The Grapevine

How to Survive the 4th Grade

2011-06-02T11:06:00.016-04:00

This year, Principal Phillips challenged us to do a project with the students in which they"tinker" with technology. Mrs.Lopez-Sinclair and I decided to have the students do a functional piece to teach upcoming 3rd graders "How to survive 4th grade ELA". The students were introduced to two web 2.0 sites: www.toondoo.com and www.prezi.com. Very little direction was given, and the students had to "tinker" with the sites, and figure them out on their own. In groups, they created the following INCREDIBLE presentations:

Emily P, Cavin, Parker, Tekiyah

Martina,Jacob,Angus,Tori

http://prezi.com/cs5ish4kixa1/how-to-survive-4th-grade-ela-with-mrslopez-sinclair-bymartinajacobangusand-tori/

Olivia, Gabby, Franchesca
http://prezi.com/48pmzahptyrx/how-to-survive-fourth-grade-ela/

Camden, Noah, Amber, Ben

http://prezi.com/0-c5ll8ju_ln/top-10-survival-tips-for-4th-grade-ela/

Nathan, Jaylon, Justin, Caleb
http://prezi.com/ef0wa0-oeixm/copy-of-survival-guidelines-for-4th-grade-ela/

Morgan, Zane, Eder, Peyton
http://prezi.com/p5zvztfmear-/copy-of-the-survival-guide-to-fourth-grade-ela/

Will, Mackenzie, Veronica, Ben V.
http://prezi.com/larqfixjiklc/survival-guide-for-fourth-grade-ela-bywillben-vveronicamackenzie/

Preston, Jayan, and Ben W.

http://prezi.com/gplib5vlizps/survival-skills-for-the-4th-grade-ela-classrooms/

Hayden, Ashley, Keyandra, Luke:
http://prezi.com/mal6z5c7hi8u/how-to-survive-4th-grade-ela-with-mrsoleary/

Chloe, Katelyn, Courtney, Aaliyah

http://prezi.com/9rsazhs1ki2x/how-to-survive-4th-grade-ela-chloe/

Alex, Madison, Clay, Jordan, Andrew F.

http://prezi.com/b4vnjuhiez6z/copy-of-how-to-survive-4th-grade-ela-alex/

Nathan, Romaria, Rida, Melina, Evan:

Blake, Mia, Katyeryn, Caitlyn:

Emily, Sophia, Heather, Andrew W.

The Astonishing Adventure of Teddy Bodain

2011-05-28T10:21:00.006-04:00

This book was recommended as a great read aloud by a colleague at Chets Creek Elementary School. She said that it was recommended to her by a teacher who taught in a different school where attendance was low. It was this read aloud that got her students wanting to come to school every day to hear the next letter entry. In our ELA classes, we have been reading this incredible story of Teddy Bodain set in 1892. Our students hang on to every word and never want us to stop reading. Personally, I cannot wait to read this book to my students every day!

A book review by M.O. Neill

“The Astonishing Journey of Teddy Bodain" is a story that will remain in your heart for months and months after you finish the book. Teddy Bodain is a character with whom all children, boy or girl, can connect. I teach 4th grade and I have witnessed just how much my students love and cherish this story. The story is written in a friendly letter format. I read one letter each day aloud to my students. Never have I read a book to a group of children who literally beg for more after the one letter has been read. When it is time for "Teddy Bodain" to be read aloud, my students clap! They cheer! Their faces light up! They sit on the edge of their seats anxiously waiting to hear what adventure Teddy will face that day. The students lose themselves in the story, allowing them to reflect back to how life was in the late 1800's. They are able to show character empathy to each and every character. My students wish they could be Teddy Bodain so they could have the chance to experience the same adventures that she does. The accountable talk that develops among the students after each letter is read is amazing. Teddy will become a best friend to anyone who reads this book. "The Astonishing Journey of Teddy Bodain" will touch your heart in more ways than you can imagine. Believe me. My heart is touched each time I read a letter. I know a group of 4th graders whose hearts have been touched as well. We have all found a treasure in this beautiful story.

The above book review expresses my thoughts perfectly. Now, we would love to hear the opinions from our 4th grade students. Tell the world what you think of "The Astonishing Journey of Teddy Bodain". What you have to say might be an inspiration for other readers!

Skills Test Help

2011-05-18T15:09:00.003-04:00

This week's Write for Today is tough! My students were asking for some extra practice. Go to these sites for some extra help:

Capitalizing Rules:
http://www.quia.com/mc/3522.html

http://www.studyzone.org/testprep/ela4/g/capitalizationp1.cfm

Irregular Past Tense Verbs:
http://www.tcet.com/eaonline/FlashedESL/fe-pastirregular.html

http://www.helpingwithverbs.com/lessons/PastTenseVerbs.htm

Proofreading Practice:
http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hme/k_5/proofread/

"Write 4 Today" Study Sites

2011-04-20T10:12:00.004-04:00

Some of my students have been struggling with studying for our Write 4 Today quizes, and asked for some extra help. Here are some fun sites to practice with :

School House Rock Video:
http://youtu.be/fdUXxdmhIsw

The Predicate Coaster:
http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/predicate_coaster/index.html

Sink or Swim:
http://fen.com/studentactivities/SinkOrSwim/SinkorSwim.html

Print out for extra practice:
http://teacher.scholastic.com/lessonrepro/reproducibles/profbooks/predicates.pdf

Commas

Comma Cartoons:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWyrN22Zmuo&feature=relmfu&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1

http://youtu.be/ZAUjO2gEfXI

Commas in a series BATTLESHIP:
http://www.quia.com/ba/38272.html

Comma Confusion Space Game:

http://www.compasslearningodyssey.com/sample_act/34lang_confusion.html

Lots of extra help:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/grammar/punctuation/commas/

Have fun studying!

:)Mrs.O'Leary

SPIRIT WEEK

2011-04-09T10:43:00.002-04:00

What a fun week to come to school at Chets. We saw many "new" sides to the students and teachers in 4 Corners as we varied our ususal looks and adorned farmer attire, mismatched clothing, silly socks and crazy hair. Many of us also transformed into awesome pop or rock stars on Friday! Enjoy the slideshow of pictures which highlight many of these fun new looks!

FCAT will be "NO SWEAT" next week!!!! Bring it on!
Be sure to leave a comment telling how you KNOW you are ready for next week's FCAT! Also, take our blog "poll" and vote for your favorite Spirit Day from this past week!

Mrs. O'Leary's Beautiful Wedding !!

2011-04-02T13:41:00.003-04:00

Ms. Launey (now Mrs. O'Leary) was simply gorgeous and elegant at her wedding! The groom was very handsome! Together, they make a perfect couple! The wedding ceremony was just beautiful. The weather could not have been more pleasant. Dinner was absolutely delicious! The wedding cake was delectable! Post-dinner dancing was delightful! The entire evening was unforgettable. Enjoy the pictures of her most special day! Thank you, Mrs. O'Leary for allowing us to share in your most perfect day!

Ms. Launey's Pre-Wedding Reception

2011-03-22T19:57:00.005-04:00

Thank you to all of the 4 Corners students and parents for making today so special for Ms. Launey. We had such a special time celebrating her upcoming marriage to Mr. O'Leary. We enjoyed popcorn and refreshments, watching Ms. Launey open her special gifts, and dancing to all of our favorite songs together. It was a beautiful day at the Chets Creek Pavilion! Enjoy the slideshow of today's celebration!

Grimms Fairy Tales

2011-03-13T10:59:00.003-04:00

This week we started our fairy tales study. After reading a traditional version of Cinderella, we analyzed the characters. We learned about fairy tale archetypes, which are types of characters that tend to show up in many different fairy tales. The six archetypes we are studying are:

-the damsel in distress (Cinderella)
-the helper (Fairy God Mother)
-the villian (the stepmother)
-the other evils (the step sisters)
-the person with mixed loyalty (Cinderella's father)
-the rescuer (The prince)

We have begun to look for these characters while we explore other fairy tales.

The children have been very surprised when reading some of the original Grimms Fairy Tales, which originated in Germany in the 1800's. The tend to be quite different than the Disney Fairy Tales the students are familiar with.

As promised, here are some Grimms Brothers links:

1. All about the Grimms Brothers
2. Grimms Fairy Tales
3. Animated Grimms Tales

Enjoy!

Fairy Tales, Myths, and Fables

2011-03-05T20:12:00.008-05:00

What do you know about Fairy Tales, Myths, and Fables?

Get ready to bring your background knowledge as we start a new 6 week unit on these three genres. First, we will start out with Fairy Tales. What are some famous and memorable Fairy Tales that you know? What are your favorites? Have you read different versions of the same Fairy Tale? Next, we will move into Greek Myths. What explanations have you read for how things came to be? How did Myths get started? If you don’t know, you will soon find out. Finally, we will conclude with Fables. Do you know that these great stories teach us a lesson? Do you know that Fables were originated with a man name Aesop? Fables teach us morals and lessons that we can use in our every day life. Fables come from all different countries! Your teachers are so excited to teach this unit on these three genres! Happy Reading, here we start with Fairy Tales!!

Moon Phases

2011-03-01T19:11:00.014-05:00

In Science, we have really been enjoying ourselves learning about the phases of the Moon. During the month of February, students observed the Moon each night outside their window and recorded it's changing appearance, allowing them to see 28 days of our Moon's 29 day cycle.

We have learned that the Moon has phases because it orbits Earth, which causes the portion we see illuminated to change. The Moon takes about 27 days to orbit Earth, but the lunar phase cycle (from new Moon to new Moon) lasts about 29 days. The Moon spends the extra 2 days "catching up" because Earth travels about 45 million miles around the Sun during the time the Moon completes one orbit around Earth.

Click here to see what each child's completed calendar should look like:
February Moon Phase Calendar

As we have studied the Moon's phases,we have also made booklets to help us learn what each phase is called. In doing this, our classes have identified several phases as being landmark phases. These are:

1) New Moon (the first (1)and last (29) day in our booklets )
At the new Moon phase, the Moon is so close to the Sun in the sky that none of the side facing Earth is illuminated. In other words, the Moon is between Earth and Sun.

2) First Quarter Moon (Day 8 in our booklet)
ONE QUARTER (the RIGHT quarter that we see) is lit....here, the moon is highest in the sky at sunset, then sets about six hours later.

3) Full Moon (Day 15 in our booklet- the middle day in the 29 day cycle)
On this day, the Moon is behind Earth in space with respect to the Sun. As the Sun sets, the Moon rises with the side that faces Earth fully exposed to sunlight. We are able to see the entire illuminated half of the moon! (Did you know that only one half of our Moon is always illuminated by our Sun, and that we NEVER see the other half from Earth??!!).

4) Last Quarter Moon (Day 21 in our booklet) ONE QUARTER (the LEFT quarter that we see) is lit.... (opposite of the First Quarter Moon).

Other terms students need to be famaliar with help to explain other phases that fall between these landmark phases are Waxing, Waning, Crescent and Gibbous. Refer to your child's Moon Phase booklet and accompanying lab sheet for more specifics.

Be sure to also ask your child about two other labs we are participating in on the Moon's Phases this week. You can also reference our science textbook HERE for more study information.

Don't forget to visit GIZMOS to review the 3-day virtual lab we worked on in class!! Thanks to Katelyn for her comment to this blog post- this online tool is the BEST at helping to show and explain the occurance of Moon Phases!

You can also click HERE to see a simple, quick time-lapsed video of the Moon Phase Cycle.

IT'S SHOWTIME!!

2011-02-26T16:44:00.007-05:00

The Florida Writes Test is Coming Soon!!!

Need something to do over the weekend? How about one last writing prompt before our Florida Writes Test on Tuesday, March 1st? Your payment will be $100.00 Behavior Bucks on Monday, if you choose to take this challenge. Here is your prompt:

WRITING SITUATION:

It would be very interesting to be a coin.

DIRECTIONS FOR WRITING:

Before you begin writing, think about the adventures you would have as a quarter.

Now write a story about an adventure that a quarter might go through in an afternoon.

GRAB your READER

2011-02-14T11:27:00.004-05:00

In writing, we have been working on many ways to make our writing more creative, and fun for the reader. One way to do this is by starting our piece with a grabber. A grabber is an opening sentence (or sometimes two!) that immediately captures the reader's attention. It flows naturally into the beginning of the piece. For example, lets say I was writing an expository piece about an animal that I would choose as a class pet. I might write something like this:

Some classrooms have gerbils, some have fish, but if I could choose a pet for my classroom I'd be way more creative than that! If I had my choice, we would have a monkey as a classroom pet.

Do you see how the grabber (in purple) immediately captures your attention? It leads right into the beginning (in grey), which tells us what the expository piece is going to be about.

There are many different strategies for writing grabbers. Here are a few we have been working on:

SCENERIO

VOICE

MYSTERY

OPINION

ONOMATOPOEIA

DIALOGUE

GLOBAL STATEMENT/SPECIFIC STATEMENT

RHETORICAL QUESTION

FUNNY STATEMENT

Behavior Buck Challenge: Read the prompt below and comment with 2 different grabber/beginnings that would go with the prompt. You will earn $50.00 Behavior Bucks for finishing this challenge.

We have all lost something, or know someone who has lost something.

Before you begin writing, think about a time when you or someone else lost something.

Write to tell what happened the time you or someone else lost something.

The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins

2011-02-04T16:24:00.010-05:00

The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins

by Barbara Kerley

With drawings by Brian Selznick

This is the true and unforgettable story of Victorian artist Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins who was a dedicated and passionate artist. He had a goal of building life-size models of dinosaurs envisioned from scientific fossils in the hope of educating the world about these awe-inspiring ancient animals. This was during a time when no one knew what dinosaurs were like.

We read this intriguing and captivating story aloud during Readers Workshop, and our students had much to take away from it. They learned to have courage and never give up on their dreams, because Waterhouse Hawkins never did, despite a corrupt politician who thwarted two years of his life's work in Central Park, New York City. They also learned that hard work and determination is the road to reaching your dreams and goals. Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins taught us all about the importance of believing in oneself and following your dreams.
He is a creative man who stretched the boundaries of what has been done before, and his legacy lives on today.

Watch this clip on Youtube and have your child recount the story as you flip through the incredible artwork together, page by page.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/He_qLTgKKQk?rel=0

Students, we would love for you to write a comment and share your thoughts and feelings about this amazing picture book.

Celebrating 100 Days of School !!

2011-02-03T14:55:00.006-05:00

Today, our 4 Corners classes recognized the 100th Day of School in style- old style. :-)

Many of our students chose to accept the invitation to dress up as a 100 year old man or woman in celebration of this landmark day. Enjoy the pictures below, which show the creativeness and "style" of these students. If you are a 4 Corners student, also be sure to leave a comment sharing five mathematical facts representative of the number "100" to earn some extra Behavior Bucks. :-)

Congratulations to the Readers to Leaders!

2011-01-24T11:06:00.005-05:00

The following students have read and responded to 10 chapter books so far this year! We are very proud of these students for reaching this goal. They will be attending the Reading Bingo Bonanza with Mrs.Phillips!

Ms.Launey's Homeroom:

Alex

Nathan

Jordan

Heather

Aaliyah

Mia

Evan

Andrew F.

Rida

Blake

Sophia

Emily

Katherine

Katelyn

Chloe

Andrew W.

Clay

Ms.Lopez-Sinclair's Homeroom

Morgan

Jaylon

Cavin

Franchesca

Jacob

Camden

Martina

Emily

Noah

Caleb

Tori

Nathan

Zane

Ms.Phillips' Homeroom

Alyssa

Emily C.

Will

Logan

Preston

Nya

Anastasia

Natali

Ashley

Angus

Ben V.

Ben W.

Sarah K.

Kamelia

Mr.Pinchot's Homeroom

Emma

Ethan

Matt

Ashley

Mario

Luke

Keyandra

Madison

Seth

Emily

Chris

Sarah

Janvi

Michael

Brendan

Miyah

Hayden

Alex

Jack

Inquiry is at the Heart of Science

2011-01-18T22:40:00.009-05:00

In our classroom, we spend a great deal of time building understanding of how to "think like scientists". We discuss applications to the "real-world" daily, as we make connections to experiments and labs we regularly perform in class and as we discuss nonfiction material that we read and study together in order to deepen our understanding of scientific concepts.

Below is a list of important ideas that we continue to emphasize in science, which align to our state standards and the recommendations by the National Science Foundation.

1) Scientists use their background knowledge (and do research) before experimenting. They use this knowledge to make an educated guess (hypothesis) as to the outcome (the answer to their “testable question”).

2) When doing experiments, scientists carefully measure materials (when there are materials to measure) and they carefully collect measurement data (using tools such as rulers, timers, graduated cylinders, balance scales, etc.), so that they stay in control of the experiment, collect ACCURATE data, and draw accurate conclusions based on intentional variables (not unintentional variables that could occur if they performed a sloppy test (or trial).

3) Scientists change only one variable (called the independent variable) at a time when doing an experiment so that they will know what “caused” what they observed happening in the experiment. The change that occurs as a result of this independent variable is called the dependent variable. Scientists also have a “control”, a sample item intentionally left alone in its original condition that is not “experimented with”, so that as they observe changes in an experiment, they can recall the original state of what is being tested.

4) Scientists perform experiments multiple times to verify the validity of their data.

5) Scientists communicate with other scientists results of their work so that they may learn from each other. Differences in data collected (or outliers/unexpected outcomes) are analyzed so that the cause of these discrepancies can be determined (or scientists can at least "try" to determine why something unexpected happened).

6) In experiments where changes occur over a relative short period of time, data is collected frequently so that it will be known "when" a change occurred (such as in water evaporating from a cup left out in the sun)- scientists might check a water level and record the depleting amount of water in milliliters every 15 minutes so that they will have a good idea at what “time” the last of the water evaporated from the cup.

7) Data is collected at regular intervals (not haphazardly), and this information is often times compiled in a table/chart or put into a graph to better analyze the results so that reliable conclusions can be drawn.

8) Conclusions drawn after an experiment are based on evidence (collected and analyzed data), and the hypothesis is always reviewed and determined correct or incorrect.

9) Experiments and conclusions drawn (new ideas learned) always lead to NEW questions (goal: testable questions) and new experiment opportunities.

Inquiry is at the heart of science.
In our classroom, our students are immersed in science experiences to help build and sustain these ideas. We don’t just talk about them, we actually “do” these things, and we talk about why we are doing them as we do them so that the students will understand what science truly encompasses.

Which part of "being" a scientist do you find to be most enjoyable and why? Leave a comment. If you are on our Four Corners Team, a great comment will earn some great Behavior Bucks!

I Got Six

2011-01-17T20:46:00.001-05:00

Chick-fil-A Night

2011-01-17T12:55:00.021-05:00

WE LOVE OUR PARENTS!

A big thanks to all our 4th grade parents who brought their families in to eat dinner at Chick-fil-A and supported Chets Creek. In doing so, you are giving back to our incredible school, and you are helping our gracious business partner, Chick-fil-A. Just take a look at the families who came in during the time that I was there from 6:00-7:15pm. I know that there were more of you who came in after that. We appreciate all of you who came out!

Happy New Year 2011

2011-01-01T21:22:00.004-05:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

What are your New Year’s Resolutions?

New Year’s Resolution: A goal someone sets out to accomplish in the coming year after reflecting upon self-improvement.

New Year’s Eve has always been a time for looking back to the past and more importantly planning for the New Year. It is a time to reflect on the changes we want (or need) to make and resolve to follow through on those changes.

Here are my New Year’s Resolutions for 2011:
*Improve my mind, body, and spirit and help others.
Mind – Learn something new each day.
Body – Do something active each day.
Spirit – Meditate/Pray daily.
Help Others – Commit a random act of kindness each day.

Now that I have shared my resolutions with you, write us a comment and share yours. Happy New Year 2011!

Love,
Mrs. Lopez-Sinclair

Let's Say Thanks !

2010-12-22T08:12:00.004-05:00

The cooperation and generosity of multiple organizations has made it possible to send millions of postcard messages to troops overseas currently serving in our military and they are submitted through this Web site: Let's Say Thanks.

Xerox has also partnered with Give2TheTroops, the Boys and Girls Clubs, print shops and corporations that have all greatly contributed to the success of "Let’s Say Thanks".

Your teachers encourage you to take a minute to "say thanks" to a soldier overseas during this holiday break! It's easy, fun, and more importantly, will mean a lot to someone far from home who is currently out there working to protect our country and our world.

Thank you to Emily K's mom who told us about this site so that we can pass it along to everyone in Four Corners. If you are able to send a card, come back to the blog and leave us a comment here telling us about it.

We hope you are enjoying your holiday break!

Winter Break Challenge

2010-12-17T14:57:00.003-05:00

Earn behavior bucks over the winter break! Sign on to compass odyssey and practice your reading skills. For each completed activity, you will receive 10 behavior bucks. Click on the "backpack" icon to check your progress.

Here is the link:

https://odyssey.duvalschools.org

(Your password is the same one you use to sign into the school computers.)

Elf Me

2010-12-17T14:42:00.005-05:00

Go to the following links to see your teachers as ELVES!

See if you can figure out how to make an "ELF yourself" video starring your friends and family. Then come back and leave a comment with a link to your video.

We look forward to seeing what you can do!

Hip Hop (with a special guest)
http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/uKmd4gzjct6ntM9NEfqc">

Elf Hoedown
http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/1i8YhCAa47lxEhI9m5jM

Santa's Elves
http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/1i8YhCAa47lxEhI9m5jM

Seasons of Giving

2010-12-14T13:13:00.005-05:00

The Four Corners is proud of the incredible response from our families toward our Season of Giving Project during this holiday season. Because of your generosity, BEAM (Beaches Emergency Assistance Ministry)will be receiving over 100 food items to offer to families in need in our local area.

BEAM was founded in 1985 by local area churches to help folks in the need of basic necessities of life. The beaches communities- Mayport/Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, Jacksonville Beach, and Ponte Vedra- are the primary areas that BEAM works to support. Churches, schools, clubs, businesses and locals regularly donate food, dollars, and volunteer support to BEAM every year.

Thank you to each family for your incredible contributions toward this worthy cause.

Happy Holidays!
Mrs. Phillips, Mrs. Lopez-Sinclair, Mr. Pinchot, and Ms. Launey

Poet Research Projects

2010-12-01T14:05:00.005-05:00

Use the sites below to research the poet you will be writing your report on:

Dr. Suess:

1. http://www.catinthehat.org/history.htm

2. http://www.highlands.k12.fl.us/~aph/Poetry%20Month/Poetry/LehmanD%20Poetry_files/Page304.htm

3. http://www.readingrockets.org/calendar/readacross/seuss

4. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3523393.stm

Shel Silverstein:

1. http://www.readingrockets.org/calendar/poetry/silverstein

2. http://www.shelsilverstein.com/html/home.html

3. http://www.kidsreads.com/features/0204-silverstein-author.asp

Jack Prelutsky:

1. http://jackprelutsky.com/

2. http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/poetry/jack_home.htm

3. http://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/prelutsky

Walter Dean Myers

1. http://www.walterdeanmyers.net/

2. http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hmr/mtai/wdmyers.html

3. http://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/myersw

Bruce Lansky

1. http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/contributor.jsp?id=2919

2. http://www.gigglepoetry.com/autobiography/autobio.html

3. http://www.todayswriting.com/article60.html

Arnold Adoff

1. http://www.arnoldadoff.com/

2. http://files.wla.org/conferences/wla2000/specialevents/aatext.html

3. http://www.orrt.org/adoff/

Edward Lear

1. http://www.nonsenselit.org/Lear/about.html

2. http://www.poemsforchildren.org/Edward-Lear-for-children.htm

3. http://www.skoletorget.no/abb/eng/lear/pdf/bio.pdf

Jane Yolen

1. http://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/yolen

2. http://janeyolen.com/

3. http://www.endicott-studio.com/cofhs/chnotime.html

Nikki Giovanni

1. http://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/giovanni

2. http://www.nikki-giovanni.com/index.shtml

3. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95580685

Nikki Grimes

1. http://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/grimes

2. http://www.nikkigrimes.com/

3. http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/kids/news/story/0,28277,1844630,00.html

Paul Janeczko

1. http://www.paulbjaneczko.com/

2. http://edebutts.tripod.com/id29.html

3. http://www.candlewick.com/authill.asp?b=author&m=bio&id=2178&pix=n

Sharon Creech

1. http://www.sharoncreech.com/

2. http://missrumphiuseffect.blogspot.com/2010/04/poetry-makers-sharon-creech.html

3. http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/contributor.jsp?id=1811

Robert Frost

1. http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/robert_frost/biography

2. http://www.classbrain.com/artbiographies/publish/robert_frost.shtml

3. http://www.frostfriends.org/places.html

St. Augustine Highlights

2010-11-24T11:53:00.003-05:00

Enjoy the show! Leave a comment by sharing your favorite part of the trolley tour and your favorite part of the tour of the fort (Castillo de San Marcos).

Love,
Mrs. Phillips

Readers to Leaders!

2010-11-21T15:49:00.007-05:00

It is our intention that every fourth grade child read 1,000,000 words this school year. To do this your child should read for at least 20 minutes each night. The books or book equivalents that he reads MUST be within his independent reading range. Your child must read from a variety of authors and various genres.

First Nine Weeks: If your child logged at least 5 chapter books by the end of the first nine weeks, he earned recognition at our Student Recognition Ceremony. All readers participated in our Super Slime Reading “Slip”off. Students meeting their goal participated in a popcorn party.

Goal 2: If your child has logged a total of 10 chapter books by the end of the second nine weeks, he will be recognized at our Student Recognition Ceremony and awarded participation in our Book BINGO Bonanza.

Goal 3: If your child has logged a total of 15 chapter books by the third nine weeks, he will be recognized at our Student Recognition Ceremony and be awarded participation in our Kiss a Pig Picnic with the Principal.

Goal 4: If your child has logged a total of 25 chapter books by the end of the year (teacher read books count as 5), he will be recognized at our Student Recognition Ceremony and if our entire student population has met their reading goals the Principal will spend lunch as a Duct Tape Reading Diva.

Happy reading! How many books do you have on the chart? Will we being seeing YOU at the the Book Bingo Bonanza??

Conservation of Mass Lab

2010-11-19T22:35:00.012-05:00

During science, our class has studied various physical properties of matter. One of our labs focused on measuring mass and students used a pan balance to find the mass of several objects including a linking cube which has a mass of 3.6 grams.

Another lab was designed to give students some experience in measuring volume using both a ruler and displacement (water in a graduated cylinder). Students found that the volume of a linking cube is 5 cubic cm.

During math, our work has been with fractions, decimals, and percents. Students have worked on reading all the representations correctly, equating all three, and determining the amounts based on visual and actual models.

As a culminating activity, students were asked to build a structure using exactly 50 linking cubes. Many of these completed structures are shown in the above slideshow. After creating a 50 cube structure, the mass of the completed structure was determined and compared to the original mass of 50 individual cubes. Each student also found the fraction, decimal, and percent equivalents for each color used in their structure. Through this experience, the students learned that the mass of 50 individual linking cubes is the same as the mass of all 50 cubes connected together in an arrangement- supporting the Law of the Conservation of Mass. This law, also known as principle of mass/matter conservation, is that the mass of a closed system (in the sense of a completely isolated system) will remain constant over time. Mass cannot be created or destroyed, although it may be rearranged in space, and changed into different types of particles (or in this case, designs). The students really enjoyed themselves as they participated in this particular learning experience.

Happy Sciencing and Mathematizing,
Mr. Pinchot and Mrs. Phillips

"It Was Just A Little White Table..."

2010-11-12T09:26:00.004-05:00

VETERANS DAY
November 11th

Veterans Day is a day set aside to honor and thank all men and women who are serving or have served in military, whether during war time or during a time of peace. We tell them how much we appreciate that they served so that we can continue to live with freedoms few other countries have.

To honor this day and teach our students about Veterans Day, I read America’s White Table and reenacted the setting of the table to all 88 students in the 4-Corners.

America’s White Table
By Margot Theis Raven
Illustrated by Mike Benny

Margot Theis Raven’s prose tell the story of a fictional 10-year-old girl, Katie, whose uncle is coming for dinner on Veteran’s Day. Katie’s mother explains the importance of the ceremonial table, and its special significance to Uncle John. He served in Vietnam and lost his friend, Mike, there after the two were taken as prisoners of war (POW’s). Uncle John and his friend eventually gained their freedom; but Mike’s injuries were too severe and he didn’t survive. Katie puts the story in book format as a promise to Uncle Mike and others that she will never forget the gift of freedom that veterans have given her.
To emphasize "It was just a little white table..." The author uses this phrase at the beginning of almost every page in the story.

Here are some excerpts from the story and the scene that was reenacted:

“We use a small table, girls,” she explained first, “to show one soldier’s lonely battle against many. We cover it with a white cloth to honor a soldier’s pure heart when he answers his country’s call to duty.
We place a lemon slice and grains of salt on a plate to show a captive soldier’s bitter fate and the tears of families waiting for loved ones to return,” she continued.
We push an empty chair to the table for the missing soldiers who are not here.”

"But I didn't know what I -- a ten-year-old-girl -- could ever put on the table that was as important as each veteran's gift of freedom to me."

"And that's when I knew what I could put on the table:
My promise to put the words from my heart into a little book
about America's White Table."

"Remember us, please....
we are real people like your Uncle John and Mike
who left families and friends, homes and dreams of our own
to protect your birthright of liberty from disappearing
as easily as sunlight from a glass."

My hope is that all of our students will “remember” the significance of Veterans Day and will look at this day of honor differently than they ever did before. Please ask them what they learned by experiencing this great piece of literature and from our in-depth sharing and discussion.

Can you name all five branches of the United States Military?
All these different branches help keep us safe and protect our freedoms every day. During times of war, they help defend. During times of peace, they help keep the peace. During times of trouble (like earthquakes, famines, etc), they provide help to the people of the area affected.

Cultivating Reading Skills on the Computer!

2010-11-07T16:16:00.010-05:00

This year the county has supplied us with several different websites that students can go to from home to enhance their learning.

1.Compass Odyssey:

https://odyssey.duvalschools.org/childu/index.html?SSL=1

This is a wonderful web based learning program that motivates today’s students to engage, think & learn. The lessons are creative and will keep students interested and receptive to learning. The best part about this program is that teachers can assign individual lessons depending on what each student needs. After a student finishes a lesson, the teacher can view the work that they have done. The students also have immediate access to the progress report that is located in the "backpack" icon. Log-in and Passwords are the same ones they use to log in to the school computers and can be found in their planners.

2. Destination Sucess:

https://success.duvalschools.org/

Destination Success contains and entire collection of software for Reading and Math. To access the collection, once logged in, you have to click the Explorer link in the upper left corner of the screen. That will open a screen you can scroll down with different software selections. The software range from Kindergarten to the 12th grade. Therefore, an explore map is needed to find the content you want your child to work on. Teachers can also assign different assignments to the students based on individual needs.Log-in and Passwords are the same ones they use to log in to the school computers and can be found in their planners.

3. FCAT explorer

http://www.fcatexplorer.com/

Practice Makes Progress! That’s why the Florida Department of Education built FCAT Explorer—to provide practice for helping your child make real progress on the skills needed in the classroom, on the FCAT, and in life.

FUN, EFFECTIVE, AND FREE: FCAT Explorer is a set of free, Web-based practice programs. The content is built from the Sunshine State Standards that are tested on the FCAT. Kids can practice by themselves because the programs give them corrective feedback and learning guidance. Log-in and Password located in the planner.

Behavior Buck Challenge:

Here is your chance to give your teacher some feedback about these websites. Try each one out this week. Then come back and leave a comment. List the website in order of most favorite to least favorite (1 being your most favorite and 3 being your least favorite). Tell what skill you worked on at each site and what you liked and didn't like about it .

For Example:

1. FCAT Explorer: I worked on comparing and contrasting. I liked that it felt like I was playing a video game while I was learning. I didn't like that it took a long time to load in between each game.

You will earn 30 behavior bucks for doing this challenge. Happy Learning! I can't wait to hear back about what you think!

Grouping Fractions According to Landmarks

2010-11-03T11:20:00.018-04:00

After creating 40 fraction cards in class, we organized them into groups based on connections we made about them after analyzing relationships between numerators and their denominators. By doing this, we were able to make many generalizations about fractions.

#1- Fractions that have "0" as a numerator equal 0. (Zero parts are named, or shaded.)

#2- Fractions that have a numerator which is exactly one-half of its denominator equal 1/2. 2 is half of 4, so 2/4 = 1/2.

We also added to this observation by saying that since the numerator is half the denominator, IF WE DOUBLE THE NUMERATOR IT WILL EQUAL THE DENOMINATOR.

#3- Fractions that have a numerator equal to its denominator equal 1 whole. If 8 out of 8 parts are shaded, the whole is shaded, therefore, 8/8 = 1 whole.
Those first three groupings were easy to make, as you can imagine. When placing fractions BETWEEN LANDMARKS, though, our generalizations became more advanced!

Here we have two fractions that fall BETWEEN 0 and 1/2. In this case, the numerators are "less than half" of the denominators BUT "greater than zero".

For example, with 2/6, half of 6 is 3, but fewer than 3 parts (only 2) are shaded; therefore, the fraction is LESS than 1/2.

Here we have three fractions that fall BETWEEN 1/2 and 1 whole. In this case, the numerators are "more than half" but "less than equal to" to denominator.

For example, half of 8 is 4, therefor 4/8 = 1/2.

If I have the fraction 5/8, since 5 is more than 4 (half the denominator), then the fraction is greater than 1/2.

We are now beginning to explore decimal and percent equivalents for fractions in class- new, powerful strategies to add to our tool belts when we compare fractions! Math is FUN when there are multiple ways to solve problems and justify our reasonings!

What do you think about fractions, decimals, and percents? Leave a comment!

Love,

Mrs. Phillips

Hallway Exhibit

2010-11-01T22:24:00.021-04:00

A Hallway Exhibit of Our Students’ Lives

Take a stroll down the hall of The 4-Corners Team, and you will find hanging 87 beautiful essays that the students wrote about themselves. Remember those three items that students brought to class in a paper bag that represented them in some way? Our students have been working diligently for several weeks on an elaborated and detailed five paragraph essay that depicts their lives. First, students shared their three items with the class, so we could get to know each other better. They told us why these items are important to them and what each represented. Then they got to work crafting their essays, spending weeks revising, editing, and finally publishing. Just today, they added their final touch by illustrating their head and body and attaching the head to the top of their writing and the body to the bottom of their writing. They composed truly interesting and engaging essays. See what I mean by the following few examples. Please leave us a comment and give us your feedback. Students write for an audience, and you are part of their audience!

Science Scoop: What Can Change a Marble's Speed?

2010-10-26T12:01:00.014-04:00

Gravity is a force that pulls objects toward the center of the larger mass (which is always Earth since we are always on this planet). All matter (anything that has mass and takes up space) has gravity though- a pencil, a piece of bread, a paper clip...... We just don't feel the effects of gravity on these smaller objects around us (and our own gravitational pull) because the Earth's pull is SO much stronger than everything else.

In our lab on changing a marble's speed, we learned that gravity is one of the forces acting on the marble, which is why it rolled down our ruler ramps when we released it for each of our trials. We also learned that friction was another force acting on the marble, which helped the marble slow down and eventually come to a complete stop after it rolled down the ramp and across the floor.

In addition to learning about gravity and friction, we talked about unbalanced forces in this lab. Forces were UNBALANCED while the marble was rolling down the ramp and across the floor. Any time there is movement with an object, forces are not balanced.

In this Tug of War example, forces are NOT balanced. The group on the left is pulling with more force than the group on the right (the group is moving in the direction of the greater force).

When forces are BALANCED, on the other hand, there is NO movement. We can also say "The NET force is ZERO". Forces are ALWAYS acting on objects (gravity is one that we can never escape here on Earth), but when all are "balanced", there is no movement and the net force is zero. The computer in front of you has a net force of zero- the table (desk) is pushing up on the computer with a force equal to the force of gravity pulling the computer down toward the center of Earth. (Thank goodness, right?) :-)

In this Tug of War example, if both groups of people are pulling in opposite directions with the same amount of force, the rope will NOT move.

We also learned that if two force are working together in the same direction, we add them together. Person 1 + person 2 + person 3 (all on the left) are working together to pull back to the left. If we add their individual pulling forces together, we would get their combined total force.

If two forces are working in opposite directions (against each other), we subtract them. If we could measure the force that the left group is using to pull the rope in their direction and that the right group is using to pull the ropes in the opposite direction, we could subtract those forces to find the NET FORCE (like the "net change" we learned to find in 3rd Grade).

For Behavior Bucks, leave a comment offering two new examples- one for BALANCED forces and one for UNBALANCED forces.

Mrs. Phillips :-)

Benjamin Franklin

2010-10-24T17:24:00.006-04:00

Benjamin Franklin will always have a place in my heart, because he started the first public library (...and you know how much I LOVE to read!). But he is famous for many other things as well. He was an inventor, printer, author, and he played a part helping America become independent from Great Britain.

Ben has been a popular topic around the 4 Corners lately. Recently, a non-fiction article on one of our reading tests featured the famous man. Then, last week a very talented storyteller, Jim Weiss, came to our school and gave a riveting retelling of the events leading up to the writing of The Declaration of Independence. Mr.Franklin was a key player in Jim's retelling as well.

Watch part of the animated story of Ben below!

25 Book Campaign

2010-10-16T16:14:00.010-04:00

25 Book Campaign

Students are required to read 25 books for the 4th grade school year. We break this down into the four 9- week grading periods and require each student to read 5 books on their own and write a 1-2 sentence main idea summary of each chapter of each book. This would give them 20 books for the year.

The remaining 5 books that are required will be read by their English Language Arts teacher throughout the year(Lopez-Sinclair and Launey) and each “read aloud” will be discussed and summarized together as a class. Writing a 1-2 sentence main idea summary for each paragraph is crucial in helping the reader comprehend what they read. It is a wonderful way to track their reading and go back and reread their previous summary to see where they left off before they begin to read again. When we model reading with our students, we stop after each paragraph and talk about what we just read. We do this again after each chapter. This is a beneficial strategy to build great comprehension! Happy Reading!

3 is a Magic Number

2010-10-14T20:14:00.002-04:00

What a fun Schoolhouse Rock video- one of my personal favorites! If you need practice in saying your multiples of 3 quickly (and learning factor pairs which include 3 as a factor), this is a fun and easy way to learn! October is dedicated to mastering the "3's times tables" in our classroom! Make sure you meet that goal this month!

Enjoy!
Love, Mrs. Phillips

Ben's Dream by, Chris Van Allsburg

2010-10-10T20:22:00.004-04:00

We are currently studying the author, Chris Van Allsburg, in our E.L.A. classes. We are really enjoying his mysterious, fantasy books. Last week, we read Mr. Allsburg's third book, Ben's Dream. In this book, the landmarks that Ben and Margaret have been studying in geography class come to life for them! By the end of the book we were wondering (just as we had in his first two books), was it real....or was it all just a dream?

THE Ben's Dream CHALLENGE

In the book, Ben visits 10 famous landmarks. Your task, if you choose to accept it (or would like to recieve 50 Behavior Bucks), is to answer the following three questions about each landmark:

1. Where is the landmark located?

2. What is special about this landmark?

3. Why was it built?

You have until next Monday, October 18th, to finish the challenge and turn in your answers. Click below for a list of the landmarks and websites to help you with your research.

Ben's Dream WEB Sites

Good luck on this Site Seeing Adventure!

Sunshine Math Kick-Off

2010-10-06T19:25:00.003-04:00

Today was an exciting day for our students as we attended a special assembly to kick off Math Superstars and were met by two super-sweet Jaguars Cheerleaders, Lauren and Kaleigh. The purpose of the assembly was to inform students on how this math enrichment program will run this year. Permission slips with specific details went home today for students and parents to read together. There are two roles students can take in this program. They can either choose to be a "Mathlete" and complete the extra enrichment math homework during the 18-week program, or they can choose to be a "Cheerleader", like Lauren and Kaleigh, and continually encourage their Mathlete friends to continue participating and putting forth 100% effort. Incentives for Mathletes are invitations to eat outside at the school Pavilion every six weeks as long as they participated in at least of 5 of the 6 weeks. Drawings for prizes (such as autographed posters of The ROAR that Lauren and Kaleigh brought with them today) will be among the items given as prizes at these luncheons! Our awesome PTA will oversee this program again this year by offering various incentives and grading weekly papers. At the end of the 18-week program, every Mathlete who participated in at least 15 of the 18 weeks will be eligible to take a written test to determine a "Top 10" group of Mathletes for the grade level. These ten students will compete in a Math Brawl until the Top 3 Winners are determined. The First Place Winner will go on to compete at the Duval County district competition. We, the teachers at 4 Corners, certainly hope that many of our awesome mathematicians will sign up for this very cool enrichment math program, which starts next week!
Love, Mrs. Phillips

2010-10-04T21:37:00.003-04:00

Going Once, Going Twice, Sold To The Highest Bidder!

Everyone loves what money can buy! Our students are no exception. Each day, students are “caught doing the right thing”, and they are rewarded with Behavior Bucks! These bucks can be earned by participating in class, giving an exceptional response, exceeding the standard, showing improvement in a specific area, doing something extraordinary, helping someone in need, etc. We love to build great character and strong students by catching our students doing what is right. Every other Wednesday, the 4-Corners' teachers hold a huge auction where our students get to bid for items of their choice. All students who have earned an “A” in Conduct the week of the Auction and the week before the Auction are able to participate. Students have an “A” if they have two or less infractions for the week. The Auction is an anticipated event and is a highlight in the lives of our 4-Corners students. Our Auction is made possible by the generous donations from our parents. Our students love candy, books, toys, movies, stuffed animals, jewelry, art supplies, music, etc. Anything at all is appreciated by our students, so please keep donating. When your child donates, Behavior Bucks are given in return to say “thanks” for giving. Check out our Auction in action!

Auction from Dorry Lopez on Vimeo.

Vote for Mrs. KK! Only 2 Days Left!!

2010-09-28T19:28:00.002-04:00

Our own Media Specialist, KK Cherney, has been nominated for the Alferd Williams Literacy Award for her hard work inspiring us to love reading! This award is a huge honor and no one deserves it more than our KK!
To vote for Mrs. KK and learn more about Alferd Williams please visit http://www.scholastic.com/literacyaward/ . You can visit and vote until September 30th when the voting closes. Let's help make our Mrs. KK feel as special as she makes us feel everyday! VOTE FOR KK!

Cultivating our Reading Strategies!

2010-09-26T19:35:00.015-04:00

During Independent Reading, we have been spending lot of time practicing ACTIVE READING STRATEGIES. These strategies help to keep us engaged in the text and cause us to think while we read. We are learning that reading isn't just knowing the words on the page, it is thinking deeply about those words. So far we have focused on three reading strategies. Last week as I walked around during Reader's Workshop, and I asked the students to share their thinking with me. I wanted to know how they were using these strategies.

1. The first strategy we learned is QUESTIONING. Asking questions while you read is important because it helps readers set a purpose for reading. It also helps hold our attention and and keeps us focused.

The student below was reading a non-fiction book about the Aztecs. He showed that he was thinking about what he was learning by questioning the effects of strangers entering the Aztec city. What a deep thinker!

2. The second strategy we learned is PREDICTING. To use this strategy you must stop while you are reading and use clues to guess what is going to happen next.

The student below is reading Ralph S.Mouse by Beverly Cleary. She told me that one of the main characters, Brad, had broken Ralph's (the little mouse) motercycle. She was thinking that he might buy him a new one. She is one strategic reader!

3. The third strategy we have learned is CLARIFYING. It means to go back and reread. This is a very important strategy to practice because it helps us clear up any confusion we may have as we read. As you Clarify, you may have to reread a word, a paragraph, or a couple of pages to make sense of something that confuses you.

The student below was reading Masterpiece, by Elise Broach. This book is one of our Battle of the Books Titles!

She was clarifying an event in the story that she had read previously. This strategy may help her once the Battle of the Books comes around because she will certainly understand what she has read!

Next week we will practice our summarizing strategy. Keep up the good work! And remember, you aren't READING if you aren't THINKING!

Elementary "My Dear"

2010-09-21T20:56:00.002-04:00

Read-Think-Explain

2010-09-16T22:27:00.004-04:00

Our students are learning how to respond to a test question in an essay format which they will have to apply on the Reading FCAT. This is an example of a 2-Point Short Response. Our goal is to answer this type of question in approximately five minutes. Students are to use the key words from the question and restate the question in a topic sentence. They are to answer the question and support it with details from the text. Here is a student example of a Short Response Read-Think-Explain that earned full credit, 2 points.

Why did Dad keep putting things in the wrong places? Use information and details from the story to explain your answer.

Dad kept putting things in the wrong places because he was so exhausted from waking up in the middle of the night to take care of his newborn baby daughter. As he shuffled around the house in his slippers, he tried to pick up the messes of Grandma Ana and his young son, but he was so tired that he would misplace things. For example, he put toy police cars in the refrigerator along with laundry detergent. Dad put the milk in the laundry room. Dad's sleep was disturbed by the newborn baby crying and wanting milk in the middle of the night. Dad was lacking in sleep.

Another Example:

How does the narrator MOST LIKELY feel about growing up? Use details and information from the poem to explain your answer.

The narrator most likely feels like she might miss some things about her younger days. In the text, she questions if the squirrel was glad to be up so high or if he wished he were closer to the ground. This made her think about herself growing up and leaving something behind and possibly missing something that she once enjoyed when she was younger and smaller. The narrator thinks that growing up might cause her to miss her youth.

Changing Pitch and Volume

2010-09-12T16:46:00.021-04:00

Follow the prompts for changing pitch and volume. Leave a comment to tell us how you did it (if you are successful) and earn some Behavior Bucks!

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Since this activity box is very small, you can CLICK HERE to go to another website that has this activiy on a full page. Just remember to come back to the blog to leave your comment when you are finished exploring so that you can earn Behavior Bucks!

Florida Geography Projects

2010-09-12T13:01:00.003-04:00

Florida Geography Projects are being assigned on Monday, September 13th and will be due on Friday, October 1st. The purpose is to have a fun and meaningul way to culminate all that we are studying in our first 6 weeks of Social Studies (DOSS) about Florida's Geography. Each student has a guideline with all of the expectations for this "at-home" project. The above slideshow highlights a few examples of projects that have been completed by Chets Creek 4th Graders in the past. They are provided simply to give you ideas on how you might proceed, however, we encourage creativity and artistic uniqueness on this assignment. This project will count as a test grade in Social Studies for this first nine weeks. Have Fun!
Love,
Mrs. Phillips

The Four Corners Team has Grown!

2010-09-08T20:19:00.036-04:00

A whole new crop of students is helping our garden grow this year! We are so lucky that these students joined our Four Corners Team. Check out each of our new student's pictures below to learn some fun facts about them!

This student is a great leader and role model. His favorite subject is Reading!

This student went to New York this summer. He loves playing football.

This student likes riding bikes and playing outside. He is a great basketball player!

This student's favorite subject is Math. He loves the movie Karate Kid.

This student enjoys swimming in his free time. He is also an awesome skateboarder!

This student loves Writing class. You may find her shooting hoops at recess because basketball is one of her hobbies.

This student is very sweet and a good friend. She is a wonderful helper too!

This student loves books! Her favorite subject is Reading. She went tubing down the Ichetucknee River this summer!

This student is a talented basketball and football player. His favorite subject is math!

This student enjoys movie premieres. He also knows a lot about St.Augustine and is an excellent Math student.

This student loves Math. She is also a fabulous dancer, singer, and actress!

This student also visited Ichetucknee this summer. He is an awesome soccer player and loves learning Social Studies!

This student love amusement parks. His favorite subject is Math.

This student is really funny and a good friend. He is a Chets Creek native!

This student is a very hard worker and very considerate of others.

This student loves the Tower of Terror at MGM Studios and her favorite subject is Science.

This student loves to dance and is awesome at jump rope!

This student's favorite movie is Spongebob. He is really good at Madden Football.

This student loves learning about animals, especially reptiles!

Now that you know more about our new classmates, be sure to introduce yourself to any of these students you haven't met yet, and welcome them to the Four Corners Family!

A special thanks goes to our Student Reporters who interviewed our new friends. You did a great job Emily K., Sarah, and Andrew F!

Math Homework Highlights

2010-09-06T10:01:00.015-04:00

As mentioned in our weekly newsletter, the first three weeks of math homework serve to review concepts and skills from 3rd Grade. Homework is designed to take students approximately 10-15 minutes to complete each night and is reviewed in class each Wednesday (discussion of Monday and Tuesday content) and Friday (discussion of Wednesday and Thursday content). As we have in-class discussions of the homework, Mr. Pinchot and Mrs. Phillips facilitate the discussions around strategies the students are using to complete the problems. These strategies are highlighted on the document projector and students are required to take notes in pen so that they have accurate and helpful information to reference later on. Misconceptions are also addressed when students approach problems incorrectly, as our philosophy is "Mistakes are LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES". Homework is not graded, however, every three weeks a Homework Quiz is administered (which will count as a test grade) so that students can demonstrate mastery of concepts and skills that have been addressed.

How thorough is my child's approach to homework?
*Does your child take 10-15 minutes to complete each assignment?
*Does your child take thorough notes in pen each Wednesday and Friday in class?
*Does your child reference notes from previous homework assignments as needed and use these notes to study for quizzes? (This Friday, September 10th will be our first Math Homework quiz of this school year.)
*Does your child attempt every problem? Does your child refer to the Math reference pages in the front of the planner, or ask a "Study Buddy" or teacher for direction when help is needed? Mr. Pinchot and Mrs. Phillips are available before and after school and you are always welcome to email us with questions and clarifications also.

Current Topics of Focus
Factors, Multiples, Arrays
**Click the "Factor Game" (in the Math Links section to the left) for a challenging game in working with factors!
Factors are numbers that are multiplied together to get a product. (3 x 4)
Multiples are the product of two factors being multiplied together (12). Multiples are synonymous with skip-counting. (ex. Multiples of 3 are 3, 6, 9, 12... Multiples of 4 are 4, 8, 12...)
Arrays are a model used to see the relationship between factors and multiples. In the array below, a 3 x 4 array has a total of 12 square units.
Multiplication and Division Word Problems
To distinguish between multiplication and division word problems, our focus is to visualize the problem. All problems involving multiplication and division involve "groups" of items. We also ask ourselves if we know the total number of items. If we know the total, we will divide. If we do not know the total, we will multiply the number of groups by the size of each group to find that total.

Patterns
All of the patterns we are studying right now involve whole numbers. If they are ascending (numbers getting larger), we need to determine if the "rule" is addition or multiplication. If the numbers are descending (numbers getting smaller), we need to determine if the "rule" is subtraction or division.

Perimeter and Area
Perimeter is a measure of the distance around a figure.
Real-World Examples: fence around a backyard, frame around a picture

Area is a measure of the number of square units within a figure.
Real-World Examples: grass covering a back yard, tile covering a kitchen floor

Our new math standards have adjusted the formula we use for finding area from "length x width" to "base x height". The approach is the same. If we know both dimensions (of a square or rectangle), we simply multiply the two dimensions together to find the total area (number of square units in the region).

Happy Homeworking!!
Mrs. Phillips :-)

A Glimpse into ELA

2010-09-02T22:56:00.028-04:00

What Have We Been Doing In Skills Block?

We have been working on Write For Today, which is daily practice in learning editing skills in our writing. This week, we have been learning about proper nouns and capitalization, -ed suffixes, there, their, they're, and commas. We have also been working on Read For Today, which is a “warm-up” daily reading where we practice careful and critical reading by using our reading strategies.

We are also learning how to write Cursive every day, by practicing each student's first and last name.

How Do We Respond To Our Independent Reading Literature?

We respond to our independent reading by writing a one sentence summary for each chapter in our Reading Journal. This is finding the MAIN IDEA of each chapter and will help us become proficient readers. By doing so, we track our reading and it helps us remember what we read. You know what’s cool? Our teachers read our summaries and write us notes about the book we read. They ask us questions, and we get to respond back. It is pretty neat writing notes back and forth to our teachers.

A Peek Into Independent Reading

Oh, to sit back with a great book and snuggle our cuddly little stuffed animal friends with classical music playing softly in the background…It doesn’t get any better than this!! Independent reading time is the best! Books take us to faraway places, and we get to meet all kinds of characters. We just love this precious time to get lost in a great book.

Painting A Picture With Words In Writers Workshop

After reading our book of the month, Otis, we used this mentor text to write descriptive paragraphs. Since we are studying nouns, we wrote about people, places, things, and ideas from this book. We wrote a descriptive paragraph on the main character, Otis. Then, we wrote a descriptive paragraph on the setting which is a farm. After that, we wrote a descriptive paragraph on the big yellow tractor which is a thing. Finally, we wrote about the idea of friendship which is the theme. We are learning that to write descriptively, we need to use our senses. Now, we can write a paragraph with a topic sentence, lots of supporting and sensory details, and a concluding sentence. (If your parent writes us a comment on this post, you, the student, will receive $10.00 in Behavior Bucks to spend at our Auction. We want all of our parents and students to read our blog daily.)

Chet's Creek First Day of School

2010-08-27T13:18:00.004-04:00

from the Duval County Schools Website)
Students and Staff are "Cultivating a Community of Excellence" at Chets Creek Elementary
The theme this year at Chets Creek Elementary is "Cultivating a Community of Excellence!" and to kickoff 2010-2011, students were welcomed back with a variety of exciting and interactive activities.

Farming and gardening decorations were on display throughout the building, and outside were tractors with real farmers. Twenty-five farm animals were on school grounds for the students to see with an animal guide, and the watermelon wagon drove around campus to pass out juicy slices to all the kids.

Students visited the cold crop planting center to learn about harvesting food, and the Beekeeper association made a special appearance with self-contained beehives for the students to observe.
Farmers spent time in classrooms reading to the students, and then everyone had the chance to learn about what is in one of their favorite meals during the farmers’ "Everything on a Cheeseburger Comes from the Farm" assembly. At the end of the day, the farmers prepped a plot of land for Chets Creek Elementary to start a school garden.

For more pictures from opening day, visit the flickr photostream of Chets Creek Elementary's Instructional Technology Coach Melanie Holtsman.

Kazoos

2010-08-27T07:49:00.004-04:00

This week our class had fun making straw kazoos in science class. The class had a blast trying to make sounds from a homemade instrument. We took drinking straws and cut out flaps which would vibrate as children blew through the straw. The class discovered that the pitch of the sound could be changed by changing the length of the kazoo. The longer the straw the lower the pitch. Ask Mrs. Phillips how her kazoo turned out. Enjoy watching Heather play her kazoo.

2010-08-25T21:08:00.007-04:00

In mathematics, we are currently working in a short unit called "Numeration". Focuses are to represent numbers in various forms up to the millions place (7-digit numbers). Below is a basic 4-digit number example:

Standard Form: 2,345

Word Form: Two thousand, three hundred forty-five

Expanded Form: 2,000 + 300 + 40 +5

We are also rearranging digits to make numbers to fit rules:

Example:

digits: 6 5 0 1

Largest number you can make with these digits: 6,510
Second largest number you can make with these digits: 6,501

Smallest number you can make with these digits: 0156

Third smallest number you can make with these digits: _______

(If you are a student wanting to earn Behavior Bucks, figure this problem out and leave the correct answer as a COMMENT with your first name and last initial!-NO last names please!) Click the "Comment" link at the end of this blog post to leave your comment.

The link below offers extra support (worksheets) for students to use in practicing and developing these skills to build a deeper conceptual understanding of "place value". Thank you to Nathan's mom for sharing this wonderful site with me: superteacher.com!

Check it out! Here is the link to take you straight to the place value practice sheets:

http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/place-value.html (Answer keys are provided too!!)

Love,
Mrs. Phillips

4-Corners' Orientation

2010-08-21T07:28:00.003-04:00

Thank you parents and students for coming to our Fourth Grade Orientation. It was so great to see familiar faces from last year and also to meet our new learners and their families. We welcome you to our 4-Corners team and are looking forward to spending an exciting and productive year with you. Here are some important reminders from Orientation:

We must know how your child is getting home each day.
The best way to contact us is by email.
Students need their supplies on Monday, August 23.
We need all forms filled out and returned by Monday or Tuesday (Aug, 23 or Aug. 24).
Please join PTA for $5.00. They do incredible things for our school.
Please send in $5.00 for Weekly Reader to support our nonfiction learning.
Please support our class by volunteering in or out of the classroom. We need your help!
Make sure your child comes to school on time and remains at school until dismissal.
Please stay informed via our Newsletter, our Blog, the Connection, the Monthly Calendar, and the Student Planner.

Thank you for being a part of our team and giving us your support!

Welcome Back Students and Parents!

2010-08-19T15:30:00.002-04:00

We are so excited to start a brand new year teaching 4th grade here at The Chets Creek Farm! This year, we will be cultivating a community of excellence as we sow our seeds and nurture a new crop of 4th grade students. We hope that you had a fun-filled summer and are ready to start working in the fields of learning. Farming is hard work, but we are going to harvest bountiful crops! So get ready to plant those seeds, grow like a beanstalk, and produce remarkable results!

Bravo!!

2010-06-02T17:34:00.019-04:00

What a spectacular performance last night from our special Four Corners Crew! Our students AMAZED family and friends in their awesome performance of "A Better You, A Better Me"!! We have received many compliments and raving reviews and we are SO PROUD of each and every one of our STAR PERFORMERS! Congratulations to all of our kiddos! Here are our stars:

A Better You, A Better Me Expect Respect Trust is a Must Fight Fair I Will Care For You
The CitizenSHIP
Reprise: A Better You, A Better Me

O2b- What an Awesome Field Study!

2010-05-26T22:28:00.001-04:00

Trust is a Must

2010-05-19T17:37:00.003-04:00

The CitizenSHIP

2010-05-17T21:56:00.002-04:00

Fight Fair

2010-05-17T21:40:00.002-04:00

Expect Respect

2010-05-07T22:05:00.002-04:00

Click this link to learn the moves to the second song in our play- Expect Respect
http://sharing.theflip.com/session/897a47a4c545b1389f1ac7889367b2f7/video/13315481

A Better You, A Better Me

2010-05-07T22:00:00.003-04:00

Click this link to learn the moves to the first song in our play-A Better You, A Better Me
http://sharing.theflip.com/session/897a47a4c545b1389f1ac7889367b2f7/video/13315442

I Will Care For You COMPLETE SONG

2010-05-02T19:13:00.003-04:00

Here is the complete video to music for comprehensive practice. Have Fun!

I Will Care for You....Part 2 (Instructional and To Music)

2010-05-02T18:12:00.010-04:00

INSTRUCTIONAL
I will take my brother by the hand;
I will close my eyes to indignation.

So together we can make a stand.
No division, we are one great nation.

BOTH PARTS TO MUSIC...

I Will Care For You...PART 1 (to Music)

2010-04-22T06:51:00.013-04:00

If you ask me what I want from life;
I will tell you without hesitation.
Days of joy and peach and harmony;
Where all people live as one great nation!

I will care for you. I will see you through the bad times.
I will care for you. I will dare to do the kind thing now.

I Will Care For You...Part 1 (Instructional Videos)

2010-04-21T21:36:00.015-04:00

Learn the sign language motions for Stanza 1 and the Chorus. These instructional videos will help you.

If you ask me what I want from life, I will tell you without hesitation. Days of joy and peace and harmony,

where all people live as one great nation.

Pennsylvania Connection...

2010-04-18T19:28:00.005-04:00

Recently, Mrs. Phillips and Mr. Pinchot's homerooms had the unique opportunity to "skype" with third and fourth graders in the state of Pennsylvania. Through this experience, both sides were able to ask questions in order to learn points of interest regarding connections in science (weather), social studies (relevant history, famous people), and general facts about each others' schools and academic priorities. It was a wonderful experience that the students enjoyed. You can view our 20 minute conversation below! If you do, please leave a comment sharing your thoughts. We very much appreciate Mrs. Melanie Holstman for allowing us the opportunity to do this. We hope to find a classroom to make a new connection with in Fairbanks, Alaska later this year, as we have compared and contrasted their climate and weather conditions with our own here in Jacksonville, Florida through our math workshop. :-)

Skype with PA from Melanie Holtsman on Vimeo.

Ice Cream Cooler

2010-03-01T07:11:00.002-05:00

Hey there, Mad Scientists! Here is an at-home experiment you might really enjoy! To make ice cream "feel colder" while you eat it, you will need: 2 bowls, ice cream, milk, a spoon. Put a couple of spoons of ice cream into each bowl. Taste a bite of ice cream from the first bowl. Notice how it feels, as well as how it tastes. Yes, I know that it is cold, but pay attention to how cold. Pour a couple of spoons of milk over the ice cream in the second bowl. Take a spoon of this ice cream, making sure that the surface of the ice cream has a coating of milk. As you eat this spoonful, again notice the temperature. It should feel colder. Just to be sure you notice the difference, alternate bites between the regular ice cream and the ice cream with milk until you are sure of the difference. This may take several bowls of ice cream.

Now think about this: Why would adding milk make the ice cream seem colder? It has to do with the transfer of heat. The ice cream feels cold because it has less heat than your mouth does. As heat moves from your mouth to the ice cream, you feel the cold. The faster the heat moves away from your mouth, the colder the ice cream feels.

Why would adding milk let the heat move faster? To see that, put a spoon of ice cream in a bowl and let it melt. I know that it may seem like a waste of good ice cream, but it is necessary. You can also use a very small spoonful, as we only need a little. Compare the melted ice cream with the milk.

What is the difference? The ice cream is much thicker. This thick mixture contains many tiny bubbles. These bubbles give ice cream its pleasing texture, but they also act as insulation, just like the tiny bubbles in Styrofoam and many other types of insulation. The milk does not have the bubbles and so it makes a much better pathway for the heat. The coating of milk on the ice cream carries the heat quickly from your mouth to the ice cream and you get a colder sensation.

Pretty neat! Leave a comment if you try this to let the class know your thoughts.

Be My Valentine!

2010-02-12T22:28:00.002-05:00

Sharing Brownies

2010-02-01T19:14:00.011-05:00

Our class has been studying fractions for the last two weeks and one of our big focuses has been finding fair shares of paper brownies. As a performance assessment recently, students were given a task of cutting a given number of brownies and showing how to equally share them among a

given number of people. Some big ideas that we have been learning in this first fraction investigation are:

1) The numerator identifies the number of given parts
2) The denominator tells the number of equal-sized parts to make up the "whole"
3) Fractions can be read as ratios (relating the part to the whole) in order to better understand the fraction (ex. the fraction "one-third" can also be read as
"one out of three" equal parts to combine to make one whole

Alhambra

2010-01-31T13:41:00.004-05:00

Our visit to the Alhambra and park was so much fun this past Friday.

While at the play, students learned more about Speaking, Listening, and Viewing Standards. As an audience member, students practiced being an engaged listener, soaking in all of the visual and auditory details of the presentation. They also saw firsthand how important it is for speakers (actors) to really embrace their roles- voice projection, body language, facial expressions, costumes, and props. This will be so important when they perform their own play in May of this year!!

While at the park, the students just enjoyed being kids and having fun! What a treat to visit Jax. Golf Park, which offered so many options of things to do! Our kids played soccer, kickball, ran the track, climbed the jungle gym, and went down slides. Swinging on the swings was a popular attraction too. The day turned out to be beautiful, despite the possibility of our fun getting rained out. It could not have been nicer!

Thank you to all of our awesome parent chaperones who accompanied this trip with us also- it was so nice spending this quality time together with you.

Enjoy the slideshow of our trip!

Show Me What You Know About WATER!

2010-01-13T16:01:00.007-05:00

Hey kiddos!

I have missed you all so much and I am excited to be returning to school from maternity leave in just 9 short days! I know that you had a Water Cycle Quiz today in Science and I found a fun website to "quiz" you on many of the water and water cycle facts that you have learned while I have been out (you may not know them ALL but you probably know MANY)! Take this quiz and leave me a comment on how you liked it (you can even share the number of points that you earn taking the quiz if you wish). Can't wait to see you all!

http://www.epa.gov/safewater/kids/flash/flash_qagame.html

Love,
Mrs. Phillips :-)

Learn and Earn (behavior bucks)

2009-12-16T18:11:00.004-05:00

Want to brush up on some Reading Skills over the break , have fun, and earn BEHAVIOR BUCKS? You have come to the right place. Work on Destination Success or FCAT Explorer over the break.

Community Contributions

2009-12-09T21:29:00.002-05:00

Our third grade students in the 4-corners classes sure have caught the spirit of giving. Each day in all four classes, students have been bringing in canned, bagged, and boxed non-perishable food for the needy. They have also been bringing in pet bedding, blankets, cages, and treats for our homeless furry friends at the Humane Society. Here's how it happened: After brainstorming with our students about what we could do to help others and give back to the community, they came up with these two service projects. They wanted to collect as much food as they could for the hungry to brighten up their holidays and fill their stomachs. They also wanted to provide homeless dogs and cats with a more comfortable environment while they are patiently waiting to be adopted. Because of the kindness and empathy of our students, these two projects came to fruition. We are collecting for those less fortunate until this Friday, December 11th. Stay tuned to a future blog which will let you know how much we collected. Our students are so excited to experience the kind and simple act of giving. They realize that when we reach out and give to others, we touch lives, and really can make a difference in this world.

Supplementals for Math and Science

2009-10-12T19:22:00.012-04:00

New links are now available on our blog (far left column) to enhance what we are studying in Math and Science!

In the Math section, there are links for building fluency with multiplication facts (the Car Wash Multiplication Game link is especially fun), and the Math U See link offers skill building practice with doubles facts (a current focus for those students who do not know them fluently) and general fact practice with addition, subtraction, and multiplication. Some of our students might also be interested in challenging themselves with the division practice available here now that we have spent recent weeks developing this concept as well.

In the Science section, there is a Science Textbook link so that students can read (or reread) the lesson from our classroom textbook which correlates to what we are currently studying in class. We just started our unit on Matter (Ch. 10), which will be our focus for the next 4 weeks!

We hope you enjoy these awesome new resources to compliment what we are learning in school.

:-) Ms. Phillips

Pronouns "I" and "Me"

2009-10-09T23:44:00.007-04:00

Our Language Skill Lesson this week is when to properly use the pronouns "I" and "me". The word "I" is used in the subject (tells who or what) part of a sentence. The word "me" is used in the predicate (after the verb) part of the sentence.

Example:
Shanel and I rode bikes on the beach.
(The pronoun "I" is in the subject of the sentence.

Shanel rode bikes with me on the beach.
(The pronoun "me" is in the predicate part of the sentence and is written after the verb "rode".)

To practice this skill, visit this website: http://jc-schools.net/write/ppt/I-me.ppt

The 7 Habits of Happy Kids

2009-10-04T17:02:00.007-04:00

The 7 Habits of Happy Kids
By Sean Covey

Have you heard your child coming home and telling his or her sibling to be more proactive, begin with the end in mind, or put first things first? Well, there is a good reason for this! We, at 4-corners, are teaching our students powerful principles that will enrich their lives and make them happy by being more successful. These principles are responsibility, vision, respect, teamwork, and balance. Each week, we read a chapter from Sean Covey’s picture book, The 7 Habits of Happy Kids, and we teach a “habit”. We practice this “habit” throughout the week at school and at home. So far we have taught the students the first three habits. The first habit is Be Proactive which means You’re in Charge. The first chapter title is Bored! Bored! Bored! Our students learned that they need to take charge of their own life and stop playing the victim. They learned that they are in charge of their own fun and that they can make it happen just like the character Sammy Squirrel did when he took responsibility for his boredom and found something productive to do. He made a get-well present for his friend, Allie, who was home sick in bed. Sammy learned that he is in charge of his own choices. The second habit we learned is Begin with the End in Mind which means to Have a Plan. This chapter title is Goob and the Bug-Collecting Kit. We learned that if we have a written plan of goals like Goob did, we can work for something that we want to buy like his bug-collecting kit. He not only earned the money ($10.00) by selling lemonade, but he was able to buy his $4.00 bug-collecting kit, a $2.00 mirror for Tagalong Allie’s birthday present, a slice of honey pizza for $1.00, go to the movies for $1.00, take his friend Jumper to the movies for $1.00 (who had previously spent all of his money on junk), and still have $1.00 left to put in his savings bank. Our students have written a school goal that they want to accomplish in 3rd grade. They wrote down their goal, their time frame for meeting their goal, taking their first step, and the steps they need to work towards their goal. We learned that “A goal not written is only a wish.” Our third habit is Put First Things First which means Work First, Then Play. In reading the third chapter, titled Pokey and the Spelling Test, we learned Pokey needed to study a little bit each night to do well on his spelling test, instead of putting off his studying night after night by playing with different friends. He learned to delay gratification and do the hard thing first. Procrastination made him feel awful, but being prepared made him feel great. Our students have been given a survey of what activities they do. They have also been given a time management sheet where they will document their time spent on their daily activities for one whole day. They are learning the meaning of what a wise person once said, “Do what you have to do, so you can do what you want to do.”
*Stay tuned in to more lessons on what your child is learning in The 7 Habits of Happy Kids! Please leave us a comment on your thoughts of these lessons.

Skills Block Practice

2009-09-29T21:07:00.003-04:00

I have never seen students so excited as they were today! They were on fire for learning their Spelling Words and their Vocabulary Words. What could have brought about this excitement you are probably wondering? Games, games, and more games! If you want to see for yourself what I am talking about, I challenge you to check out these websites, sit down with your child, and experience the excitement of learning. We thank our very own Zane for demonstrating how the games work. He loves to practice his words by playing these games.

For Spelling practice, go to: Spelling City
For Vocabulary practice, go to: Quizlet

Make sure that you write a comment, and let us know what you thought!

Addition and Subtraction Strategies on the Rise

2009-09-28T21:28:00.027-04:00

On a recent math homework assessment, our students showed us some fantastic strategies for finding sums and differences. Here are a few of them:

FINDING SUMS

Solving 27 + 14

Zane's strategy of Decomposing into Tens and One

Zane decomposed 27 into 10+10+7 and 14 into 10+2+2 and then used "left to right" addition to combine each of the partial sums.

Nathan's strategy of Compensation for Addition

Nathan subtracted three from the 14 and added three to the 27 to make a "simpler" problem: 30 + 11. By making the first addend a landmark number (30, a multiple of 10), he created an additon problem that could be solved using "mental math".

Camden's model of an Open Number Line for Addition

Camden begins at 27 on her open number line and then makes a "jump" of 10 to get to 37 (mental math problem), and another "jump" of 4 to get to 41.

Franchesca's use of the Traditional Algorithm (Regrouping) for Addition

With this strategy, Franchesca adds from "right to left". 7 + 4 is one "group of ten" and one "one" (11). Leaving the one "one" in the ones place, she then "regroups" the one group of ten to the tens place and combines it with the 2-tens and 1-ten that are already there.

FINDING DIFFERENCES

Solving 74 - 36

Morgen's use of the Open Number Line for Subtraction

Morgen starts at 74 on her open number line and subtracts 36 from 74 in five stages: 10, 10, 10, 4, and 2. This moves her back 36 on her open number line. Her ending position (38) on the number line represents the answer to this problem: 74 - 36 = 38.

Tekiyah's use of Compensation for Subtraction

Tekiyah subtracts six from both the minuend and subtrahend to "make the problem simpler". In subtracting the same amount from both parts of the subtraction problem, the difference (answer) is not changed (since the "distance" between the two numbers on a number line remains the same). 68 - 30 is a "mental math" probem, whereas the original problem 74-36 is not as easily solved without pencil and paper methods.

Eder's use of "Straight" Subtraction

Eder first decomposes 74 into 70 + 4 and 36 into 30 + 6. He then subtracts his tens (70 - 30 = 40) and then his ones (4 - 6 = -2). Finally, Eder finds the difference in his two partial differences (40 and -2), which is 38.

Caleb's use of the Traditional Algorithm (Regrouping) for Subtraction

Caleb subtracted from right-to-left. He decomposed 70 into 60 and 10 so that he could subtract 6 ones from 14 ones to get 8. This left him with subtracting 3 tens from 6 tens to get 3 tens. With regrouping, it is important for students to understand that the original number 74 (70 + 4) is still 74 once regrouping takes place (60 + 14 is STILL 74)- this decomposition of a group of ten to make ten ones simply makes subtracting in the ones place easier so that the result (difference) is NOT a negative number (compare back to Eder's strategy where, without regrouping, a negative number results in the ones place).

MATH ROCKS and so do our kids' strategies! Be sure to leave a comment noting your FAVORITE strategy when combining and comparing numbers.

Cover 50

2009-09-14T18:03:00.007-04:00

Today in our Math Workshop we introduced our first "Game", which the kids really loved. This game is called "Cover 50" and reinforces what we have been learning concerning the relationship between factors and multiples. While playing, students had to think about generalizations of multiples, such as even numbers, "factors", only having even multiples (ex. 4- 4, 8, 12, 16, ...). They also had to think about patterns we have studied, such as the ones-place pattern of 5, 0, 5, 0... in the multiples of 5 (5, 10, 15, 20, 25,...) . As students played, they took turns deciding on a "factor" in which they would cover their board with multiples for that factor (their set of cards) with the object of the game being to be the first player to be able to play all ten of their cards on their Cover 50 board. By studying their own set of playing cards against their partner's cards, they developed strategies for calling out the "factor" for their turn that they would have more multiples of than their partner. This game certainly needs to be played more than once and will now be available at a game center in our room for when students find extra time to revisit it.

Gathering Seed Ideas

2009-09-06T17:48:00.008-04:00

Last week during Writer's Workshop, we created a list of thing writers can write about to add to our Writer’s Journals. These topics are called “Seed Ideas”, because like seeds, they will grow…into a story. We gathered ideas by sketching, collecting pictures from magazines and personal photos, writing down our wonderings, and paying close attention to the world around us and listing the things that we noticed. These Seed Ideas may eventually grow into fictional stories, personal narratives, reports, persuasive writing, poems, or functional writings.

Next week we will be focusing on choosing a seed idea for a personal narrative and developing a plan for our story. Personal narratives allow you to share your life with others. Your job as a writer is to put the reader in the midst of the action by letting him or her live through an experience. A good story creates a dramatic effect, makes us laugh, gives us pleasurable fright, and/or gets us on the edge of our seats. It is important that the students choose a seed idea from a personal memory that will develop into an engaging story.

Behavior Buck Challenge:
Students- Do you want to earn 5 Behavior Bucks this week? All you have to do is sit down with a parent and teach them about the parts of your Writing Journal. Then with your parent, choose some seed ideas that may turn into a great personal narrative and post them on our blog. By sharing ideas and reading what others have to say, we will learn and grow as writers. Good luck!

Studying Plants

2009-09-01T17:28:00.010-04:00

Our first science unit this year is on plants. In these first seven days of school we have been outside to carefully observe and diagram physical properties of plants in our school garden and we have made predictions about seeds and what they "need" in order to grow. Last week, we participated in an initial lab where we studied seeds and their parts up close using hand lenses as tools, and in a more recent lab we are carefully observing new plant seeds and how moisture effects their growth. Each day, we record our observations in our plant journals so that we can draw conclusions at the end of our investigation. Today, while we are in waiting for our bean seeds to sprout, we referenced our textbooks to learn more about the four main parts of plants, what plants "need" to survive and grow, and our interdependence with them as human beings. While Mr. Pinchot read the text aloud to the class and students followed along in their own student textbooks, Mrs. Phillips created a Concept Map of what we were learning through the reading (see image).

We think plants are fascinating and are eager to learn more about them.

Happy Researching!

Mrs. Phillips and Mr. Pinchot

Welcome to 3rd Grade!

2009-07-29T22:14:00.010-04:00

Welcome to our blog. We are very excited about our upcoming year in 3rd Grade for the upcoming 2009-2010 school year! We can not wait to meet our new students at Orientation on Friday, August 21st. (Any posts that you view prior to this entry reflect our 4th grade experiences from the 2008-2009 school year where we traveled "Around the World in 180 Days".) We hope that all of our former and rising students have had a restful and enjoyable summer and we also hope that everyone is ready to put forth 100% effort in the upcoming year.

Exploring Simple Machines

2009-05-26T22:51:00.003-04:00

Click HERE to explore four areas of a house and identify 40 different simple machines.

There are 10 in each room: Garage, Bathroom, Kitchen, and Bedroom.

Have fun!

May4-8 News Show

2009-05-10T15:56:00.003-04:00

Make sure to leave a question or comment about what we have learned this week!

Weekly News Update April 27-May1

2009-05-03T11:50:00.003-04:00

Enjoy our broadcast. Congratulations to all the reporters. You worked so hard to produce a wonderful show this week!

Part Two of Chets D.C. Adventure

2009-05-02T13:51:00.001-04:00

Well, the time has come to head back to Jacksonville. I had a great time in Washington DC! Let me see if I can pick up where I left off on my last post... On Friday, I got to go back to the math conference. I got to meet Stuart Murphy, the author of the MathStart book series that we have in our classroom. He was a lot of fun. He even autographed a few books for Mrs. Phillips' sons! I got to meet the lady that wrote our Calendar Math program and the man that wrote our Math Investigations program! I told them how wonderful all of you are and how great you are in math. They were both very impressed. I even collected a few cool things from the vendor booths to sell in our Auction. I think you are really going to like them!

I went out to a fancy restaurant Friday night and tried Calamari for the first time. Have you ever had it before? I also had the most yummy chocolate dessert with strawberries on top. It was the best!

On Saturday, I got to tour the Arlington National Cemetary. It was amazing. I got to see the Eternal Flame where President Kennedy is burried and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and watch the changing of the guards. There were a lot of veterans from World War II there. Everyone clapped for them and thanked them for their service. It made me very proud to be an American bear! None of my ancestors are burried at Arlington. Are yours? After that, I went to the National Portrait Gallery and saw some amazing portraits of our past presidents. It was amazing.

I headed back to the airport Saturday afternoon and we made it into the Jacksonville airport at midnight. I had a great trip, but boy am I tired. I missed you all and am glad to be back at school with you!

Love, Chet

Weekly News Update April 20

2009-04-26T13:40:00.004-04:00

We hope you enjoy this weeks episode. Please leave us a comment with a question or comment about what we have learned this week. Thanks for watching!

Chet Goes to DC!

2009-04-24T06:50:00.004-04:00

Hello everyone!I am so excited to share with you the first two days of my trip. It is very late tonight. I am staying up way past my bedtime so that I can share the pictures I took of my trip with you. Mrs. Phillips, Mrs. Ross and I woke up on Wednesday morning at 4:00 A.M. to drive to the airport and fly to Washington DC. It was warm when we left Jacksonville, but very chilly and rainy when we got to DC. We got to ride in a taxi to our hotel. It was a little scary for me because the driver drove on the wrong side of the road a few times and I had to close my eyes. We went to dinner at a restaurant called the Sequoia that overlooked the Potomac river. We saw a lot of secret service and a motorcade while we were there. We even saw the Presidential helicopter fly over. It was a lot bigger than I thought. After dinner, I headed to bed. I was very tired from all of my traveling.On Thursday morning, I woke up and went with Mrs. Phillips and Mrs. Ross to the lobby of our hotel to get breakfast. There were more secret service men there too. They were everywhere I looked! I don’t know who was in our hotel, but they sure looked important. I got to spend my morning at a math conference where Mrs. Phillips let me listen to all of the really cool new things she gets to teach you when we get back. I pinkie promised her that I would not tell you about them yet.
In the afternoon, I got to go on a tour of Washington DC. Mrs. Phillips let me hold her camera and take all of the pictures. Check out the pictures I took below. Leave a comment if you know anything about any of the places I visited. I would love to learn more.
Love, Chet

April 13-17 Weekly News

2009-04-19T15:41:00.004-04:00

Enjoy this episode of our News Show. Make sure to leave a question or comment about what we are learning on our blog.

Lady Liberty Live

2009-04-19T10:12:00.005-04:00

Lady Liberty Day was a huge success! Our students enjoyed and participated in a 4th Grade Field Study of FREEDOM, OPPORTUNITY, and CHOICE- everything Lady Liberty stands for! Enjoy our special photgraphs taken with her.

April 10th Weekly News Show

2009-04-12T16:15:00.004-04:00

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You will need to pause the video and let it load all the way before you watch it. Make sure that you have a parent or friend leave a question or comment to earn behavoir bucks!

The Four Corners Students are NOT Big Chickens!

2009-04-09T11:23:00.002-04:00

...when it comes to technology, that is. Here are our reponses to the book of the month from Mr.Pinchot, Ms.Launey, Mrs.Lopez, and Mrs.Phillip's classes.

We decided to let the children chose how to respond. They had a choice between acting in a readers theater, or drawing and doing a voice over about the Story Elements. Enjoy our reponses:

Ms.Lopez Homeroom Reader's Theater from melissalauney on Vimeo.

Untitled from melissalauney on Vimeo.

Lopez/Phillips Audio Visual Responses from melissalauney on Vimeo.

To see other Big Chicken technology responses from Chets Creek Elementary, click here!
Launey/Pinchot Audio-Visual Responses from melissalauney on Vimeo

News Show March 20

2009-03-22T13:58:00.004-04:00

Here is our News Show from the past week. We hope you enjoy this glimpse into our classrooms. Please leave a comment or question. (MAKE SURE YOU LET IT LOAD ALL THE WAY BEFORE YOU PLAY IT....OTHERWISE IT WILL CONTINUE TO BUFFER!:)

Untitled from melissalauney on Vimeo.

How Hard Does Our Heart Work?

2009-03-18T15:01:00.017-04:00

Today in class our students participated in a few activities to see how hard their hearts work. First, students were asked to squeeze a tennis ball until they could see an indentation. This is about how much pressure the heart must exert each time it beats, pushing the blood through our system of arteries and veins. This was challenging enough, but then the class had to "pump blood" for a full minute by squeezing the tennis ball about 70 times in one minute. That is how many times the average heart beats in one minute. The class never worked so hard! They knew if the heart stopped, the body would eventually die. Of course, they did not want that to happen! The class realized their heart works very hard.
Our second activity focused on how much blood the heart pumps in one minute. Students could not beleive the heart pumps about 19 cups of blood each minute. Using a cup, a funnel, and a plastic tube, volunteers tried to "pump" 19 cups of blood (colored water) from one container to another. However, since valves in the heart must open and close each time the heart beats to prevent the blood from flowing backwards, a student had to pinch the tube closed once per second to simulate the action of the valves. The students could only get a few cups of "blood" transferred in a minute. Again they realized the heart works extremely hard! During this activity, the class discussed that the heart has 4 chambers, (2 atriums and 2 ventricles). The funnel represented an atrium, a place where the blood enters the heart.

Click HERE to see the video clip we used to close our lesson today which shows and discusses how the heart works.

Prior to specific lessons on each body system such as the one discussed above on the circulatory system, our students enjoyed creating life-sized labeled illustrations of the body systems to compliment the research they completed on the major parts they were assigned. We have had a lot of fun learning about six major body systems and have learned A LOT in the process!

Tikatok Writing Contest- My Advice to the 44th President!

2009-03-17T12:20:00.005-04:00

Hello students! I have a wonderful writing oppurtunity for you! Charisten, a student from Mr.Pinchot's homeroom, brought in a flier from one of her favorite websites, TIKATOK. It is a website that allows you to create books online!

Here is the challenge:

Write a story titled, "My Advice to the 44th President"

Barack Obama just became the nation’s 44th president. Pretend you have the chance to have lunch with President Obama. What would you advise him to do as President?
How do you think he can help the country in 2009? Be sure to include colorful illustrations to support your story.

What can I win?

The winner for “My Advice to the 44th President” will receive
complimentary paperback copies of their stories and have
copies of their stories sent to President Obama himself.

Turn your entry in to Ms.Launey by Friday to be entered in the contest and earn 25 behavior bucks!

March 2-6 Four Corners News

2009-03-08T17:33:00.000-04:00

March 2 from melissalauney on Vimeo.

Weekly News Broadcast- Feb.27th

2009-03-01T17:58:00.002-05:00

Thank you to all of our viewers out there who have left comments. The students are enjoying creating their reports with an audience in mind.

Also, check out our new standards-based board in the hallway behind Mrs.Lopez-Sinclair's and Ms.Launey's Classrooms. You will find an inside look at the creation of the Four Corners News and a spotlight of each of last week's reporters.

(Make sure you let the video load before your start it. Otherwise, there will be a lot of skipping.)

Untitled from melissalauney on Vimeo.

Strategies for Multiplication

2009-02-24T20:48:00.026-05:00

This week in Math Workshop students are exploring several different strategies for finding the product of two two-digit factors. Below are the four most frequently used methods among our students.

Multiplication Clusters
There are numerous ways to decompose one of the factors in a multiplication problem in order to make a "cluster" (group) of smaller problems which combine to solve the larger problem. Students decompose one of the factors while keeping the other factor constant. Below, Allison's work shows that 32 can be decomposed into 30 and 2 while 21 remains constant, so that 30 x 21 (30 "groups of" 21) and 2 x 21 can combine to solve for 32 x 21. Each of these smaller problems usually can be calculated using mental math, since at least one of the factors is either a one-digit number or a multiple of 10. 30 x 21 can be solved by knowing that a "related problem", 3 x 21, equals 63. Therefore, 30 x 21 equals 630. She also shows, in her second example, that 21 can be decomposed into 20 + 1 so that mental math can be used to find 21 groups of 32.

Generic Rectangle Alexis shows her understanding of how this model is used when both factors are decomposed (32 into 30 + 2 and 21 into 20 + 1). Each cell in the rectangle contains the product of the row and column number. Once these are calculated (primarily through the use of mental math strategies due to the simplistic representation of each number as either a one-digit number or multiple of 10), all partial products are combined together to achieve the final product for 32 x 21.

Separate Listing of Partial Products for Traditional Algorithm
Mateo shows his understanding of how the traditional algorithm works in the order that he lists the partial products for each step in the algorithm process for multiplying two two-digit numbers. Instead of regrouping, he lists partial products separately, and then combines all four together to get the final product for 32 x 21. Can you see a connection between Mateo's partial products and Alexis' partial products in the above example?

Traditional Algorithm

Jaeda shows an understanding of the procedures for using the traditional algorithm for multiplying two-digit numbers. The traditional algorithm is typically seen as an "efficient" way of finding the product of two factors, and we encourage students to use this method as long as they have a conceptual understanding of what it means to multiply two digit numbers and that they have another strategy of finding the product of two numbers (such as one of the strategies showcased in the preceding examples).

Four Corners News - Feb. 17-20

2009-02-23T13:01:00.006-05:00

You will want to wait until the video loads to start it. That way you won't have any pauses. Enjoy!

Weekly News Update Feb 13 from melissalauney on Vimeo.
The students worked very hard on the News Report this week. All the reports were written and typed by the students themselves. Enjoy learning about what is going on in the Four Corners Classrooms!

Weekly News Update Feb 13

2009-02-16T18:27:00.003-05:00

What's Your Function? Investigations of Major Body Parts

2009-02-11T06:39:00.021-05:00

Role: You are a Major Part Within a Body System

During the course of the next two months, students are going to be studying six major systems in the human body. To facilitate this process, students are going to work as paired partners to research the lungs, brain, spinal cord, heart, stomach, liver, intestines, major bones, kidneys, and muscles (voluntary and involuntary).

Student Tasks:
Research: Identify your “major part’s” role within your larger body system.

Find Out: What major system is your “major part” a part of? What job (role) are you responsible for? What is your relationship to other parts of the body system of which you are part in? What would happen to the body system if you were hurt? (What are diseases that affect your body system?) How can you keep this body system healthy? What is a relative size and weight of your body part?

Research: Identify your body system’s relationship to another body system.

Find Out: How does your body system help the other system do its job? How does the other system help your body system do your job?

Following their research, students will prepare a visual by tracing around the body of one group member. They will then use this template to identify and label their "major part" along with related / interrelated other parts and systems.

The six major systems we will study are: Respiratory, Circulatory, Nervous, Digestive, Muscular, and Skeletal. The students will be required to find out how the "major part" they are researching relates to one of these main systems.

Student Research Links (CLICK ONE): How the Body Works, Kid's Health, Yucky Discovery, Biology 4 Kids

Other Helpful Places: Digestive System, Nervous System, Muscular System, Skeletal System, Respiratory, Circulatory

AskJeeves- use this search engine for kids to get answers to your specific human body questions

Combining Fractions

2009-02-10T22:18:00.005-05:00

Hey kids.

Check out this site if you are still needing extra practice with finding common denominators in order to combine (add) fractions. It might really make grasping the concept easier for you. And, you might have fun in the process! Click Here.

If you would like to practice finding the "Least Common Multiple" at a similar site, Click Here.

Love,

Ms. Phillips