Author Visit

On Friday in the middle of the windstorm, the Fourth Grade welcomed author Natalie Standiford to our classrooms! Ms. Standiford grew up in Baltimore and includes some Baltimore neighborhoods in her books. She spoke to the girls for an hour, talking about her writing process and how she gets many of her ideas and also answering questions about her books. Many of the girls have read her middle grade novels, Switched at Birthday and The Only Girl in School. Her first novel, The Secret Tree, is now on many of their "To Be Read" lists!

Thank you, Ms. Standiford for a wonderful afternoon!

Here is the link to her website if you are interested:
http://www.nataliestandiford.com/index.htm

Electricity: Light Up Your Life!

We started our study of electricity when we were given a battery, a small bulb, and a wire and were told to make the bulb light. We soon found that this was easier said than done. After lots of experimentation, we figured it out and brightened the room with light from the bulbs!

We went on to test different materials to discover whether they were conductors (materials through which electricity flows) or insulators (materials through which electricity does not flow.) We discovered how light bulbs work. We also found that a short circuit can cause wires to heat up, but fuses and circuit breakers can stop the flow of electricity and prevent fires. Did you know that appliances and cars have fuses for this reason?

We used our knowledge about conductors and insulators to create some original math games to play with the 2nd Grade students. 

We had fun and the Second Graders did, too! They showed their knowledge of their math facts and we demonstrated our creativity and knowledge of electricity!

Did you know that there are only 2 kinds of circuits? They are parallel and series circuits. We learned about the difference between them and realized that we would not want to wire our houses in a series circuit. We used our knowledge of circuits when we worked with some Snap Circuit games to create circuits of our own.

However, we had the most fun when we had the opportunity to light up the dollhouse rooms that most of us had created for French class last year in the 3rd Grade. In preparation for this, we had to solder wires onto the switches that we would use. We learned how to do this in Technology Class.

After our switches were wired, we were ready to start work on our dollhouses!

We enjoyed working on this project and are so proud of our dollhouses!

Empty Bowls

The fourth graders are glazing their bowls for Empty Bowls. The Empty Bowls Dinner event is Thursday, February 15th from 5-7pm. It is a very popular community event, so sign up today! 

Art_Inuit Tapestries

The fourth graders travel the world in art, and it seems appropriate to spend our cold winter somewhere cold, like the Arctic. The girls were first introduced to tapestries like this:

 

Then, they learned about the Inuit way of life and how that way has changed as a result of climate change and politics. They each shared a page from this book and we made a list of recurring themes. 

They began learning stitches and planned their own design for a tapestry. Here are some stitchery samplers and some sketches of their designs. 

 

Next, they will create their tapestries with felt appliqué and a variety of stitches. 

A Reading Challenge for the New Year!

When we returned to school after the winter break, the girls were presented with a new reading goal. By the end of the year, we challenged them to read books that fit certain criteria (see below). Hopefully, this will add one more spark to their 4th grade reading journey. Feel free to ask your daughter about her reading and encourage her to share her thoughts about books that will help her meet this challenge. Of course, there is a prize! Each girl who completes the 2018 Reading Challenge may pick a book of her choice from Scholastic. Happy New Year and happy reading!

A 2018 Reading Challenge!                       

By the end of the school year, complete this challenge by reading books that fit the following criteria. Fill in the title of each book you finish and add other required information on the line below the challenge.

(**If you choose to do so, you may fulfill TWO challenges with one book.)

Can you read a book …

1. published in the year you were born_________________________________

year = _____________ date completed _________________________________

2. that takes place in another country__________________________________

country = _______________ date completed ____________________________

3. with a color word in the title_______________________________________

color = ___________________ date completed __________________________

4. by an author with your initials______________________________________

author = _____________________________ date completed _______________

5. with a one-word title______________________________________________

author = ____________________________date completed _________________

6. with a mostly blue cover___________________________________________

author = _____________________________date completed _______________

7. that takes place during summer_____________________________________

author = _______________________________date completed _____________

8. that is written in verse ___________________________________________

author = ____________________________date completed ________________

9. recommended by a friend__________________________________________

friend = ________________________ date completed ____________________

  

10. about someone you admire ________________________________________

person = __________________________ date completed __________________

11. that is a genre you’ve never read before_____________________________

genre= ___________________________ date completed __________________

12. with some kind of magic in it______________________________________

magic = __________________________ date completed __________________

13. that is the first one in a series_____________________________________

series = _______________________________ date completed _____________

14. that won a Newbery award or honor _______________________________

year = ____________________ date completed __________________________

15. with a cover that you like_________________________________________

why? ________________________________date completed ________________

16. published in 2018________________________________________________

author = ______________________________date completed ______________

17. with a food or drink in the title____________________________________

author = ____________________________ date completed ________________

18. that is a picture book (read it aloud) ________________________________

read to __________________________ date completed ____________________

19. written by a Maryland author______________________________________

author = ______________________________ date completed_______________

20. that made you laugh______________________________________________

why = _____________________________date completed __________________

Hour of Code

This week, your daughter participated in the Hour of Code.  “The Hour of Code is a global movement reaching tens of millions of students in 180+ countries” (hourofcode.com).  We use this as an introduction to the programming your daughter will be doing throughout the year.  Learning the basics of programming reinforces problem solving and logic skills.

In fourth grade, students had a choice of Mindcraft, Moana, and Starwars.  By providing choice, students were able to determine what level was best and grow from there.  This helps students to continue to build on what they have already learned from 3rd grade and will be expected to do in 4th grade, using Scratch.

If you would like your daughter to explore more at home, use this link.  Please note, different activities run on different devices and are appropriate for various ages.

Fourth Graders "Cash In"

Our Fourth Grade Girls were very excited to count the money that all the Lower School students brought in their UNICEF boxes. It took both Math classes almost an hour to complete such a tall order, but the result was worth it.  Altogether, the Lower School raised $1032.07!  The Fourth Graders were proud of such an amazing accomplishment, and this project has certainly set the stage for a year of international learning.