The gorillas are here!!!

Thanks to several of our Bryn Mawr friends, fourth grade has now officially adopted not one but two gorillas in the wild through the World Wildlife Foundation.  In addition, the fourth grade space is now home to two adorable gorillas, Buddy (on the right) and Tag.  We are thrilled to welcome our silverback gorilla companions.  

Our journey all began with reading The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate last summer.  If you haven't had a chance to read this wonderful book, you should! 

Please come visit the newest members of the class when you are on campus!

Science: The Attraction of Magnets!

The 4th graders began their study of magnets by observing that opposite poles attract each other while similar poles repel. 

They conducted experiments to determine what materials are attracted to a magnet, what materials magnetic force can travel through, and whether two magnets together have more force than a single magnet.

Guess what? Magnetic force can travel through an earlobe!

The girls played Magnetic Sailing games in which they flipped the polarity of magnets to move a magnetized "sailboat" across a pond.

They created their own original magnetic games...

which they shared with their classmates as they explained how to play them.

Their final project was to create a magnetically levitated train car from a styrofoam block. The magnets had to be carefully attached to the block so that the train car would balance and glide down the inclined track on a cushion of air. The girls tried adding extra magnets and/or adding more weight to see whether either would help the car travel farther. They kept careful records and shared their data with their classmates. Using the results from these experiments, the girls prepared their train cars for the final race. It was an exciting way to complete the unit!

Real World Math!!

Imagine you have a budget of $400 for a family of 4 to spend on a weekend.  You have some items on your shopping list you need to get (batteries, light bulbs, detergent, and vitamins), you can eat in or eat out, go to the movies or roller skating or stay in for a family game night.  Just keep in mind that if you do go out, you have to watch your milage because gas costs money.  This was the scenerio that the 4th grade students were given today.  They could choose to work with a partner or alone. There was no "right answer" to the weekend they planned but there was TONS of number crunching as they planned a perfect (and affordable) weekend!

Finishing up our WWII unit!

In Fourth Grade Language Arts and Social Studies, we are finishing up a cross-curricular study of WWII.  We started the unit by reading Number the Stars, by Lois Lowry which brought to life the European aspect of the war.  After completing that book, our classes discussed how Japan and even the United States also became involved in the war.  The girls have been fascinated and deeply engrossed in learning about this time in history.  In small groups the girls are reading more historical fiction books about this time period and how people in Europe, Asia, and America were all affected.

Last week, as we discussed the role that the United States played in WWII we looked at some of the popular propaganda posters of the time.  We talked about American icons like Rosie the Riveter and Uncle Sam, and we looked at advertisements that were meant to encourage women to join the work force, entice men to enlist in the army, dissuade Americans from discussing war secrets for fear of spies, etc.  Then, the girls created their own versions of such posters with their own "catchy" slogans and bright illustrations.  Check out their work below!

New Floor in the Music Room!

Ask your daughter about our brand new marley floor!
This vinyl floor covering makes the floor safer for all
of the dancing and moving that the girls do during music class.

Happy Halloween!

Thank you to the parents who brought drinks and goodies for our Hallween party! Here are a few pictures of our creative costumes!

From the Library

Fourth graders started the year with a hands-on non-fiction mystery. It was a fun way to learn the Dewey Decimal System. They collected and displayed non-fiction books with the lowest and highest call numbers in a given range.  Some had a wide range (001-99), others had a short range (375-398.24). Then, by looking at the titles, they hypothesized categories for each range of hundreds. The 500s, for example, had The Magic School Bus and the Science Fair Expedition at 500, Rocks and Minerals at 549, and Chimpanzees at 599.885. I then showed them just the titles of ten more books and challenged them to place each in the right range. Does a book about weather fit with the 500s or does it belong in the 900s? We discussed why some hundreds have so many more books than others, at least in our library. The girls are now more able to find books  independently in the non-fiction sections of the library. They were interested to know that most libraries use the same system to organize their non-fiction books.

Tech

During the month of October, the girls have continued to work on duct tape and black out poetry as well as Lego Challenges, Take-A-Parts, and Cricut.  At the Take-A-Part station the girls choose an item to take apart and see what it looks like on the 
inside.  The girls have also learned how to use the Cricut software and machine.  Once we have all of the silhouettes cut out, we will be making LED paper circuits!  

Music: Bryn Mawr and the BSO

The view from here, just before this multimedia concert begins!!

French: Visitons l'Afrique Francophone!

Bienvenue en Afrique! In French class, the girls have been learning about French-speaking (or francophone) African countries. This week, girls in both classes are giving petite présentations on a country. Each girl introduces the country in French, states two interesting facts about it in English, and describes the flag in French. They have been researching and working very hard! The presentations have been très intéressantes so far.

Language Arts

October 18th, 2015 - Language Arts

The Fourth Grade girls have wrapped up a unit on The One and Only Ivan, the book the whole class read for summer reading.  The unit began with the girls researching four different aspects of taking care of our world's animals, particularly gorillas like Ivan.  Each group of girls read books to find information on their topic.  As a group, they then made a poster and gave a presentation of their findings to the class.  To end the unit, each student wrote Mrs. Nothstein a letter to encourage her and the Bryn Mawr Lower School to adopt a gorilla in the wild through the World Wildlfe Foundation on behalf of the 4th grade girls!  We are eagerly anticipating her final decision.  Stay tuned! 

As a class, we have also just finished reading Lois Lowry's Newbery Award winning novel, Number the Stars. What a wonderful story!  It has encouraged the girls to learn more about World War II and the events that took place during that time period.  We are also reading Who Was Anne Frank? to further expand our background knowledge, or schema, for this time period in the history of the world.  As you can see from these two units on animals and World War II, an important focus of our work this year is to learn more about global events in both the present and the past!

Happy October!

Music: Recorder Composition

In order to spread out, this group choose to work in the music room "backyard!"

Factor Fun!

Having a dinner party? How many tables will you have?  How many people will be at each table? You can use factors to come up with all the ways you can seat your guests. We did this in math class as we are currently working on factors, multiples, and divisibility rules. Check out all the ways we can seat 24 guests.

Music: Accompanying a Folk Dance

Half of the girls are dancing, and half of the girls are accompanying the dance with a drone, a melodic ostinato, and a color part.

Busy in Tech

Fourth grade has been busy in tech this month!  The girls have learned a variety of new iPad skills and apps.  During the first week of school, the girls learned how to use the app PicCollage then use this as the home and lock screen background image.  We have also learned about acceptable use (how to hold and travel with the iPad, rules of use, etc.).  Next, the girls learned about Google Drive and how to create and add to folders.   This year, students will be able to save work to Google Drive.  Information on accessing your daughter's Drive will be coming home in the future so that you can view the work from home!  In addition to Google Drive, the girls have also learned how to use Edmodo, a learning management system, to communicate with teachers and fellow students.  We have started exploring the Creation Station centers which include making with duct tape and blackout poetry!