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4th Grade

Course Description

4th Grade Year    ---Ready for Action---that is a 4th grader is a nutshell!
 
From start to finish, this year is about integrating the pre K/K years to 3rd Grade. The kids have been part of a school environment to understand the concept of school, responsibilities, consequences and learning. This year is really cooperative--that means growth personally, socially, and academically.  From the kids sitting with different classmates each day at their tables to having Home Base Bins for their things, 4th grade is learning about being flexible learners and stretching their thinking on what they can do and what we can do together. Through meta-cognition (the term means to think about what and how you are thinking, learning, behaving), the kids reflect and grow in deep meaningful ways. 9 and 10 year olds are curious, inventive, and aware.
 
The concept of time becomes more real. I help the kids realize that we learn in quarters and each one has certain concepts that we focus on. Our weekly schedule is packed with Social Science, Readers and Writers Workshop, Physical, Earth, Biological Science, Chinese, Music, Art, P.E., Cursive and Grammar,Technology, Keyboarding, and Math. We go on plenty of field trips to support their curriculum and many guests or experts come to our class to teach. Many of you may be part of our learning! :) 4th Graders want to see how things relate to each other.
 
The flow of the day is up on the white board in our room. We go over it every morning in our Morning Meeting.  The MM has a format that they learn and will begin to lead in January. The structure has 4 parts- Greeting, Sharing or Reading, Activity, and Announcements. It gives us a chance to get to know each other, set the tone for the day, and learn how to discuss ideas. At the end of the day, we have TBaA. Those letters stand for Think Back and About. During this last half hour, we review what we learned and what we did to learn the material. It is very important to reflect because it helps wire information to long term memory.
 
The kids all have class jobs and work in partners. These jobs rotate weekly. Learning how to talk to each other and work with a partner is very important in life. Negotiating and Compromising are things I do with them if there is a problem. They have to learn the skills of conversation and listening, problem solving and building relationships of all types.
 
The main tool for communication, besides our website, is through the Planner. It is a calendar type of tool that really helps kids learn to organize themselves. It is very useful for Parents to write to me or messages to their kids. When you notice their learning-- they love it! It is in the Planner that we write the TBaA. It gives you a way, parents, to talk about what is happening each day. 
 
Homework means reading. It has been proven through research that doing that one thing each day after school makes a huge difference in learning. Please have your child read every day/night for 40 minutes. They have reading logs to keep up with this and 3 are required to be filled out each quarter. There are 15 lines on each-- so you get the idea-- it adds up to good habits and increased stamina for focus. They can read or be read to. The goal is an sustained 40 minutes. Other homework is usually work that isn't completed. That happens on occasion, but there is plenty of time to come in at lunch-- 15 minutes or before school to do those things. The kids are very tuned in to if they have puttered or progressed through an assignment or project. :)
 
Assessments or tests are integrated in each day. I let the kids know that how they behave, how they work, what they get done, how well they work with a partner, how work gets done, and what they have learned is measured.  The goal is to have them take ownership of their learning, get them to ask questions, and for us to create a dynamic and interesting space.There are many ways to check in on how they are doing- through verbal or written communication, or projects, or having them reflect with a partner. Even doing 'thumbs up or down' with a few questions helps the whole class tune in. Cooperation for all to learn is key. That is why the kids remember to do Job #1 Learn, and Job #2 Let Others Learn.
 
Student Teacher Parent Conferences are a very essential piece of finishing up the first quarter. Each student will lead their parent(s) through several academic areas and discuss with their parents and me what they learned, and how they learned it. It is a wonderful time for the kids to see us all together. I love these conferences because I get to see how proud each child is telling about their work and how interested and amazed the parents are seeing through this conversation where their child is academically. 
 
Parents are always welcome to visit our class and if you want to make an appointment to have some sit down time together, that is great! My goal is to have 4th grade be a wonderful stimulating year.:)
 
Birthdays-- we Love them. If your child wants to share a treat, that is great. We sing Happy Birthday and share the treats at 2:30.
 
4th Graders are very capable and the more they find out what they can do, the more they will do. 
I look forward to being with your child this year and getting to know you too. 
 
Thanks, Ms. Bonzo
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Posts

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Argonaut Newspaper Staff was great to work with...again!!
 
They had the kids in 5 different stations to learn about all aspects of journalism--print to radio-- photography, news. It was fun to see how much the kids learned about how publications get put together and how the people that create them have to work together.
 
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Perimeter and Area content application with homemade chocolate chip cookies.:)
After having a Math Discussion about what kind of math they use with making cookies-- relevant answers included thinking about measurement and time, degrees and procedure-- the kids worked in partner groups to figure out the square units of a cookie.
Each person realized that taking a round shape and getting an accurate square unit measurement for perimeter and area was more complicated. After finishing the math calculations and sketches, they did the one really important part of math-- division or fractions. The math of sharing They divided their cookie in half. And, smiled a lot.
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Great Semester with UI Ed students Ms. Merritt and Ms. Brocke
The kids have really enjoyed learning with them.

Field Trips

 HI!! If you are able to join the 4th grade on interesting content connected field trips, please do!
April 25-- UI Argonaut and Blot offices
April 26-- UI Engineering Expo
May 30-- Nez Perce Museum in Lapwai
Get departure times from your kids-- their Planners have the details!
 

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2nd Place!  Look at how great we did as a school and community to take care of the environment! We are the only Idaho School!  There were over 700 schools involved around the country this year--100 more than last year!
 
We are still collecting and we all make a difference. Spread the word and help more people get involved! :)
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Mayor's Environmental Award for Teachers-- Ms. Hoffmeister and I were honored to receive recognition for the work we have been doing to keep plastic out of the landfills and reused by the company Trex. To date, over 1200 pounds have been collected by us and our students in less than 4 months. Our community is very interested in doing things to help the environment.
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Ms. Dawes taught about Climate Change with 6 experiments that demonstrated different ways that the Green House Gases affect our planet.
With a PowerPoint Presentation and so full of science facts and explanations, the kids learned about how heat really works. Thank you for such an interactive and fact-filled lesson about Climate Change. the solar and wind models at the end were inspirational.
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Trenton wows us all with playing two memorized songs this afternoon!
 He has been talking about bringing his guitar all year and today he did and what a great performance. He has practiced and superbly played two songs. The kids gave him a big round of applause! It is so neat to see kids share what they are doing! 

Mayor's Earth Day Awards-- Monday Night, 7 p.m.

Great acknowledgment of all the work of the 4th and 8th graders collecting all the plastic for our school. We are getting an award for our ability to take care of the environment. The award will be given at the City Council Meeting this coming Monday at City Hall, 2nd floor at 7 p.m. Please come and celebrate with us!! Hope to get as many 4th graders to be there possible!
 
We have collected for our communities from Pullman to Troy around 1200 pounds in 4 1/2 months! That is plastic has been kept out of the landfill! Plus, the kids see that taking action can really make good things happen.

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Raincatchers set up by school composter for 24 hours of data gathering.
 
Yesterday with background information about the next 24 hours percentage of rain in the weather forcast and the knowledge of having gathered rain before, and since we are studying area and perimeter in math, the kids and I set up an array of raincatchers.  It was fun to see their faces when we put 4 rows of 5 catchers into the moist grass.
We did this experiment becasuse we wondered if they will all collected the same amount all together. When the kids took the raincatchers home in the fall, it was very different-- lots of variables from trees in the way to dogs.
Knowing so much more now and with fewer variables, they each gave a prediction about how much liquid (water) would be collected. The catchers will hold 40 mm of liquid. A few students thought that would be the  total amount collected, which is how much the raincatchers will hold when full, while others thought as little as 3 mm. At 1:45 this afternoon, we shall see the total, but we will give them a look this morning.
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Blot Magazine came for a visit!
 University of Idaho Senior Journalism student Olivia Heersink and two photographers came to our class today to talk about education. The magazine is doing an article on Idaho's system and they have visited classrooms and talked to teachers, students, and policymakers. Hopefully, some of the pictures of the kids will make it into the magazine's next issue. I will let you know.
 
It was great to have these university students delving into our important institution of education and getting people to think deeply about it.
 
 
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Classic Radio Shows Tomorrow at 12:20 in the 4th Grade Classroom!
 
The students have been in Book Clubs this quarter and the final part of that work has been a project creating a script for a radio show from the story their group read. It has been a hard and interesting project!
The big day for the performance is tomorrow. If you are able to join us--that would be great! The stories are about 10 minutes or less in length. Plan on an hour for the total time.
 
Also, if you can't attend, during conferences your child can show you the whole thing.
 
Thank you, Ms. Bonzo
 
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Radio Show Scripts are being written by the Book Club Groups.
 
3rd Quarter's Readers' and Writers' Workshop Project is just about done!
 
There are so much collaboration and learning what it takes to work with a group toward a goal. Reading a book together is the easy part --- they know now. The real education has been learning to listen openly and speak carefully as they write the scrips for the shows. We have had such growth!
 
Today everyone had a chance to talk with the microphone behind the makeshift radio I am making for the Thursday performances. The kids learned quickly the right way to share a mike, speak into it clearly, and use it as a group. It was really cool. I am looking forward to hearing all the shows.
 
 

3rd Quarter Student Parent Teacher Conferences

The kids have the info for signing up in their planners. The day of Conferences is April 5 and this is an optional conference. It is always great to have more time to talk together, so if you are able to come in for 20 minutes with your child, it is a good way to start the final quarter of 4th grade by reflecting on the year.  It helps the kids stay focused too!