Inventors and Innovators
Before leaving for vacation, the third and fourth graders finished a unit of study on famous inventors and innovators. They began by drawing self-portraits and thinking about their own creative ideas, and possible accomplishments in the future. We also spent time reading books about the creative process and its challenges, and some examples of innovative and forward-thinking men and women.
Students then selected a person they were interested in researching. They used books and Internet articles to gather information and take notes. Graphic organizers and other instructional strategies were used to help them write reports with clear introductions, paragraphs with topic sentences and supporting details, and clear and concise conclusions. They also drew portraits of their inventors and innovators, and created posters with their reports and pictures, that are hanging on the wall at the end of the hallway. Check them out next time you are at school.
During Presidents’ Week, students drew a number from 1-45 to select the name of a United States president and learn a little bit about them. After reading an article online, they created a Google Slide with some basic information and a photograph. This was meant to be a quick, one-day project, without a lot of teacher support. There are a few still in progress. The individual slides became part of a whole Third and Fourth Grade Google Presentation shared with their classmates.
February’s 4 Winds topic was Trees in Winter. Students participated in a puppet show, and a discussion of the importance of twigs as a food source for animals in winter. They also learned about the parts of a twig through a number of activities, as well as watching 4 Winds volunteers being transformed into twigs! They were given twigs to examine and look for opposite or alternating branches, terminal and lateral buds, leaf and bud scars, bud scales and lenticels. They worked in groups to model the growth and change of different types of trees throughout their yearly cycle. The final activity was going outside to try to match their branches with actual trees on the school property.
Wellness classes with Mr. Stevenson have begun in our classrooms, using a different format than in the past. Each class has Wellness every other Wednesday morning, using the Morning Meeting and some writing time for the discussions and activities. They began the classes by making posters about kindness, which coincided with our school-wide Kindness Week.
Conferences
We look forward to meeting with you during the afternoon or evening hours on Wednesday, March 22 or Thursday, March 23.