Birthday Greetings

I love Hoops and YoYo.  They always make me smile!

I had a wonderful birthday.

Thank you all so much!

Merry Christmas!

Lost and Found

 Have you read Lost and Found by Andrew Clements?

The Grayson brothers have a hard time proving they're two separate people. Their parents named one Ray Jay and the other Jay Ray. And to complicate matters, they're identical twins!  On the first day of school, one boy goes to school, and one stays home sick.  Soon they take turns going to school, each pretending to be Jay. They look exactly alike, so no one will know the difference.  In this funny story of mistaken identities, you'll find yourself wanting to find out what the boys are up to next and whether they will be caught. Plus it's a terrific book to explore topics like friendship, honesty, what it means to be a twin–-and what it means to be yourself.



Silent Reading...An Andrew Clements Book Club!

Here's what we thought of the book:

Did you know that Andrew Clements is the father of twin sons?!  Learn this and more at this site with Questions and Answers from an author talk on the book:
http://www.kidsreads.com/authors/au-clements-andrew.asp


Andrew Clements' website:
http://www.andrewclements.com/


Wondering which Andrew Clements novel to read next?  Check out this list...
http://www.andrewclements.com/books-novels.html

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As many of you know, Andrew Clements is one of Miss L's favorite authors.

In 2005, she got his autograph!!!

It says:
For Melissa
A Clements
-2005-

I can't believe it---I'm getting his autograph! 

Humm....is he spelling my name right? :)

Smile!

Sound Experiements

For "Science Court" we experimented today with sound.
Does sound need something to travel through?  YES!

Ho Ho Ho (part 2)

Christmas String Art Sewing!

Here are some of our top finishers:

 We had so much fun snowman sewing, that we decided to also try making Christmas trees!

Holiday fun :o)

Working on more holiday projects...

Ornaments

This Christmas I thought it would be fun to try making cinnamon ornaments.

Let's just say that it was a sticky mess!

We had some fun making them, but the ornaments didn't turn out at all like I had hoped!

If any parents out there have advice on how to make these---please send the recipe my way!

Oh well. You live and learn.

Here's some photos from our adventure!

Decimals...Thousandths

How would you build "seven hundred ninety thousandths" in blocks?

How would you write it in fraction form?

What would it look like in decimal notation?

Watch this video to learn and find out!

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What would "one and eight hundred forty three thousandths" look like?

Let's find out...

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Here's another group showing "one and eight hundred forty three thousandths"

Let's watch...

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What would "two hundred thousandths" look like?

[This is really "two tenths" (with two imaginary/place-holder zeros) for those math masters out there!]

Decimals...Comparing Thousandths

Which is greater?

0.896 or 0.9

Watch to find out!

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Which is larger? 

1.47 or 1.5

Watch to find out!

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What about this problem?

0.302 ___ 0.203

The White Giraffe

Have you read The White Giraffe by Lauren St. John?

This heartwarming story has it all...South African wildlife, mystical stories surrounding a rare white giraffe, and an orphaned girl.  The main character (Martine) is sent to live with a grandmother she didn't know she had at a wildlife sanctuary. A local woman tells the Martine that she has "the gift," Martine doesn't know what it is or why she would have it. Then she learns of a white giraffe and poachers' intent on capturing it.

Here's what we had to say about the book:

Find out more about the White Giraffe series:
http://www.laurenstjohn.com/#/childrens_fiction

Lauren St. John's blog:
http://www.laurenstjohn.com/giraffediaries/q-a/



AND there's Hollywood buzz that The White Giraffe is currently being filmed and should be released sometime in 2011!    :o)

Jackie and Me

Have you read Jackie and Me by Dan Gutman?

It is a baseball card adventure book filled with time travel, action, and even a lesson at the end.
The main character (Joe) has to do a project for Black History Month, so he chooses Jackie Robinson.  Joe travels back in time and becomes a bat boy for the Dodgers.   The book is accurate in its baseball statistics, but it also shows the harsh racial prejudices of that time period.

Here's what our we had to say about the book:

Some book silliness...

Dan Gutman's Website:

http://www.dangutman.com/

The World of Dan Gutman:

http://www.awesomeadventurebooks.com/dan-gutman.aspx

*Be sure to watch the video!





This game is from the site:
http://www.awesomeadventurebooks.com/freegames/baseball-card-collector

Student Council December Meeting

Hear's the latest information from our Student Council Representatives:

Here's the "blooper" version of the broadcast! :)

What are you reading?

Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Bone, Dork Diaries, Big Nate...

Graphic novels are the thing to read! 

Not only are they fun and humorous, but they also are helping you practice the comprehension skill of infer!

Which graphic book is your favorite?

Decimal Game

Check out this game to practice decimals:
http://www.toonuniversity.com/flash.asp?err=198

Another game (not as 'fun' BUT excellent practice with < > )
http://www.ezschool.com/Games/CompareDecimals.html
(there is a short "commercial" before the game starts)

Comparing Decimals

Review Game

The social studies chapter 3 test is tomorrow!

We played a review game to test our skills...

Are you ready?

Decimals

 

Ho Ho Ho

It's December. Time to be Santa's elves! Everyone's been busy with holiday projects!

Transforming our Thinking: Synthesize

This week in whole group reading we have been learning about the comprehension strategy "Synthesize".
To help us practice, we read a few "children's books." After reading the story, we had some new thoughts in our head that we didn't have before. The books changed us. We used the ideas we gathered throughout the story, put them together, and synthesized a new thought!

Here are some of our new thoughts...

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

The tree is still wanting to give, but he has nothing left to give. No matter how much the boy took, the tree was there giving more! That's unconditional love! Similarly we take a lot from our parents who always give and give. We need to give back. We should do something for them. Say "thank you"!

Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney

While reading this story, we determined importance, made connections, and created images. After the story was finished, we saw that Miss Rumphius made a difference in the world by making it a more beautiful place. What can we do to make a difference?

Mr. Peabody's Apples by Madonna
Our first thought in this story was that this was going to be a baseball book and tell about how great the coach is.
Then after reading a few pages, we began to think that the coach was not as wonderful as we first thought. We didn't think the main message was about baseball.
After reading the last page, our thinking transformed and we synthesized that this book was really trying to teach a lesson. The author is trying to tell us not to spread rumors because you may not know the truth.

This then lead to a class discussion on the old adage "Don't Judge a Book by its Cover".

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Ask your fourth grader which of these three books helped him/her the most when practicing synthesizing! Let me know in the comment section which one was your favorite!