Ms. O'Brien's 4th Grade Class Blog

The last day of school is Tuesday, June 19.  The 18th and 19th are both minimum days.

We are practicing the 6 Pillars of Character…and we hope you will join our efforts in making our community a better place. 

We are getting hands-on experience with LIFE SCIENCE.  Today we learned more about food webs and planted sunflowers in the garden.

We even got to hold this python, a carnivore!

We have started fractions and will continue next week up until the Quarter 2 Math Assessment on Thursday and Friday.

Watch the video below to be sure you understand equivalent fractions, then do some of the exercises and the couple of videos that follow this one on the KhanAcademy website, like “Comparing Fractions” and more.

Equivalent Fractions at Khan Academy

We have begun a new language arts unit: The Power of Words.  We will examine famous speeches, songs, and other written texts along with the people who wrote or spoke them.  We will study and practice the art of oral and written communication.

Students are beginning their research projects by choosing a famous person who has used the power of words to make a positive contribution to society.  We are in the process of asking “just right” questions to research; ones that are not too narrow (answered in one sentence) and not too broad (too much to answer in a paragraph.)  Next step:  using key words & synonyms from our questions to search and find information.  Then we will highlight and synthesize information and put it together in a written document.  Final products will be typed and include an image.

Extended due date: Monday, February 13, 2012.

Just a reminder that we return to school this Monday, January 9, 2012.

Happy New Year!  I hope everyone had a restful break.  Great job to those 9 students that completed their blog posts on “kidblog” of writing in the voice of a fictional character.  Check out kidblog to see them.  If you haven’t completed yours yet, I hope to see it by Sunday night!

Check out new information on Math, Language Arts, & Social Studies pages!

Assignment:  Write a new post in the voice of the main character from a book or movie (3-6 sentences.)  Use a catchy title.  Add an image.  See my example below:

A Message from Marty

             When Shiloh looks into my eyes, it’s like he’s beggin’ me to keep him.  I look back at ‘em, trying to let him know I won’t give him up.  No way on earth I’m gonna let Judd Travers have Shiloh back.  Thinkin’ I’ll make some kinda’ deal with him.  Anything to save that dog.

The students in room 10 really made a difference in their community this Thanksgiving.  Each student wrote a letter to the elderly residents of Sharon Care Center on West 3rd Street.  I hand delivered our letters and drawings to the residents on Wednesday and they were warmly accepted by the Activities Director who was so grateful and vowed to hand them out Thanksgiving day.  I am awaiting the photos he took showing our letters being given out.  Thank you, students, for making a difference.

Great news!  All LAUSD parents will be receiving a $15 gift card via The Wasserman Foundation to spend at donorschoose.org on teachers’ classroom project proposals.  Our class has a new project posted!  Check it out!

http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/proposal.html?id=680422

This project is for a document camera and laptop speakers.  These items will make a difference in our classroom to improve clarity of presentations for students.

(Project #680422)

Hello Families,

Today your child took home a letter explaining how to log into Pearson SuccessNet to access the complete Envision math program.  You and your child now have access to all of their math materials, animated video clips, and a helpful glossary.  Be sure to explore by clicking the PearsonSuccess link on our blogroll.