Mrs Young's Blog

As students are working along on their Independent Novel Studies, it is possible that their pages may be misplaced, here is a link to access a copy for yourselves to print off or refer to at home. Remember, it is one question from one section due every Tuesday: May 15-Knowledge; May 22- Comprehension; May 29 – Application; June 5- Analysis; June 12 – Synthesis; and June 19 – Evaluation and a good copy of all 6 questions.

These questions are meant to dig deeper into the student’s understanding of their novel as they progress in points. Students are welcome to answer more than one questions, but are only required to answer one per week.

“She’s moving! What is she looking at?” The class calls out. 4Y has been observing an eagle mother keeping her nest safe while she waits for her eggs to hatch. The class has nicknamed her “Gloria” and she graces our Smart Board screen when we have a quiet time, such as lunch or “fix and finish.” Students took it upon themselves to learn a little about eagles and have enjoyed what they have learned from first hand recounts of other’s experiences throughout the school. (After doing some research of my own, it looks like we might have to name the father too, as he is also sitting on the nest sometimes. It is hard to tell the difference, but we’ll look for signs when we come back from break.)

An Eaglet to Eagle: A clutch (or a group of eggs) includes two or three white eggs each season. The eggs usually hatch about a month after they have been laid. If the eggs are too warm, the mother eagle will roll them around with her feet and beak. The plumage (or feathers) of the newly born eaglets are light grey, but then turn dark brown by the time they leave the nest (at about 12 weeks.) Adults are brown with white feathers on their heads, called a crown, and white feathers under their wings. When a bald eagle turns 4 or 5 years old, their beak and eyes turn yellow. An adult eagle’s wingspan is between 2 and 3 meters long.

Habitat: Eagles can be found in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and north western Ontario. Some small groups can be found in Newfoundland and they are threatened in New Brunswick and southern Ontario. We also know that they are found in all the states in the United States, except Hawaii (some students are on the lookout for them this spring break even if they are going to Hawaii however.) They live along lakes, rivers and sea coasts (so the beach would be a perfect place to look.)

Birds of Prey: Bald eagles are a part of a group of birds called “birds of prey.” They have really good eyesight, muscular legs, and sharp beaks. Most birds of prey hunt during the day, except for owls!

Love at First Sight: Bald eagles will pair for life! After finding a mate, the pair will build a giant nest by making a web of sticks in a tall tree or sometimes on a cliff. We have seen “Gloria” fix up her nest by moving the grass and straw around and weaving it back in around her.

Fun Facts: The bald eagle was named because of its patch of white feathers on the top of its head and it is the only eagle native to North America.

Experts think that Gloria’s first egg will hatch on March 25, 2012. She laid her first egg on the 17^th of February. Here is a link in case you would like to check in on her while we’re on our break from class.

Research by a 4Y student

Reference: http://animal.discovery.com/birds/bald-eagle/

As the term winds down and we prepare to show off what we have learned, parents are encouraged to book their parent teacher interview times online at this link.

If you have trouble booking your time through the system, please contact the school office.

Science Olympics preparations are in full swing in the grade 4 classrooms. We are testing out and modifying busily. In case you have lost your project outline you can access the file here.

Here is the video we watched in class:

Joey is doing very well, thank you for asking! He bloomed on the 10^th of February and he has 10/12 blooms already opened. His petals are pink and red, his stem is green, his anthers are yellow because of the pollen, and his stigmas are a pinky green.

Mrs. Antoniuk, our public nurse, came in to our classes today to talk about sugar. We know that lots of sugar is bad for us and can make us gain too much weight or lead to diabetes. Children should only have 15tsp if sugar per day. One teaspoon is the same as four grams, so read the labels on your food!

In gym class we also showed off our gymnastic routines that we have been working hard on with Ms Graham.

I’m sure all our families have heard of our new student, Joey Tiny James III, he has been gracing our classroom with his red and green stem and growing every night. He is now almost half of a metre!  He is an Amaryllis plant and we know he grows from a bulb, which is made from a plate, scales, a tunic, and an embyonic plant. Mrs. Holden’s and Ms. Graham’s students are enjoying the blooms of Rootsy and Gertrude already, but our class knows that “slow and steady, wins the race!”

We had a wonderful time skating last month, and this Friday we will be trying our skills at skiing at Snow Valley ski hill. It looks to be a warm day so everyone will be able to stay on the hill longer!

Millgrove Grade 4s also have the opportunity to use Dreambox this month to sharpen their math thinking at home and in class. Here is the link to DreamBox. Your username and password are the same as those used to log in to the computer in the library, but no capital letters.

Also, check out the rest of the spelling word lists on Spelling City  log in under the teacher tab. This week we are on list 18.

We have been working on a surprise gift for our families. We are really excited to share them, but it has to be a secret until the 24^th!

We have started writing our very own versions of the Twelve Days of Christmas. We have a hockey version, one with pink swans, a dog and cat version, and a family version. We can’t wait to sing them in class!

As a school we learned about the MADD campaign and decorated paper bags to be delivered by the RCMP to the liquor stores around Spruce Grove. The paper bags will remind people not to Drink and Drive over the holiday season.

Next Friday we will be having a pajama day for all the grade 4 classes. The grade 4 classes have been working hard and deserve a break, with an extra long reading period and comfy clothes to wear. Make sure your pj’s fit and meet Millgrove dress code rules.

On December 20^th we will be having another Science morning! We will be studying more ways that we can Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. We need parent volunteers for the morning and pinecones, empty toilet paper rolls, bottle lids, gently used clothes, toys or books.

This is just a quick post to share two things.

1. On Monday, November 21, Mrs. Ferguson and the 4Y class will share a couple slices of pizza over the lunch hour (cheese, pepperoni, and maybe ham and pineapple .) Make sure you bring a snack for recess and please bring a drink that is not a soda to go along with the pizza.

2. Here is a link where students can read and hear the play we’ve been working on in French class online. The text is available and there is an MP3 file of a teacher reading the play.

Last week we were very busy preparing for the Remembrance Day service. We practiced our songs and poem and the ceremony went very well. We were able to visit with Lt Lalonde and ask him questions after the service was over. We also learned interesting things about how animals helped during the wars by reading in French and English.

This week we are working on a new poem inspired by the book “Don’t Take Your Snake for a Stroll” we are using new tools to help us edit and revise so that we become better writers.  We are focusing on word choice (choosing strong words to make out poems pop) and organization (making sure our poems follow the same structure as the model).

Yesterday in science we learned about some of the oldest plants in the world by watching a video on TED. Did you know there’s a plant that is 400,000 to 600,000 years old?

Remember that there is no spelling test this week and that November 25^th is a PA day.

This week, in 4Y, we have been very busy.

Red Group really enjoyed the Duffle Bag Theatre’s play “The Three Musketeers” because they interacted with the audience, students were able to play some parts of the play, and they were funny.

Purple Group is excited that we are beginning the novel “Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief” by Rick Riordan. We like that the book is fiction and couldn’t really happen today. It’s interesting that Percy thought the car blew up but it was really only hit by lightning. It’s almost like a diary. We are now at the part where we meet the Minotaur, but he isn’t a bull. Percy’s dad isn’t who we thought he was, and nobody likes his step-dad.

Orange Group is working hard to get ready for our Remembrance Day assembly. We decided who the MC will be. We are practicing our poem and songs. In the Candle’s poem, everyone has a part, and we’re practising so we can remember our lines. Real soldiers are coming in to the assembly.

Green Group almost had cavities when they came back to school after Halloween on Monday. Everyone in the class brought in treats (some of us made sure they were healthy) and we had a special ice cream cake. We watched Scooby Doo and we saw everyone’s costumes at the parade. To get in the spooky spirit, the grade 4s wrote Halloween poems. We peer edited, and teacher edited, then published our poems on special stationary.

Yellow Group learned a bunch of new things about cranks and gears, catapults, and balloon cars during our science centres hosted by parent volunteers. We learned how to make pop cans spin with water and to construct self propelled toys. We had to have our pages filled out and signed in our science booklet as our ticket to the next centre. We are excited to learn more about this unit in the terms to come!