May 19, 2011

The science fair last week was a great success! The students did a wonderful job of explaining their projects, and it was interesting to see all the topics they'd chosen, including catapults, rock candy, and video games. Congratulations to our fourth grade winners: Kevin and Nicholas, Robert, and Victor.

Congratulations as well to Ismael and Chelsea, whose essays about freedom came in first and second place, respectively, for the VFW contest.





Students are currently working on literature circles in reading class. Books they've chosen to read include Tiger Rising, Shiloh, Who Stole the Wizard of Oz? and Edgar Allen's Official Crime Investigation Notebook. They've also been working on writing a research paper. The fourth graders learned how to take notes and write a bibliography, organize their notes into an outline, and are now drafting their papers.

Upcoming tests include spelling, which will be this Friday, and social studies, which will be next Wednesday.

May 5, 2011

Happy Easter everyone! Even though Easter Sunday has passed, we continue to celebrate this season in the Church until Pentecost.

The science fair is quickly approaching. The students have had many great ideas, and have had time to work in the class on their presentations. The projects are due into school this Wednesday, on Thursday evening families are invited from 5:30-7:30 to come and view everybody's projects, and on Friday the fourth grade will be sharing their projects with the rest of the school and the judges.

In writing, we've begun working on research projects. The students learned how to find the information needed to write a bibliography, chose a "just the right size" topic, and are currently researching their topics and taking notes. Next week, we'll begin to outline and draft the papers.

Students are also working on creating scrapbooks for characters from The Bad Beginning, one of our most popular books. Many students have chosen to keep on reading books in the series. They had time in class to work on the scrapbook yesterday and today, and will have time tomorrow. To give students enough time to complete these and the science fair projects, these will not be due until May 16.

We're going to the Cubs game tomorrow! Since it is still a bit chilly outside, and we may be sitting in the shade the whole time, please make sure your child wears warm clothes. We will eat lunch in school before we leave, but students are welcome to bring money for snacks. They may bring cameras, as long as they can be responsible for them and hold them the whole time.