Happy Halloween!

We had an exciting Halloween parade today.  Students are very creative with their costumes.

Homework for today:
     1.   Bring a piece of candy for the class candy jar.

Indians of California

Fourth graders are learning about the different Indian tribes of California.  Each student has been assigned a different tribe to research and prepare a report on.  There was great variety among the tribes of California.  Indians of California spoke approximately one hundred different langauges, and lived in many different types of environments, from the desert to the mountains, from the valleys to the seashore.

Today's homework:
     1.  Math Miss W: p. 177-178
                   Mr. Spaulding:  No homework.
     2.  Homeopathic Medicine.

Periodic Table

In science lab today we learned about the periodic table of the elements.  Students got to examine different elements and try to identify them.

Homework for today:
     1.  Math Miss W: p.171-172
                   Mr.  Spaulding:  p. 183-184.
     2.  Spelling p. 44.

The Shaman's Apprentice

We have been learning about the history of medicine and folk medicine.  In the story The Shaman's Apprentice the Indian boy Kamanya learns folk remedies from his tribe's shaman, or medicine man.

Homework for today:
     1.  Math Miss W:  p. 165-166.
                   Mr. Spaulding:  p. 177-178
     2.  Practice Spelling test.

The Regions of California

We had some more technical difficulties yesterday.  The laptop that drives our Smart Board and projector died.  Today I've jury rigged a connection to a different computer.  It is a big help, but we still don't have the interactive features of the Smart Board.  Oh, well...  Technology!

Today we learned about the four major regions of California:  the desert, the coast, the Central Valley, and the mountains.

Yesterday's homework was a Fluency page called "Hic" and a math assignment.

Homework for today:

     1.  Medicinal Plants.

     2.  Math Miss W:  p.157-158

                   Mr. Spaulding:  p. 171-172

Welcome Back!

Well, we all had a nice break, but here we are back at school.  This week is our Red Ribbon Week.  Tomorrow we have a special assembly, The Ned Show.  Wednesday is Wear Red Day.  Thursday is Sports Day, and Friday is Pajama Day.

Today's homework:
     1.  Spelling p. 40.
     2.  Math Miss W: 145-146
                   Mr. Spaulding:  157-158.

What A Great Trip!

Our computers were offline (again!) yesterday, so there was no post, but we are back online today.

Yesterday's trip to the Santa Paula Oil Museum was very successful.  Students were well behaved and everyone both had a good time and learned a lot.  We used hand lenses and microscopes to look at and classify different rocks, and we learned about the history and technology of oil production.

Today's homework:
    1.  Math Miss W:  p.118
                  Mr. Spaulding:  p. 145-146.
    2.  Spelling Practice Test.

Field Trip Tomorrow

Our trip to the Santa Paula Oil Museum is tomorrow.  The weather is projected to be cool (50's and 60's) with a chance of showers, so please dress accordingly.

Today's homework:
    1.  Math Miss W:  No homework
                  Mr.Spaulding:  p.127-128
     2.  Fluency "The Scoop on Bandaids."

Germs Make You Sick

Fourth graders have been learning about the history of medicine.  We have been reading a very informative article called "Medicine: Past and Present."

Homework for today:

     1.  Math Miss W: p. 120.

                   Mr. Spaulding:  Chapter 2 Form B Test

     2.  Science True/False quiz

     3.  Practice spelling test.

Santa Paula Oil Museum

We are going on a field trip next Wednesday, October 9th, to the California Oil Museum in Santa Paula.  Here is a link to their website http://www.oilmuseum.net/

The development of the oil industry was important in the history of Ventura County and fits in with our social studies focus this year on California History.  We will be sending home field trip permission slips soon.  Please sign and return them right away.  We'll get to the museum by bus.

Today's homework:
     1.  Math Miss W:  p. 85-86
                   Mr. Spaulding:  p. 118
     2.  Study Science Chapter 1 Review Sheet.
     3.  Copy spelling words correctly three times each.