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Jr. Rose Parade

Wednesday is the Jr. Rose Festival Parade in the afternoon. Students often wonder what they will miss and if they'll have to make anything up. Due to the fact that a number of students typically leave for the parade I do some low key activities in the afternoon which will not have to be made up.

If your child is going to the parade please send a written note letting me know you will be picking your child up early and at what time (do not email!). You will need to sign your child out from the office so you may wish to plan ahead for the amount of parents that may be also picking up their child that afternoon. If you have someone else picking-up your child that day, please indicate who that will be on your note.

Brendan, Joseph

                                                                          May 19th-23rd

This week, we did a performance of our hip-hop dance. That was actually today (May 22nd). For our dance, we danced to the song, Starships by Micky Manaj. We also started novel studies.  We haven't done much on our novel studies at the date of us writing this. All we have done is the prediction and we started our cover. We have harvested our vegetables from the garden that we are growing. There were radishes, carrots, snap peas, and snow peas. Yesterday, (May 21st) our class and Mrs. Largo's class joined to watch part 1 of a movie about the Oregon Trail. We also took notes about it with a partner from the opposite class. We are also preparing for our Lewis and Clark rap. On us talking about Lewis and Clark, we can mention that we have started working on some Lewis and Clark sheets like Sacagawea and a plants and animals sheet. Most of us have already finished but some are still working on it. Memorial day is coming up so we have a three-day weekend this week! WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!       

Well thats all for now so thanks for reading and bye.

                                     -Joseph & Brendan

Hip Hop Dance

feel free to practice before our performance :)

Post by Molly and Pippa

5-16-14
Last week we started writing out rough drafts about the Oregon Trail. ( A field trip we went on in April.) Ms.Brown is taking it as a teacher sample. Last week we started editing and this week we started our final drafts. Also last week we started to learn a Lewis and Clark rap. We will perform it at art night. And Ms. Brown is trying to fit us into FAM to sing for the whole school! If you don't know who Lewis and Clark are look it up we are not explaining it here. On Monday we started a new science unit where we switch to different classrooms. Our whole class is going to Mrs. Hirata's class. Each class has a different science subject. Mrs. Hirata's is working on electricity, Mrs. Largo is working on land and water and Ms. Brown is working on bones and skeletons. This week we have been working on a Lewis and clark timeline. You get a date and a paragraph and you find your place on the timeline. Before you find your place you have to trade with some people to find the paragraph that goes with your date. Sometimes people are right and sometimes people are wrong. On Thursday morning we researched Lewis and Clark. We had to research 1 animal they discovered and 1 plant they discovered. Then we had to write a small paragraph about it with a partner. And then you had to draw a picture of the plant and the animal. And that's all that we did this week ( and a little bit of last week) so we hope we filled you in on a little bit of last week and most of this week! 

Renata and Addie

    5-8-14 
This week we've been working on many activities. We started working on our writing sample for the spring on Monday. We are writing about our experiences on the Oregon Trail. Such as the stations we   went to or other activities like the Country Fair, the Virginia Reel (square dancing) and a couple others. On Monday we did some brainstorming. On Tuesday we started our rough-drafts for our writing            sample.                                                                                                                                                        
    We are also finishing up our Hugo art! We practiced different kinds of lines. We did criss-cross lines  and just lines. We also practiced were the lines should get darker. And we wavy did lines that we used   for his hair.                                                                                                                                                   
      On Monday we switched for our next math unit. This math unit is going to be focused on fractions   and decimals.                                                                                                                                               
       On Wednesday we learned about the Lewis and Clark rap we will preform at a Friday afternoon     meeting. We are also practicing a dance we learned. We will preform it for you and the other 4th grade     classes. On Wednesday afternoon we had a substitute also.                                                                       
      On Thursday we had lunch in the classroom because the science fair was being set up in the             cafeteria. There were many cool projects.                                                                                                                                                      
     This week has been teacher appreciation week. Monday was staff breakfast , Tuesday was flower     day , Wednesday the coffee cart came around , Thursday was card day , and Friday was staff lunch.      

Pippa & Philip

5-1-14

                            We're gonna hit the Oregon Trail!

      We went to the Oregon Trail Tuesday Apr. 29 - Wednesday Apr. 30. There were 4 Field Studies, this is what they were:

       Homestead, Cabin, Wilderness and Trail. We used something called a hobo stove to cook our Hamburger on.

                                                        

       On Monday we are starting a new math unit on decimals they are the same levels as before. Caton, Brown are faster pace and , Hunting - knight, Hirata and Largo are at an average pace.

Oregon Trail Packing List 2014

Dear Families,

The time has come to prepare for the Oregon Trail Overnight.  The following is a list of what your child needs to pack and what he/she is not to bring.

We will leave school at 9:00 am on Tuesday April 29^th and return between 1:30-2:30 pm on Wednesday, April 30^th. Your child will need a sack lunch for the first day. Everything in the lunch needs to be disposable.  Please write your child’s name on their lunch sack.

Clothing: (Please remember to label all clothing and bedding with your child’s name AND school) Students will carry their own bags so pack accordingly. Students may dress “pioneer style” if they wish. This may mean jeans and boots, or girls may wear long skirts (please wear warm clothes under skirts). Keep in mind that layers work best: long underwear, shirt, sweatshirt, warm jacket, and a coat (think layers). Students should bring the following (Pack in a large plastic garbage bag. Use masking tape and a marking pen to write the student’s name and school on the garbage bag. You should use an extra-thick garbage bag – thin bags tear too easily):

• One full change of clothes besides what is worn on the first day
• Jeans or heavy pants (girls may substitute a long skirt, but we will be outside most of the day so make sure they’ll be able to stay warm)
• Shirt or blouse
• Warm jacket
• Underwear
• Extra shoes or boots
• Raincoat or poncho (You can find emergency rain ponchos for under $2.00 at some stores)
• Gloves
• Sweater or sweatshirt
• Socks (extra pairs are a good idea!)
• Pajamas – something warm
• Lunch – packed separately from other gear
• Sleeping Gear: Students will be carrying all of their own gear and clothing – so pack accordingly! They will also be responsible for unpacking and repacking. Frequently the thin garbage bags rip, and bedding items can get wet.  You may want to send an extra garbage bag, pre-labeled.
• A sleeping bag or blankets and sheets – the cabins are heated.
• Pillow with pillow case

Personal Gear (put in a plastic bag or zip lock bag and store with clothes):

• Wash cloth
• Toothbrush
• Toothpaste / floss
• Brush or comb
• Hand towel
• Soap
• Large plastic bag for wet or dirty items

**Please do NOT bring the following: money, cellular phones, radios/Ipods, electronic games, virtual pets, comic books, pocket knives, jewelry, card games, matches, curling irons, make-up or anything to eat (besides the lunch mentioned above), including candy or gum. (An afternoon snack on the first day and all meals will be provided.)

Medication

Place all medication needed by your child into a Ziploc bag labeled with your child’s name, school and teacher’s name. Give the medication directly to Ms. Brown first thing in the morning on April 29^th. Medication must be in original container! The directions on the prescription label must match exactly what you wrote on the parent/guardian authorization on your child’s health history form.

If you have any questions, please contact me.

Post by Molly and Ben

 4-25-14
Last week we dissected owl pellets. Which is basically owl puke and we found a lot of bones in our owl pellet's. Some people thought it was awesome and others not so much. But most people thought it was awesome. 
Also Friday is our last day of math. And then we're on to unit 5! Everyone is very excited because they think it's going to be our last math unit. Today in math we took a test which determines what math class we will be in next. Today April 22nd and 23rd we will be taking a classroom hip hop class and performing the dance in front of every fourth grade class. We only have two days to learn the dance. And today is day two of hip hop. 
On Friday we have are April passport check. On Thursday night we are presenting our Wax Museum speech. On Friday its our final science unit test. On Tuesday of next week we are going on the Oregon Trail overnight! Each class will have to perform a song around the campfire the first night. We are starting African drumming in music. 
Today is our assistant teachers ( Ms.Quick) it's her last day in Room 144. 
Tonight we have the Wax Museum for our explorers. Last night we had our Wax Museum. It was very fun. There were about 8 kids in each room and they would spread out around the room with their models ( or maps) and their speeches. Then the adults or whoever came would walk around and go up to a kid and ask them to read their speech for them. I was Amelia Earhart and Ben was Steve Irwin. We are doing Hugo Art in class. We just started today! 

Post by MICHAEL & STRYDER

4-16-14   This week we are working on bones with Ms. Quick and we are learning about skulls,rib cages,vertebral  column, pelvis, arms, legs & teeth.  We are also working on our research about our explorers. That we (us kids) will talk about at the wax Museum. This week we are also working on our speeches for the wax museum. Wednesday the 16th is late opening!!! You might have heard that in a few weeks we are going on the Oregon trail field trip. And we are also working on detectives in reading and we are talking about what skills they have and what mysteries they solve and last but not least we have the gadgets/tools they have!!!We are reading a book called Encyclopedia Brown where Encyclopedia a 10 year old boy solves the case of the missing tiger salamander at the local aquarium!!!

Post by Molly and Addie

4-4-14
           We just finished Spring Break! Most kids wanted an extra week. 
           Monday we switched for our next math unit. Our new math unit is on long multiplication. 
We found out who our new math teachers were too. 
    We also are voting on a prize for our class because we got enough pack-up points to get a prize. 
         On Monday we learned about something called the Wax Museum. The Wax Museum is where each person in our class chooses an explorer, dresses up like them, makes a model ( or map) that represents them and makes a speech to go with it. Then on April 24th we present the speech in front of our friends and family. In case you want to come your child should arrive at school at 4:45 p.m. and the event lasts from 5:00 p.m. until 5:45 p.m. On Wednesday we got to pick our explorers for the Wax Museum. Most people got their first choice but a lot  of people got their second choice. Barely anybody got their last choice. 
     We have also started are next science unit on bones,which are student teacher Ms. Quick is teaching.                                                                                     And thats all thats happened this week. So next time you read the blog remember all the information we  told you. 

Molly and Pippa

3-20-14              
                         Today, Monday, is St. Patricks Day! Stories say that if you aren't wearing green on St.Patricks Day you should be pinched! 
      This week we are working on recorders in music. Monday was our first day! We got a sheet to take home and practice. It's ok if you forgot to but one. Cause Mr. Cheek has extras you can borrow. Don't forget to practice! 
    In honor of our class raising the most cans in the school Ms.Brown said this week we don't have homework and we don't have to do reading! (except math) We don't have to turn in our reading logs. And on Friday we get to eat lunch in the class. We raised 1,518 cans of food. 
  On Tuesday in math we had our post test. This test determines which math class you will be in next. Sometimes you get the same math teacher. This Thursday is our last day of this math unit. 
   In class we are studying NW Coastal Indians. We had to write a summary on a packet we read about food. Their main food was salmon and other types of fish. We draw a picture to go with our writing. 
   On Wednesday we had a late start so we missed P.E. and math. 

          Thursday was the first day of spring! 

Post by Renata and Molly

3-13-14          We just finished the food drive for our school. Our class got 1,518 cans of food.
         Tuesday night is the fourth grade concert. If there are any parents who didn't know about        this you are welcome to come! Your kid has to be there by 6:15 pm and the show starts 6:30 pm. We          have been learning about 9 different songs in music to sing at the concert. Summertime, Rockin' Robin, Sleepy Time Down South, They All Asked for You, I Got Rhythm, Iko Iko, Mardi Gras Mambo, You   Can Get it if You Really Want and It Don't Mean a Thing.
   Also we went to Fort Vancouver yesterday. Most kids were very sad when we visited the fur trappers. When he showed an example of how they trap them he laughed when the trap went off! And      they think this is a good environment for kids? While we were there we also went to a carpenter shop          and a bakery. The bakery had 150 year old hard tacks. We felt some of them and they were really hard! We went to a carpenter shop and had a race between 3 teams. Our team won! And that's all that happened this week! 

Post by Cadan & Alex

3-7-14        For the Food drive we have collected 1,518 cans of food which is the most in the fourth grade. Different table groups in our class have different classrooms that they're collecting food from. 
       During class time if everyone from a table group is on task you earn a table point. The table group with the most points at the end of the month gets to have lunch in the classroom. Also we can earn a fun activity by getting a fast time for clean up/pack up. 
       This week we are working on making generalizations in reading. 
       On Thursday March 6th we watched a play called Alice & Wonderland. It was done by the 5th graders.
       We just finished working on houses that we were trying to make look like native americans lived there 1,000 years ago. The homes were made out of cedar wood, but we made our houses out of popsicle sticks, glue and construction paper.
      Remember to go to the auction on Saturday night and remember to bid on our bird houses. Also There is a Pre-auction for just are class.

Project 2nd Wind and Pictures tomorrow

Two happenings tomorrow March 7th:

Tomorrow is the last day of Project 2nd Wind. If you have any extra food (or money) donations for Oregon Food Bank please bring them in in the morning.

Also, class pictures are being taken tomorrow afternoon. If you have not already brought in order forms you may still do that tomorrow as well.
.

Class Pictures and Pizzacato dough for dollars

Tomorrow March fourth if you go to Pizzacato proceeds will go to Alameda, so go to Pizzacato and EAT!!! 

If you haven't turned in your class pictures for Friday March Seventh make sure you turn them in by Friday March seventh. SAY CHEESE :)

STRYDER & CADAN

 February Fun

            We just finished our coastal range scenery & split up into three groups , rivers & ocean, trees & animals & sky & mountains.  The sky & mountains are made up by either construction paper or tissue paper. To create the suns raise we used a light color of orange tissue paper. On Monday we started making a person that we thought would look like a thousand years ago in the Coastal Range.  We read a packet about Indians & what they wear. Then we started to clothes on them using materials such as fabric, seashells and feathers.
       For calendar we have an input number that is the day of the month & the output number which is the input number multiplied by three plus one. We have been recording observations & predictions about what has been happening with are calendar.  On Wednesday we had a math switch. Instead  of most kids going to a different classroom half the kids would stay in their own classroom.
       We had tri-star basketball on Wednesday which is when we use three different skills to try to get the highest score as we can,  the three skills are passings, shooting and dribbling.

        In reading street we are reading about a man who travels to Florida to take pictures of Hurricane Andrew.Then we did a vocabulary sheet and wrote a business letter to someone to tell about a hurricane that you experienced & possibly might need help with something.   
        On Thursday we went on a field trip to OMSI, & watched a video about Lewis & Clark & their journey across America.  It was an informative video and showed how hard it was to finally discover the Western part of the United States of America.
        On Friday we had passport. I hope you remembered to study with your map that we sent home at the beginning of the month. Also on Friday we had to sing the songs we have been learning through the past two months. To sum it up we had a very busy week.

Check your child's folder!

Today several important papers went home with your child:
1) Math Unit 4 letter (see below). Please read this letter as this switch differs from pervious math switches.
2) Oregon Trail overnight field trip forms


Dear Fourth Grade Families,

We will be starting our fourth math unit on Wednesday, February 26th. This short unit will cover Geometry concepts. Please reference the attachment. Students have completed a pre-assessment on the skills that will be presented in this unit. Our team has used this data to create two pacing levels, organized so that each student can work successfully at their rate and level. All five classes will be covering the fourth grade standards for this unit. Our roles and pacing as teachers has changed based on the results of the pre-assessments. In contrast from previous math switches, there will be two different pacing levels.

Both Ms. Brown and Mrs. Caton’s classes will continue to work at an accelerated pace. Both classes will experience compacted Bridges curriculum and offer extensions as needed. M3 (Mentoring Mathematical Minds) curriculum will be used to extend students’ geometrical skills and understanding.

Mrs. Hunting-Knight, Mrs. Largo and Mrs. Hirata’s classes will be working at a standard 4th grade level pace. Students will explore the Bridges content through use of manipulatives and sketches. Extensions and modifications will be provided as needed, based on classroom performance.

In an effort to simplify the math transitions, students whose pacing needs would be met by their homeroom teacher, will remain in their classroom.

The purpose of organizing math classes in this manner is to best meet each student’s needs in regards to the concepts and skills in each unit. Please feel free to contact your child’s classroom teacher with any specific questions or concerns you may have. Below you will find all fourth grade teachers’ email addresses for your convenience throughout the unit.

Sincerely,
The Fourth Grade Team

Kimberly Hunting-Knight    khunting@pps.net
Abby Largo    alargo@pps.net
Marisa Hirata    mhirata@pps.net
Christy Caton    ccaton@pps.net
Julie Brown    jbrown5@pps.net

Week of February 10-14

                                 This week is Valentine's Day! 

  We are going to have a party at 2:00 pm- 2:45 pm in case any parents want to come and help or party! Also Valentine's are optional. Like any other Valentine's party you're allowed to bring candy! We are going to be making Valentine's heart pockets to keep our Valentine's in.                                          

    Speaking of hearts we are almost done with our Oregon heart haikus! It's basically a outline of Oregon, and it has a big heart in the middle. We write haikus to go with them, you color in the Oregon hearts with a pattern and in the end they end up looking pretty good. 

    

        In our new math unit -geometry- we took a pre-test.

   We are close to  finishing the freeze of the Coastal range, we still have to place the animals on.The sky is up top,the mountains reach up high,the tree's are right below the mountains, with rivers flowing into the ocean.

By Molly and Pippa 

  

Week of Feb 3-7

This week we are working on Oregon hearts. We take the outline of Oregon and color it in. It also has a heart in the middle of it. We are also doing haikus with our Oregon hearts.

   This week we will also be welcoming a new student, Maddie  to our classroom. 

         Ms.Brown is reading us a book called Hugo Cabaret in class.

   Today the new student came to our class. It is her first day so we are trying to make her feel welcome. The new students name is Maddie. Today it was also very windy and cold, it was about 27 degrees. 

     This week we are learning about whales in reading. We are mostly learning about Gray Whales. 

     On Friday we have a music concert. Our music teacher is teaching us the songs we need to know about for the concert. We are singing: Iko, Iko, It Don't Mean a Thing, Sleepy Time Down South, Summertime, I Got Rhythm, Rockin Robin, You Can Get it if You Really Want and more. Today there is supposed to be at least 6 in. of snow and its sticking! Because of the snow we are allowed to go home at 1:00 pm!
 We changed desks on Tuesday and the desks are either put in 2's or 3's.  Today in class In math we are learning about remainders. They are actually quite simple. like 13 divided by 6 is 2 with a remainder of 1.

By Ben and Molly

Upcoming Field Trips

Please mark your calendars!

 ..

February 27th, morning: OMSI Theater- Lewis and Clark Movie
March 12th, morning: Fort Vancouver

April 29/30 or May 1/2** (still determining which classes will go when): Oregon Trail    **I know many are eager, but I ask that you please do not contact me yet regarding chaperoning. I will send out a field trip form and chaperone interest letter mid/end of March. Thank you very much!!
 ..

Week of Jan 20-24

This week is Spirit Week!!!!!!!!

     Tuesday is P.J. Day, Wednesday is Crazy Hair Day, Thursday is Hats & Glasses day & Friday is Sports Jersey Day.  In class we are working on spelling, we have a test every Monday & Friday Monday is a spelling pre-test & Friday is a spelling post-test.
     This week is the final week of Jump Rope for Heart, I hope you parents have helped your kids turn their forms in. We have been working on a play for the past week, it is called D.C. Riddle Rally, it is about kids trying to figure out riddles about historic monuments in Washington D.C.
     In calendar we have been working on elapsed time on a clock.  We have been looking at patterns & making predictions about about the next calendar card.  In geography we have been studying mountains, lakes and rivers. We have been using computers to search for facts about lakes & rivers.
Then we get into are travel groups which are divided equally into six groups, then we combine  are facts to complete a poster.  When we're done we each get assigned a lake and write a postcard with a picture on the back to a random person.
      We are reading a book called SoYou Want To Be President. It's about the president's job & what he does. Some presidents liked their jobs and others didn't, some said it was the worst four years of their life.  In the book it tells you facts about the characters such as who was the tallest president & who was the shortest.  This week we have read short books to inform us about the government & equal rights.  Each group has a different book that is about government.                                            
      In math we are working on eights which is for quick facts.  We do all this work in class and we also practice our focus facts which we have been working on for a week and will keep practicing it through the next week also.  Throughout the week classes have been taking a quiz on what we've learned so far.


                                   BY STRYDER TODD-FIELDS AND CADAN CROWLEY

Week of Jan 13-17

               We are finally back from winter break in a new week, heres what we've been doing:

           On monday we switched math classes (some of us). This unit we are focusing on fractions and division. We also started Wordly Wise. We are on lesson 1, Wordly wise is vocabulary, understanding, spelling and grammar.
         Also on Monday we started spelling tests. Every Monday we do a Pre-Test and on Fridays we do a Post-Test. We have Twenty-Five words in total, and five challenge words.
        We have just finished our personal narratives. We started brainstorming ideas then we made a web. Then we wrote a rough draft. Next we edited and revised. Finally we were on  are final drafts. Some of us have Twelve pages on our drafts! We spend a while working on these. We looked at character description, setting description, dialogue and interesting details. And they were a big success.

 

        Also on Oregon Geography we learned the seven regions of oregon:
 the Coastal Range is where the Paciffic  ocean meets  Oregon,  the Klamath Mountains are right beneath the Coastal Range and above California , Willamette Valley is where we live, besides the Coastal Range and Cascade Mountains, Cascade Mountains touches every region we have located exept for the BlueMountains, next their is the Basin & Range Region borders part of California and part of Nevada, next is the Columbia Plateau is the biggest region in Oregon, and last their is the Blue Mountains (Also known as the Wallowa Mountains) which are in the upper right corner of Oregon.

        Now back to cities. We observed that the majority of the cities filled the Willamette Valley. None of these cities are in the Klamath Mountains Or the Basin & Range Region (or at least the ones we studied).These are the Thirty-Four cities we studied: Astoria, Albany, Ashland, Baker City, Bandon, Bend, Brownsville, Corvallis, Coquille, Coos Bay, Cannon Beach, Depoe Bay, Eugene, Enterprise, Florence, Grants Pass, Hood River, John Day, Jacksonville, Joseph, Klamath Falls, La Grande, Madras, McMinnville, Medford, Monmouth, Newberg, Newport, Oregon City, Pendleton, Pacific City, Redmond, Salem and Sisters. We all received a crossword with all the cities hidden in it and most of us are busy working on it.
      One of the biggest rivers is the Columbia river. It is the border between Oregon and Washington and flows into the Pacific Ocean. The Willamette river flows right through the Willamette Valley and ends up in the Columbia river. The John Day river ends at the North border and flows into the Columbia it is in the Columbia Plateau. The Deschutes river starts in the Columbia Plateau and also flows into the Columbia. And then the Snake river borders Idaho, Blue Mountains and the Columbia Plateau. The Umpqua river starts in the Cascade Mountains and flows through the Coastal Range into the Pacific Ocean. The last river is the Rogue river it runs through the klamath mountains to the Pacific ocean.
     These are the mountains we studied, The Three Sisters, Wallowa Mountains, Mt. Hood, The Steens Mountains, Mt Theilsen and Mt Washington.
     We recently added all the rivers, cities and regions to our Oregon Geography Wall. And we made little scrapbook pages about each mountain.
                                         
                                             So those are the highlights of are week.
                                                           By Philip & Renata