End of Year Picnic

Our picnic was a huge success!  The students were treated to a special luncheon outside. We enjoyed some free play with pals from all classes. We then went to the library for a magic show!  It was amazing! A special thanks to the parents who were able to help out at the picnic and to those who baked goodies and provided watermelon for the 4th graders! 

Hot Diggity Dog!

What a great time we had at our Hot Diggity Dog celebration!  

A special thank you to each family who contributed to our great party!  From dog bone cookies, to paw print cupcakes, to plates, napkins and juice--we appreciate it all!

Thank you also to the families who came. We hope that you were able to learn about what went into this unit and enjoyed reading our finished realistic fiction dog stories. The students loved sharing them with you! 

Young Engineers

Our enrichment teacher, Mrs. Hart, visited our classroom this week to share an engineering workshop with our entire class. Students learned about different towers around the world--The Eiffel Tower in France, CN Tower in Canada, Axum Stelae in Ethiopia, and the Minaret of Jam in Afghanistan--just to name a few.

Mrs. Hart asked students to observe the photographs and share their discoveries about these famous towers with their classmates. Students were then challenged to create a tower of their own. Each student received an 8 1/2 X 11 inch piece of paper and a roll of scotch tape. The rules were that kids could cut and fold the paper. Tape could only be used to keep a section of folded paper together but couldn't be used for attaching the tower to the desk. The tower needed to be strong enough to stand on its own. Mrs. Hart has been doing this project in different schools around the district and the record for the tallest tower was 36 inches. After about 20 minutes of work, two of our students broke the record! See the photo below of their tower!

A special thanks to Mrs. Hart who has worked hard to keep our enrichment program going under some difficult circumstances. We hope the enrichment program can return to Westmere in the future! 

Fun on the Erie Canal

We had a fantastic field trip to the Waterford Visitor's Center this week!  Students participated in a variety of activities while there. First we got on our life jackets and boarded the boat for a trip through the lock. Next we walked along the Old Champlain Canal because it is the most similar to the original Erie Canal we have been learning about in school. Kids followed the original towpath where mules and hoagees once walked. Each student was able to tow a wagon full of 40lb weights along the gravel towpath.  Then, they each had the chance to pull a 400lb model of a barge boat in the canal. Ask your 4th grader to fill you in on which they preferred to tow along!  After a snack by the canal and a few canal games, we moved to the famous tugboat Urger. Students were able to meet the crew of this 100+year old tugboat. We even got a chance to board the tugboat and check out the living quarters, the captain's wheel and the diesel engine that now powers it. Thank you to our chaperones for your help!

Erie Canal

We are learning about the Industrial Revolution in Social Studies. Students completed a webquest on the Erie Canal in our MacBook lab. Mrs. Russo has taught the class a great song about the canal. Ask your 4th grader to sing it to you. Next week the staff from the Waterford Visitor's Center will visit us to prepare us for our field trip to the Erie Canal on May 16th.

Enjoying the sunshine

Reading Workshop moves to the courtyard!

Battle Week

Has your 4th grader told you about Battle Week? We are using an interactive website (revolutionarywaranimated.com) to learn more about some of the battles of the American Revolution. The students are so engaged and interested in learning what happened during each battle. Check it out at home with your child!

Measures for Measuring

Fourth graders were treated to a special presentation by the Scotia-Glenville Children's Museum called "Measures for Measuring." Students worked in small groups on a series of tasks where they were asked to use both the metric and US Customary systems of measurement. Students had to measure their foot and ring size, how high they could jump and their arm span. New tools were introduced that some had never used before: food scale, postal scale, balance scale, beakers, and even a trundle wheel. Students loved the special time machine that kept track of the time of day using marbles. Ask your fourth grader to fill you in on some of the fun we had!

Proud Teacher

Just wanted to let all the parents know how hard your children have been working in school. We have been busy with test preparation in addition to our normal daily routines. The students have been really committed to improving each day. I couldn't be prouder of them!

Mrs. Bini's note about the upcoming NYS English Language Arts (ELA) and Math Tests was sent home earlier this week. If you have any questions or would like to discuss anything with me about your child or the tests themselves, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Best. School. Ever.

There was lots of energy at Westmere today after last night's awesome Farley Follies at FMS! The kids were anxious to learn about the 4th grade teachers' dance performance. I showed them the YouTube clip we used to learn our slick moves. Actually, it was from the video game 'Just Dance 4'. The kids were thrilled and having a ball! Before long, the double doors in our classroom flew open and in rushed Mrs. O'Brien's class to join in on the action. Check out the video! Have a great weekend!

Parent Volunteers Needed

We have some exciting events planned this spring for our 4th graders. The first is a visit from the Scotia-Glenville Children's Museum on Thursday, April 11th from 10:00-11:30. They will be organizing their program called 'Measures for Measuring.' The program is a series of interactive activities for students to practice their measurement skills. We are in need of at least 4 parent volunteers to help make the morning a success. Volunteers would be assigned a measurement activity to supervise (complete with all the materials and directions). If you can assist me that day, please email me or send me a note via backpack mail.

In addition, we have planned an all day field trip to the Waterford Museum on Thursday, May 16th. I am looking for 3 chaperones to attend. Again, please contact me if you are available! Thanks!

Fun with Circuits

We had a blast this week in science. Students are learning about circuits and are building different kinds of electrical circuits. Students LOVED our lesson with the "Energy Ball." Did you hear about it at home? This cool ping-pong looking ball demonstrates how a circuit works and how electricity can pass through our own bodies. We also created circuit testers which allowed us to experiment with a number of materials to see if they were conductors or insulators.

Book Buddies Begin

The excitement level was HIGH as students prepared to meet their book buddies for the first time on Friday! We are partnering with Mrs. Hoffmann's Kindergartners to begin our big buddy-little buddy program. Mrs. Hoffmann visited our classroom on Monday to share her expertise with us. She offered tips to us from everything to how to select the perfect book for a 5 year old student, to how to keep the young students engaged in reading. Ask your fourth grader to tell you about their buddy experience. We will meet with them most Fridays.

Turn on your light!

D. gets his bulb to light first!

Have you heard about the fun we've been having in science? Our electricity unit has us exploring circuits. This week students were given a few items and only one instruction--turn on your light! Students were each given a D-cell battery, wire, and a lightbulb. There was silence as kids began to look at their materials and plan a way to make the bulb light. It took only a minute before we heard students saying, "I can't get it!" or "I need help!" I encouraged them to keep trying and experimenting with different configurations. I explained that any minute someone would get their bulb to light and soon after, word would spread around the room about how he/she did it.

By the end of the lesson, students had discovered several different ways to use their materials to turn on their lights. We created a class anchor chart that we will refer to as we continue our study of electrical circuits. Check out the video clip of the electricians at work!

Valentine's Day

We had a great time decorating cupcakes at our Valentine's Day party!  Kids were each able to frost a half-dozen cupcakes! That couldn't have happened without all of the help from my bakers! Thank you parents! Kids then went to the decorating station and had a blast personalizing their cupcakes. There were so many amazing toppings to choose from. A huge thanks also goes out to all those who donated the toppings!  Have a great winter recess and I will see you all again soon!

Colonial Day in 4th Grade

Colonial Day was a huge success! Kids were so excited to see each other dressed in colonial costumes. All 4th graders walked to the colonial classroom with their payments of corn, animal skins or wood for the fire. Boys were able to sit closest to the fire and the girls and those who had no payment for the schoolmaster had to sit in the back rows of our one room schoolhouse. Students practiced their manners and ABCs. Later, girls were dismissed and attended Dame School where they learned to clean, sew and churn homemade butter. Boys remained for an arithmetic lesson. Girls created samplers and practiced calligraphy while boys learned to knot ropes and practice their tinsmithing skills. We all gathered to play "London Bridges", marbles, clothespin drop and other colonial games. A special thank you to all of the families who joined us in the afternoon for our colonial diary entry readings. Also, thank you to the families who provided our colonial snacks.

Coming soon~ELECTRICITY!

Watch this classic Schoolhouse Rock video about electricity.  Ask your parents if they have seen it!  Be ready to talk with your science partner about 1 fact from the video.  For those who like an extra challenge...try one of these activities and bring your research to class!

1. Find a satellite image of the world at night online.  Try looking for just the United States, or New York State.  Print it out and bring it into class OR email Mrs. Martone the link to share on the projector---martonet@guilderlandschools.org
2. Research the kinds of lightbulbs your family has in your house.  Bring one in to share! 
3. Find out what these acronyms stand for:  CFL and LED.  Can you find an example of these to share with the class?  
4. Most people think of Benjamin Franklin or Thomas Edison when they are learning about electricity.  But, what else can you find out about the history of electricity?  

A few reminders...

This week promises to be a busy one!  I wanted to remind you of a few things...

• Outdoor P.E. this week so all kids will need to bring their snow gear to school!

• Colonial Day on Tuesday.  Kids should come to school dressed for their colonial school day experience.  Parents are invited to our classroom at 1:00 for our writing celebration.  We will have a special colonial snack that day.  Students will eat lunch in the cafeteria as usual.  

• Valentine's Day on Thursday.  A special THANK YOU to all of the families who have volunteered to donate the items needed for our cupcake decorating party.  Each child will need to bring in one container of ready-made frosting AND a clean, empty shoebox to transport their cupcakes home.  Also, don't forget to bring your valentine cards!

• Please return your progress report card envelope to school as soon as possible. Thanks!

A Busy Week

This week fourth graders celebrated the official first day of the second half of the school year.  These next few months will fly by, and soon, they will be 5th graders!   In keeping with the theme, students created 1/2 self portraits.  They are using these portraits as the basis for our newest writing piece, The Real Me.  This piece will help them express both who they are on the outside as well as who they are on the inside.  

Students also visited the MacBook Lab to work on webquest where they were able to review prefixes and suffixes through a series of online games.  Ask your fourth grader to tell you about some of the challenges they had.  

In preparation for Colonial Day on February 12th, students are working with a partner to create a Then & Now booklet that highlights some of the differences between their lives today and those of children living in colonial times. The students are very excited to dress up in period clothing.  We made hornbooks to use in our colonial school.  

Mark your calendars!  Parents are invited to join us on Colonial Day at 1:00 for a special presentation in our classroom.  We will share some historical fiction writing we have been working on in class.  This will also be a great opportunity for Mrs. Martone to meet the families she has not met yet!

Reminders:  

Family Fun Night - Friday, 2/1 from 6-8pm

Please return the blue form to Mrs. Reed-Best if you plan on participating in the Free Throw Contest on 2/7/13.

4th Grade Concert on Thursday, 2/7/13 at 7pm

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