On Monday, students were putting the finishing touches on their special poems for their grandparents and special guests. Each one was a compilation of memories they’ve shared over the years. Students also spent time working on their song lyrics which will be submitted to our professional songwriting partner next week.
Also on Monday, Penny shared a delicious homemade treat for her state of Connecticut – a cinnamon apple cookie.
After the show in Brown Gym, grandparents made their way to the classrooms where they were greeted, given tours of the classrooms, and introduced to teachers and friends. We loved having them!
This week the students began another unit of morphology, learning -al/-ial, -ty/-ity, and the Latin base fer. They came up with lots of great words and illustrations to help them remember the meanings.
In addition, we wrapped up our first spelling-vocabulary list from Three Times Lucky. Because it’s a mystery, some of the words are related to the judicial system.
We read two more chapters of the novel this week, and we are taking notice of similes and connections while we practice making inferences.
Much of our time this week was spent writing. Students are busy crafting songs, as well as pieces for their grandparents.
In social studies this week, we kicked off our final region – the West! Students labeled maps with states and capitals, and we read the chapter in our book about the region’s unique geography. In addition, two students shared state snacks. Samuel brought in California rolls which were in invented in L.A., and Maya brought New Jersey’s favorite treat – saltwater taffy.
We celebrated John’s 10th birthday on Monday with crumbl cookies for his class.
We also attended two fantastic assemblies this week. The first was the Native American Heritage Assembly hosted by Ensworth parent, Charles Robinson. He and some of his children shared about their culture with the students, and involved them in some of their dances.
Today, after the whirlwind that was the Pancake Breakfast, we were treated to a morning of music from Ensworth high school students. Encore, the Jazz Band, and the Rock Band all performed and helped everyone burn off some of that sugar!
In Morning Meeting this week, the kids enjoyed sharing about their grandparents, playing games of “Good Morning, Mr. President” and No Talk Toss, the ‘no teeth’ greeting, and more.
Indoor recess this week was filled with creativity. Students enjoyed playing games and building chain reactions like in science class.
This week in grammar, we continued to work on end marks. We examined a passage from a popular children’s book from which all punctuation had been removed. The students were quick to find places they needed to pause and add periods. The next step is applying this skill to their own writing!
This week, I read aloud two poems by author Charles R. Smith, Jr. – one about basketball and the other about baseball. The students picked one of their hobbies – such as knitting, dance, football, lacrosse – and wrote their own “I Remember” poem about learning, trying, failing, and succeeding in this area. Later in the week, they typed and illustrated the poems for display.
You might notice some older students in these photos. On Tuesday, a psychology class from the high school visited Red Gables, and we were lucky to have Andrew, Terrence, and Benton visit with us. All are seniors who aspire to be college athletes. The kids were thrilled to be with them.
In reading, we completed two more chapters in Three Times Lucky and a set of comprehension questions. Students are encouraged to mark in their books when they find similes, vocabulary words, and connections to their lives, other books, or the world.
We also continued learning about songs and songwriting. We identified rhyme schemes, talked about turning true stories into songs, and tried drafting some!
We also reviewed ten morphemes this week for an assessment on Thursday, and played several review games to prepare for today’s Southwest quiz. Kahoot is always the favorite!
In Morning Meeting, we had fun with the Paper Hat game, Reverse Charades, Rock/Paper/Scissors – Entourage style and more. 4M tried a new and challenging game – one partner saw a picture and described it to the other partner who had to try and draw it – a great way to practice communication and teammwork!
We had our first two state snacks this week. Elliot share Krispy Kreme which originated in his state of North Carolina, and Silas brought in homemade gooey butter cake which was invented in his state, Missouri. Both were big hits!
We hosted LOTS of prospective students this week in Grade 4. Each class had an additional three students on Tuesday and on Friday. Thanks to all our great hosts in 4E : Liza, Holden, Campbell, Cooper, Sophia and Samuel.
We were treated to two theatrical performances this week – a 3rd grade class play directed by Mrs. Rodgers and a teaser for the MS musical, Annie Jr. Both were fantastic!
Finally, we started a new read-aloud during homeroom, The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke. It’s set in Venice, and, like most children’s books, it centers on orphans. We are two chapters in and the class is hooked.
This week, 4th graders in 4E and 4M tackled the Southwest. They read all about oil, cattle, and rodeos! We learned about the Mexican, Spanish, and Native American influences on the culture. I shared pictures of my trip to Santa Fe where I sampled local cuisine and visited the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. In addition, they worked on their map skills by completing pages in their workbooks about the region.
In language arts this week, we enjoyed two long chapters in Three Times Lucky. We also learned a few more vocabulary words from the novel by racing in Dictionary Digs. They can get very competitive!
We also learned four more morphemes this week.
The most fun lessons were in our songwriting unit. This week, the students learned about how rhythm works with the number of syllables in lyrics. They also learned about a variety of rhyme schemes. We had fun reading lyrics and listening to songs.
Today we celebrated Veterans Day. Our assembly featured 5th graders sharing about the various branches of the military. MS students introduced some of their parents who are veterans, and we got to hear from them about their service.
In Morning Meeting this week, we enjoyed the Middle Name Greeting, 1, 2, 3 Look, and more. We also played games of Coconut and Don’t Guess the Word.
Thank you to Colette for hosting a prospective student from MA this week.
The week began with a bang! Not only did we host prospective students on Monday, we also attended a Patchwork assembly with performance artist, Doug Berky. The kids were AMAZED by his talents: juggling, mime, unicycle riding, and more.
Thank you to Sally, Leela, Jackson, Mason, and Kate for being such great hosts to our visitors. (I didn’t realize my picture of Sally & Marjorie was blurry!)
In class this week, we have been very busy! Students reviewed each day for the Midwest quiz. They practiced with the map, played games of Sparkle, 5 Questions/3 Clues, Around the World, and their favorite – Kahoot!
In language arts, we continued in morphology with inter-, trans-, and pend. The students came up with some great words using the morphemes. In grammar, we examined verb tenses, and they had fun constructing sentences with multiple verbs in the past tense.
We also read two chapters in Three Times Lucky and learned more vocabulary from the novel. One skill we are focusing on is making connections. We want our readers to notice when something in the book reminds them of another text, something in their own life, or something in the world.
The most fun lessons were about the new unit we are starting on songwriting and the history of country music. A longstanding tradition in 4th grade, this unit will teach the students about the industry right here in Music City, about the pioneers of country music, and all about writing songs.
This week, we learned about the Carter Family and listened to some of their hits. We also learned about how the Grand Ole Opry came to be. In their journals, students were asked to record what they know about songs and to try a write a song before learning any of the lessons. Throughout the week, we learned about verses, the chorus, a bridge, and more…
We also wrapped up many of the diary projects, and the students had fun binding their books.
Also this week, each student was matched up with one of the 50 states. We began browsing some books Mrs. Gaines shared with us from the library. More to come!
Because of the dreary weather, our recess was moved inside a few times this week. This game us time to play games together such as Yahtzee, Shut the Box, Battleship, Tenzi and more. Building with dominoes is another popular activity.
On Wednesday, we attended Mrs. Royse’s 3rd grade play, ‘Miss Nelson Has a Field Day!’ We were throughly entertained, and each student wrote a member of the cast some ‘fan mail.’
In Morning Meeting this week, we played review games about the Midwest, enjoyed the T-rex handshake, and much more. Students shared about favorite Halloween costumes from the past, and we played Halloween-themed Reverse Charades and Pictionary. My class also enjoyed the Price is Right greeting.
Seeing all the costumes and celebrating with games and treats make Halloween a fun day at school.
Thank you to our room parents for their efforts to make our party so tasty and festive!
This week, 4th graders were very excited to begin our new class novel, Three Times Lucky. This book by Sheila Turnage is a Newbery-Honor winner, and we were thrilled to discover that Amelia’s mom worked on its publication! We have read the first two chapters, and the kids are loving it so far. We also learned a few new vocabulary words which are featured in the book.
In addition, the class has learned three more Latin bases in our study of morphology, and this week we learned about the various forms of the verb ‘to be.’
We also learned the four types of sentences (declarative, imperative, interrogative, exclamatory) and practiced identifying with sentences from our book and our social studies text. We also worked on adding the correct punctuation to each type.
In social studies, we finished our book on the Midwest. Students completed a couple sets of comprehension questions – some independently and others with partners.
Of course, the highlight of the week was our first service learning trip to Harris-Hillman school. Everyone was excited to practice on Wednesday, so they could run through the show and see one another’s dances.
On Thursday, they did a fantastic job bringing energy and happiness to the students of HH. After their dances, we performed a song in sign language and then they helped roll the students back to their classrooms. They had a few minutes to visit there and to learn about their facility.
To wrap up our visit, we gathered together with a few students and faculty for a Q & A. As you probably heard, the Ensworth kids were particularly interested in the technology that helps the HH students communicate. We look forward to another visit next semester!
We celebrated Jackson’s birthday with some treats from Donut Den.
We also attended a Spirit Day assembly, and Leela competed in a ‘witchy’ relay. Her team won!
Since we finished Charlotte’s Web last week, the students are now able to complete the remaining entries in their diary projects. A few kids completed all of the entries as well as the illustrations and were able to bind their books!
This week, the students finished Charlotte’s Web. They completed a brief writing assignment about one of the chapters and continued work on their summaries and diary entries. Today, we enjoyed watching the animated movie adaptation of the novel from 1973!
We also wrapped up the vocabulary words from the book.
In social studies, the students began learning about the Midwest region. They labeled their own maps, practiced map-reading skills in their workbooks, and read Chapter One in the text.
We celebrated Rosalie and Penny turning double-digits this week!
In Morning Meeting, we had fun with Double-Double-This-That, Hidden in Plain Sight, and more.
There was so much happening on campus this week! On Tuesday, the student body had a visit from Aisha Saeed, author of numerous picture books andAmal Unbound, which was an all -MS read this summer. Thursday was Ms. May’s 3rd grade play, and today we had the Grade 1 Pet Show! On top of all of that, we wrapped up the first quarter, and we were busy!
We enjoyed the story Bilal Cooks Daal at our assembly.
The country accents and Western wear were the highlights of this adorable spinoff of Cinderella.
The Pet Show is always a favorite… This year we saw many siblings and their pets.
In class, students read three chapters in Charlotte’s Web and worked hard to get their Diary projects finished for the first half of the book. We will finish the novel next week.
We studied three new morphemes this week and focused on plural nouns in grammar.
We also learned six new vocabulary words that are featured in Charlotte’s Web.
In social studies, we reviewed the facts about the Northeast, as well as the states and capitals. We played Around the World and competed in a Kahoot!
We celebrated Sophia’s 10th birthday with some cookies from Crumbl.
In Morning Meeting, the classes enjoyed games of What are you doing? Mystery Winker, Follow the Leader, Reverse Charades and more.
Today, 12 prospective students visited Grade 4. Each homeroom hosted three. The guests came in the morning and left after lunch. Thank you to Penny, Amelia and Caleb for taking on this responsibility.
The kids had a lot of fun dressing in the various themes this week: sports teams, USA, Wacky Wednesday and Pink Out.
In class this week, we have been very busy! In social studies, the students read all about the Northeast region. Today we filled out our study sheet and went over the map. We will review all next week for a quiz on Friday.
In language arts this week, we have read four chapters in Charlotte’s Web, and we really enjoyed today’s chapter, “Off to the Fair.” 4th graders have also made good progress in their Diary project.
We began a new unit of morphemes and took our first spelling-vocabulary test. The students also started learning some more new vocabulary words that appear in the second half of Charlotte’s Web.
In grammar, we focused on expanding simple sentences and remembering to capitalize proper nouns.
On Wednesday, we had a visit from author Jamie Sumner. Mrs. Sumner shared with us about the many books she has written and how her son with cerebral palsy inspired her. She wanted there to be books in his school library with characters that looked like him – in a wheelchair. We thoroughly enjoyed her presentation, and the kids asked great questions! We are still reading Roll with It, and we look forward to our visit to Harris-Hillman on 10/23. This visit really got us thinking about the issue of accessibility and how we treat others with differences.
In Morning Meetings, 4E & 4M enjoyed games of Boom, Clap, Snatch, Mystery Winker, Follow the Leader, and What are you doing?? 4M also had fun with the Price is Right greeting. They also shared about their favorite places to shop, things they love about fall and more.
Jackson shared a snakeskin with his class today. (That’s the only kind of snake I’ll allow.)
Miss Earhart's Class 