How many fourth graders fit in the back of a Honda Element? Students pondered that question for awhile until they made predictions ranging from five to seventeen. In Math we call that estimation, and with a range that wide, only one thing remained to do. That's right, pop that hatch and climb in one after another until the car fills up. Now, just to be clear, no actual ride was taken since seat belts were lacking, and a ticket or an unsafe trip with nine and ten year olds was not part of the lesson plan. At least not in their teacher's plan. Some did, in fact, think a trip to McDonalds or Hollywood Beach was in order. We stayed in the Franklin parking lot, however.

We managed to cram ten fourth graders in the back of the Honda when all was said and done. Probably a few more would have fit, but this is fourth grade and not the college days of yesteryear when some scholars thought it a good idea to see how many freshman would fit in a phone booth or Volkswagon Beetle. These students will have to wait awhile for that experience.

A perfect day for a field trip! Our class walked to and from the Vern Burton Center in Port Angeles last Friday to attend the children's show at the Juan de Fuca Festival. Despite our preparations for inclement weather, the sun insisted on shining for the duration of our mile long walk. After the show we took time for a picnic lunch on the manicured grounds outside the city council chambers. Passing motorists on both legs of the journey gave us wide birth to cross streets safely. On another note, Room 17 will keep its goldfish who have inhabited our classroom for at least five or six years!

Using cubes to understand volume of three dimensional shapes, fourth graders construct rectangular prisms at their desks last week. On Monday we will walk to the high school to see the play "And Then They Came For Me: Remembering Anne Frank." We're looking forward to some good exercise to make us healthier as well as an interesting, informative play production.

This Thursday is Poem in Your Pocket Day. The idea is to tuck a favorite poem into your back pocket to share with classmates, family members, and school staff. Poetry lovers across the country have come up with clever ways to celebrate.

Here in Room 17 we will use Poem In Your Pocket Day to entice students into the world of verse. Most of the fourth-graders have pockets that easily accessible so if someone asks to see an original poem or a copied favorite from one of our students in the hall on the way to recess or lunch, sharing a poem becomes a simple matter of reaching and reading.

Are fourth-graders the only people allowed to carry poems tomorrow? Not hardly. Here's the poem I'll be carrying around with me tomorrow:

The Rainy Day
Longfellow
 
The day is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
The vine still clings to the moldering wall,
But at every gust the dead leaves fall,
And the day is dark and dreary.
My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
My thoughts still cling to the moldering Past,
But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast
And the days are dark and dreary.
Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary.

That's rigtht, it's a cypress tree in the Van Gogh painting in the front of the room over the calendar. The bonus question was answered corretly this morning.This afternoon we'll begin the new Science unit, Life Structures, by making a classroom planter where we'll sprout seeds and learn about plant biology.We're also finishing up our latest art project, 'Landscapes in the Style of Van Gogh."

Fractions, central tendency(averages, medians, modes, ranges, etc.), double digit multiplication, long division, and decimals are parts of the broad Math curriculum in fourth grade this year.

Let's put some prepositional phrases in this week's story about someone who is good at a sport. In fact, try starting a sentence with a phrase, eg. "Under the glare of the cranky referee, Ruth waited anxiously for the inbounds pass from Rebecca who was standing as still as a statue." A simile or two in this piece of writing will add some good detail, too.

Friday

Name the word that refers to 'floating debris:' Flotsam
After a hint, the bonus question was correctly answered and were off to another round of current events, art projects, and a new Science unit: Life Forms. Spring is a good time for learning about seeds and that's where we'll start next week with a class planter and an assortment of seeds to sprout over the next several weeks.
Long division, fractions, decimals, probability, mean, mode, range, and median(central tendency) are parts of the broad Math curriculum we're working on now in the fourth grade. However, that does not mean it's time to slack off on practicing math facts. Let's keep sharpening those skills that will apply to so much in the future.

Thursday

Words of the Week: Spring Break
One is reminded of the Beach Boy's instrumental, "Let's Go Away For Awhile." Well, that's all fine and good as long as we come back! Read, rest and return safely!

Friday

With the ranks swelling each week, Jack's (Mr. Foote's) Room 17 Math Club continues to hammer away at multiplication facts, long division, and fractions every Wednesday after school. No one ever promised us Math would be easy or come naturally, but it's nice when good extra help is available and so well-received. Thank you, Jack!

Do you know the difference between affect and effect? See if this sentence from our Reading selection this week helps: The actions of people directly affect the environment in many ways. If that isn't enough help, then look it up in the dictionary!

Our Business Letter project is winding up, and now all we can do is wait by the mailbox, anticipating the arrival of information (and other things) from the American Quarterhorse Association. The suspense is nearly unbearable!

Friday

Fourth graders often like Science because they get to manipulate objects and make things, like a gear mechanism shown at left. We just began a unit on electricity, and the students are learning about receivers, transmitters, and sources while building simple circuits to light bulbs and motors.

Soon the time comes to notice the tell-tale signs of Spring. Already the days are getting longer although it's still pretty cold outside! Snowfall during the last few nights reminds that Winter continues for a few more weeks, and March is typically a wet, windy, and cold month. But, try 'listening' for a tell-tale sign of approaching Spring--those noticed through sight are just too easy for fourth graders. We'll make that a challenging bonus question for the next few weeks

Friday

What a great job the fourth graders did on the paintings this week. 'Still Life in the Style of Roualt' turned out especially well, and you can see our 'gallery' in the hall at Franklin School, just outside of Room 17. Georges Roualt was a French Expressionist painter, briefly associated with the Fauvist movement during the last century. He's known for his bold brush strokes and thick black outlines.

Family History report presentations are nearly finished, and graded projects are on the way home with students.

Friday

Oral presentations continue in Room 17 as the fourth-graders share anecdotes about relatives from their Family History Report project. Everybody has a story (or two), and we appreciate hearing and reading them. The family recipes are pretty good, too!

Long division: divide, multiply, subtract, bring down (rinse and repeat)!

Thanks for the Valentine's Day card!

What is unusual about Robyn Smith? That question comes up on one of the mid-year assessments here in Room 17. There might be a clue in the picture at left.

Bonus question: What is the name of the young woman raising her fist in the 'We Can Do It' poster from World War II?

Friday

Family History Reports are in, and they look good! Students will give oral presentations starting next week, and we're looking forward to ancecdotes and family picrtures. Nice work!

Here is an example of a mixed number: 1 2/3 (read as one and two thirds.) Now try converting that to an improper fraction.

Thursday

Bibliography

1. Forler, Mary, August 10th, 1989

2. Burnett, Wayne, May 17th, 1990

3. forler, Jim, May 23rd, 1990

A bibliography is a list of all the sources used in writin a research report. It is found at the end of that report. Usually, it is a list of articles and books used as information sources. For our Family Report, the sources are the people we interviewed, as shown in the example above.

Pajama Day followed by Movie Night! What a good way to end the week for our students. See "Sidewalk Wars" by local movie maker, Leo Bidne tonight before the showing of "Dolphin Tale."

Tuesday

Family History Reports are due next week on Tuesday, January 31st. Students should be finishing up their rough drafts and thinking about designing a cover for their reports.

Bonus question: Name the vocabulary word that describes the answer to a division problem.

Let's be safe out there. The sun might be shining, but plenty of ice still clogs the streets and walkways.

Wednesday

Fractions and Division....lots of practice helps! Next time you have a pizza, try talking about the pieces as fractions of the whole pizza. Eggs might not be as popular as pizza, but the cartons work great for talking about fractions, too.

The kids should finish up their interviews, rough drafts (three or more pages from the interviews), and have a good start on the family tree. Then they'll be in good shape to finish up the project by the end of the month for the due date.

Thursday

Our 'Math Club With Jack' continues on Wednesdays this new year as an after school program for extra help with Math Facts and the ever-challenging effort to learn fractions. Jack Foote is a retired teacher from Port Angeles who taught Science and Chemistry at Port Angeles High School for many years.

Work continues on our Family History Reports this week as the kids learned how to turn interview notes into rough drafts on notebook paper. We decided that each family member interviewed (a minumum of three) deserved at least one hand-written page. They also received folders to keep all the report assignments and materials as that volume grows over the following weeks. Remember, the reports are due at the end of this month.

Bonus Question: 'Which is larger, 5/6 or 4/3?'

Friday

And so begins the holiday break after an eventful week at Franklin School ,which will stay open at least another year. Many thanks to the well-spoken parents and Mrs. Chapman for their on-target remarks at last Monday's school board meeting.

The fourth-graders have just learned how to conduct interviews for their family history report projects. The assignment is made the week before the break to accomodate the opportunity many will have to interview relatives during the holiday time. The report itself is not due until the end of January so the kids aren't asked to do massive homework over the next two weeks by any means. If it works to get three interviews done with notes taken on cards, that's great.

Here's hoping everyone has a safe and happy holiday break!

Thursday

Check out the new art project: Collage: In the Style of Matisse on our classroom bulletin board. Using cut paper, the fourth graders formed dancers over a collage background of wintry colors. Nice contrast!

Here's a bonus problem to do at home: Mother bought a bag of cookies. There were 36 cookies in it. The children found the bag after school, and when Mother interfered there were 21 cookies left. How many cookies were gone? (Try writing a number sentence before solving.)

Next week we'll learn how to conduct interviews for the Family History Report Project.

Thursday

Disco Day at Franklin turned up some great and colorful costumes. Trying to explain the difference between the 'Disco Days' and the 'Hippie Days' and that they were not one and the same, proved a little difficult. The Family History Report project is on the way so stay tuned. The kids will learn how to interview relatives before the Winter Break so they are ready in case the extended family gets together. Of course, interviews can be conducted over the phone, by email, or by letter, too. The reports won't be due until the end of January so this is not an attempt to ruin the break from school by any means. Nursery rhymes are rich with word play and literary images so one of our bonus questions asked the fourth-graders to find the ending to a few that are not so easy to remember. 'What is the line after "To bed, to bed, said sleep head?" See below for the answer and a few other rhymes. This week's bonus question asked for the neame of the famous toy store in New York City. The kids are reading a selection called "Me and Uncle Romie," about a boy who travels to New York from North Carolina to stay with his aunt and uncle. Good story with lots of place names and geography and interesting food references than include grits and pepper jelly.

Nursery Rhymes:

Little Miss Muffet

Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet, eating her curds and whey. Along came a big spider who sat next beside her and frightened Miss Muffet away.



“To Bed to Bed” said Sleepy Head

“To bed to bed” said Sleepy Head. “No tarry awhile” said Slow. “Put on the pot” said Greedy Gut. “We’ll sup before we go!”