Fourth+Grade+Archive

Week of October 4, 2010

Greetings from Room 203 at Berthoud Elementary School!

 From Thursday's email:In our G/T class we were going to get to meet our new Junior Great Books and begin the first story....but it was tipi day for fourth grade. We had missing classmates and were in class for less than half our time. So...we enjoyed some "Stories With Holes". They really made us think deeply!

 We solved two in class and had just started the following one, which I promised the kids I would email to them since we won't have class next week. Would you please share this with your child...and let him/her teach you the process? They are really fun to solve!

 100 people were traveling down the Amazon River on a flatboat when the boat, in calm water, capsized and all were drowned.

 That's it...a "story with a hole". Happy solving! Thank you for sharing your special child with me!


 * Week of 11-1-10 **

Greetings from Room 208 at BES!

We have enjoyed our study of the Langston Hughes story //Thank You, Ma'am// in our Junior Great Books. I enjoyed sharing with the children that Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri, where I lived for many years. The story provided great opportunities for the children to develop their character analysis skills as we discussed the interactions between the two characters. An interesting aside came as we pondered the value of the American dollar during the late 1950's and early 1960's. The kids were to ask a grandparent or other friend/relative about what they remember as the cost of basic items. We'll use the internet to explore that further. They were surprised by some of my recollections from the middle to late 1960's!

I love working with this group of students. They are a cohesive team, respectful and considerate of each group member's contributions and conscientious learners. Thank you for sharing your special child with me!

Regards,Ms. Mac