Our Favorite Holidays

We refer to this time of year as the "Holiday Season", but we have holidays all year long. We have New Year's Day and Martin Luther King Day in January, Valentine's Day in February, St. Patrick's Day in March, Easter in either March or April, Memorial Day in May, Independence Day in July, Labor Day in September, Halloween in October, Thanksgiving in November, Christmas, Hannukah, and Kwanzah in December.

What is your favorite holiday? Explain why that holiday is important to you. Give examples. Write about something you and your family do to celebrate that holiday.

On Tuesday, September 8th, our class listened to President Obama's back to school speech to students. Aflterwards the class made a list of the most important ideas from the president's speech.

1. Stay in school.
2. Set goals and follow through.
3. Work hard, don't stop, keep at it.
4. Get a good education.
5. Learn from your mistakes.
6. Persevere.
7. Follow your dreams!
8. Make good choices.

Afterwards I asked the class these questions:

1. What do you want to be when you grow up?
2. What will you need to do to achieve that goal?
3. Everyone is good at some things and has some things that are hard for them. What area do you need to improve on here at school. Set at least one goal for yourself.

A Letter to Next Year’s 4th Graders

We have learned a lot in fourth grade. You are a better reader, a better writer, and you know a lot more about math. We learned about the American Revolution and the Middle Ages. We studied the Human Body, Electricity & Magnetism, and Weather in science.
Now that you are almost a fifth grader, you are pretty much an expert on 4th grade. Write a letter to the students who will be 4th graders in the fall. Tell them about the things you learned. What did you enjoy the most about 4th grade? What advice would you give them about being a successful fourth grader? Remember to use friendly letter form.

Weather and Weather Words

We have been learning about weather and weather words. We've been studying this because our Houghton Mifflin reading theme is "Nature, Friend or Foe". Weather is also a Core Knowledge science unit for 4th grade. Anyway, everyone talks about the weather.

How do you feel about the weather? Do you like it best when the weather is sweltering or are you a fan of nippy days? What kind of precipitation is your favorite? Does stormy weather fascinate or frighten you? What forecast delights you? Which forecast do you dread? Write your response using some of the vocabulary from our Weather Word Bank
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Weather Word Bank: nippy windchill downpour whirlwind
tornado smoggy temperature humidity
fogginess sweltering forecaster evaporation
whiteout precipitation drizzle condensation
frigid showery frostbitten hurricane
erosion blustery atmosphere icicle

Our Trip to Living History Farms

What did you like best about Living History Farms? What did you find most interesting?