Fourth Grade
by Mrs. McClintic & Ms. McGee
September 11, 2008
We have some new faces in fourth grade this year. In Mrs. McClintic's fourth grade, our new students are Kaylyn D., Thaddeus I., and Tristan P. In Miss McGee's class we welcome Shantelle B.
All is alive and well in fourth grade science. Since the beginning of the school year, we have been studying living things either through observations and experimentation following the scientific method or through research using the internet and print materials. Students had the opportunity to observe meal worms and then design an experiment exposing the meal worms to the students' choices of stimuli. After that, they observed and recorded the meal worm's behavior. Next, we researched plant photosynthesis. This culminated in a video-taped group presentation of your child's findings. The video tape will be available for library check-out shortly.
Geometry was our first math unit. The fourth graders refreshed their memories with regard to lines, segments, rays, points, and angles, as well as two-dimensional shapes. The students seemed to enjoy using templates and geoboards to create a variety of polygons. Next came place value to the hundred-millions. Some games that got their competitive juices flowing were Number Top-It and High Number Toss. Each game encouraged the players to create the largest number possible. We are currently working on our multiplication and division facts. Fact Triangle Sort, Baseball Multiplication, Beat the Calculator, Multiplication Top-It, and Division Arrays are some of the games we are using to improve our basic facts skills. We are also relying on good old-fashioned drill and practice from flashcards. Any extra practice at home would be greatly appreciated and very beneficial to your child.
Our first unit in Social Studies the fourth graders learned about map elements. Students became very proficient at finding cities using latitude and longitude, drawing map scales, compass roses, and map legends. Just recently, they finished a voting and political office qualifications assessment. This unit was tied to student council. Kids who chose to run for student council campaigned by making poster's and giving a speech to their fellow classmates. Stay tuned for results from the fourth grade student council election!
At the beginning of the school year, the fourth graders practiced their cursive handwriting during our language arts time. Recently, they have been busy practicing writing different kinds of sentences and making sure they have a capital letter at the beginning and the correct punctuation at the end. This is an important skill that they practice everyday when they write sentences for ECRI practice time.
