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Classroom 208 was turned into a Nation in February. This helps solidify learning from our "How We Organize Ourselves" unit, which focuses on government. Table groups became states, and students ran for Senate and House of Representatives. Each 'state' got 1 senator and every 4 students got a representative. Presidential Primaries began soon after. Students engaged with the voting process, where they told their representatives their opinions, but then the Electoral College (senators and representatives) made the final votes. Afterward, the top 3 groups campaigned for 10 minutes and had different strategies. Some chose to offer positions in the cabinet in exchange for votes and some tried to ask individuals what they would like to see in the classroom. Then, after short speeches, students voted silently. The electoral collage was informed on who won the popular vote in their table state and then they voted. The President chose the cabinet and then I chose the Supreme Court. All students are citizens of Room 208, and all have a role in the government. This week we started a new part of the "How We Express Ourselves" unit. The new focus is on reading, analyzing, and creating poetry. We are learning a variety of poetry types and will also be reading "Love That Dog" to lead through the adventure. When students are asked to write poems at home, encourage them to do their best. It will eventually be collected and sent home in individual poetry books.
Thank you so much for your understanding throughout Open House. I appreciate those of you asked about my mom's recovery. She is doing well now and has gone back to work. Thank you for understanding when I was unable to attend Open House, and thank you to those of you who were able to come.
We have started multi-digit multiplication in 208. Please practice multiplication facts daily. We are doing drills
Students created posters to show the various things they learned about the Haudenosaunee people and to compare the diverse perspectives they used to gather information. Students also created Wampum Belts to demonstrate each learner profile and classroom agreement through symbolism.
In writing, we have been working on narratives and have engaged in self-editing, peer editing, and teacher editing. We are learning a lot about place value and number relationships. Students are learning to express numbers in a variety of ways and will soon be rounding, comparing, adding, and subtracting numbers up to a trillion. 4th grade takes concepts from 3rd grade math and expanding them to reveal the patterns that occur in mathematics.
Due to the nature of an IB school we explore content and 4th grade standards through units of study. During this unit, students will be exploring, experimenting, researching, questioning, and connecting. This theme is How We Express Ourselves. In this unit we will focus on our central idea of how creative expressions provide ways to communicate ideas and emotions. We will inquire about how creativity can communicate ideas, about the value of creation, and how ideas form and grow.
13 days in and we have already done so much! We have learned about the Haudenosaunee, a group of people in New York State, sometimes referred to as the Iroquois Native Americans, and the different ways that they expressed themselves. We read several articles and legends about the creation of the Hadenosaunee confederacy, which greatly influenced United States governance. We did a Gallery Walk to explore the history of this group of people and learned about their origin story by comparing the story Chiefs tell, those children in that culture learn, and what was written historically by outsiders. We have been annotating texts and already wrote our first essay. |
AuthorMrs. Heinlein is excited to document what happens in this great year of learning! Archives
September 2019
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