Care Buddies-Part 2

Just before going on winter break, we invited our care buddies from Mrs. Lynch's room to watch us perform the winter poems we had memorized. Our buddies were a great audience, applauding and cheering after each poem was read. The fourth graders designed posters to use as backgrounds as a way to enhance their performances.

After the poetry was finished, we accompanied our care buddies back to their room where we helped them decorate gingerbread people. Our fourth graders has already worked on decorating gingerbread people in a different way. They were asked to research a country or region and then dress their gingerbread person in the style of clothing worn there. Unfortunately, they weren't edible like the ones we got to make with our care buddies.  The process of putting on frosting, chocolate bits, and sprinkles was messy but fun and the finished product was creative and tasty. It was a great way to end the day before vacation.

Care Buddies-Part 1

Care Buddies is a partnership between two classrooms, usually the older students acting as mentors to the younger students. Our fourth grade has had the pleasure of working with the four year olds in Mrs. Lynch's Pre-K program. During our first get-together, the four year olds chose books for their Care Buddies to read to them. It was hard to tell who was having the better time, the four year olds or the fourth graders!

                                                                            

Dinoman Comes to Asa!

Before going on winter break, Asa Adams school had the honor of hosting Dinoman!  Dinoman, also known as Bob, brought his knowledge of dinosaurs and lots of wonderful props to share with our school. He used a clothes line as a timeline to demonstrate how long ago dinosaurs lived and just how little space people take up on it. We learned about how fossils are made and even got to see examples of some. It seemed that everyone was most excited to see the inflatable dinosaurs come to life in our own gymnasium. Here are some pictures from Dinoman's visit.

Mrs. Tuttle's Class

Abbe Museum

Last month, the Asa Adams fourth grade classes took a field trip to the Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor to enrich our learning about Maine Native Americans. We left school close to 8:30 and had a relatively quiet bus ride as most of our class brought books to read.

We were greeted by the friendly staff of the museum and split up into groups before beginning our tour. Our first stop was the Layers of Time exhibit. We learned about how archaeologists excavate different sites and what they learn from their findings. To make it more relevant for students, a trash can was shown to students and they were asked to tell about the people who threw those things away. From the diapers and baby food jars, students could conclude that these people had at least one child. Travel brochures suggested that these people had leisure time and enjoyed traveling. Students also got to explore the exhibit more thoroughly as they went on a scavenger hunt for artifacts such as baskets, animal bones, and tools. 

Next, we got to look at a replica of an archaeological dig site. Students examined artifacts and made educated guesses about what the people living there might have done. Shells with holes suggested that people were making jewelry. Large rocks suggested people were using tools to build. A pile of shells indicated that people were preparing food. 

Before leaving, we got to demonstrate what we'd learned. We got to handle some of the tools we had been hearing about and explain what they were used for. Most tools were made from rock or bone because those were the materials accessible to Maine Native Americans. 

                                                                                      

Prime and Composite Numbers

In Unit 3 of Everyday Math, we have been practicing multiplication and division.  We've used fact triangles to look at the relationship between these two operations.  Practicing division brought up many new concepts such as factors and multiples.  When finding factors, some students noticed that some numbers only have 1 and themselves as factors.  We took a detour away from our math journals and did an activity to learn more about prime and composite numbers.  


To start, the students were given a table with several numbers.  Their job was to come up with a list of factor pairs and then decide if the number was prime or composite.  After, they chose one of each type of number and drew arrays on centimeter grid paper.  Next, they cut out the arrays and glued them onto construction paper.  We used these as a display on our giant classroom bulletin board.  

Text Connections

In reading, we have been learning about how to make connections between books we're reading to other books we've read, to ourselves, and to the world around us.

Recently, we read "The Lorax" by Dr. Seuss and discussed how, even though it seems like a silly story, it has connections to the real world.  Here are some of the connections the students made:

"In this text the Once-ler dumped all of his glumpy stuff in the pond.  That is like the great oil spill which affected thousands of sea animals' lives." -C.K.

"In this text the Bar-ba-loots go hungry because the Once-ler is cutting down the trees.  That is like some animals go hungry because people cut down all their food, like plants or trees." -E.W.

"In this text, the Lorax said, 'Your factories are polluting the air.'  That is like on the news I heard that a certain bird species is dying mostly because the air is being polluted by factories." -T.M.

"In this text, they were filling the sky with funk so the wunk birds could not sing.  That is like big factories, cars, and buses are polluting the sky."  -S.H.

"In this text, they cut down all the trees.  It is sad for all the animals that needed them to stay alive.  That is like how pandas eat and use the bamboo for their homes but people cut it down to use it for a fence or home."  -S.W.

"In this text they were smoking up the sky.  That is like from the news, we should be fuel efficient." -X.L.

"In this text, the Once-ler didn't think what would happen if he cut down a tree until it was too late.  This is like in our world, we have to think before we do something or we might do something we don't mean to do."  -N.S.

"In this text, they cut down so many trees the little bears could not live.  That is like if they cut down too many trees it will affect the food chain so most things will die." -L.G.

"In this text, the Once-ler didn't listen to the Lorax's warning.  That is like people sometimes don't listen to warnings and ignore them, even when something is really important."  -E.W.

We were surprised to find that a book with silly words and rhymes had such a deep meaning!

Saying Goodbye

On Friday, we said goodbye to one of our classmates.  Aarynn is leaving us to go to sunny Florida for part of the school year.

As a send off, we gave her a goodie bag of stickers and a diary.  We made her cards and told her how much we would miss her while she was away.  If we're lucky, Aarynn will be coming back to join us at the end of the year.

Have a safe trip, Aarynn!  We'll miss you!

Aarynn opens her present