First Month of School

How can it be almost October already? The first few weeks of school have flown by, but we have been very busy in 4th grade. The first month of school is full of getting-to-know you activities and group challenges, like the Cup Challenge you see below.

Teamwork and cooperation were also emphasized during activities such as a Jigsaw Puzzle Challenge and The 4th Day in 4th Grade #4 Challenge.

Check out our first month slide show to see what else we've been up to!

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Trout Release

We have been raising trout since we got eyed eggs back in January. This past Friday, it was time to release them into their natural habitat. Here is a slideshow of our morning at Trout Brook. Enjoy!

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The Southern Maine Children's Water Festival

We had a wonderful trip to the Southern Maine Children's Water Festival on Friday, May 17th. This awesome event is sponsored by Portland Water District, who does such a great job all year with their monthly science lessons about water. We have applied to go to the festival every year since we went 5 years ago, but this is the first time since then that we were selected to attend. This year's event did not disappoint! Check out our slideshow. (What is not in the slideshow is a really funny ecology skit that we saw at the end of the day. I was so caught up in it, I totally forgot to take any pictures!)

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Happy Birthday Maine!

 

A large part of our social studies curriculum is focused on learning about our state. We study the geography, history, government, and economy of Maine. Friday, March 15 was Maine Statehood Day, because on that date in 1820, Maine became the 23rd state to join the Union. In honor of the occasion, we had a Maine Birthday party. It was a great way to review some of what we've learned about our state as well as just have some fun!

This was my morning message on the SMARTBoard.  Students took turns dragging each number to the correct spot.

 

Students colored Maine symbols to glue onto a party hat.

 

The hats came out awesome!

 

 

We had a special snack of Maine foods, (or in some cases, foods meant to represent Maine products.)

Our menu consisted of blueberries, (our state berry), Goldfish crackers, pretzel logs, apples, B&M Baked Beans, potato chips, Moxie, (which was invented in Maine), apple juice, and Poland Spring water. We used to have baked goods like blueberry muffins, but due to food allergies, we can no longer have them. The kids did not seem to mind at all and some even came back for thirds! There were a lot of purple teeth in the room!

 

We did the birthday chant that we usually do when it's someone's birthday.

 

We played "Pin the Tail on the Moose"!

You can't see everyone's tail in this picture because some of them were really far away. After being spun around 3 times while blindfolded, you can get pretty dizzy! Connor got so turned around, he almost walked out of the room! Abby had the tail closest to the correct spot.

 

We also played Maine Jeopardy, boys against the girls. It got pretty intense! I adapted the rules a bit. First, I did not require students to answer in the form of a question. Second, while each team took turns choosing a category and point value, both teams had the opportunity to answer every question.

 

We used iPads to write the answers using the free Show Me App. Each team discussed possible answers and had to come up with one answer for the team. The kids had a ball! It was quite competitive right up until the end, when the boys pulled out the win. Mrs. Clark found the cool free Jeopardy template on the Smart Exchange and we just added our own questions. We will play again with questions from other subject areas.

 

All in all, I would say that our celebration was a success! Happy Birthday Maine!

 

 

 

 

Our Iditarod

As I mentioned in a previous post, we have been learning about the Iditarod Dog Sled Race, which is starting this weekend in Alaska. In honor of the event, we held our own Iditarod race, with lots of help from Mrs. Murray, Lorry, Laney's mom, and Gunner's Auntie.

The weather wasn't very cooperative, as it was windy, cold, and rainy. But after reading about the conditions the real mushers and dogs go through, we decided a little water wasn't going to stop us! Watch our slide show to see all the fun!

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