WOW! WHAT A WAX MUSEUM!

We read biographies. We researched famous, important and influential people and then we became these people. The fourth grade annual Wax Museum was phenomenal. Everyone's script captured the most essential parts of their lives and they all looked the part. Take a peek for yourself

The whole fourth grade looked and sounded excellent!

Every individual matters -- Jane Goodall 

David Bowie AKA Ziggy Stardust

One Giant Leap -- Neil Armstrong

Yum, chocolate -- Milton Hershey

I salute you Dwight D. Eisenhower

"Lower taxes" --Ronald Reagan

Making beautiful music -- Stevie Wonder

Yes We Can - Barack Obama

What a Wonderful World -- Louis Armstrong

First Hispanic Supreme Court Justice -- Sonia Sotomayor

With great power, comes great responsibility -- Stan Lee

Always fashionable and elegant -- Jackie Kennedy Onassis 

Casting a spell on young reaers -- J.K. Rowling

The first female author - Anne Bradstreet

Four score and seven years ago - Abraham Lincoln

Don't ask what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country -- JFK

Without her Apollo moon landings wouldn't have happened -- Margaret Hamilton

I Dissent -- RBG

I still believe in the goodness of people -- Anne Frank

Words are our greatest weapon -- Malala Yousafzai

Lights, cameras, action -- George Lucas

Always thinking of and helping others -- Roberto Clemente

A life is important for the impact it has on others -- Jackie Robinson

PENPAL NEWS

4K has been connecting wtih 4K in Middleton all year. We have exchanged letters and notes thanks to our "inter-school postal carrier," Mrs. Klipfel. This has helped us with our writing and communication skills. Our latest connection was sending a flipgrid message to our penpals. Here we are watching their responses.

DETAILS, DETAILS, DETAILS!

The fourth grade was treated to a visit from author Steve Krasner thanks to TESPTO enrichment.  He was a sports reporter who covered the Boston Red Sox for years and has written several books as well. He shared his talents with the students along with lots of humor!

Each class worked with Mr. Krasner for an hour learning about the craft of writing. Our class worked together to create a story about the theft of a recipe for a new candy flavor right before it was about to be auctioned off. As Steven "nudged" them to add details, details, details, to help the reader understand, they expanded on the mystery. The challenge next is for each child to write an ending for our story.

BOOK CLUB BOOK TRAILERS!

4K started book clubs earlier this year. First, students selected a realistic fiction book to read. Then, students who picked the same book got together once a week to discuss their reactions, questions, predictions and connections during our reading period. The students were eager to get to their book clubs each week. They really enjoyed this independent reading time.
 We wanted to do something to convince others to read these books, so when the books were completed, each group planned and created a book trailer using the i-movie app on the i-pads.

Please click on the links below to watch these clever and engaging videos.

Eating Fried Worms
  Hatchet
Hatchet
Rules
Rules
Skinnybones
Trouble With Tuck

COUNTRY PROJECT IS UNDERWAY

4K is hard at work exploring Central America! This is part of the our study of North America. Each class in fourth grade is researching a particular area of North America. The school and parents will be able to see all our results on May 27th during the Fourth Grade's Tour of North America. Visitors to this event will learn about Canada from Mrs. Gibbas' Class, Mexico from Mrs. Murphy's Class and the Caribbean Island Nations from Mrs. Lampe's Class.

This unit is an integration of subject areas. Social studies, reading and writing are all integral to our study of Central America.

Here is our class getting started on the projects during CLIC. These projects are designed to bring Central America to life. You will have to visit "Central America" on May 27th to see the final products.

AWESOME AUTHOR SKYPE!

AUTHOR SKYPES WITH FOURTH GRADE David A. Kelly, author of the Ballpark Mysteries Series, skyped with the fourth graders today to celebrate World Read Aloud Day. What a treat and an excellent learning experience 1

 Mr. Kelly explained about the books he has written, his writing experience and the process of writing. The boys and girls heard an important message: Writing is a process that takes TIME! Mr. Kelly said he often gets back his manuscript with up to 29 edits on ONE PAGE! He revises his books 3 to 4 times AFTER he thinks he has completed them.

After Mr. Kelly's presentation, he spent even more time answering our questions. He also sent an autographed memento for every student in fourth grade!

What a great experience we had today.

POCKETS FULL OF POETRY

December was a month full of poetry! We not only read all kinds of poetry, but we also wrote original poems! Our poetry was overflowing, so we filled our "pockets" with our best poems for all to see. We were inspired to do this by the poem by Beatrice Schenkde Regniers

"Keep a Poem in Your Pocket" 
Keep a poem in your pocket  and a picture in your head  and you'll never feel lonely at night when you're in bed.  The little poem will sing to you.  The little picture it brings to you  A dozen dreams to dance to you At night when your in bed.  So--- Keep a picture in your pocket  And a poem in your head  And you'll never feel lonely  At night when your in bed. 

MARVELOUS MAPS!

  As a culminating activity to our study of the Northeast Region of the US, our class created maps of the region and its major landmarks. Afterwards, each student wrote a short summary of the important geography or history facts he or she learned. Then we used the app called Chatterpix to bring our maps to life. Why is the Northeast Region known as "The Birthplace of Our Country?" Why were the first factories located in this region? How did the geography of the Northeast affect the people who live here?   For the answers to these essential questions and to learn even more facts about this region, take a look at the our work below.

AMAZING ANIMALS OF CENTRAL AMERICA

An expected standard for fourth graders is to learn how to use multiple nonfiction resources to research and write an information report. In Proctor, the fourth grade decided to use this as an opportunity to integrate the subjects of social studies, science, technology and language arts. In 4K, we focused on Central America. We have been researching, planning, writing, editing and creating for quite a few weeks.  As part of this country project, we researched animals found in Central America. The wildlife there is quite varied and very different from what we find around our country. 4K created a movie using i-movie and the green screen apps to teach everyone what we learned about the fauna of Central America. Click on the picture.....