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Fourth and Fifth grade Week of March 3

We had a wonderful time at our recent field trip to the Tennessee Aquarium.  We would like to THANK our terrific chaperones, our bus drivers, and all the folks at the aquarium for their part in making our day so successful.

This week, we are sad to say, we will miss our fourth graders due to Career Day, although we are sure that they will be enjoying and learning from the guest presenters.  We will catch up with them next week.

Fifth graders will begin writing the scripts for their shark species research movies.  We will work on the elements of a good research presentation and will utilize our best writing skills to organize and compose our information.

We will also review, review, review for the test which students will take next week.  Our study guides should be very valuable.  Hopefully, most students have already begun to prepare for this important assessment. 

We will learn how scientists classify creatures and will determine where the shark falls in the classification scheme.  We will utilize  a dichotomous key to determine our shark orders based on the characteristics of our individual species.  We will use our creativity to play "The Name Game," to see if we can identify specific species based on student-created illustrations of shark common names.

HOME EXTENSION:  STUDY, STUDY, STUDY FOR NEXT WEEK'S TESTS  (FOURTH GRADERS SHOULD ALSO STUDY FOR THEIR TEST ON MARCH 18!)

Week of February 25

This is the big week - our field trip to the Tennessee Aquarium!!!  We will depart from Sope Creek at 8:15 and head north to Chattanooga.  Students should bring lunches in plastic zip top bags to be placed in coolers for our trip.  NO NEED TO BRING MONEY OR ELECTRONIC DEVICES. A disposable camera is an option if photos are desired.  Your chaperone will have a scavenger hunt activity packet for you to complete as you tour the aquarium.  STUDENTS WILL BE PICKED UP between 4:45 and 5:00 p.m. from their homerooms! 

HOME EXTENSION:  BE SURE TO COME IN NEXT WEEK WITH YOUR SHARK REPORT FORM COMPLETED (4TH AND 5TH) AND YOUR STUDY GUIDE (5TH) COMPLETED!

TEST FOR 5TH GRADERS WILL BE MARCH 12 (WED.) AND MARCH 13(THURS.)

TEST FOR 4TH GRADERS WILL BE MARCH 18.

Week of February 24th

The students are always excited to start their Target Day with some brain teasers. They are becoming stronger each week with their logical thinking strategies. This week students solved two matrix logic problems, "Yoder Girls" and "Baseball Cards", and worked with analogies.

Students enjoyed the Dr. Seuss tale The King's Stilts.  Students were introduced to the story by brainstorming activities they do to relax.  We examined the old saying
"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy", and related it to our story. We explored the significance of cause and effect as we sequenced events and consequences in the story. With a concentration game, we reviewed old vocabulary as well as new vocabulary: undignified, scowler, hoarse, declare, stammer, pomp, dignify, bellowed.  Since the landforms of the Kingdom of Binn were very important to its survival, we investigated geographical landform terms.  Students completed the day releasing their creativity skills by transforming a pair of the king's stilts into something original and unusual. 

Thank you for the many wonderful treats and flowers we received during Teacher Appreciation Week.  We thank you for sharing your children with us.

Thank you to our new first grade Target copy moms for their weekly help.

Week of February 25 2nd and 3rd

We would like to thank everyone for making last week a wonderful week. We enjoyed our lunches, time-off from car duty, gifts and gift cards, all those beautiful flowers, and the many sweet cards we received from our students.  Sope Creek is truly a special place.

Thank you,

Valerie Verduci, Lee Lindsley, Liz Goldstein, and Judy Bullard

Third graders began this week with a new lesson in Hands-On-Equations while 2nd graders used their knowledge of addition and subtraction to solve mystery squares. Students then used their word knowledge to solve another round of Plexers.

Students brainstormed "things that spin". Third graders continued to learn about Leonardo DaVinci. All students viewed some plans DaVinci made for an early helicopter (he never tried to fly it).

Our young engineers made their own simple "copter" and tested the effect of weight on time of descent. They also tested helicopter design on accuracy of landing.

February 22 2nd Grade

Our second graders used their math and logical thinking skills to solve two circle puzzles.  They used their verbal skills to find connections in an activity called "Sam Likes".

We tested and graphed the performance of the straw planes that the students made last week. We even learned how to do averages.

Students continued to learn about DaVinci and wrote a letter to him telling him how his ideas have affected their lives.

Tally for Week of 2-20-08

Problem Solving

This week the children were very busy. They solved an interesting logic matrix puzzle, explored a relationship challenge, completed a word boggler, and were introduced to analogies.

Unit Work

Since our feet work and play so hard for us, we had a "feetstival" this week to honor these important body parts.  All of our activities centered around our feet! 

Teachers shared The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss with their classes.  Students brainstormed unusual pairs of opposites to extend the text in this book.  The children further exercised their brains by solving our "Footmatics" measurement problems.  Our cottages were filled with happy, productive, problem solving conversations and lots of laughter throughout this hands-on activity.  Our vocabulary words were podiatrist, idiom, synonym, and antonym.

The children worked independently to complete a following directions activity about their feet. Then we worked cooperatively as a class to examine and compare tasks we can do with our feet and/or with our hands. Students worked with a partner to count the feet that were present in our classroom.  Please note that we make a point to have our students experience independent learning, group learning, and partner learning.  All these opportunites help our students to be productive, effective members of our student body.

We concluded our day with an examination of foot idioms.  Students explored the meaning of many of these colorful expressions and then selected one to illustrate.

Fourth and Fifth Grade Week of February 18

  DUE TO THE TEACHER WORKDAY, FOURTH DID NOT MEET!  WE HOPE THAT ALL FOURTH GRADERS WILL CHECK THIS BLOG FOR FIELD TRIP REMINDERS FOR NEXT WEEK!

Fifth graders will begin their day with "Gone Fishin"" to creatively see if they can solve the puzzle of fish names.  We will continue with our individual shark species research and will begin to organize our material into section for our movie making experience.

We will also create a study guide to prepare us for the upcoming mid-unit test on fish which we will take on March 12 (Wed) or March 13 (Thurs.)  We will then watch a videostream and answer questions about certain characteristics of sharks and fish. 

PLEASE REMEMBER THE FIELD TRIP IS NEXT WEEK!  FOURTH GRADERS WILL GO TO THE AQUARIUM ON TUESDAY AND FIFTH WILL GO ON THURSDAY.  ALL STUDENTS ARE ASKED TO BE PREPARED WITH LUNCH IN A ZIP TOP BAG WITH NAME ON IT IN PERMANENT MARKER (UNLESS PURCHASING A PRE-ARRANGED SCHOOL LUNCH).  THEY MAY ALSO BRING A DISPOSABLE CAMERA.  STUDENTS ARE ASKED NOT TO BRING ELECTRONIC DEVICES OR MONEY ON THIS TRIP AS WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR LOST OR STOLEN ITEMS.

Special Notice for Fourth Grade Students

Due to the teacher workday, fourth grade Target students will not be coming to Target before the field trip.  Therefore, they need to be mindful of the following items they need to bring to Target on their next Target class day.  These things are:

• their project grading rubric signed by a parent
• their completed information packet about their shark species
• their flashdrive labeled with their name in permanent marker

Thanks!

Tally for the Week of 2-11-08

Problem Solving

The children were introduced to several of the strategies needed to solve an analogy.  Students then expanded their mathematical-logical intelligences by independently solving an interesting matrix puzzle and a challenging perplexor. We are very proud of progress the children are making in this area.

Unit Work

The children were thrilled to share their "Me Hats" with their classmates.  This activity gave us another opportunity to get to know more about one another.

Teachers read The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins to their classes.  We discussed the kind of ruler the king was in this story and if he was fair to his subjects. We examined what rights were afforded to Bartholomew Cubbins and compared them to the rights we enjoy in the United States.

Students thought about a right they would not like to give up and shared it with a classmate in an activity we call "Think, Pair, and Share." Students acted out this right for the class, while we tried to guess which right was being dramatized.

Students completed a patterning activity and solved a number of math problems relating to the story.

The vocabulary words this week are impudent, lurch, stammer, solemn, and pudgy.

Week of February 11 Fourth and Fifth grades

  This week fourth and fifth graders will be delving into the depths of the ocean by exploring its various zones and layers.  We will be building an "aquarium" to display in the school hallway utilizing our knowledge of the creatures who live in the various life zones. 

     We will also be working on our shark research, finding facts and probing deep for information about the species we have each chosen.  We will be examining our resources that we found for homework to determine which facts we need to organize for our upcoming Powerpoint/Movie presentations.

Home Extension:  Students need to be sure to have their "Create a Fish" grading rubric signed by a parent and should bring it back next week.  They should begin studying for their mid-unit test which they will take in early March.  The test will include the differences between sharks and fish, ocean layers and zones, the relationship between biomes and habitats, fish characteristics, and interactions between man/shark.  Information sheets on these topics have been sent home over the last few weeks with the children for them to use when studying.