Math, Social Studies and Number Corner


        This week in math we have been working on division arrays. Division arrays are very similar to multiplication arrays but with multiplication arrays you count up the squares to get the answer in the middle, and with division arrays, you count the groups across until you get the number you are dividing and then you find the answer on top of the array. Arrays are a division strategy. We also had the NAEP test which was interesting because as well as educational questions, they also asked us questions about our everyday life, as in, who do you live with, where do you live, how much TV you watch, and so on.
        This week in social studies we have started a skit called “The Scrambled States of America.” Kansas and Nebraska were tired of their places and wanted to meet new states so they organized a party and invited all the states. Then, all the states decided to switch places with another state, so that is exactly what they did. They realized that they were not happy with their switching, and they went back to their original places. Each student got two to three parts and they have at least two lines to say. We have to make posters about our states and write fifteen facts about our states.
        We have figured out the pattern on the February calendar in Number Corner! It goes: the number going into the machine gets multiplied by three, and then that number gets added one, and then goes out of the machine. We have started a chart and recorded all this information.

        Reading and Writing


      In reading this week we have been reading historical fiction which are all set in Vermont in different time periods. We are reading the books with the reading partners we had before the winter break. We have been focusing on what time period and where the setting is in our books. We also have been focusing on the main character(s) and what the main character(s) are like. We have also been doing silent reading.
      In writing this week we have been responding to this prompt:
Do you think it is more important for 4th grader to learn and practice cursive or typing?
We started by writing a one paragraph response to that. Then we tried to extend it into more than one paragraph. We are now taking the steps to learning how to make it into a five paragraph essay. We are still going to the computer lab to do kidblog (ask you child for details) and type to learn. Some of us worked on young writers project (YWP) with Kelly Marcus.

Other Important News and Events


- On Monday February 4th all fourth graders will NAEP testing in the morning.
- Thursday, February 7th 2:30 pm-6:30 pm Red Barn order pick-up. It will be in the SCS breezeway
- Monday, February 15th the scholastic book fair will be going on in the SCS library.
- Monday, February 25th-Friday, March there is no school. It is winter break

     By Nigel Wormser and Heidi Berger

Math, social studies, and number corner

This week in math we started a new unit on division. We also took a fluency test with multiplication, subtraction and addition. We got three minutes to answer as many problems as we could, out of a maximum of 40. It was quite challenging but we all did well. After that we took two days to work on division story problems. There were six story problems, and we had to complete four. After completing their work, people got to come up on the Elmo (the overhead projector) and share what strategy they had used. Later, we did the same thing, except with money problems. It was a great week in math.

In social studies, we kept on plowing through US Geography. We took our flash cards and had to identify all the state’s names and locations. The only states that we were required to know were the northeastern states, but we still studies all of them. The at the end of the week, we took a test about all the states, but again, we were only required to know the northeastern ones.

In number corner, the February calendar brings a new challenge of uncovering the month’s pattern. Since we have only turned over one square of the calendar, it remains a mystery so far. On the square, it showed a number machine, with different numbers going in and out. It’s going to be exciting to unlock this month’s mystery.

Reading and Writing
    In reading this week we have been reading historical fiction which are all set in Vermont in different time periods. We are reading the books with the reading partners we had before the winter break. We have been focusing on what time period and where the setting is in our books. We also have been  focusing on the main character(s) and what the main character(s) are like.  We have also been doing silent reading.

In writing this week we have been responding to this prompt:

Do you think it is more important for 4th grader to learn and practice cursive or typing?

We started by writing a one paragraph response to that. Then we tried to extend it into more than one paragraph. We are now taking the steps to learning how to make it into a five paragraph essay. We are still going to the computer lab to do kidblog (ask you child for details) and type to learn. Some of us worked on young writers project (YWP) with Kelly Marcus.

 Other Important News and Events
- On Monday February 4th all fourth graders will NAEP testing in the morning.
- Thursday, February 7th 2:30 pm-6:30 pm Red Barn order pick-up. It will be  in the SCS breezeway
- Monday, February 15th the scholastic book fair will be going on in the SCS library.
- Monday, February 25th-Friday, March there is no school. It is winter break

     By Nigel Wormser and Heidi Berger

Math,Science/Social Studies and Number Corner

    In math this week we have been moving from working on discovering fractions and adding fractions to division and fractions. We have been working with egg cartons and clocks to help us figure out what the fractions equal (addition) and what fractions we can find. Recently we have been finding out  what people actually do when they divide, what the word division means and what division and fractions have in common. Everybody came up with great definitions and answers to all of the questions!!!!!

In science/social studies this week we have been reading an article about the early history of Vermont. After we took a lot of notes about Vermont's early history we wrote a response to show that we understood what the article was about. We are now currently each separately working on a Vermont timeline. The timeline is starting at the earliest time of Vermont  (that we know of.) to modern days. We have also been studying U.S. geography. We have been playing games and looking at blank maps to learn the states and where they are and what the states look like and their regions.(West, Midwest, Northeast and South.)

In number corner we have been noticing patterns about the calendar and we have been predicting what the last calendar marker will look like. The calendar is all time this month so we have also been predicting what time the last day of the month will be.

 Reading and Writing

    This week in reading we have been working on the fine skill of reading non-fiction text for the study of vermont transportation (see social studies above).  We read lots and after we finished we wrote about the text.    In our response journals, we wrote all we knew about Vermont’s history of transportation.  Some of the facts we learned were:  Lake Champlain and the Erie Canal were used for farmers to ship products to the market, Irish settlers  coming from their rocky homeland to work on the railroads, Vermont getting more than one hundred hotels and inns for tourists to stay, and recently, Vermont losing almost 75% of its farms.
    In writing, we did many different things.  We responded to the book From Dawn to Dusk and we also responded to a prompt that started like this:  “The icicles hung dangerously from the old house.”  Everybody made very interesting stories.  Then a bunch of people went out into the kiva to work on YWP (Young Writers Project).  All in all, everybody had a great week.

     By Nigel Wormser and Heidi Berger