Friday, October 21, 2016

Post #9



I enjoyed meeting with everyone during our conferences. I am so blessed to be a part of this incredibly energetic, creative, mathemagical class! Never a dull moment in Room M02! 

Our class chapel was the highlight of my week. I reminded the girls that chapel is chapel and plays are plays and we were not providing a performance but rather sharing a homily. We talked about the message that we wanted to deliver to the Lower School- Trick-or-Treating for UNICEF and how this program helps thousands of children all over the world. The girls were articulate and poised. I am so very proud of them. The class received MANY compliments about their chapel. The only negative was the absence of Ibby:( We hope she is on the mend and back in action on Monday.

We used the Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF website for math problem solving. Sometimes we need a reminder about how truly fortunate we all are (myself included). And keeping with the Halloween theme, the girls problem solved with candy alternatives. Bet you can't watch this without cracking a smile. Matific is all the rage! The girls are working through assigned modules and earning adorable monsters along the way.  Math was moved outdoors today to celebrate the end of a summer like week. They went on a scavenger hunt around our beautiful campus, solved riddles, and scanned QR codes for some team problem solving and calculating.
The girls are in the process of a very fun writing lab. They morphed their faces in Photo Booth and will explain how a witch was able to cast a spell on them. The focus is using strong verbs and adjectives and most importantly self-editing (not an easy task for fourth graders). Wordly Wise assessments will be getting a little tougher. A few girls were discouraged  with their grades. I assured them that there is always a learning curve. Below is a special message for the girls about Wordly Wise Dress-Up Day which coincidentally is on Halloween:

Do you dream about a special WW word? Do you get happy when you see a WW word in a book you are reading or hear a WW word in a song?  Do you answer questions and deliberately try to use WW words in your responses? If you have answered yes to any of these questions then you officially have WW Fever! No need to be worried. It happens to most Fourthies and it’s a cause for celebration. We will celebrate WW Fever on 10/31/16. Start thinking about a word that tickles your fancy. How could you dress to represent or explain the word? What clever outfit could you create? Each Fourthie is encouraged to come dressed as a WW word ((from lists 1–5) on 10/31/16. We’ll take pictures and create our very own picture dictionary. So, develop an idea but don’t utter a word to anyone. You may be eager to share your ideas with your peers. Resist the temptation to disclose your outfit to friends. We want everyone to be surprised. I can’t wait to applaud your creativity. 


Innovation Day is next Thursday from 1:00-2:30. Our class is paired up with Ms. Houston's class. The design challenge is:
Little Pig, Little Pig, Let Me In!  
Design and build a freestanding house that will withstand the force of wind created by a blow dryer for 30 seconds and is not taller, wider, or deeper than 12 inches. 

The girls may start bringing in materials on Tuesday. Some suggestions: sugar cubes, Easter grass, popsicle sticks, spaghetti, marshmallows, cotton balls, straws, construction paper strips, recycled paper, toothpicks, Styrofoam peanuts, small sticks, disposable plates, cups, fabric swatches, etc. Possible materials for connecting pieces: paper clips, rubber bands, string or thread (no ropes, bricks or rocks). I know their creativity will be off the charts!

A few notes:
Special Week Sign-up Ibby is the Special Week girl next week
Homework is posted for the week for family planning. 
Carpool Helper CalendarPowell will represent our class next week.
* Please remind your daughter to bring her recorder to music class. Several forgot last week and were disappointed in themselves.

Girls- Your mystery blog question...... Who said creativity is intelligence having fun? Post your answer here.


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