Valentines Day Fun!

Last week the Fourth Graders celebrated Valentines Day with a lot of glitter and, more importantly, a lot of love. Early in the week, each girl secretly drew the name of another student in the opposite homeroom. Then, on the day of our party the girls made their "Secret Valentine"a special card. When it was time to exchange cards, all of the Fourth Graders were excited to give each other their creations, and there were lots of smiles, hugs, and laughs all around. 

The Valentines Day party was a huge success thanks to our wonderful parent volunteers.  Thank you as always for the work that you do to make these moments special.  We hope everyone enjoyed Valentines Day as much as the Fourth Graders did!

 

Science: It's Electric!

How can a group of girls get a light bulb to light? They put it together with a battery and a wire to make a complete circuit! This was the way in which the girls began to learn about electricity. Though it took awhile to figure out to connect the pieces, they did it!

They conducted experiments to determine which materials were conductors and which were insulators. Then they used this knowledge as they made their own electronic games.

Playing their games with the 2nd grade students was great fun!

How does  a lightbulb light? Just ask your 4th grader!

After learning the difference between a series and a parallel circuit, the girls experimented by creating their own examples using a set of "Snap Circuits." 

Then they had a final challenge. Each girl added 2 lights and switches, wired in parallel, to the dollhouse she created last year in French class. The results were enlightening!!!

CHINA DAY

Welcome to China Day in Fourth Grade!

We had a wonderful celebration of the Year of the Monkey today in 4th Grade!  The girls dressed in traditional Chinese clothing as well as red, yellow and gold.  As you can see, everyone looked very festive!

The girls participated in five different activities - working with tangrams, making Chinese lanterns, listening to stories about China and Chinese New Year, learning to speak and write Chinese phrases, and painting a FU (good luck) sign. 

We had a delicious lunch together - pork dumplings, honey sesame chicken and broccoli, three types of rice, and of course, fortune cookies!  We ate in the science center, and each girl took home a red envelope with a lucky dragon coin symbolizing luck in the new year.

We ended the day by watching Kung Fu Panda together - what a fun celebration!  Thank you to all our wonderful volunteers who helped us today!  We could not have done it without you.  

Gung Hay Fat Choy!  

French: La Chandeleur

Tomorrow is the French holiday la Chandeleur. It is somewhat similar to our Groundhog's Day. According to tradition: Quand la Chandeleur est claire, l'hiver est par derrière; Chandeleur couverte, quarante jours de perte! Or, in other words, if tomorrow is a clear day, winter is almost over. Be sure to check out the weather, I know I will be keeping my fingers crossed!

The French celebrate this day by making and eating crêpes with family and friends. In French class, we had our own special celebration and the girls enjoyed crêpes au nutella and crêpes à la confiture!