Technology integration in 4B!

What a week!

The Hour of Code was an AMAZING success yesterday.  17 fourth graders, 4 students from CMS, 6 parents and two administrators all working to learn the basics of coding.  We watched videos and helped Angry Birds.  We helped one another and didn't give up when it got challenging.  Collectively, we were part of the 12 MILLION people who have participated in the Hour of Code this week.  According to their latest email, "In its first three days, more students used the Hour of Code than Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram combined in their first three months. And it’s not a photo-sharing app or a game, it’s learning computer science."

If your child hasn't done so already, ask them to take you to the website and show you how to code.  For ipads and iphones, there is a coding app called Lightbot Hour of Code.  It is a free app that is based on writing patterns and loops found in code.  Warning:  It is VERY addictive!

In addition to coding, we participated in our second Mystery Skype.  Our first class was from Texas.

This class was from Utah.  4B asked great questions and worked very well together to pinpoint the location of our mystery class.  The students have decided that they need to improve their questions and revise the "jobs" that we fill for this activity.  They want to add longitude and latitude questions.

It is really amazing to watch as they decide what questions to ask next, eliminate states as a result of the answer to their questions, and determine the location of our mystery class.

We added a new feature to our Skyping.  We have a large US map that rolls down from on the wall.  Two students used it to mark our eliminations and the whole class was able to see our information.

Up for Friday, we will joining the other 4th grade classrooms in a City of Ember activity.  We are all reading this book aloud to support our electricity unit.  Tomorrow, students will be placed in teams of 3 and will be faced with the challenge of creating "mobile light."  This is something that they did not have in Ember.  Some groups will have to create lanterns.  Others will create flashlights or headlamps.  They will begin by creating their simple circuits and then using their creative ideas, design their lights with the materials they have brought in or that are in the classroom.  All light designs will be tested in a dark room to assess their successful design engineering.

PHEW!  Now you know why they are tired at the end of the day!
                      It's been a busy week.  Enjoy the snow that is coming on Saturday night.

~Lisa

What Most Schools Don't Teach (The Hour of Code is coming to 4B!)

What is going on in 4B NOW?

Next week, your children will be joining nearly 5 million students from around the world as they partake in an event called the Hour of Code.  It is Computer Science Education Week next week and part of their initiative is to introduce coding to a whole new generation of students ages 4 - 104.  

Our class will be participating next Weds., Dec. 11th from 1 - 3pm.  Each student will follow along at their own pace using a chromebook in our class.  I need to ask that each one of them bring in a pair of earbuds for this day.  This will allow them to listen to video tutorials while not being distracted by their neighbor's computer.  These can be sent in as soon as Monday so that I can make sure everyone has a pair by Weds.

Also, if their are any interested parents who would like to join us, to help or to learn, please just let me know.  

Finally, if you would like more information about this program, please visit  http://code.org to learn more.

Mystery Skype SUCCESS!

What an experience!

 

I am hopeful that you will have heard all about our Mystery Skype before I am even finished writing this post.  What an exciting afternoon we had!  Each student had a job to do and they worked so well together. Look for our imovie next week that a few of our students will be creating.

 

 We should have gotten their location a bit sooner when they kept saying, "Y'all."  They ended up being from Port Neches, Texas.

 

With our new knowledge of how this process works, we are already looking for our next class to Skype.  

 

What a great way to bring geography to life!  Have a super weekend!

 

~Lisa

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Brrr!  The cold days are finally upon us.  4B is still getting used to the weather change and forget jackets at home and sometimes at school.  We will get better at reminding them at the end of the day.  Thank you for your patience.

 

I am sure everyone is busy planning for the upcoming holidays.  It gets a bit hectic but always exciting.  Especially for 4th graders.  We are very busy in class working with lots of new concepts and developing stamina for longer assignments.  One example is the Thanksgiving project that is being worked on at home right now.  This is an example of a performance task that students will be asked to complete as the take the new Common Core assessments a year from now.  It is a very different type of test where students are asked to apply their skills and knowledge in different ways.  It also requires them to "stick with it" when it gets challenging and hard.  It is supposed to be hard.  I am excited to see them share their work this Friday.

 

Currently in math we are working on multi-digit multiplication and division.  Your child had work this week that required them to use a new program called IXL.  We have a trial subscription at this time, but it is great for allowing me to differentiate what the students are working on when they practice.  I still need to teach the skills but then they can practice independently with feedback.  I had several students come in the next day asking me to teach them something new because they wanted to move forward! How fantastic is that.  I plan to use this program to supplement our practice for as long as I can.  You may want to have your child log in and then take a look at the reports.  You will be able to see what they are doing and how well they are doing it.

 

In writing, we are working on personal narratives and using dialogue.  We continue to integrate paragraph of the week as well, to strengthen and develop our paragraph structure.  During December we will be writing persuasive pieces as we will test and review toys and books for the holiday season.  How fun ( and secretively motivating!!)

 

As for reading, we are coming to the completion of our first round of book clubs.  Some groups are reading electronically while others are reading paper copies.  Each group set their reading amounts, meet weekly to discuss thoughts and ideas based on my questions or assignments and will finish up with a project that shares their book.  These projects will be completed in class.

 

In science we have begun our units on magnetism and electricity.  These are great units for this time of the year because they are very hands on and extremely interesting.  We will be reading City of Ember when we return and will try to build our own "mobile lights" with our supplies and batteries.

 

And finally, after much anticipation on our part, we will be having our FIRST Mystery Skype this Friday.  I have connected with another teacher in a different part of the country and our classrooms will meet via Skype.  Each student in 4B will have a job to do during our meeting as we ask questions, eliminate states and regions, use atlas' and Google Earth, analyze answers and then finally guess where they live.  All of this supports our learning of geography and landforms, as well our desire to work with others around the country and the world.  We are hoping to make this a bi-monthly activity and hope to meet many wonderful kids from all over!

 

 Looking forward to Grandfriend's Day on Tuesday from 10-11.  We have great plans for the morning and are excited to show our room and friends to our families.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

~Lisa

 

Time to schedule Conference for this November!

Below you will find the steps to signing up with VolunteerSpot.  It is quick and easy.

I am looking forward to getting together to discuss what I am seeing in the classroom and to share goals for the upcoming months.  Thank you in advance for taking time to schedule a meeting.

Please sign up for Fall Conferences - here's how it works in 3 easy steps:

   1. Click this link to go to my invitation page on VolunteerSpot: http://vols.pt/zUtrqX
   2. Enter your email address: (You will NOT need to register an account on VolunteerSpot) 
   3. Sign up! Choose your spots - VolunteerSpot will send you an automated confirmation and reminders. Easy!

Note: VolunteerSpot does not share your email address with anyone. If you prefer not to use your email address, please contact me and I can sign you up manually.

October's Tech Connection

This is the first "tech connection" post of the year.   My hope is to share what we are doing in the classroom in regards to technology.  I also hope to provide you with enough usable information that will help spark conversations at home.

 Read and Write Extension for Google Docs

Found at the Chrome store

This is an extension that we added to our Google Docs today.  It allows any doc to be read aloud to the students.  It can be their own writing as well as any document shared with them.  It will be a great tool for revising their writing as they will be able to listen carefully to what they have typed.  Students enjoyed selected the voice that would read their work.  We especially liked the English accents.  It makes our work sound rather fancy!

Voicenote speech to text app at the Chrome store

This is an app that students can use to record their speech and it will type for them.  They can then copy and paste their work into their Google documents.  Similar to Dragon speak but with better voice recognition.  I think it works really well and can be extremely useful when looking to get a story or writing down quickly.  Then students can go in and revise and edit their work.

The Chrome store is loaded with a lot of great apps and extensions for the Chrome browser.  In order for your children to access these, you will need to download the Chrome browser to your desktop.  Lots of apps and extensions are free and quickly downloaded.  Students found flashcards, typing programs and math games today.  We will continue to look at the Chrome store has to offer throughout the year.

*We are currently working on a global project with our second grade buddies from Mrs. Rushia's class.  3' x 3' squares were marked out just off the trails behind school.  Together teams worked to identify and record data regarding what they found and observed.  That data was entered onto the "Square of Life" online project where our teams will be able to compare/contrast their data with that of students around the country and world.  Together they will choose an online tool to create a visual representation of their findings.  Lots of great collaboration going on.

Upcoming:  We are anxiously awaiting a connection with a classroom somewhere within the US to match up with us for our first Mystery Skype.  This is a great program where classrooms ask each other yes and no questions in order to identify where each classroom is located in the US or World.   Students each have specific jobs during our skype meeting and together work to solve the mystery.  They use their social studies and science knowledge, as well as maps, ipads and computers to prepare questions and pinpoint locations.  We can't wait for our first Mystery Skype.  I'll keep you posted.

Calling all recycled pizza boxes!

As our unit on weather is winding down, we have been talking about the power of the sun and the energy it produces.  I would like to have the students create a "pizza box oven" tomorrow that will utilize the sun's power (solar energy) to cook s'mores outside.  (It will also be a great way to celebrate our first completed week of testing! Yeah!)

If you have a pizza box sitting in your recycling bin, would you help us by sending it in tomorrow.  We will be lining them with tin foil, so a little grease won't bother us.

Thanks for your help with this fun, (tasty) and educational  learning opportunity!

Our final week of September!

Can you believe that this is the last week of September?  It has gone by so quickly.  We began the month with incredible heat and are waking up this morning to quite a "chill".  With that said, this is just a reminder to send in your children with sweatshirts or jackets each day as we never know what the weather will be like for recess or even as we send them home.

In 4B, we have been building a strong classroom community.   We have started our Open Circle meetings where we are learning about what we have in common, how to listen to one another and how to share our own thoughts and ideas in a safe and welcoming group.  It is in building this foundation that our classroom becomes a place where children feel safe to ask questions and take risks with their learning.

In math we have been reviewing different concepts; place value, addition and subtraction of multi-digit numbers (with and without regrouping),  as well as area and perimeter.  Math time includes math stations, ipad integration, small group work as well as "Flipped Friday's" where students are working on Khan Academy.  

Our writing workshop is developing nicely.  We are learning how to develop our paragraphs through "Paragraph of the Week."  We are focusing on brainstorming, developing 3 ideas with explanations, as well as creating topic and concluding sentences.  In addition, we are looking at transition and concluding words and phrases to strengthen our work.

Reading workshop routines are also getting developed.  We meet each day for a mini-lesson on a skill or to discuss a reading habit and then we go off to practice; independently or in small groups.  This workshop concludes with all of us meeting back together to debrief, discuss and review the lesson.  Our current read aloud is Wonder, by Patricia Palacio.  It is a fabulous book with a wonderful theme.  Ask your children about it.

In addition to our reading workshop, your children are also participating in our first "book challenge." All of us pick a number of books we believe we can read during the first quarter.  We post this number for all to see and then we document each book along the way.  The number selected should challenge each reader but not be unreasonable.  Those students who chose a low number most likely will surprise themselves by surpassing it!  That always feels good!

Science - Continuing with weather and then we will move on to photosynthesis and our Part 1 of

plants.  Students have completed their first group projects on "wild weather."  This is the first of many projects this year.

Social studies - focus on the history of New Hampshire and prepare for our trip to Strawbery Banke.

As you can see, we are certainly busy in 4B!  Take care and enjoy this beautiful fall week!

~Lisa

Fantastic First Week!

What a wonderful week we had as we participated in STEM Camp.  So many great conversations as well as a lot of fun, hands-on learning opportunities.  I think the groundwork has been set for a great year of science, technology, engineering and math!

I wanted to remind everyone that tonight is back to school night for 4th grade.  We will all be meeting in the gym at 6 pm and will begin with an introduction by Mr. Kew, our principal.  We will then head down to our classrooms where I will share with you an overview of the year.

Finally, I wanted to share a link with you.  I have been using Khan Academy in my classroom for four years now.  I feel that it is a wonderful tool that allows for differentiation and independent learning.  Students are able to access learning at their own pace and progress through lessons at their readiness level.  We will be using Khan this year on Fridays.  I am calling it "Flipped Friday!"  because we flip our day around as well as flip the way instruction is given during math.  The video link I am including is only 3 minutes long and is part of a program that is called TEACH which will air this Friday on CBS at 8pm.  This will give you a little insight as to what your child will be working with on Fridays as well as have the ability to access from home.

Khan Academy video link

I look forward to seeing you all tonight.

~ Lisa

Welcome to 4B!

Back to School is just 7 short days away!

Hello 4B Parents,

I wanted to welcome you all to fourth grade with my first blog post of the new school year.  Blogging is the way that I will share what is going on in 4B (fourth grade, Mrs. Brown.  That is what we are called!)  It is my form of a newsletter and it will come to your through your email.  I have entered in all the email addresses I have, however, if you would like to receive this email elsewhere, please feel free to visit my blog and you can add an additional email on the "subscribe to this blog" line.

First I would like to ask all of you to take a moment when you can to look at our fourth grade website, https://sites.google.com/site/4bclassroomconnection/  Mr. Schroeder, Mrs. Wilson and I all use this website to post our nightly homework, as well as: links, pictures, student work, and video tutorials.  Your children will use this site often and get very good at navigating through it.  You may wish to cross reference their homework, as I will often add a bit more detail than they may in the homework planners.  Just scroll over my name and a drop down menu will appear.

If you need to contact me throughout the year, email is best, as I will check it throughout the day.  My email is lbrown@sau16.org.  If you wish to call, please make sure to leave a detailed message and I will try to get back to you as soon as I can.

I look forward to meeting everyone at Meet and Greet on Thursday at 2pm.  

See you soon,

~ Lisa Brown