April 30th - May 3rd, 2012

• Notable person Biography:  Students will choose their famous person from history. They are required to read a book on their notable person and complete research through the Internet and our wireless laptops. Their final project will be our “wax museum” presentation and a written biography, Friday, May 18th at 9:00-9:45 a.m. More information to follow.

• No Word work this week.
• No reaction sheet this week due to the early release day on Wednesday and testing on Friday.
• No School this Friday, May 4th.
• Field trip to Lookout Mountain Nature Center. See the enclosed field trip form in this weeks take home folder.
• Student Led Conferences:  Thursday, May 10th. Please read the note sent home regarding this special conference night. Students are excited to share all the hard work and successes from their fourth grade year.  We look forward to seeing you.

Africa Test Review Questions and Topics

Africa Region Test will be on Wednesday, May 2nd. We will review these questions in class on Tuesday.

ü Know the definition of REGION.  A region is a large area of land with similar geography.

ü Be able to create a bubble map (describing) or a tree map (categorizing) for the 3 major regions of Africa:  savanna, desert, and rain forest.

ü Be able to answer the question:  What African region is most similar to the geography of Colorado?

ü Be able to pick an African region and compare and contrast it to the Colorado region we live in (mountain region). Be ready to show your thinking using a double bubble map.

ü Be able to answer the question:  How does the geography of where you live affect how you live?  Your answer should be specific and detailed. A possible question may look like this…Jebrilla is part of the Taureg tribe.  He lives in the Sahara Desert in the country of Niger in Africa.  How does the geography of where Jebrilla lives affect how he and his family live?

ü Be able to compare and contrast your life as an American child living in a suburb of a metropolitan area located in the mountain region of Colorado to a child who lives in one of the three major geographic regions of Africa.

ü Be able to identify positive and negative human interactions with different geographical regions.  For example:  Clear cutting the rain forests of Cameroon to make room for more palm oil plantations is a ___________________ interaction. 

ü Be able to look at a set of pictures and identify the African region.

Have a great weekend, see you all Monday!

April 23rd - 27th, 2012

• Notable person Biography:  Students will choose their famous person from history. They are required to read a book on their notable person and complete research through the Internet and our wireless laptops. Their final project will be our “wax museum” presentation and a written biography, Friday, May 18th at 9:00-9:45 a.m. More information to follow.

• No Word work this week.

• Assessment Day: Friday, April 27th. Students will attend school by appointment only. Students only with a testing time will be required to attend on the 27th. Testing takes about one hour.
• Early Release Day:  This Wednesday, 25th, 1:10 dismissal.
•  Friday, May 4^th, no school, furlough day.


1.  The Wax Museum and completed biography report deadline is fast approaching, Friday May 18th. Many students are on target with gathering information and working on first drafts of their notable person writing.  Several students need to spend extra time at home with  completing more on-line research and gathering props and costume items.  First drafts will be due on Thursday, April 26th. 2.  Writing Assignment:  Please write a paragraph answering and giving examples of the following: Would you rather go an Arctic adventure or an African safari?  Explain.
3.  ALL SCIENCE Students:   Play the following game to reinforce our studies on ecosystems: http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/games/producersconsumersgame.htm 4.  Read the following article about African Rainforests and be prepared to discuss this in class on Thursday, http://www.pbs.org/wnet/africa/explore/rainforest/rainforest_overview_lo.html

April 16th-20th, 2012



• Notable person Biography:  Students will choose their famous person from history. They are required to read a book on their notable person and complete research through the Internet and our wireless laptops. Their final project will be our “wax museum” presentation and a written biography, Friday, May 18th at 9:00-9:45 a.m. More information to follow.

• No Word work this week due to acuity testing.

• Assessment Day: Friday, April 27th. Students will attend school by appointment only. Information to follow.  If you have any questions please call me.

• Special pricing for movie theatre snacks! For just $4.00 students may buy a kids pack that includes a drink, popcorn and fruit snack candy. We will need to let the theatre know about how many students will be interested in this special offer.

• Chimpanzee Movie Field Trip:  Friday, April 20th! The remarkable story will be a treat for our students. Special showing celebrating Earth Day and correlating with our ecosystem science unit. Buses will depart at 9:15 a.m. and return for lunch.
• Early Release Day:  Next Wednesday, 25th, 1:10 dismissal.
•  Friday, May 4^th, no school, furlough day

• Young Writer’s Conference, April 20^th 8:00-8:50 a.m.: Student’s will share a published or polished piece of writing including small moments, short stories, poems, essays, or other writing pieces.  A light breakfast will be served, a certificate of participation, a journal and pen will be given to each student participating.  All students in my class are encouraged to attend and share a selection of their writing.

1.Social Stuides:  Follow the lilnks to Culture Grams and explore the amazing continent of AFRICA! JCPL Home page:   http://jeffcolibrary.org/index.html

2.  Access the internet and print infomation on your notable person.  Be prepared to bring this information to class in order to continue our work on biographies. 

3.  Design two Thinking Maps.  One Bubble and one Flow (time line of important events) on your notable person.  This is due Friday.

4.  Writing Prompt:  Imagine that you are a small pet, such as a hamster, goldfish, or lizard. Describe a perfect habitat for you to live in.  Please include paragraph describing your habitat and why it's perfect for you as a small creature.

April 9th-13th, 2012



• Notable person Biography:  Students will choose their famous person from history. They are required to read a book on their notable person and complete research through the Internet and our wireless laptops. Their final project will be our “wax museum” presentation and a written biography, Friday, May 18th at 9:00-9:45 a.m. More information to follow.

• Assessment Day: Friday, April 27th. Students will attend school by appointment only. Information to follow.  If you have any questions please call me.

• Special pricing for movie theatre snacks! For just $4.00 students may buy a kids pack that includes a drink, popcorn and fruit snack candy. We will need to let the theatre know about how many students will be interested in this special offer.

• Chimpanzee Movie Field Trip:  Friday, April 20th! The remarkable story will be a treat for our students. Special showing celebrating Earth Day and correlating with our ecosystem science unit. Buses will depart at 9:15 a.m. and return for lunch.
•  Wednesday, April 11^th, no school, furlough day

• Young Writer’s Conference, April 20^th 8:00-8:50 a.m.: Student’s will share a published or polished piece of writing including small moments, short stories, poems, essays, or other writing pieces.  A light breakfast will be served, a certificate of participation, a journal and pen will be given to each student participating.  All students in my class are encouraged to attend and share a selection of their writing.

• Needed:  For our last social studies unit the kids will be working with regional maps of the United States, Colorado, and Africa.  By this time in the school year their colored pencils are either non-existent, missing colors, or in pretty sad shape.  It would be great if you could re-supply your student with a fresh set of 16 colored pencils, a working hand-held pencil sharpener, and pencil eraser caps. 

1.  Students are asked to reuse and create something from trash!  Our current science ecosystem discussions have keyed on creating less waste for our environment.  Students are challenged to turn trash to treasure and design something different from trash.  A few picture examples are given below. Each treasure should be no more then 8 x 8.  These treasures will be displayed in the library once completed and turned in on Friday, April 13th.

Examples from Mrs. Myer's daughter, Molly:



2.  Students need to come up with three notable people from history and be prepared to submit these names on Monday. Students must be sure that there are  books and internet resources availiable to them on each person. The list of three will be narrowed down to one.

3.  Math Game:  Adding numbers to 20. 

http://www.learninggamesforkids.com/math_games/addition/math-lines-20.html

March 26th - 30th, 2012

Happy Spring Break!  No homework on the blog for this week!  However, you will be required to keep reading and filling out the reading log.  If you didn't get a reading log, print one off of this web site, or make your own. Enjoy your time off of school.  You've worked hard and deserve a break!

I'll post again next weekend.