We are very excited for our upcoming Thanksgiving Banquet next Tuesday, November 24th. We are still looking for volunteers to help with this banquet. Fourth graders will be eating lunch from 12:40-1:10, and the times for other grade levels are included on the sign-up. If you are available and willing to volunteer, please sign-up by click on the following link: Thanksgiving Banquet Sign-Up. Thank you!
Friday, November 20, 2015
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Animal Adaptations
We have been busy learning all about animal adaptations! During this unit, we identified the four basic needs of all living things: food, air, water, and shelter. We also learned that animals have adaptations to help them survive, and these adaptations can be behaviors or body parts.
We learned that some animals use camouflage in order to help them get their food and/or avoid becoming food. Though chameleons are able to change colors, we learned that the primary reason they do this is to show their mood. Chameleons change colors for many reasons, and scientists believe one of many reasons they do this is to disguise themselves. Students have been working to blend chameleons into our classroom environment. To learn more about why chameleons change their colors, read this article on Wonderopolis.org
The students know that animals have certain body parts to help them meet their basic needs. We experimented with different tools and different foods to learn about why different birds have different beaks. The students were able to observe that some tools were easier to use when getting certain foods, and decided that birds would have beaks based on the foods they eat. We also read What If You Had Animal Teeth?, and we thought about what we would be able to do if we had animal teeth. Students created pictures of themselves with different teeth, and wrote about what they'd be able to do.
We have also been able to use the chromebooks to learn about animal adaptations. The Wildlife Conservation Society: New York Zoos and Aquarium has a website where students can build their wild selves using various animal parts. Once completed, a description of the various body parts is given.
We learned that some animals use camouflage in order to help them get their food and/or avoid becoming food. Though chameleons are able to change colors, we learned that the primary reason they do this is to show their mood. Chameleons change colors for many reasons, and scientists believe one of many reasons they do this is to disguise themselves. Students have been working to blend chameleons into our classroom environment. To learn more about why chameleons change their colors, read this article on Wonderopolis.org
The students know that animals have certain body parts to help them meet their basic needs. We experimented with different tools and different foods to learn about why different birds have different beaks. The students were able to observe that some tools were easier to use when getting certain foods, and decided that birds would have beaks based on the foods they eat. We also read What If You Had Animal Teeth?, and we thought about what we would be able to do if we had animal teeth. Students created pictures of themselves with different teeth, and wrote about what they'd be able to do.
We have also been able to use the chromebooks to learn about animal adaptations. The Wildlife Conservation Society: New York Zoos and Aquarium has a website where students can build their wild selves using various animal parts. Once completed, a description of the various body parts is given.
We will wrap up our study of animal adaptations this week with a few more experiments when families visit during American Education Week. Hope to see you there!
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Author Ralph Fletcher Visits N.M.E.S.
On Thursday, November 5th, author Mr. Ralph Fletcher joined the fourth graders at N.M.E.S. Because we read his memoir, Marshfield Dreams, the students knew a lot about Mr. Fletcher’s life and were very excited to meet him in person. Several students created posters and were able to greet him as soon as he arrived.
During the presentation, Mr. Fletcher shared several poems with us, and he also told us about some of his other books. He shared some personal stories with us, and he told us that many of these stories inspire him when writing. Fig Pudding, which he categorized as autobiographic fiction, is somewhat based on his life but also somewhat made up. We learned quite a funny story about his sister that inspired him to write the chapter, “The Headless Chicks.”
Mr. Ralph Fletcher shared his writer’s notebook with us, and he showed us a rough draft of Hello, Harvest Moon. We were able to see the changes the illustrator made before the book was published.
Several of us found his three tips at the end of the presentation to be memorable. His three pieces of advice were:
1. Get a writer’s notebook and write something every day. To be good at anything, we have to do it often.
2. Read. Good writers are good readers, and the more you read, the better your writing will get.
3. Don’t forget to be a kid.
Below are some of our reactions to our assembly with Mr. Ralph Fletcher:
- “It was funny how he was talking about his family.”
- “I am now inspired to write a story.”
- “I was surprised that he remembered all that stuff that happened awhile ago.”
- “I thought Ralph Fletcher’s presentation was pretty interesting because I got to hear stuff about him that I never knew before.”
- “I think his advice will help us to become better writers.”
If you’d like to learn more about Ralph Fletcher, his website is: http://ralphfletcher.com/
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