In reading, we finished reading The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden. We discussed many themes in this story, but the biggest one was Friendship. Many of the students were able to make connections to this story and their personal lives. The majority of our class rated this book a 9 or 10!
We continued studying poetry and celebrating poetry month this week. We celebrated "Poem in your Pocket" day yesterday and periodically "paused for a poem". We are busy writing Limericks, List Poems and a variety of other poems. We have worked on poems that connect with our curriculum, and have written poems about mythology and poems using some work from math. We also painted water colors in the style of Douglas Florian. We will be writing poems about our art work (and about some Japanese artwork from art class) next week.
In Social Studies we began studying the midwest region of the US. To connect with Social Studies, we had an enrichment program this week about the HOPI Indian Tribe of Arizona. Mrs. Silvia came to our school from the Haffenreffer Museum at Brown University. She discussed this tribe (both its history and the Hopi today). We really enjoyed this program, and were able to participate in many activities (see photos below).
 |
| Here is James holding an axe created from a stick, stone and animal skin |
 |
| Here we are grinding corn into flour |
 |
| We learned that the Hopi build their homes on cliffs. This is a model of a Hopi Village. |
 |
| These students are enacting a naming ceremony. |
 |
| Alyssa is wearing some things that you would see a woman wearing on her wedding day. |
 |
| This is how the Hopi women carried water up the cliff to their homes. |
 |
| We even got to participate in a Butterfly Dance! |
 |
| To top it off , we made pinch pots out of red clay. |
 | ||||||||||||||||||
| We were thankful to the PCC, and wrote them this note today. We included many things we learned during our presentation. |
From the Teacher's Desk
The children did a great job returning from April Vacation ready to work. We worked hard this week! Although completing homework has improved for some students, it continues to be a struggle for others. Please take a moment to check with your child about their homework success.
During the next few weeks, we will be doing a lot of review work in math. I would like to take the time to review skills, particularly those taught during the beginning of the year, in order to prepare the children for the MCAS test in a few weeks.
We will continue to work on our Weather Unit and our Regions of the United States Unit. Next week we will also read two poetry books. We also will welcome our Poet in Residence, Elizabeth McKim ("Miss Liz").
The spring presents many challenges for fourth graders. Many are concerned about moving on to fifth grade and leaving their classmates. Sports and other springtime activities are in full swing and schoolwork becomes more challenging. I appreciate the support you have given to your children to keep working hard in school and complete assignments. I know that the rest of the year will continue to be successful!
