Coming Up....A Really Busy Month

Here's a brief description of new projects and units of study.

We will be reading and studying the challenging but worthwhile classic "Phantom Tollbooth." This modern allegory/fantasy's vocabulary is a real workout for fourth graders. We will be using many of the words found in the novel for our next three vocabulary/spelling lists. Much of the reading will be done in class. I expect students to stay with the daily assignments and not read ahead, no matter how tempting.

In History we continue to read and take notes on the origins of the 13 colonies. We have finished New England and are taking on the middle colonies of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland.

Our history research project, the "Foods of Colonial America," is under way. Students are deciding on what food topic they will pursue. These range from the history and social influence of codfish, deer, turkey, sugar, tea, corn etc. Guidelines, due dates and all sorts of how-to information will be distributed. Basically, students develop a series of questions to be researched. They each produce a written report and, time permitting, another version of their findings using a technology application.

In Math we are finishing unit 5 about multiplying with two digit numbers. The unit assessment will be next Wednesday. Unit 6 takes on all aspects of division. Keep practicing the times and division facts.

Science this trimester is all about the effects of water on land. We have already been out inspecting our campus for signs of erosion etc. The unit involves a model of the land contained in a plastic bin. We run streams of water across the land in many controlled investigations changing one variable each time. Pictures of the results will be posted and discussed on the blog.

We are putting the final illustrations in our books of collected writings. Everyone will soon be invited to an author share and celebration. Later this month we will practice writing another short story under timed conditions to prepare for the standardized assessments we administer annually.

We will be doing the second reading comprehension level assessment for each student in the next few weeks. The results will be available at February's parent conferences.

In addition to all the above...we're putting on a big show later this month. Rehearsals are getting underway. More about that later.

Trevor B. Wins Geography Bee

Trevor made school history today when he won the Shorecrest Geography Bee. This is the first time a fourth grader has won the school championship in the annual event for grades 4 to 8. He next takes a written exam to qualify for the state bee. Last year the Florida Geography Bee winner, aTampa Bay area middle schooler, won the national title.

Book Covers

You can't tell a book by its cover, so we are planning an event for January in which you can listen to our author's read selections from their books just published.

Our Books and Friday Schedule

This week we publish a sample of collected writings for each student. This project took longer to complete than anyone could have imagined.

And so we want to schedule a group celebration with each author reading selections from his/her book.

We're trying to figure out how many friends and family might be able to come this Friday from about 9 to 10 for this event. I know it is short notice. But Friday is a half day and some of you might already be planning to be here to assist with our class parties scheduled from 10 to 10:50. The morning ends with a group sing in the theater.

So let me if you might be able to attend. Otherwise we will set something up early in the new year.

In any case I wish you all a happy and safe winter break.

This Week

We are putting the finishing touches on the collections of writings each student is "publishing." We are ready for a few assessments before break. This Wednesday we will have the Word List #5 test and the next math boxes quiz. On Thursday we have a short answer and multiple choice test on History of US the Massachusetts colony chapters 13 to 22. I also expect students will be able to write out a list in order the states by region. This a unique and valuable life skill. Students will have a mental image of all the states, their regions, and relative positions.

I think of it as an extended connected trip from Maine to Washington State and on to Alaska and Hawaii.

The list is:

NEW ENGLAND: ME NH VT MA RI CT

MID ATLANTIC: NY NJ PA DE MD WV

SOUTHEASTERN: VA NC SC GA FL

SOUTH CENTRAL: AL MS LA AR TN KY

MID WEST: OH IN MI WI IL MO IA MN

PLAINS: ND SD NR KS OK TX

MOUNTAIN: NM CO WY MT ID UT AZ NV

PACIFIC: CA OR WA AK HI

National History Day

Friday we toured the Middle School's display of exhibits for the annual National History Day competition. Seventh and eighth graders participate in several categories. Individual or group projects produce either a research paper, website, film documentary, performance or panel exhibits. The NHD theme this year nationwide was on the subject of hotly debated or diplomatic issues in history. Subjects included Seward's Folly, graffiti, Cuban missile crisis and the Geneva Conventions.



I've been a coach and judge for many National History Day events at several schools. This is my fourth year judging exhibits at Shorecrest.



This year each student prepared for our visit to the Middle School, by reading the process papers for two exhibits. Students had to take notes on various aspects and then evaluate the actual panel displays.



Each student made a brief presentation to the rest of the class on what they learned and liked.
Everyone was encouraged to show their notes at home and discuss what they've learned about NHD.



Click here to learn more about History Day. Shorecrest Middle School NHD advisor, David Hodgson spoke to the class a day before our visit. He will post the winning results on his blog and they will also be featured on Ebytes.

Animations Project

Link here to view the dynamic animation project from Mrs. Baralt's technology course. Believe me there were many fairly complex steps to produce these "tv news reports." It's way harder than it looks. Ask a fourth grader how it's done.