Grade 4 News for October

(1) Field trip to the Lowry Nature Center (2) Rubber banding shirts and having them get tie-dyed for the color run. (3) Whole school assembly and singing the school song.

Fourth and fifth graders are learning about databases and why we use them when doing school projects or research. We have done a little investigating in a database called PebbleGo Next.

Ms. Crosby: We were STEM students when we analyzed bird sounds by identifying birds that are closely related from their traits.

Ms. Felton: We were STEM students during our Post It notes STEM challenge when we had to build the tallest towers with only sticky notes.

Mrs. Thao: We were STEM students during our "Saving Fred" activity when we worked together in small groups to plan an idea and test the idea out to see if it would work.

Mrs. Tollas: We were STEM students during our Thinking Maps activity by using a circle map to describe who we are.

• CKLA: personal narrative
• Writing: closed single syllable, digraphs, initial and final blends, morphemes, sound spelling mapping
• Math: multiplication and division method models, factors, factor pairs, prime and composite numbers, and multiplication facts
• STEM: traits, inheritance, variation, selection, introduction to macroinvertebrates

• Fire Safety Poster Due November 4th @10:00AM

One of the big ideas that fourth graders will be learning about is how the place where an animal or plant lives can affect the way it looks or acts. They’ll practice explaining how different environments can shape traits—especially in lake macroinvertebrates (animals without backbones that are large enough to see without a microscope).

Backyard or Park Pond Exploration

• Bring a small net and a clear container and scoop up water from a pond, stream, or puddle.
• Look closely for tiny animals like insects, worms, or snails.
• Talk about how these animals help the environment and what they might need to survive.

Leaf Litter Search

• Check under leaves, rocks, or logs in the yard, and count and identify any small animals you find.
• Compare different spots: Which areas have more animals? Why might that be?

Animal Homes Challenge

• Build small “homes” for macroinvertebrates using leaves, sticks, and mud in a shallow container.
• Watch which animals like which type of shelter, and connect it to how environments influence traits and behaviors.

*source: ChatGPT