Fourth Grade 2014-2015

Fourth Grade 2014-2015

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Lent


In this season of Lent, we are working as a class on almsgiving, fasting, and praying. To tie Lent into what we've been studying in the Ten Commandments, we made a calendar as a class with different Lenten activities each day, that tie into one of the commandments. For example, for "Keep holy the Lord's Day," the students came up with activities like going to Mass or reading the Bible. Please encourage your child to talk about what he or she has done so far for Lent. We will also have a Reconciliation service and a living stations of the cross in the week before Easter break.

For social studies, students have a menu of project ideas to choose from. They need to choose one from each category to complete about a Midwestern state. The projects are due between April 5-7, depending on the day the student signed up to present. We will also have a test that week. Students will have time in class to work on the graphic organizer and drawing part of these, so please make sure they have their materials.

We recently finished our unit on electricity and magnetism. Students did a great job creating series and parallel circuits for their shoebox rooms!

Thursday, March 3, 2011

March 3, 2011

As a review for social studies, students are working on creating a "scrapbook poster" this week. One of the requirements is to include a primary source photograph. We went to the computer lab today to print some pictures from the Library of Congress, but not every student found a picture in time (and some just wanted to explore more at home). To find the pictures we looked at, visit the site below:

America's Library: Explore the States

Students are taking TerraNova tests this week and Monday and Tuesday of next week. Please continue to make sure they are well rested and have eaten breakfast.

The fourth grade class will be featured in the bulletin article this Sunday. The article is about the citrus tasting and will include many pictures!

"Citrus Tasting

Many kids get excited about cupcakes, candy, and other sugary treats. But on February 24th, the cheers coming from St. Sylvester School were loud and clear for a different type of snack-citrus fruits! The Good Food Project came to teach kindergartners through sixth graders about the joys of healthy eating.

Led by Susan Taylor, a Chicago Tribune food critic and founder of the Good Food project (www.thegoodfoodproject), the students learned about different types of citrus fruits, identifying ones they were already familiar with and learning about ones that were a bit more exotic (such as the pummelo). They reviewed vocabulary to use while tasting, and then came the most exciting part of the day-eating! Every student received a piece of a naval orange, Cara Cara navel, Moro orange (a type of blood orange), and a "cutie." They smelled, licked, tasted, and savored, then chose their favorites and debated how each one tasted. Finally, students discussed how they felt after eating the different fruits. Many said that they had more energy and were excited to have more of these fruits at home.

The fourth grade students had a lot to say about the tasting. Dejah said, "They tasted like fruity perfume. I thought the blood orange was going to taste gross, but it was actually pretty sweet." Nathalia learned that "blood oranges are a type of citrus, and some of the oranges have navels, which means belly button." Nicholas said, "I thought it was fun. The cuties are my favorite because they're sweet and juicy." "I learned that every type of fruit tastes different," said Kevin. It was great to have the students so excited about fruit and willing to taste new foods!"



We will have a social studies test on Thursday, March 10, English on Tuesday, March 15, and Science on Friday, March 18.

Congratulations to Dejah, whose essay won second place in the city of Chicago for the DuSable essay contest sponsored by the Chicago History Museum!