It's SHARK WEEK!

It's Shark Week here at Harmony in the 4th grade!

We have a lot going on this week, including shark dissecting on Wednesday and Thursday!

Math--We just wrapped up a quick unit on area and perimeter.  Our next unit will be a study of decimals, fractions, and percents.

Social Studies--We will continue our study of the American Revolution after Shark Week. Our most current days were spent studying the Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party.

Reading--We are spending this week reading about Sharks! You will also notice that a couple nights this week will be reading homework about sharks.

Science--Our week consists of our Shark Study!

Monday-What can we learn about sharks through the use of scientific tools? (microscope, measuring tape, magnifying glass, and a scale)

Tuesday-What do we wonder about the Dogfish Shark? (On this day we will observe the sharks at our tables without actually dissecting.)

Wednesday-What is the structure and function of the internal parts of a Dogfish Shark? (We will look inside our sharks today and measure them!)

Thursday-How do the independent structures work together in the shark's body system? (We will but cutting parts of the shark open today and even pulling parts out!)

Friday-What have we learned about the Dogfish Shark? (We are creating a News Report about shark spotting using our new schema on the Dogfish Shark!)

Writing--We are learning about essays and how to be an essayist!

In addition to all the other excitement this week, we are taking a field trip to the Louisville Orchestra on Friday! We will eat lunch in the classroom when we return!

Looking ahead....ESS will begin in March! All students get invited to ESS in my class...because we can always benefit from a review! Letters will come home at the end of February about that!

No Taxation Without Representation! (4th Graders Revolt)

"We only had six pennies!"

As I mentioned before, we are amidst our American Revolution unit in Social Studies. Today, in order to have a more "authentic" experience, the students were colonists living in America. A tax system was set in place.

The guidelines:

-Six pennies to start the day for each "colonist".
-An index card to get stamped each time a colonist paid a tax.
-One pencil that must be used the entire day.

Taxes:

-Must pay for any handout given, such as the math review.
-Must pay to sharpen your pencil.
-Must pay to have recess. (This really started to cause some revolting!)
-If wanted, must pay for an extra 5 minutes of recess.

Some students spoke out after the recess tax with quite a bit of frustration!

"How I feel about taxes, is mad and sad because I'm giving money away. Also if I want to spend it on something I can't because there will be nothing left." -JJ

"I think taxation without representation is not fair because we are having to pay to play and I refused to pay, so I didn't get to play. This is very unfair for the colonists." -AA

"I think King Gentry is being very unfair taxing us wihtout representation. It's really not fair! How rude! She's taxing us for things I used everyday! I would hate to live in the 1700s with taxation without representation. I feel very, very, very MAD!" -HW



Investigating the Stamp Act

"I feel mad! I have to pay for my recess! Really? So mad!:/" -AC

"I feel angry! I feel like nothing I say or do will make her stop! Taxation is just not fair! I can't even do recess without being taxed!" -BM

"I feel so mad that I have to pay for sharpening my pencil, getting a piece of paper, and I have to pay if I want recess. I just don't think that's fair!" -KK

"We have to pay taxes for recess, paper, and to sharpen our pencil. :( "
-HS

"I feel bad that we have to pay for recess! I mean come on! It stinks." -EP


Working hard

At the end of the day, colonists were able to trade their left over money for "goods".

What an exciting day!

No More Kings

Our new Social Studies unit is the American Revolution.  We have enjoyed viewing this School House Rock video, No More Kings to help us understand why people traveled to the New World.

Enjoy!

We're Back!

Well it was nice to return after a relaxing, fun-filled break! We had a smooth transition back into the classroom starting with free writing time in our Writer's Notebook about our favorite parts of the break.  Everyone was eager to share about all the fun they had!

Our focuses this week--

Math-Fractions (Unit 7)
Reading-Non-fiction reading; tracking how our schema changes as we read. (This will be connected with Science.)
Science-Animals (Mammals)
Writing- Persuasive Letter On-Demand writing

We will also have guidance with Mrs. Hammons twice this week (Monday and Wednesday) as well as catching up a few loose ends from our extended break.

Have a wonderful week!

Husky Helping House

Today we wrapped our gifts for the Husky Helping House! Due to your generous donations, we were able to donate four outfits, two pairs of shoes, two packages of socks, one coat, books, and a couple games to a child in the community in need. 
How wonderful!

Happy Holidays to you and your family!

Frazier Arms Museum Field Trip

We had a great time today at the Frazier Arms Museum! Here's a peek at some of our favorite moments.  This would be a great family outting! They are even going to have a Toy Story display soon!

(We are learning about non-fiction text features...so the kiddos used their new schema on captions to create these picture captions themselves!)

Funny man dressed like a person from the Middle Ages!



"This is really heavy!"




She is standing by iron mesh from the Middle Ages!



He's really trying to get that bow and arrow back!




"I am the mighty minotaur!"

They really had to think!



Geology Rocks Costumes

GEOLOGY ROCK COSTUMES

*Here is a reminder of play costumes.  Your child knows their part.  Please have your child's costume at school NO LATER than this Wednesday! Thanks!*
Rosie – school clothes
Jenn – school clothes
Sherlock Holmes – like the character, hat, magnifying glass, suit, notebook, pencil
Doctor Watson – like the character, hat, magnifying glass, suit, notebook, pencil
Volcanoes – brown pants, red shirt, red hat
Earth – blue pants and shirt
Ferns – green pants and shirt
Sea Shore – blue shirt, brown pants (or vice versa)
Canyon – brown pants, brown shirt
Valley – greens and browns, valley girl style
Mountain – white hat, brown pants and shirt
Snow White – character costume
Rocks – gray pants and shirt
Professor Rock – boots, khakis, plaid shirt, hat, beard, glasses