Renewable Resources: Science

Mrs. Regan Nickels, assistant superintendent, was invited and visited our classes on November 3. Mrs. Nickels started her presentation by "bringing us to the beach". 

Many students had misconceptions about when digging into the earth the temperature would get warmer, but Mrs. Nickels explained that just like when you dig in the sand on a warm day, it is actually cooler and that a certain depth, the earth experiences ambient temperatures. 

She shared her knowledge through diagrams and videos how geothermal energy works. We connected this to our own community;  one hundred and twenty five pipes were drilled 500 feet deep at Hampden Academy. That air is collected and cycled through heat pumps which help to keep the high school warm in winter and cool and comfortable during warmer weather.  

Thank you Mrs. Nickels for sharing in our learning experience!

Wax Museum

Our "Interpreting Characters" Unit ended with a wax museum celebration! Students were asked to dress as a character from their independent reading book and to share two traits with evidence to support their ideas. Classrooms from Weatherbee visited our wax museum on Friday, Nov. 3rd.  Proud posers were exceptional while our visitors voraciously read and learned about our characters and traits. You could have heard a pin drop in the hallways!

We apologize to parents for having to change dates at the last minute. It was a definitely a crazy week where flexibility was essential to our school survival.

Interpreting Characters Celebration

As a celebration of our Interpreting Characters unit, Team Rand House & Co., will be displaying a living character wax museum on October 31st from 2:30-2:50 pm.

During this time, our 4th graders will "be on display" as a character from a good fit book. Other classrooms have been invited to walk the upstairs hallway enjoying seeing students in costume as one of the characters from their book. 

Our goal is to have every 4th grader name two character traits and describe situations from the story as evidence to support those ideas. They have also been taught to use quotes from the book so we can show, not just tell, about our characters. 

Students have already began naming character traits and providing evidence. Offering guidance and feedback on this will be the topic of reading conferences this coming week. Students will be typing the information into their google accounts which they can access at home. 

It would be great if you could talk to your child about their project, get a sense of the character they are growing ideas about, and help them put together a simple costume about their character to be ready for October 31st. 

Winter Carnival Book Character Day 2016. Mrs. Whitehouse as Viola Swamp from Miss Nelson books. Mrs. Randall as Edward Tulane

First Writing Celebration

We have completed our first writing unit! The genre was personal narrative. Students shared their pieces with peers on Tuesday, Oct. 3rd.

I Pledge to be Responsible by...

NWEA Testing

Students will be taking the NWEA tests on Tuesday (9/12) and Wednesday (9/13) of next week. They will occur in the afternoon. 

First Week Highlights

• Getting to know our classroom libraries by having a genre scavenger hunt
• Generating safety ideas for school so no one gets physically or emotionally hurt
• Word Ladders
• Writing prompts
• Our favorite summer reads bulletin board

• Pledging to be responsible 4th graders
• "Wanted" posters for respectful teachers and classmates this year
• Learning circles with Mrs. Cyr
• "Filling" our invisible buckets and being acknowledged with "warm fuzzies"
• Picto graphing our birthdays with cupcakes

• Read alouds (Thunder Cake, Respect, Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing)
• Mrs. Randall's About Me Box
• Digital breakout.edu "Catch the Bus"
• Outdoor cooperative games: When the Warm Wind Blows, Hoop Game, Find your Match, Escape! (Quacker Birds)