Circuit Simulations

Click on the following link to build circuits.  Keep clicking "run now" until they run:

Direct current only
Direct and Alternating current

Here are some other fun simulators:

Static electricity
Energy skate park
Build an atom

Fraction Cooking: Bread Pudding Recipe

A food commonly eaten throughout Europe (especially during the holidays) is bread pudding.  Bread pudding is also a common dish in the Southern Region of the United States.  It is a simple and inexpensive dessert.  It can also be eaten at breakfast time.  Here are the ingredients that we'll need:

• bread (french bread, white bread, or cinnamon raisin bread)
• raisins
• milk
• eggs
• butter
• white sugar
• vanilla and/or maple extract
• ground nutmeg

I already have many of these ingredients on-hand at my house, but if you would like to donate any ingredients for this week's recipe, please have your student bring them in on or before Thursday, December 11.  That way, I'll know which ingredients I need to bring in on Friday.  We'll be making and enjoying our bread pudding then.  Aren't fractions the best?!

Goodbye, Ms. Sandi!

Ms. Sandi, our student teacher from UNC, will have her last day with us this Wednesday, December 10.  We are so sad to see her go!  We will spend the last ten (or so) minutes of the day on Wednesday to give Ms. Sandi a proper send off.  We wish her the best of luck and many blessings in the future!

Homework Packet 11

Aaaaaand we're back into the routine of homework packets.  Congratulations, Fourth Graders, you have a full-length homework packet this week.  Aren't you excited?

Here are our helpful homework hints for the week:

Reading Log:  We should have this page down by now.  Read 20 minutes a night (give or take, depending on how long the rest of the homework takes.)

Paragraph Reading and Multiple Choice Questions:  There are several pages of paragraphs (and one short story) accompanied by multiple choice questions.  We have gone over the terms and strategies students need to know in order to accomplish these pages.  All of these pages together shouldn't take more than an hour to do.

Multiplication Grid:  See how fast you can fill this one out!  We should be multiplication pros by now!

Interpreting Remainders:  Division is still tripping up a lot of our fourth graders.  Students should definitely be able to solve problem #1 in about 10 minutes or less.  Question #2 is more challenging.  Students are not required to do question #2, as it is more difficult division than we have gone over in class.  However, they are welcome to try it if they'd like.  They need to complete the practice problems as well.  They need to attach a separate sheet of paper to show their work.

This homework packet is due Friday, December 12.

Let it Go and Electricity

Here was one of the popular videos from the week:

Let it Go Christmas Lights

Questions we asked in class are:
1.  Where does electricity come from?  What is it?
2.  How does electricity work?
3.  What is a circuit?
4.  How can we tell if a circuit is opened or closed?
5.  What makes some lights brighter than others?
6.  How would we set up a light show?

We'll learn the answers to these questions soon!

Cooking with Fractions

In Math, we have started to learn about fractions.  I have found that one of the BEST ways to understand fractions is to cook.  As a result, we will be doing some cooking in math class starting next week.  Generally, we will cook on Fridays—and call it Fraction Fridays. Here are some things families can do to help us out with our cooking classes (all suggestions are optional): ·         Bring favorite family recipes to school to share with the class.  (Maybe we’ll even make your recipe one week!) ·         Donate money to help supply ingredients for cooking classes. ·         Donate ingredients. ·         Cook with students at home. We want our recipes to follow these rules: ·         Simple to prepare—does not require an oven or stovetop to make ·         Inexpensive to make ·         Must be healthy-ish At the end of our unit, we will create a Classroom Cookbook for students to share with their families at home.  This fraction unit is going to be delicious!

Great Day!!!

Families, I just wanted to let you know that our 4th graders had an AWESOME day today.  For most of the day, we were focused on directions, participating in class, and helping others.  We even received several compliments from other teachers walking by our room.  Let's keep it up, Fourth Graders!

Here's one of the reward YouTube videos we got the watch today:
Kid Snippets:  Minecraft

See you tomorrow!