Day 169 - Student Math Teachers - Mr. Daley - Fox Hill Grade 4

This post originally appeared on Mr. Daley's Blog

This year in Room 20, I provided students with an opportunity to teach a math lesson to their classmates. Five students expressed interest by responding to a number of questions and statements, including:

• Tell me why you deserve this opportunity.
• What have you done in Room 20, at Fox Hill, and at home this year to demonstrate your academic, social, and emotional growth?
• What are some ways you have been the “1” this year?
• What strategies would you use to maintain a quiet, organized classroom while conducting your lesson?

Earlier this year, Jackie B. and Mikey W. conducted a lesson on "multiples" as part of our fractions unit. This past week, Daniel C., Sades M., and Sam P. taught a "units of time" lesson as part of our measurements unit.

I was extremely please with each student teacher's preparation and delivery of his and her lesson. All teachers exhibited sound content knowledge and showed great classroom management skills. In both lessons, every one of their students was an active, energized participant during the lessons. Kudos to Jackie, Mikey, Daniel, Sades, Sam, and their Room 20 students for an informative, entertaining, hard-working two hours of instruction and learning!

Here are some photos of "Student Math Teachers In Action!"

Day 151 - Biography Book Report "Wax Museum" - Mr. Daley - Fox Hill Grade 4

This post originally appeared on Mr. Daley's Blog 

Students in my ELA class recently each read a biography of a famous / important person in history. After reading their biography, students wrote a book report of their well-known person. They then dressed up as that person and participated in a Wax Museum as that historical figure. "Visitors" to the Room 20 Wax Museum were Mrs. Doyle's 1st grade students. When 1st graders shined a flashlight on a "waxed figure," the figure came to life and told the story about his/her life.

Waxed figures included: Paul Revere, Christopher Columbus, Clara Barton, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Michelle Obama, Princess Diana, Abraham Lincoln, Jackie Robinson, Harry Houdini, Eleanor Roosevelt, Michelle Kwan, Babe Ruth, Elizabeth Blackwell, Betsy Ross, Sacajawea, Shaquille O'Neal, and Dottie Kamenshek.

Here are some pictures from the Wax Museum.

Day 135 - A Visit To The JFK Library - Patrick Murphy - Fox Hill Library Media Specialist

This post originally appeared on the Fox Hill Libaray/Media Center Website

On Wednesday, April 1st, I was fortunate enough to attend the Sources of Inspiration conference at the JFK Library in Boston. I got to meet authors and illustrators Robert Burleigh, Bryan Collier, and Elizabeth Partridge, and hear them speak about their art and their books. They also autographed a few books for Fox Hill! The conference was put on by both the JFK Library and the National Park Service, so I also had a great time chatting with the park rangers from the John F. Kennedy National Historical Site. Both are wonderful places to visit if you are looking for something exciting to do! Below are some links and a few photographs from the day!

John F. Kennedy National Historic Site

JFK Presidential Library

Day 121 - Light! - George Norman - Fox Hill Grade 5

Students in Rooms 11 and 14 have been investigating light!  They are making observations, asking questions about what they observe and carrying out research to find the answers to those observations!

Light through prisms

Recording observations on shared google doc

reflections from a spoon

view in a spectroscope

Day 110 - Culmination of the Simple Machines / Invention Unit - Mr. Daley - Fox Hill Grade 4

This post first appeared on Mr. Daley's Blog 

As a culminating activity of the simple machines and invention science unit, your student scientists were assembled into groups of 4 and tasked with designing and building a "contraption" that would hold a raw egg, that when dropped from a height of 3 meters, would not break. The materials each group could use to build their contraption included sixteen 20 cm. long plastic straws, three 1 meter long pieces of masking tape, one pair of scissors, and the raw egg. Each group was given 30 minutes to design and construct its "egg drop contraption." Of the 8 groups in Rooms 19 and 20, three groups successfully designed contraptions, i.e., the raw egg in their contraption, when dropped from a height of approximately 3 meters, did not break. Congratulations to all participating scientists!

Some SUCCESSFUL"Egg Drop Contraptions"

Some UNSUCCESSFUL
"Egg Drop Contraptions"

Day 44 - November News - Mrs. Lee - Fox Hill Fifth Grade

This post originally appeared on Mrs. Lee's Blog 

VOTE TUESDAY!!

No school Tuesday, November 4.

November already!  October flew by so quickly!  We accomplished quite a bit this month in all our classes.  Here are some highlights and happenings:

In Math we are finishing Topic 3, multiplication, and will have a test on Wednesday of this week.  Please help your child by providing time at home for review of multiplication facts. Reflex Math is a great way to do this.  Your child was given a username and password at the beginning of the year.
The next topic covers division, so it is crucial that students have a secure grasp on those facts!

In Social Studies students did a great job on the chapter test which covered early European explorers.  We continue this topic in chapter 4 with a look at conquistadors and early settlements in America.  This will include a look at Thanksgiving, a timely topic!  There will also be a project in which students will use their research and note-taking skills to write a book about explorers on an app called Book Creator.  Much of this will be in school, but to be prepared students will write drafts of their book at home. More information will be posted soon on a page of my blog. 

In ELA we are finishing Number the Stars this week.  The children have enjoyed working in cooperative literature circle groups to discuss this wonderful book.  Each child has a turn to be Discussion Director, Summarizer, Word Finder, Connector, and Literary Luminary.  Students check my blog pages to find out which job they have and what their responsibilities are each time we meet for discussion.  As I circulate through the groups I have been impressed with most students' preparedness, as well as the level of conversation. We still have some work to do on identifying themes, but they are using the strategies of visualization and making inferences, as well as noting figurative language. There will be a final assessment on Friday, Nov. 7.

 Also in ELA we are continuing grammar lessons and writing workshop. Halloween gave us an opportunity to stretch our creativity and build writing stamina.  Students wrote "round robin" style, continuing another's story until each of the five-member group had a chance to contribute to every story.  Classical music enhanced the experience, and we enjoyed reading the stories on Friday.

Speaking of Halloween, we have to thank Mrs. Fine and Mrs. Russo for helping us with our pumpkin decoration.  The results were spectacular and six happy class members went home with a fancy pumpkin to celebrate the holiday with an original piece of pumpkin art!

Elmo, AKA Mr. Shannon, lends a hand!

Concentration

Creativity

Teamwork

 

Thanks to Quinn M. for these awesome pumpkin pics!

Finally, our student council has begun, and students are tacking some terrific projects.  UNICEF boxes went home last week, and we encouraged children to collect money while Trick-or-Treating. Send in the boxes any time this week. Our students are also working on a fifth grade newsletter, and study buddies, among other ideas.  Congratulations to Sophie Z., our class representative for room 13.  I am also proud of all our candidates who took the challenge and ran for this important position: Halle O., Sean C., and Ricky S.  They are all great role models who show what it means to "Be the One."

Day 28 - Light Houses - Mr. Scarpulla, Fox Hill Elementary Art

This post first appeared on Mr. Scarpulla's Blog

Fourth graders are working on completing a final copy of a lighthouse.  They were asked to create a scene that included a lighthouse that included depth.  I hope that you can see the illusion of depth in their pictures.

Day 8 - We Are Fifth Grade! - Mrs. Lee - Fox Hill Elementary Fifth Grade

This post originally appeared on Mrs. Lee's Blog

     What a great start!  The fifth grade is here and ready to learn.  We are learning about each other, learning new routines, and learning what it takes to be a team player and role model at Fox Hill School.  Last week our students had an outdoor team building activity that aimed to show how we can work together.  We have also created classroom constitutions around four central principles: respect, responsibility, safety, and kindness.  These constitutions are hanging in our classrooms, and posters reinforcing these ideas and rules are all over the school.  Students have discussed their hopes and dreams for this year, and in order to make them come true we all need to do our best and help each other by adhering to these principles of behavior. 

     Of course, we have also jumped right in to our curriculum!  In Math Topic I focuses on place value.The parent letter sent home on Monday explains this in a bit more detail. This year we expand our understanding of place value with decimals, and convert fractions to decimals. 

     My ELA class is busy planting the seeds for future writing in our Writer's Notebooks, and we have also been writing about reading in special Reader's Notebooks.  We are reading Morning Girl by Michael Dorris, and sharing our thinking about the figurative language and characters.

     Social Studies is a subject near and dear to my heart because I love history.  This year we travel through time to learn about the original people of the Americas, European exploration, colonization, the American Revolution, and the beginnings of the United States and its new government.  In every area of study we strive to use the most accurate and reliable sources.  Students will be taught to be thoughtful readers of primary and secondary sources so they may go on to become more independent learners and informed citizens.

     We will have the use of iPads and Chromebooks to make sure students can use technology efficiently and productively.

     I hope you will find this blog an easy way to keep informed about the happenings in fifth grade. You can link to other teacher and district blogs and websites on the left side of this page.

       It has been great meeting with parents.  If you haven't come in for a brief conference and would like to, please let me know and I will call you.  I look forward to working with you this year.  See you at Back To School Night on Tuesday, September 23!