Back Again!

The Trip to Amherst!  Awesome, cool things, let's look at some pictures.......First one...the CT River Valley millions of years ago....nice beach!

 We saw lots of bones, special rocks, gems.....dinosaur tracks, sedimentary plates with fossil prints on them!

 There were some very large skeletons....and some REALLY large skeletons!

 The students took lots of pictures.....marveled at the rock collection, listened intently to our guide at the museum and the planetarium.

We listened as the story of the Connecticut River Valley unfolded......millions of years at a time.









The story of the planets in the planetarium was really cool!  We even got some mug shots with the creatures in the museum.

 We wrote about the trip back in class.  There was so much to write about and so much we learned.  I think it was a great trip.....even though the ice cream happened the day after...but even that was well worth waiting for!

Bye for now,  Mr. B and Ms. Deb

A Few Updates!

Maggie and Spencer work on their lever 

launching.

Greetings folks!  A few events happening this week (and a few not)......
 
   1.  Our Field Trip is on Wednesday.  It may rain, so be sure to have a jacket or raincoat with you.    Also, students should have a few dollars to get an ice cream after lunch if they so desire.  We are taking a bus, all good for adults, and there is no charge for the trip.  We are leaving about 8:30 or so, returning by 2:30 or so.

 
     2.  Dan's Music Concerts have been cancelled this week due to an injury he had. Not sure when     they will be rescheduled at this time.
     3.  Final NECAP Science Test for the 4th graders tomorrow, and that's it for this year!   Hm, I think that is all for announcements...

     So last week we continued reading Arrow Over the Door, and are connecting that story to our Green Mountain Hero as we view life in the 1700's.  We also read a poem from Lucy Terry Prince, believed to be one of the first African-American poets in the new colonies.  We did some research on her as a group on a shared Google document.  It was very interesting what the students found out as we all added information at the same time.  

Max and his lever launching.

    Our math (grade 4) is currently working with volume measurements and lattice multiplication strategies to work out some very long numbers.  We have also use partial products as yet another strategy.  When we return to math on Thursday, we may delve into division with two digit divisors. Rumor has it the Grade 5 math group is also working in this area of computation, but also learning about halving and doubling, and other strategies of multiplication.

    Our current science unit continued with two short videos on Garbage Archeologists and Reduce-Recycle-Reuse.  They were interesting in that one showed how scientists study garbage to learn about people's habits, the other was how to get people's habits about garbage to change to help the earth.

Amity doing science!

Nathan in testing mode!

So for now, that's a quick update on life in 4/5B.  Stayed tuned for more soon!

Thanks,  Mr. B and Ms. Deb.

Happy May!

Greetings and welcome to May! Wow, like 6-7 weeks of school left? 4th graders will be 5th graders, 5th graders will be 6th graders.....how the school year flies by.  So what have we been up to in 4/5 B lately?  Here we go.  We had an interesting School Safety Day on Friday two weeks ago.  Checked out the Smoke Trailer, the fire truck, and 4/5 B students met some former 5B students (as fire fighters)!  They showed us many cool things, discussed safety in homes and fire escape drills.  We also had a school "lockdown" which went very well. We have planned a field trip to Amherst next week on Wednesday, May 15th.  Papers have gone home with most being returned already.  We will be visiting a planetarium and museum with Karen's grade 5 class as well.  Lunches are what they bring or get from the lunchroom.  A little money for ice cream after lunch is necessary.
      We have done many classroom activities over the last two weeks, so let me update you all.

     Our literature/social studies group completed the Green Mountain Hero book last week, and we are now in the process of reading Arrow Over the Door, set during the same time period.  We are using the Green Mountain Hero in writing to work on a Response to Literature piece.  Students are also working on writing a piece based on a picture prompt.
     5th grade math group has worked on volume of containers, and is currently working on lattice multiplication as a strategy to multiply larger numbers.  They seem to like the strategy very well.  Use this link to tell more about the lattice strategy.  http://www.basic-mathematics.com/lattice-method-for-multiplication.html

     We have completed our science unit on simple machines, took lots of things apart to investigate their parts, and did investigations on both inclined planes and lever launchers.  Lots of science and interesting discussions.  We are now doing a unit on Recycling and Natural Resources with Ms. Deb running the unit.
     Our social studies unit, Migration to Vermont, continues with more information on the years following the 1700's.

      Finally,  4th grade Science NECAPS start tomorrow on Wednesday May 8, Thursday May 9, and next Tuesday May 14.  Best preparations?  Sleep, breakfast, and a good disposition.

Until the next time, Mr. B and Ms. Deb