Happy Holidays! A Special Message from our class...

New Friends in Washington and South Carolina=Powerful Learning Opportunities

   Last week was filled with many new friends and learning opportunities!  We started the week off with a mystery skype with Mrs. Hembree's 4th grade class in Washington. It was wonderful to hear learn more about their state- including the "sleeping giants".

Students using Google Earth to solve the clues

We figured out the state!

Thank you Mrs. Hembree's class for making learning so much fun!

    We also had a great time meeting with Mrs. Tripp's math class in South Carolina.  It was great extending our "Twelve Days of Christmas" math activity with another class! Not only did we take turns sharing information about our curriculum and projects with each other- but we also had the chance to celebrate the holidays by singing the Twelve Days of Christmas together!  We hope to collaborate on another project in the future!

Mrs. Tripp's Class and Mrs. Powell's class

We also caught up with some friends in Ohio when Mrs. Lacrosse's class shared some meteorite samples that were on loan from NASA. They shared some interesting information about space. We will be learning more about space in March.

    It is so exciting to make connections and extensions with our learning!  We look forward to a new year filled with many more learning adventures!

Christmas Is Almost Here!

 

Have you decorated your tree?  Have you made the cookies?  Have you shared your Christmas wish list?  There are so many things to do to prepare for Christmas!  I hope you will take some time and enjoy some of the wonderful holiday links that are located on the right side of this page!  There are also some new holiday links that I would like to share with you!  I hope you will check them out!

Operation Snowman is a great game to practice the operations of story problems.  We have been

practicing this in class.

Christmas Madlibs is a great way to practice your parts of speech!

Don't forget to email Santa your list!

Here is a way to build a snowman inside!

Meet A Special Guest at Our Museum- Paul McCartney

Our Wax Museum Participants

   This month we studied biographies for our genre.  The students shared all that they learned during our wax museum.  Each student dressed up and became a wax museum character.  As the other students pushed the button, the character became alive and shared the details of their life.  It was an amazing experience!  They should be so proud of their accomplishments!

Congratulations To Our Robotic Team!

Some of the students in our class participated in a robotics competition this past weekend.  They were amazing!  Want to see what happens during a robotics competition? Take a look at the clip!  Congratulations DJ BOTS!

State of Matter Review- Test on Tuesday!

  We are wrapping up our unit on the States of Matter.  Throughout the past six weeks, we have taken an up close look at each state of matter, as well as how they change from one state to another.  We really had fun with the song that helped us learn about the properties of each state of matter.


We also used cheerios to represent what happens to the molecules of each state of matter.

If you want to review more for the test, take a look at these links that we reviewed during class.
http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/states_of_matter/index.html
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/studyjams/matter_states/
Steve Spanger Science Experiments
http://www.chem4kids.com/files/matter_states.html

We Have Many New Friends In Nebraska!

 
This week we had the opportunity to meet two new classes from Nebraska via Mystery Skype this week!  On Tuesday we had the opportunity to meet Mrs. Geldes class.  They shared some amazing clues about Nebraska. Some of the clues included:

1.  Gerald Ford is from their state.
2. They have very cold winters and hot summers.
3.  Their state has the world's largest indoor rainforest.
4. A tourist attraction in their state is Chimney Rock.

We were very busy in our own roles of the mystery skype.  We had students blogging and solving the clues that they gave us.  We also gave clues about our state.

We solved the Mystery state!


   When I told them that they would be skyping again, they began immediately marking off all of the states they have skyped with prior!  I totally suprised them when we skyped Nebraska again!  I wanted to see just how many would catch on to some of the clues!  It was so great to see their eyes when we received some familar clues!  It is so amazing to see that the students are learning and remembering all of these wonderful clues that were shared during Mystery Skype. We want to thank Mr. Sims class from Nebraska!  They did an excellent job!  Some of the clues they shared were:

1. They have a population of  1.8 million.
2 They do not have any professional sports.
3. The Mississippi River runs through their state.
4. Their state borders Iowa and Kansas.
5.  The capital of their state is Lincoln.

Both classes did a tremendous job sharing and solving the clues!

We look forward to connecting with Mrs. Geldes class and Mr. Sims class in the future!  Thank you for making learning about the United States so much fun!

Thank you Jacqueline Davies!

We had such a spectacular week in Powell4thgrade!  One of our highlights this week was the opportunity to Skype with Ms. Jacqueline Davies, author of Lemonade War and Lemonade Crime.  Thank you Mrs. Davies for sharing how your received your ideas of the Lemonade War, as well as sharing a sneak peek of the next book in the series! We cannot wait to read more about Evan and Jessie!

Thank You to our Friends in Massachusetts for a Wonderful Mystery Skype!

    Today we had the opportunity to play Mystery Skype with Mrs. Caroll's class in Massachusetts.  We were so impressed with their detailed clues!  The students learned so much about the state.  Our bloggers were very busy recording the clues, while our mystery solvers were using the atlas to solve the clues.  We also had students on Google Earth to help locate our mystery state.  Some of the things they learned were:

1. They border Rhode Island,New York,Vermont,and  New Hampshire.
2. They swim in the Atlantic ocean.
3. They can get thunderstorms, hurricanes, and tornadoes.
4. They are the 6th smallest state .
5. They have cold winters and hot summers.  They have a record temperature 107.
6. Fishing is popular.
7. Paul Revere was famous about his midnight ride there.
8. In their state you can take a ride on the Freedom Trail.

We also gave some great clues about our state also.  Both classes were amazing today!  I am so impressed with their passion towards learning!

Welcome to Edmodo!

I am so glad that you are enjoying Edmodo. Please share this slideshow with your parents to help them learn a little bit more about Edmodo. During the year we will be using Edmodo to collaborate on several projects within our own classroom as well as with other classrooms.

Edmodo Parent Presentation

View more presentations from scheeler

Time to Create a Voki!

http://www.voki.com/create.php

Our First Math Test This Week

   
Now that we are finally completing our unit, I would like to give you a few sites to practice for our math test.  Our math test will cover place value -http://www.funbrain.com/tens/index.html
 mode, median range- http://www.quia.com/rr/51667.html   
line plot graphs http://www.ixl.com/math/grade-4/create-line-plots
addition and subtraction-http://www.mrnussbaum.com/soccer.htm
estimation- http://www.mrnussbaum.com/estimationvalley.htm

These are some great practice games for math!

Halloween Fun

Ghostblasters
http://www.ncs-tech.org/pub/carve_pumpkin.swf
Halloween Mad Lib
Pumpkin multiples

Mystery Skype with Our New Friends in Texas

     We had the wonderful opportunity to play Mystery Skype with Mrs. Alaniz 's class in Texas today!
Students learned so much about the great state of Texas!   Some of the clues they shared with us were :
1) They are southwest of Maine
2) Their state flower is the blue bonnet.
3)  One of their main industries is oil.
4) They are along the gulf coast.
5)  They have 4 regions in their state.
6) Austin is their state capital.

Students were very busy trying to solve the clues!

Thank you so much Mrs. Alaniz for skyping with us today!  We look forward to connecting with your class again soon!

Properties of Matter

  Today we watched a video about the properties of matter.  Do you know the difference between weight and mass?  What does density have to do with the properties of matter?  How do we measure mass?  Take this quiz to see if you understand matter, weight, mass, volume and density!
http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/science/matter/properties-of-matter.htm

Our Fantasy Projects

Students were very busy working on their group fantasy projects. We had puppet shows, a play, a Voicethread, and a couple of power points created to represent the fantasy story they read in class.  Take a look at our talented and creative crew!  I will continue to add as each becomes available!

George's Marvelous Medicine



Pirates Past Noon


The BFG

The Witches

Mystery Skype With Our New Friends in Utah

Today we had the opportunity to Mystery Skype with Mr. Horan's class in Utah. Each class took turns sharing clues about their location. We found out many interesting facts about Utah today!  Mystery Skype has been a wonderful activity to help us learn more about the geography of the United States! 

Our mystery solvers were using maps to solve the clues!

Mr. Horan's class provided wonderful clues!

We also used Google Earth to help us find the mystery location.

Mr. Horan's class also asked us a few questions to learn more about our state!  They asked some great questions!

We provided 8 questions about our state.  They were able to solve our mystery location!

Thank you Mr. Horan's class for an amazing skype!

We found out so many interesting things about Utah! Some of the things we learned  were:
1.  Mining is very big.
2.  The 2002 Olympics was held there.
3. They have one of the biggest lakes.
4.  Their state animal is the deer.
5. It used to be hard to cross from east to west.
6.  They have six corners.
7. Steve Young is from their state.

Thank you for making learning fun!

Adjectives!

Two Amazing Books.. Is there another book after the Lemonade Crime?

    Nothing gives a teacher more joy than hearing that the students want more when the book is finished!  It began after reading The Lemonade War.   Students wanted to read the next story, The Lemonade Crime!  Now that we have finished both stories, they want to see if the author, Jacqueline Davies,  has any other ideas for another book about Evan and Jessies adventures with lemonade.  Check out this site to find out more information about the author and how you can have the opportunity to finish one of her stories! 

http://www.lemonadewar.com/index.html

Authors of Fantasy

  
I hope you are enjoying your fantasy novels!  Are you curious to learn more about the author as well as other stories that he/she has written?  Take a look at these websites to learn more!

The Witches, George's Marvelous Medicine, and  The BFG  byRoald Dahl-  http://www.roalddahl.com/ 

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White- http://www.gamequarium.com/charlottesweblearning.html
                                                 http://www.eduplace.com/kids/tnc/mtai/white.html

Pirates Past Noon by Mary Pope Osbourne  http://www.magictreehouse.com/
                                                                    http://www.mce.k12tn.net/reading14/pirates_past_noon.htm

Ghostville Elementary by Debbie Dadey- http://www.debbiedadey.com/index.php

Place Value Practice

Take a look at these sites to practice place value!

http://www.ixl.com/math/grade-4

http://www.funbrain.com/tens/index.html 

http://www.quia.com/rr/32598.html

Extra Challenge: http://www.mrnussbaum.com/placevaluepirates1.htm

The States of Matter Song

  We began our unit on States of Matter today!  This tune definitely helps us understand the differences between the states of matter! It's very catchy- you might be singing the states of matter all day!

Place Value Rap

Right now we are studying place value in mathematics. Want a catchy tune to help you remember? Take a look at this song performed by 4th graders!

Physical and Human Characteristics of the United States

   
Our students have been doing a tremendous job differentiating between physical and human characteristics of the United States.  Here are a few sites that provide enrichment opportunities about our Social Studies topics!


http://www.mrnussbaum.com/united_states/united_states_landforms.htm
http://www.mrnussbaum.com/coastd.htm
http://www.yourchildlearns.com/mappuzzle/us-features-puzzle.html
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/web_games.htm

Our Very First Mystery Skype this Year with Our New Friends in Ohio!

 

The students were so excited to begin learning about the geography of the United States interactively through Mystery Skype!   The students were each assigned roles during our Skype to maximize  involvement!  Some of the roles included  clue givers, clue solvers, photographers, videographer, bloggers, and question creators.  We wanted everyone to be a part of this wonderful learning experience!
    We took turns with Miss Lacrosse's class in Ohio to share our clues about where we live. Once we were finished giving the clues, the mystery solvers solved the clues!   We also had the opportunity to discuss a few other questions, such as our favorite Cedar Point rides, since our Skype partners live so close to it!  We also had the opportunity to see the amazing flash mob photosynthesis chant/dance that  Miss Lacrosse's class shared with  their school.

 Thank you Miss Lacrosse for an amazing experience!

 The clue solvers were busy studying the atlas to discover the mystery state!

 Students from Miss Lacrosse's class shared some amazing clues!

 We shared seven clues about our wonderful state!

It is so nice to learn and connect with other classes using Skype!

They were all so excited to share with the class!

    We look forward to connecting with the class again at the end of the month to share a few things we are doing in science!   Connecting and collaborating with other students can be very powerful!

Creative Minds at Work!

Today the students presented their fictional book projects to their peers!  I was so impressed with the projects and the amount of information they shared about their book of choice! Students shared reports, crossword puzzles, posters, fictional recipes, story maps, stories, and more!  Take a look at a video clip of their wonderful projects!

Reading Wrap Up -September

 
   This month we have been very busy learning about reading strategies that we can use to become great readers.  We are examining strategies in comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and enriching vocabulary.  Each student is working on their own specific goals to become a better reader.

    We are also beginning to jump into the reading genres.  This past month we have discussed the elements of fiction vs. nonfiction.  I am looking forward to seeing the student projects on a fictional story!

    Starting in October we will be discussing, reading and analyzing the fantasy genre. Have a great fantasy story that you recommend?  Please let us know!  We would love to add it to our classroom list.

Perimeter Game

   
As we wrap up our unit on measurement, we will end with perimeter.  Check out this great perimeter game!  Can you make it to the Super Brain level?
http://www.funbrain.com/poly/index.html

Not sure what the difference is between perimeter and area?  Take a look at this clip to jog your memory!