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.

Thursday

Fourth graders learned about the Great Depression from presentations by third grade "professors" yesterday. Comparisons to the current recession were made and everyone did a fine job.

Amazingly, the crayfish are still alive! Investigations are underway to find crayfish-laden bodies of water within walking distance of Franklin Elementary School. Lake Crescent is too far to travel. Here is a simple way to construct a crayfish trap from inexpensive materials found in most households.