it. For our Open House this coming Tuesday evening, parents will be going on a scavenger hunt! They will be given a passport and will travel to the classrooms at 4-Corners. As they journey through Mrs. Lopez and Miss Launey's English Language Arts classes and Mrs. Phillips and Mr. Pinchot's Math, Science, and Social Studies room, they will go on a scavenger hunt and locate designated artifacts that are located around the room. Two classroom students will be posted at each artifact to teach the parents about the learning that that particular artifact depicts. The parents will be required to answer a written question on their passport about that artifact, and then get a passport stamp by the students in charge of that artifact. The parents continue to peruse the classroom, looking for artifacts that are listed on their passport, and answer the written questions. Students are in charge of the evening and are the only ones who can answer the parents' questions. Our learners are the experts! At the end of the Open House, the parents will have learned every artifact in their child's classrooms. They will leave with their completed passport full of stamps and will take home this momento that proves that they toured and learned about their child's 4th grade world. Stay tuned for the highlights of this grand event!
Mrs. Lopez, Miss Launey, Mrs. Phillips, and Mr. Pinchot

Traveling Through Ancient Greece

We are getting into our European Literature book this month, Adventures in Ancient Greece by Linda Bailey. Student are invited to visit the website "Adventures in Ancient Greece", by following the link below. Come back and make a comment on what you learned from this site:

Click Here: Adventures in Ancient Greece

This is an educational website aimed at children studying Ancient Greek History. Children will find it both educational and entertaining as they interact and take part in games while learning about the way of life in Ancient Greece.

Have fun in Ancient Greece!

Ms.Launey and Mrs.Lopez

Ms.Launey's Donors Choose Project

I wanted to send a BIG thank you to the following donors, who made a donation on my DonorsChoose.org page. We have raised enough money to buy our BATTLE OF THE BOOKS ammunition (two of each of the Sunshine State Readers Books). Because of your generosity, we will be able to start reading our books as soon as they are delivered. I will be sure to post pictures on this site.

Donors Choose Donors:
1. Roger from Jacksonville, FL gave on August 5, 2008

2. Robert from Tallahassee, FL gave on August 14, 2008
"I love back-to-school because...it's a whole new year and a fresh start."

3. Donna from Jacksonville, FL gave on September 2, 2008

4. Naoko gave on September 9, 2008

5. Bob & Johna gave on September 10, 2008

6. Melody gave on September 11, 2008

7. Krisin's parents gave on September 11, 2008
"My favorite back-to-school memory is... learning everyone's name and finding out there personality and stuff they like."

8. A donor from New York, NY gave in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Currie from New York, NY on September 12, 2008

We love you all!
Ms.Launey

P.S. If you are in Mrs. Lopez's Class, you can still donate! Her class still needs to raise some more money to meet their goal. If you are in Ms.Launey's class and didn't get a chance to donate, don't feel left out! We will be having a new donation project up in about a month or so.

Learn more about Greece!

This is 8-year old Amarandi Barrett. She created a website about her travels in Greece, just for kids. Her website is http://www.greece4kids.com/. You can read her website like a story, clicking the arrow at the bottom of each page to go to the next page. Travel over to her site and learn all about what it would be like to take a trip to Greece, then come back and comment on what you learned. We can't wait to see what you come back with. This will get you all ready to read "Adventures in Ancient Greece" when we do our Europe study on Wednesday. Happy travels!

Ms.Launey and Mrs.Lopez

SuperStar Bingo Player!

We are participating in a "Reading Bingo" in our E.L.A classes. This program encourages us to read books from all different genres and authors. In order to fill up a row on our Bingo Cards, we read books on the card and complete short responses. The responses are simple activities that allow us to show off our creativity and understanding of the book. One of the 20 activity choices asks you to choose a character or person from the book that you would like to have as a classmate and tell why. Bruce, from Ms.Launey's class, did a super job on this activity when he read a biography about Amelia Earhart. Read below to find out why he thinks "Millie" would be a good classmate to have around!

Character Classmate

By, Bruce

I would like to have Millie Earhart as a classmate because she is a very good friend and she is very fun and active. She is very interested in everything. She is very focused in class and learning. Millie also likes to invent things and do activities such as build things, invent new games, and study flying things. Millie is very interested in roller coasters, so am I. Maybe we could work together on building a small scale model of one. This year we are learning about countries and I'm sure Millie will like to learn as well. All of this relates very well to our 4th grade class.

Help us Battle with Books!

Parents and friends, we need your help. There are 15 Sunshine State Reader Books which have to be read and mastered by our 4th grade team. We are going to compete against other teams in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades in a high stakes reading battle called "The Battle of the Books". This is a positive, highly motivating reading event that takes place all year. Chets Creek started this last year, and the students were "on fire" with reading these highly motivating, award-winning books. We are reading the battle book, The Thing About Georgie, as a class right now. But the students are eager to check out more battle books from our classroom libraries so that they may read them independently. However, we only have a few of these important books! :>(
How can you help? That is the easy part. Follow the links below to either Ms.Launey's or Ms.Lopez's Donor's Choose Website. There you will be able to donate to our cause (2 sets of the Battle Books per class). Once our proposal goal has been met, the books will be boxed up and sent directly to us so that we may begin preparing for battle. You will also receive a tax deduction form from Donor's Choose. Help us go to battle with the proper ammunition....BOOKS!

Ms.Launey's Donor Page: Click Here

Ms.Lopez's Donor Page: Click Here

Thank you for your support!!

Ms.Launey and Ms.Lopez

Did You Know? ATTITUDE is everything!

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z can be represented as:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.

It's obvious that H-A-R-D-W-O-R-K is 8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11=98

and K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E is 11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5=96

but A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E is 1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5=100.

Hardwork and knowledge gets you close to 100, but ATTITUDE gets you there.
Always have a great attitude in all that you do! :-)
Can you find another way to make 100? :-)
Happy Mathematizing!
Ms. P. and Mr. P.

A Powerful Book

Today in class we read Piggybook by Anthony Browne. It was a great way to start a discussion about everyone doing their part in the classroom so that we will have a productive "Reading Community". We enjoyed hearing your input about cleaning up after yourselves, sharing the work equally in groups, and helping others out when they need it. Piggybook is such a simple book with a very deep meaning.  We noticed many things in the illustrations that add to the meaning of the story.  As you look at the cover of the book, what do you think the illustration means? What does it make you think of?

Ms.Launey and Ms.Lopez 

Every Day Counts!

Today in Math Workshop, these three students shared some awesome math strategies for finding sums using "mental math" while we worked on our Daily Depositor in Every Day Counts.

Student 1 had an easy way to add 29 + 30 + 31. He used compensation to take one away from 31 (30) and add 1 to 29 (30) so that he created a new problem that could easily be solved mentally: "30 + 30 + 30". 29 + 30 + 31 = 90!

Student 2 also used compensation to solve 253 + 90. Here are the steps he used to find the sum:

253 + 100 = 353

353 - 10 = 343.

He knew that by adding 100 and subtracting 10 to 253, that he was adding a net of +90.

253 + 90 = 343

Student 3 used another creative method, decomposition, to solve the same problem: 253 + 90

He decomposed 253 into 250 + 3.

He decomposed 90 into 50 + 40.

His new problem became: 250 + 3 + 50 + 40.

He first combined 250 + 50 to get 300. He then added 40 and 3 to 300 to get his final answer:

300 + 40 + 3 = 343

Wow! These math strategies are spectacular, and it's only the 8th day of 4th grade. Mr. Pinchot and I are so excited to see the other strategies our kids have in their tool belts for solving math problems using number sense and efficiency!