Thank you!

Today was a terrific day. I am a teacher because kids matter, and your children are amazing! I have loved every second of my time with them, head-popping-off moments and all. They have learned, taken risks, given their best on so many occasions, laughed, made me laugh, asked why, taken direction to not pose for the camera, expected great things from themselves and their peers and me. As they should, and I hope they continue to do. More than anything, I hope they have learned to see the greatness in themselves and in each other, no matter how different from one another they may feel.

Today they should have arrived home with many goodies. In a brown expandable folder is their writing collection, containing work from both third and fourth grade. I did not allow them to put that folder in their backpacks because I wanted them to carry it in their hands, to feel the weight of how much they have grown as writers as they left school today. I hope they will take the time to go through those folders with you. Their process and work is all inside, and there are certainly many pieces worth saving. Inside that folder I also asked the students to put two dvds--one with your child's digital portfolio, and another that holds the slide show I made for them. The portfolio dvd also includes a copy of the movie that was shown at the Moving Up ceremony. Both dvds need to be played on a computer and will not work on a dvd player.

As became a tradition, I also made t-shirts for everyone. The shirts need to be washed in cold water and should be air dried in order to preserve the image. Some of the shirts--I am not sure why--lost the applique today. I am happy to make new prints for those that were ruined. I will be at school the rest of this week and next; if you can get a white t-shirt to me, I will apply a new image for you. Even if you would just like another image to iron on yourself--I can get that to you as well. Just email me and let me know that's what you'd like.

Remember also that I am happy to copy the batch of photos for you if you drop a flash drive at school. It needs to have at least 11GB of space, so a new 16GB drive is best. Again, I will be at school this week and next; just let me know you are dropping it off and I'll copy the photos for you that day and leave it in the office for you.

Our departure date for New Orleans is June 21, and I am not sure how long I will have my Shorecrest email address. My personal email address is jilllemon@yahoo.com. Please feel free to email anytime--I will love hearing from students and receiving updates!

Thanks for everything this year. The zoo membership was a lovely gift and it will be used often in New Orleans. Thanks mostly for sharing your kiddos with me every day, and for all of your support and trust this year. I have no doubt that your children will thrive in middle school, and I will think of them often as I move into a new position. As my last class, they will keep a special place in my heart!

Take care and enjoy one another!

We had a terrific day at the zoo yesterday! What a great way to begin our final full week of fourth grade.

We look forward to seeing everyone at the Moving Up Ceremony on Friday. The program begins at 8:45 in the Janet Root Theater and will last no more than one hour. You are welcome to return to the classroom with us after the ceremony for some picture opportunities and visiting. The students will have recess just after 10:00, and then we board the buses for our bowling trip to Sunrise Lanes at 10:30. We return about 1:30 and will see everyone in the lunch area for ice cream at 2:00 that afternoon!

Don't forget that our portfolio share is scheduled for next Tuesday at 8:20 in the computer lab. Students will share their digital portfolios with you that morning, and you will receive your own digital copy that morning as well. The next day (Wednesday) is a half day of school; we will spend time organizing what is left of our materials and spend a fun morning together. Can't wait!

Please let me know if you have any questions as we wrap up a truly wonderful year.

On our way. . . .

Things are picking up speed in fourth grade as we head for the finish line in two weeks. Can you believe it? Two weeks. It seems unreal and entirely too fast. But here it comes!

McKenna and Jessica spread the Flops and Tops news to first grade.

We are thrilled to be hosting parents for our Colonial project shares this week. Half of our twelve projects will present on Tuesday, with the other half sharing on Wednesday. Students are so excited to be sharing with you all what they have learned about topics chosen by them, planning creative presentations to engage and inform.

This week and next we will spend four sessions in the computer lab finishing up the digital portfolios on which we have been working all year. Students have been busily selecting their final pieces to include and planning and writing reflections about that work. While the portfolio collects work from each year in the Lower Division, the bulk of the reflections speak to the work done in fourth grade. Our share will take place on Tuesday, May 29th at 8:20 a.m. in the computer lab. The share will take place museum style, and after you view your child's work, you may browse the portfolios of some of the other students. Each student will take home a copy of the portfolio on a dvd on the last day of school.

In science, students are learning about dichotomous keys as we gear up for our investigation of the system of animal classification. Last week, students in small groups were instructed to sort a pile of small stuffed animals. Groups were banned from speaking to members of other groups about the task or how they accomplished their goals. In the end, students found out that each group sorted their animals in different ways. In addition to that, students found other difficulties as they sorted as well as identified problems with the resulting systems of classification. First, when sorting (and after many proclamations of "What?! This will be sooooo easy!"), students found that many of the animals would either not fit into a category, so one had to be made for that single animal, or more often, an animal would fit into more than one category. Which category those animals were assigned to became arbitrary. Then after sorting, we found that some categories contained a large number of animals, many that were very different. For example, an elephant and a koala bear may have been in the same group, simply because they both live on land.

After our initial investigation of categorization, students were introduced to the concept of a dichotomous key. A dichotomous key is a series of questions that leads to the identification of a single item. When using a key, a large group of any set of objects can be classified from a large group down to individual objects. In this way, an elephant and a koala bear may start in the same group, but with additional qualifiers added, they become members of sub groups (see the "dichotomous key" tab above to view specific instructions on how to create one). From here we will move on to learning about the system of animal classification, and students, through participation in a webquest, will identify unknown organisms based on their characteristics.

Josh and John present to third grade.

To support our work in science, next Monday we take a trip to the Lowry Park Zoo. We will leave immediately after Town Meeting and be gone all day. Because drinking fountains are sparse at the zoo, we ask the students to bring along water bottles that day. While they can be a bother to carry around all day, it ends up being worth it when the weather is hot. Lunches will be left on the bus while we enjoy the first half of our trip, so I encourage everyone to pack lunches in insulated bags with ice packs. As when we went to Ringling, students will be allowed to bring music players for the ride, but those too will remain on the bus.

A note from the coaches: The PE staff is so excited for this Friday May 18, 2012. Our regularly scheduled "Splash Day,” will have to be modified in order to comply with recent water restrictions. The PE staff has arranged for a large inflatable maze to be delivered in place of the water slide. We will also provide multiple play areas and other (dry) activities that are sure to put a smile on your child's face. Spirit wear will take the place of swim wear for our "Friday Fun Day.” We are certain our students will enjoy what we have in store for them and we appreciate everyone's flexibility in this matter. We can't wait!

Please continue to donate gently used or new shoes and hats for the fourth grade service learning project. Students are able to wear a spirit shirt with uniform bottoms each day they donate items.

Until next week. . . .

Flops & Tops for Burkina

Flops and Tops for Burkina
Lower Division Service Project
Benefiting Hope for Burkina, May 8th – May 17th

Help make a child in Burkina Faso smile.
Donate a baseball cap, a pair of flip-flops, Crocs, or sneakers and wear a spirit shirt and/or hat (with uniform bottoms) to school!

• Donations may be used or new.
• Donate as many shoes/hats as you can spare. Wear your spirit shirt every day you donate!
• Collection bins will be located in each LD hallway.

Burkina Faso

• A West African country located south of the Sahara Desert and north of Ghana.  
• A land-locked country about the size of Colorado (105,900 sq. mi)
• Climate is tropical.
• Burkina has 16.3 million people that make up 60 ethnic groups and 4 primary religions.
• The Burkinabe people speak 6 languages.
• Burkina is one of the poorest countries in the world.

The People of Burkina Faso

• Over half live on less than $1/day.
• Only 41% of school age children are in school and most don’t finish.
• 3 out of 10 children die before they turn 10 years old.
• Malnutrition and water borne illnesses are the nation’s biggest threats. Less than 50% of Burkinabes have access to clean drinkable water.

source: http://hopeforburkina.org

Three weeks and counting. . .

a group tests its city plan

Last week we conducted our final land and water experiment. Students first created a simple slope with a town of houses on the bank, then rained. Each group of homes was washed into the water. Students were then charged with designing and building towns--using all that they have learned about land and water this year--to keep their towns safe and dry. What a spectacular endeavor. Students spent two sessions planning, first creating individual plans for cities, then coming together with their groups to choose the most innovative and trustworthy pieces of each plan to design a master plan for the group. Students then designed their cities, using, hills, slants, rocks, mountains, drainage systems, bridges, dams and barriers. After documenting each pre-rain city, students rained on their cities once again. Students found terrific success as well as some challenges in the execution of their plans, with two of four cities surviving, and the other two with water damage. Students enjoyed viewing one another's projects both before and after the rain. Most students observed strategies of which they had not considered, and all wanted to conduct the experiment again to use the good ideas they saw. Students will spend one session this week completing their last lab reports.

group 2: before the rain

group 2: after the rain

Simultaneously, students have begun a study of animal classification this week. A highlight of this work is learning about and constructing dichotomous keys. Stay tuned for more information in the next couple of blog posts.

This week students are wrapping up their colonial research projects, putting the finishing touches on them and preparing their presentations. Each individual or pair will present during one of two sessions next week, either Tuesday, 5/15 around 2:00 p.m. (the exact time will depend upon how many people are presenting) and Wednesday, 5/16 at 8:30 a.m. If you are able to attend, please let me know which day/time you prefer by this Friday so that I may plan accordingly. Students will be presenting to their peers as well as any visiting parents, so there will be a healthy audience for both sessions. We hope to see you next week!

We have begun a study in math of geometric solids and weight.  Students are learning about standard and metric systems of measurement as well as about properties of geometric solids. Included in the unit is a pass through of adding and subtracting both positive and negative numbers, once again. The unit 11 assessment is scheduled for next Friday, May 18th.

I mentioned last post that our portfolio share will be on Tuesday, May 29. We have since been scheduled for 8:20 that morning in the computer lab. No RSVP necessary for this one--just show up ready to shed tears! Each student will be stationed at a computer ready to share her/his digital portfolio, and after you view your child's work, you may stick around to enjoy other students' portfolios as well. If you are unable to attend this session, portfolios will be available at anytime during the day. Let me know and I will do my best to accommodate you. Please know, too, that you will get copies of these portfolios during the last week of school.

Upcoming important events:
May 11: MD visit (for students only), 9:45 a.m.
May 15: Colonial Project share 1: 2:00 p.m. (may be earlier if many wish to attend this time)
May 16: Colonial Project share 2: 8:20 a.m.
May 18: Splash Day
May 21: Lowery Park Zoo trip
May 25: Moving Up Ceremony, 8:45 a.m.; (student only)bowling trip; 2:00 p.m. ice cream party (parents invited!)
May 29: Portfolio Share, 8:20 a.m.
May 30: last day of school--half day