11/4: This Week in Fourth Grade

Homeroom
We began a social studies unit on immigration by learning about what it was like for immigrants to arrive in the United States at Ellis Island 100 years ago. In the coming weeks, students will be working in groups to study different immigrant groups and the contributions they've made to our country.

Math
Our third math unit is all about multiplication. Students are learning multiple strategies for solving multiplication problems: making area models, breaking apart large numbers, and finding partial products.

ELA
Students are hard at work revising their personal narratives. This week we talked about the writing strategy "show not tell." Ask you child about how they used video to help them describe the action in their stories! In our reading groups we practiced story mapping. Students identified the main characters and their traits, described the setting, and wrote about the problem, solution, and theme. They summarized their reading by identifying important details from the beginning, middle, and end of the story.

Fun on Friday!
Our math class really enjoys practicing their multiplication facts by playing a competitive dice game called Multiplication War. In ELA, we lounged on bean bag chairs during independent reading time -- many students were surprised by how much they read today and very proud of themselves!

Have a wonderful weekend,
Mrs. Kyle

10/14: This Week in Fourth Grade

Homeroom

In science this week, students continued learning about Newton's Laws of Motion. We also had a wonderful lesson from Ms. Flaccavento on kindness. Ask your child about what wrinkles our hearts and what we can do to show kindness to others!

Math

In math class this week we practiced adding and subtracting large numbers using the standard algorithms. We also tackled multi-step word problems. I've been very impressed with the perseverance I see in this group! They're learning to organize their work and show their thinking as they break down complex problems. 

ELA

In writing, students are using timelines to organize and structure their narratives into paragraphs. We finished our first guided reading book,Stone Fox. We talked about character traits and found evidence in the text to support our thinking. 

Fun on Friday!

Homeroom students started assembling their rockets today! We have a lot of work to do to get ready for Rocket Day on Friday, October 28!

Have a wonderful weekend,

Mrs. Kyle

10/7: This Week in Fourth Grade

Science
This week, homeroom students started learning about Newton's Laws of Motion. We brainstormed examples of Newton's First Law -- that objects in motion will stay in motion, and objects at rest remain at rest, unless acted upon by an outside force -- and illustrated some examples using the Notability app on our iPads. The class made some terrific connections to what they've already learned about friction, drag, and gravity!

Math
Students practiced mental strategies for addition and subtraction this week. We also learned how to round numbers to estimate sums and to use these estimates to decide if our answers to addition and subtraction problems make sense.

ELA
In writing, we are working on creating timelines for our personal narratives. We began a new read-aloud book, The Orphan of Ellis Island, and ended the week on the edge of our seats -- ask your child about the cliffhanger at the end of Chapter 4!

Fun on Friday!
Our ELA class played Vocabulary Pictionary this afternoon. How would you illustrate "essential," "demonstrate," and "humble"?

Enjoy your long weekend!

Mrs. Kyle

This Week in Fourth Grade

Science
We continued our exploration of forces this week, learning about how thrust and lift work together to help an airplane take off. In a hands-on experiment using marbles and ramps, students observed how different variables -- the size and weight of the marble, the length of the ramp, and the texture of the surface the marble rolls across -- affect the distance the marble rolls.

Math
We finished our unit on place value and began a unit on addition and subtraction strategies.

ELA
Our first writing unit is on personal narrative. Students are learning how to tell true stories of memorable moments in their lives. This week we practiced writing leads, adding details that set the scene and make the reader want to read more.

Fun on Friday!
In math class, we ended our day with a Properties of Addition Kahoot! Students used their iPads to "buzz in" and answer questions about the commutative, associative, and identity properties of addition in a game show-like competition.

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Kyle

This Week in Fourth Grade

Students are settling nicely into the fourth grade routine!

Science
We began our unit on Flight, Force, and Motion this week with a lively discussion about flying. Students learned about two of the forces that influence flight: gravity and drag.

Math
We continued working on place value concepts, focusing on the relationship between neighboring digits in large numbers, comparing numbers using greater-than and less-than symbols, and rounding.

ELA
We began a vocabulary unit and practiced identifying declarative, interrogative, and exclamatory sentences. In our guided reading groups, we started reading Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner.

Fun on Friday!
Our ELA class did such a wonderful job working quietly and collaboratively on their vocabulary assignment today! We ended our day with a "write around."  Working in groups of three, students co-wrote a creative story with a beginning, middle, and end. They each had four minutes to write and had to include a parakeet and a pickle! We had many laughs as the students read their stories aloud.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Mrs. Kyle

This Week in Fourth Grade

Students did a great job switching classes for math and ELA this week!

Social Studies
We explored our classroom atlases and learned about cardinal and intermediate directions, reading a map key, and latitude and longitude.

Math
We talked about the growth mindset -- When we struggle and make mistakes, our brains grow! -- and began a unit on place value. Students practiced reading and writing numbers in the hundred thousands using numerals, number words, and expanded form.

ELA
In reading, students practiced making connections to the text. They are really enjoying our read-aloud book, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing! Working in teams, they brainstormed character traits for the six characters we've met so far.

Fun on Friday!
Our homeroom plays Silent Ball at the end of the day on Fridays. The hand-eye coordination in room 236 is most impressive! :)

Mrs. Kyle

A Great First Week!

What a busy first week in room 236! Students shared about themselves, explored the classroom, and learned about fourth grade expectations. They set goals for the year and applied for classroom jobs. We are learning how to be good partners and team members, and I'm impressed with the kindness and helpfulness I've seen around the classroom!

We launched our science unit on Flight and Force this week by designing, constructing, and dropping paper parachutes. Ask your students what they observed about the qualities of a successful parachute!

Please help students remember to bring in their "Me In a Bag" materials on Monday.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Mrs. Kyle

Hello fourth grade families,

We visited Washington, DC this summer
and saw the White House!

Welcome to a brand new school year at Memorial! My name is Mrs. Kyle and I am delighted to be your teacher for the first few months of school. I will use this blog to keep you updated on what we've been learning until Mrs. Harlow returns after the Thanksgiving break.

It's normal to feel a little nervous starting a new school year with a new teacher, so I thought I would introduce myself before we meet next week. I've spent the past two years teaching K-5 students in a learning center setting in Winchester. I'm not just a teacher, I'm a mom, too! I have two children -- my younger one is a fourth grader this year. When I'm not in school, I love to read, hike, and play tennis.

I'm looking forward to meeting my new students on Tuesday! Have a wonderful holiday weekend,

Mrs. Kyle

:: Concert Attire ::

Students have been working very hard on this Spring Concert, this Wednesday 5/10!  Here is a little reminder of what the music teachers asked students to wear during school as well as for the evening show.  I have also included the times for band, strings, and chorus students.  I am so excited to see their hard work pay off tomorrow!

• Concert Attire:  

Morning - The students may wear regular school clothes in the daytime - but please no t-shirts with logos or words.

Evening - Our concert is all about opera and music from classical composers.  We would like the students to be as fancy as possible, while still being comfortable.  Below are some ideas:

• Girls:  Fun/fancy dresses, skirts, or nice pants.
• Boys:  Suits and ties/bowties, dress pants with polo shirts, or even tuxedo t-shirts!
• Mrs. Niu and Mrs. Rzasa will likely be wearing gowns with opera gloves and costume jewelry.  Have fun with your outfit choice!

• Call Time:

Please make sure that your child arrives to the school no later than 6:40 p.m. Band students will report to the music room, string students will report to the lesson room, and chorus students who do not play an instrument will report to the Art Room at 6:50pm.

:: Bake Sale Update ::

Hi parents and students of room 236,

Unfortunately, we will not be having the Bake Sale during the Spring Concert.  I was told by several students that an email went out to their parents from my blog post yesterday. I hope this clarifies any confusion and greatly appreciate all of your support. These kids are lucky to have great parents like you!

~ Mrs. Harlow