Phases of the Moon

In Science, we have really been enjoying ourselves learning about the phases of the Moon. During the month of October, students will also be observing the Moon each night outside their window and recording it's changing appearance, allowing them to see and experience 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.

As we study the Moon's phases,we will also make booklets to help us learn what each phase is called. In doing this, we will identify several phases as being landmark phases. These are:

1) New Moon (the first (1)and last (29) day of the cycle)
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)
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- 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) ONE QUARTER (the LEFT quarter that we see) is lit.... (opposite of the First Quarter Moon).

Other terms students are gaining familiarity with to explain other phases that fall between these landmark phases are Waxing, Waning, Crescent and Gibbous.
We have learned that "waxing" means "increasing" (growing) illumination and "waning" means "decreasing" (shrinking) illumination.
We also know that "gibbous" means "hump-backed" and "crescent" means "a shape resembling a segment of a ring". Understanding the meanings of these words is very important in helping us to recognize the different phases of the moon correctly.
Be sure to visit Chapter 2, Lesson 2 in your science textbook online if you need to review this information about the moon. You can also log on to GIZMOS at any time to review the virtual lab we have been working on in class!!

*Click HERE to see a simple, quick time-lapsed video of the Moon Phase Cycle.

Mr. Lee's Moon Rap video has also been a wonderful reference for us in class- check it out HERE.

Students, look out your window tonight. What phase of the moon do you see (and how do you know)? Leave a comment to let us know.

ELA Kitchen Update

Skills Block:  September 17-21

This week, students will practice identifying the four different types of sentences:  imperative, interrogatory, declarative, and exclamatory.  They will also continue to review and practice finding a subject and verb in various sentences.  Check out these two practice sites to help you with your sentence work!

Sentence Clubhouse -- 4 types of sentences

Fact Monster:  All You Need to Know About Sentences

And don't forget to study this week's vocabulary words here:

Students, what have you learned about the prefix in- so far this week?  How is it related to il-, im-, and ir-?

Thinking Over Our Stories

We have been talking about how we can record our thinking while we read our books. The post-it notes are running low, as readers begin to jot notes about their books. We call this "reading with our partner in mind". As we read, we think about parts of our book that we would love to share with our reading partner! In Miss Barron's class, one reader was ecstatic to show Miss Barron her book, Esperanza Rising. After Miss Barron gave a book talk about the book, readers couldn't wait to check it out from the classroom library! She had filled up the pages with many post-it notes to record her thinking! A few hours later, Mr. Pinchot's class came to Miss Barron for ELA. Miss Barron was excited to hear from another reader that she was also reading Esperanza Rising. It was covered with post-it notes, just like the other reader's book!

She is enjoying reading this book and has filled it with many interesting notes!

Wow! It must be a great book because another reader has also filled it up with notes to share with her partner!

Readers, can you share how you have used your sticky notes? What have you found helpful about this strategy?

Discovery Drafts

There is a time in the writing process when writers need to take a step back from the words for a moment and focus on telling the story. We call these drafts "discovery drafts".

These writers are focused on their stories.
They're working on their writing fluency by
writing fast and long.  

This is the time when we recreate the experience or memory in our minds and step inside. As we relive this moment, we write all the sounds and words we hear, the small actions of all the characters, the emotions we felt, and the sights, smells, and feel of the setting of our story.  We focus on getting the story on the page by writing fast and long.

Just as good readers let the story or book carry them away, a good writer can get lost in their own story.  The sights and sounds of the real world around you begin to fall away as you capture the images in your mind like insects in a spider web -- trap them on your page for your reader to savor.










Writers, what are some important things you've learned about writing a discovery draft?  What are some things that good writers do to help them as they draft?  What did you learn about the way a writer actually writes the words on their page?  Where are we writing our drafts?  Help us talk again here about what good writers do when they draft.  

Categories of Number

During our first investigation in our unit Factors, Multiples, and Arrays, our class created posters of the arrays for various numbers. Using these posters, students put numbers into different categories based on the kind and number of arrays they could make. The class came up with five types of numbers - odd, even, prime, composite, and square. Numbers may fall into as many as three different categories. Here is a list of noticings for each category:

Odd Numbers:

* have a 1, 3, 5, 7, or 9 in the ones place

* have only odd factors

* odd x odd = odd

Even Numbers:

* have a 2, 4, 6, 8, or 0 in the ones place

* always have a factor of 2

* each factor pair must have at least one even factor

* odd x even = even, even x odd = even, and even x even = even

Prime Numbers:

* only have 2 factors (one and itself)

* only produce one array

* 2 is the only even prime number

Composite Numbers:

* have more than two factors

* make at least 2 different arrays

* can be even or odd

Square Numbers:

* make a square array

* have an odd number of factors

* follow a pattern of odd, even, odd, even, ...

* can be made by multiplying a number by itself (ex: 1 x 1 = 1, 2 x 2 =4, 3 x 3 = 9, therefore, 1, 4, and 9 are square numbers)

Students, can you identify a number between 100-200 that is composite and square? Leave a comment and share your answer (and y0ur reasoning)!!

Reading Partnerships

This year, each of you is lucky enough to have a traveling partner. This traveling partner will journey with you as you venture into books! On Monday, we discussed how it makes a world of difference to have a reading partner. This person will get to know your likes, dislikes, reading habits, and goals. The most important thing to do first is getting to know your partner! We learned how to interview by making eye contact, really listening, and using follow-up questions. During our reading workshop, you and your partner will have the opportunity to meet and discuss your current books. Using post-it notes, we talked about how to make notes in our books so that we have things to bring to the discussion. Here are some photos of Miss Barron's class during their reading partner interviews!

ELA Kitchen Update

Skills Block:  September 10-14

This week in your ELA kitchen, you will continue studying basic sentence structure.  In addition to looking for fragments and sentences, though, we will also start looking for run-on sentences.  These are sentences that NEVER SEEM TO STOP.  They're actually more like STRINGS of sentences, tied together like beads on a necklace with conjunctions and connecting words (for example:  and, then, but, so...).  

To make sure you're ready for a skills snapshot on fragments, be sure to get some extra practice with this activity.  

We will also continue to review prefixes you learned in the 3rd grade.  This week, we're refreshing our memories on mis- and dis-.  While you're reading this week, be sure to look for words that begin with any of the prefixes we've discussed so far this year:  pre-, un-, re-, non-, mis-, and dis-.  You can review all of those prefixes here.  

Our vocabulary words for this week are boost, barrier, recommend  and gratitude.  Check them out with these flashcards.



Finally, we'll study when we make nouns plural by adding -es instead of just -s.  Students, do you know the rule for when to add -es instead of -s to the end of a word to make it plural?  Leave a comment telling us what you think!

Living the Life of a Writer

Write every night.

We've talked a lot in class about living a writing kind of life, but what does that mean?

We know that good writers keep a writing notebook.  As Ralph Fletcher told us in the first chapter of A Writer's Notebook:  Unlocking the Writer Within You, this notebook is NOT a diary, and it is NOT where we respond to our reading.  This is where we capture our thoughts and ideas and the stories of our lives like critters in a ditch.  This is where we record our wonderings, emotions, and life experiences.  This is where we, writers, preserve our noticings about ourselves and the world around us.

As we get warmed up to this new way of living, some of you might find it useful to have a little help getting started.  Fortunately for us, there are all kinds of strategies and tools available for writers to use when we have trouble getting the gears in our mind started.

1.  In class this year, we've already generated many lists of topics, memories, and stories we could write about.  As you sit down to write at night, if you have a hard time hearing the words your pencil needs to write that night, scan over those first pages in your writing notebook and look for the idea that speaks to you.

2.  Many times, writers will not sit down to begin something new.  In fact, they may REwrite an entry they've already written before.  Now, you might be wondering, "Does that mean I should COPY it over again?"  No.  Every good writer knows that a story can be told many different ways.  So, if you feel like writing a story, but think you shouldn't because you've "already written that", don't worry.  Write it again!  This time, try to make it BETTER by using the new writing crafts, skills and techniques you've learned in class.

3.  Sometimes your writing might not be a draft.  On occasion, you might want to sit down and PLAN a story or piece of writing that you might write at a later time.  This week, we learned how to use a "trifold" to help us brainstorm details for the beginning, middle, and end of our story.  You could create your own from a page in your writer's notebook or a blank sheet of paper!

4.  Experiment with other genres of writing.  Sometimes, you might feel like working on a poem or an essay. Some reader/writers even decide to plan, research and write their own report at home!  Or, perhaps you love mysteries or fantasies.  This is a great opportunity for you to try your hand as an author!  Think about what you love about these books and model your writing style after your favorite authors.

5.  Finally, there may come a night, writers, when you just can't seem to find your words.  If that happens to you, consider responding to a prompt.  (You can find a daily writing prompt generator here.  We've also placed a link to this site in the sidebar.)

Writers, what are some topics you've been writing about in your notebooks at home?  What suggestions do you have for writers who might not know what to write?  What would you tell someone who feels "stuck" and can't get started?

Parents, 
We've explained to your fourth grade writer that part of their homework is to write nightly for at least 5-10 minutes.  This is draft writing, so errors in punctuation and spelling are expected.  Encourage them to spell words they should already know correctly, but continue to attempt to use bigger, more precise language and words, even if they aren't sure how they're spelled.    The average fourth grader should be able to produce approximately a full written page (in a composition notebook) within that time if they are writing the whole time.  If your child cannot produce a written page within this time, monitor their writing progress throughout the year.  Writing nightly will help them build the writing fluency that they might be lacking now.  As always, feel free to contact us with further questions.  

Miss Barron and Mrs. Nash

Reflex!

"Students will demonstrate fluency of multiplication and related division facts with ease"...................that is one of our benchmarks this year in mathematics. This means that students can recall, with automaticity, answers to basic multiplication and division facts (0-12).

The exciting news is that Reflex Math is here- an engaging, online resource tool for our students that builds this fluency in fun, engaging ways. All Culinary Court students already have an account set up- all they have to do is log-on and let the fluency building begin!

After designing their own personal "Avatar" (mini-me), they will participate in a fluency typing test, receive a math mini-lesson, and then engage in timed, fluency building practice with their multiplication and/or division facts. This online program scaffolds to each individual child's needs, offering re-teaching and additional practice with facts often missed by your child until mastery is achieved. This program also offers reward incentives, as students earn coins and points which can be redeemed in the "store" for Avatar "flair"- new hats, sunglasses, jackets, and other cool stuff to keep them motivated. Best of all, your child's teacher can track your child's progress and run reports on how they are progressing.

It is recommended that students participate in Reflex Math fluency building 3-4 times each week. Each session lasts approximately 15-20 minutes. Our students will be logging in and participating in Reflex learning activities while at school, but it would also be helpful if they could spend time learning from this valuable resource at home too.

Students, if you log on to Reflex for at least 20 minutes while at home (evenings, weekends, or holidays), leave a comment and let your math teachers know- your voluntary time spent using this resource will earn you some extra Behavior Bucks (and build your fluency all at the same time)!

Happy Fluency Building!!

Scientific Method

Here is a highlight of what we have discussed in Science during the first two weeks of school:

What questions do scientists ask?
*Scientists ask questions about the natural world using their five senses.
*Scientists work alone or in teams to investigate questions.
*Scientists develop explanations based on collected data.



How do scientists use tools to observe?
*A tool is an object or device used to perform a task.
*Scientists use many tools, including thermometers, microscopes, balances, graduated cylinders, beakers, measuring cups, and computers. How do scientists answer questions?
*Scientists use "methods" as they work- organized steps for answering a question (by doing experiments, observations, surveys, and sampling).
*Evidence is used to develop reasonable answers to questions.
*Scientists compare their results with other scientists.

Note: Before answering their questions, scientists first study what other scientists have already learned about the answers to their questions. They use reference materials such as encyclopedias, books, magazines, the Internet, and more. This helps them make a "hypothesis", an "if-then-because" statement, that is a possible answer to their question.

How do scientists keep records?
*Procedures are step-by-step instructions for how to perform tests.
*Scientists keep detailed and accurate data in order to share their findings with others.
*Scientists are careful to have only one independent variable (one thing that changes) in their experiment. All other variables are kept the same.
*Scientists analyze the data they collect as they experiment (the facts that they learn are called "evidence").

What are models?
*Scientists use models to help them understand the natural world.
*Scientists use different types of models, such as two-dimensional, three-dimensional, computer, and idea models.

Check out a cool Study Jams video to help you review the Scientific Method: Click Here

How well do you think you understand the Scientific Method? Leave a comment and let us know!