Thursday

Proper nouns are capitalized and common nouns are not capitalized. That's just one example of what we call 'conventions' in Writing. For example, an example of proper nouns vs. common nouns would be 'Mr. Burnett' and 'teacher.' Can you tell which is the common noun and which is the proper noun?

Cold weather is predicted for this weekend, and on Wednesday we had rain during a morning fire drill. Guess who forgot his poncho after telling the class how practical they can be for such occasions?

"How would you describe the 'Library Lady?" Here is one good response among many:

The library lady is a person who you would want to be around. She is kind, asks you 'what book?' It would feel like she has everything. She is kind by like checking out(books) under her name. Most librarians don't do that.

The class brought in a few more current events/news items this week, but it would be great to have more, especially a short summary from a television or radio or internet news site piece.

The great conversations and support during the parent/teacher conferences this week and last are much appreciated!

Wednesday

With parent/teacher conferences and a few days off for students coming up, here is a Math problem to keep your minds active and happy.

The Race

Five boys ran a 100 meter race. Albert came in first. Bill came in last. If Doug was ahead of Charley, and Ed was just behind him, who came in second?

Hint: Draw a picture.

Tuesday

A library is a special place as 'Thomas and the Library Lady' shows so well. One of the favorite stories in our Reading book for fourth graders tells about the discovering of books for a young boy traveling with his family of migrant farmworkers. A 'library lady' takes Thomas under her wing, showing him the wonders of books about dinosaurs and the exciting world of his imagination.

The library becomes his favorite destination for a short summer before his family must return to their home in Texas. Then he takes over the role as family storyteller from his 'Papa Grande.' Libraries and librarians can be a big influence in students' lives ans shown in the story. For a lark, some of the kids thought it would be fun to dress up as librarians (see photo). So far, no one has come to class with blue or hair like some of the librarians at Suzallo Library used to wear, but it's still early in the year.

Parent/Teacher conferences are underway with more scheduled for this coming Friday and Monday as students are out after tomorrow until next Tuesday, November 16th. Thursday is Veteran's Day.

Idiom of the Week: 'A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush' (Can you find the meaning of this famous expression?

Fourth graders in Room 17 constructed a thermometer to learn about water expansion and contraction in Science. In a later session they drew pictures of their observations.

In Math the kids are working on memorizing addition and multiplication facts (some extra practice at home is a good idea!) while learning how to multiply larger numbers with annexed zeros. Multiple step word problems add some problem-solving development--not easy but very important.

Scoring the first narrative writing assignment will take a few more days, but the first several stories show early skill strength in student Writing this year. Like always, we'll work on strong beginnings and endings while eliminating the run-on sentences and capitalization errors. This week we'll writie the final draft of the second friendly letter.

No pictures of crazy hair or costumes this year, but Room 17 sure had its share of wild hair-do's! I look forward to another 'hat day.'

Tuesday

You can find good writing in the form of essays without much trouble. Take a look at this one on tea by George Orwell. He certainly had some strong opinions on the subject. Perhaps you did not know that learning to make a pot of tea was part of the fourth grade curriculum, but it is, at least it is in Room 17 at Franklin Elementary School.

It started out many years ago as a Friday reward for good work during the week and as a warm-up for the Friday Sing Along. Then it became apparent that lots of people not only like and drink tea on a regular basis, but some of them like to write and read about it. Have other famous authors written about tea? Well, hop on that computer and find out.

Invitations for the parent/teacher conferences next month go out this week. Please send them back promptly. Yes, tea will be served!

Wednesday

“Do you watch NCIS?” asked the fourth grade student.
“Well, I guess so, but only once in awhile,” said the fourth grade teacher.
“You look a little like Gibbs. Once my mom pulled my hair back so I looked like Xeva.”
“Hmm...I see some resemblance to her. Actually, Gibbs is a few years older than me.”

On Monday several students brought in newspaper clippings about the Fungi Fest held last weekend in Sequim. This is the time of year to see lots of different kinds of mushrooms. Sometimes the kids bring in examples(see photo.)

Ahhh, the Fall season....spiders and mushrooms with Halloween coming up in a week or so. Several more students found the answer to the bonus question, "Who was the U.S. president during the American Civil War?" Nice work!

In Science we move forward with our study of water. Now that we've learned about water tension and how water behaves on slopes, we'll learn about the effects of heat and cold on water.

Here's one you can try: Write a compound sentence using these two Math facts: 6 + 5 = 11 and 8+4 = 12.

Wednesday

Students work in teams on our new water unit for Science. As they found out, a penny will hold between ten and twenty drops of water. It's all about surface tension, domes, flows, and slopes. Stay tuned for more photos of Science activities this year.

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth," is an expression that has meaning for people of all ages, including nine and ten year olds. The kids have been asked to find out what this old saying means. We'll see if anyone comes up with the answer to this bonus question.