Fourth Nine Weeks, Week 6

Reading: The students will be choosing new historical fiction books as their book club books this week!

Language:  Students are writing very creative narrative stories about the Civil War.

Read Aloud: We will be finishing up The Detective's Assistant this week.  Our story has gotten very exciting as our main character has just met president-elect Abraham Lincoln!

Math: The students this week will be taking on a variety of challenges that have to do with area and perimeter as we continue to perfect these skills.

Alabama History: Our focus this week will be on Reconstruction, the rebuilding of the south after the Civil War.  We'll discuss amendments made to the constitution and laws that affected the lives of recently freed slaves in the south.

Judge French

Last week, Judge Elisabeth French, a 4th grade Shades Cahaba parent and Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge came to speak to the fourth graders to share a bit more about our judicial system.  She first spoke to the students about the court system and how national, state and local courts have similarities and differences throughout.  

Then, she and several of her colleagues presented a trial simulation so the students could get an idea of what happens in a real courtroom.  Students acted out a trial where someone's lunch had been stolen.  Our own Caroline and Florence were involved, but don't worry, neither of them were guilty of the crime! :)

At the end of the trial, students broke into groups of twelve and learned just how hard it is to get a unanimous decision among peers, in fact, we had several hung juries.

A huge thank you to Judge French and her colleagues for their time, energy and passion in teaching these 4th graders more about the judicial system.

Fourth Nine Weeks, Week 5

Reading: This week, we are going to be taking some time to read some letters and documents that were from the Civil War.  Students will be examining the language used in these documents to help them understand what life was like for people during the war.  We'll also take some time to celebrate Earth Day later in the week! :)

Writing: Students will be planning and typing their Civil War narrative stories all week.

Math: The focus of the week is on area and perimeter.  Students will be given a variety of challenges throughout the week including finding the area and perimeter of our own classroom.

Alabama History: We will watch a bit more of Gone with the Wind this week, discuss Alabama's economic contribution to the Civil War and begin the discussion of Reconstruction.  Students have started discussing their parts for the Wax Museum so that they can begin working on their costumes.

Fourth Nine Weeks, Week 4

I was very proud of how hard the students worked on their tests last week!  We won't know the scores for some time, but all I ask is that they do their best.  I believe they did just that!  

Reading - It has taken us longer to finish book clubs than I had planned, but we WILL finish them this week.  All of the books have been finished, but now students are working on a few activities to show what they learned from the book.

Read Aloud - There are still some great mysteries that revolve around our main characters, Nell and Aunt Kitty, and they are working to solve some very intriguing mysteries!

Language - The students will begin working on a narrative story about events from the Civil War.  

Math - We are continuing with our geometry unit.  The focus will be on symmetry and area this week.

Alabama History - We are focusing on how Alabama contributed to the Civil War.  We will also read a journal entry from a girl living in Atlanta during the time of the Civil War.  At some point in the next two weeks, we will be watching parts of Gone with the Wind.  Don't worry, we'll skip over that famous last line, but it is a great film to show the kids a bit more about what life was like for some southerners during the war.  

Fourth Nine Weeks, Week 3

I hope everyone had a wonderful, relaxing week whether you enjoyed a vacation faraway or a staycation close to home!

On Thursday morning, the students will take their Reading ASPIRE test and on Friday, their Math ASPIRE test.  I have complete confidence that the students will do well and put forth their best effort.  Please help them do their best by assuring that they get a full night of sleep, a healthy breakfast and are at school on time.

Reading: The students will be completing their book club books this week and completing a few activities to go along with those books.

Read Aloud: We are continuing The Detective's Assistant, a thrilling detective novel about a young girl, Nell, and her Aunt Kitty, a detective, as they solve mysteries together during the time period just before the Civil War.

Language: The students will be working on our class Student Treasures book this week.  Be on the lookout for the order form for this!  They are all writing about something they learned this year.  It will be a great collection!

Math: We are continuing to focus on lines, angles and polygons this week.  We will especially focus on measuring angles.

Alabama History: Our focus is on the Civil War, specifically how the north won and what Alabama's role was in the Civil War.