The students finished their Cycle of Change Project. We worked on this project for the past 5 weeks. Students had topics on Unhealthy Eating, Arab Spring (Egypt), Endangered Animals, and Oil Spills. This project entailed gathering information, putting together a research report, analyzing their information, coming up with a resolution, and putting together a presentation.

The Social Studies Fair was a real treat for the students to show off all they had learned.
Below are some pictures from that day.

The students performed their last reader’s theater for the year.

They were stories of famous fairy tales from a different point of view. Everyone got a kick out of them. The class has done well improving on their intonation, expression, and fluency. It’s fun to see so many of them get into character.

We also finished our Social Studies project and excited to share ideas we have. The Social Studies fair is this Tuesday from 1-1:50pm for our class.

Fairy Tales Reader's Theater

Reader's Theater

I felt like we pushed the students a lot this week! I am so impressed with the work they are doing. The students have finished researching their social studies Cycle of Change topic. They have also sorted through their notes and figured out which ones are important or not.

Many students have also finished their biography projects. That shows great responsibility and initiative. As well, it’s been great to hear how many are enjoying the Roald Dahl literature circle groups. We hope many will decide to read some of his other books.

I can’t believe how much they have grown since the beginning of the year and excited to see their continued growth as we approach the last part of the year.

We are well underway with many new topics of study here in the fourth grade.

In Social Studies, the students have started their third trimester study on a specific topic. They will be researching their topic according to the cycle of change that we have been learning about all year.

Take a peek at what the students are doing.

Cycle of Change Project Website

The fourth grade will also be starting literature circles. Each student is reading a Roald Dahl book and will be discussing their book with other students across the classrooms.

Lastly, your child should have chosen a biography book by now to read for their third trimester reading project. Some are already done with the entire project! Please check in to see how your child is doing.

We finished our ISAT testing this week! The students worked really hard and put in their best effort.

In the midst of testing, we studied the anatomy of a limerick and started writing our own. Look on your child’s blog soon to read their limerick. We also spend the afternoons continuing our study on light energy. We examined our pupils with the lights off, on, and then the transition that occurs when we go from dark to light. The students ended the week with an experiment on color, materials, and light reflection. I was impressed with the conclusions and applications the class came up with by looking at the data we collected. We will be finishing off this energy unit this week before we leave for spring break.

I returned back for the first day after my maternity leave to be greeted by warm smiles and open hearts. It’s great to be back in the classroom and to start interacting with the students again.

If you need anything or have questions, you can contact me at rohg@avoca37.org

I look forward to finishing the rest of the year with the students and the units and projects we have still yet to learn this year!

Well, 4A certainly had a couple of weeks filled with changes!  Mrs. Roh surprised us all with the birth of Bethany Grace Roh on Thanksgiving!  We are so thankful for that wonderful news.  Next on the list of things to be thankful for would be a very successful week with the transition of a new teacher in 4A.  The class welcomed me with lots of hard work, fun stories, great behavior and team work.

Last week, in Language Arts, we worked in groups to read about Simple Machines and all the wonderful things we use them for at home, in hospitals and at construction sites. The class followed up all of that new information by writing User Manuals for a simple machine of their own.  We also had a few days to write poems for a Poetry Contest.  The poems were amazing!  I will submit the poems to Story Works this week.

In Mrs. Roh’s math class we learned everything there is to know about polygons. We will be finishing up Unit 4 this week!

We also finished up our Science Unit.  Our class raced their handmade cars and completed a Rube Goldberg project where they made a diagram using 4 to 6 simple machines to complete a task.  Some students set the machines up to fry an egg, or to wake them up in the morning.  Everyone presented the Rube Goldberg project using the document camera.  We were blown away by the creativity that was exhibited in their projects.  On Friday the class built their own roller coasters on their computers. They had a chance to test them out and improve them.  I could have heard a pin drop during this activity.  They were so involved in it.

Also, we all worked together to raise money for Bernie’s Books!  Each day last week we collected pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters to reach a school goal of raising $2,000.00 to buy new books for children that don’t have books to read at home.  We will find out the results this week.

I also want to thank Chris and Jonathan for having lunch with me on Friday.  Chris won a “lunch with the teacher” award when his name was picked out of the ticket basket.  He chose Jonathan to join us.  It has been my favorite lunch at Avoca West to date.  Daniel also won 20 minutes of computer time when his name was picked, too.  Also, lots of “All Star Awards” were given for helping out this week!

Wow, what a week!  I look forward to spending time with your kids while Mrs. Roh has a few more weeks to bond with Bethany Grace.  Please feel free to contact me through email at any time.  I look forward to meeting all of you soon!

Thank you,

Ms. Suzy Adams

I wanted to share the good news that our baby girl, Bethany, was born on Thanksgiving Day.

Suzy Adams has already transitioned into our class and she can be reached at adamss@avoca37.org

Thank you for all your support these past few weeks!

Mrs. Roh

The students did a wonderful job with the fourth grade musical! It really came together at the end. Each student took responsibility in learning their parts, lines, songs, and dance/movements.  The musical was a great addition to our American Revolution unit. We learned about the music and emotions that went along with personal lives of people who lived during that time.

The class right before taking the stage!

The class backstage (while the other class was on the floor doing their dance)

This week we had our first Reader’s Theater. Half the students practiced a play about King Midas. We learned that one of the lessons from King Midas is not to get too greedy. We need to share what we already have instead of wanting more. The other half of the class did a play on the Mill Girls. We learned about how many kids our age used to work long hours in horrible conditions. However, there were young children, such as Harriet who stood up against the horrible treatment and demanded better rights.

The students did a great job getting into character! It showed that they understood what the character was feeling and thinking. They did wonderfully reading with expression and fluency.

Reader's Theater – King Midas

Reader's Theater – The Mill Girls