Thanksgiving

This is a short week.  School is only Monday and Tuesday of this week, giving everyone plenty of time to enjoy Thanksgiving.

Today's homework:
     1.  Math Miss W:  p. 249.
                   Mr. Spaulding:  p. 283-284.
     2.  Thanksgiving worksheet.

The Importance of Art

Art is a participatory sport.  Students should not only be good consumers of art, able to analyze and enjoy a work of art, they should also be actively engaged in producing art.  Here is a great portrait of Georgia O'Keefe by Danae.  It was done on a whiteboard, so this photograph is the only permanent record of her picture.

Today's homework:
     1.  Practice spelling test.
     2.  Math Miss W:  p. 239-240.
                   Mr. Spaulding: p. 267-268.

California Indians

Fourth grade students are learning about California Indians.

Homework for today:

     1.  Native Americans of California.

     2.  Math Miss W:  p. 237-238

                   Mr. Spaulding p. 265-266.

Anne Frank

This week fourth graders are reading an excerpt from the diary of Anne Frank (pictured above.)  This is the famous story of a young German-Jewish girl and her family who hid from Nazis during World War II.

Today's homework:
     1.  Spelling p. 60-61.
     2.  Math Miss W:  p. 227-228.
                   Mr. Spaulding: 251-252.

Sewed Up His Heart

Fourth graders have been reading about Daniel Hale Williams and one of the first open heart surgeries ever performed.  We read a portion of Dr. Dan's biography, and have been working on a short play based on the story.

Today's homework:

     1.  Math Miss W: p.213-214.
                   Mr. Spaulding:  p. 245-246.
     2.  Practice Spelling Test.  Copy misspelled words correctly  three times each.

Elements of Fictions

Fourth graders are learning about the basic elements of fiction: setting, characters, conflict, plot and theme.  Students should be able to define these terms, and also be able to analyze a work of fiction and find these elements in the story.  In addition, fourth grade students should be able to use these concepts to help them write their own original narratives.

Homework for today:

     1.  Fluency " Keeping Cool."

     2.  Math Miss W:  p. 207-208.

                   Mr. Spaulding:  239-240.

Student Art

My ELD group is creating some very interesting artwork.  Above you see a study in black and white of different textures and lines done by Alexis.

Today's homework:

     1.  Math Miss W: p. 201-202.

                   Mr. Spaulding:  p. 233-234

     2.  Spelling:  Copy spelling words three times each.

Heart Health

Fourth graders are writing essays on how to keep your heart healthy.  This fits into our unit on health and medicine, and also addresses writing standards.

Homework for today:
     1.  Practice Spelling Test
     2.  Math Miss W:  nohomework
                   Mr. Spaulding:  219-220.

Smarter Balanced

I was out of the classroom yesterday at the Ventura County Schools facility attending a workshop on the new Common Core Standards in general and the Smarter Balanced Consortium in particular.  They are the people helping to design our new state student testing system.  A lot of changes are headed our way in how we assess students.  State testing will be done on line and will be both more interactive and more challenging.

Today's homework:

     1.  Math Miss W:  Practice Test 3A

                   Mr. Spaulding:  p. 213-14.

     2.  "Heart Surgery."

Blood Circulation

Fourth graders are learning how blood circulates in the human body.  This week we will read a story about Daniel Hale Williams, an African-American doctor, who, in 1893, became one of the first doctors to attempt surgery on the human heart.  He sewed up the damaged pericardium of a patient.

Homework for today:
     1.  Math Miss W:  Chapter 3 Practice Test
                  Mr. Spaulding:  p. 201-202
     2.  Spelling p. 48-49, problems 1-8 and 21-30.