Gradual Changes to Earth's Surface

We've been studying gradual changes to Earth's surface in science: weathering, erosion, and deposition. First we did an investigation involving the difference between the effects  on a mineral of one weathering agent (rocks) and two weathering agents (rocks and water). We found that two weathering agents cause more weathering than just one. 

Then we did another model involving sand paper and wood. Sand paper acts as the weathering agent on Earth's surface (the piece of wood). Then we watch as wind erosion carries the sediments (wood dust) to a new location. 

Today we modeled the three processes using clay. I want to give a shout-out to Mr. Avery, our amazing art teacher, who provided us with the clay so Miss Barber didn't have to go buy it! Woo hoo!

Character Trait Charlie

This idea was a collaboration between our fourth grade team. We noticed that our students needed more exposure to character trait vocabulary words and their meanings. They also needed to practice proving that characters were displaying these traits using textual justification. So we created Character Trait Charlie! Each week, we replaced 6 of our regular spelling words with character trait words. We study the words and describe the actions, feelings, thoughts, and words that a character with this trait would use/have. Then we categorize each trait as positive or negative. It's so easy to refer to these words as we are reading now that we have studied them and they are always visible.

Happy Holidays!

Our class had a wonderful day together on the Friday before winter vacation. First, we were surprised by a group of "carolers" - some of our school's advanced band students! We were quietly working in our classroom when we heard music coming from outside our door! Miss Barber peeked outside and saw the ensemble with our band director, Mr. Graca. We all went outside and enjoyed our mini-concert with all of the other fourth and fifth grade classes in this wing of our school. What a wonderful surprise!

We also completed some elf projects. My students are so creative! We had teacher elves, security elves, reindeer elves, toy-making elves, ASU elves, and so much more! We also wrote notes to our Secret Santas - the student who we watched all week in order to catch them doing something kind, generous, caring, respectful, responsible, etc. It was so fun to read the kind words that our friends had to say about us and to find out who had been secretly watching us all week!

Growth, Growth, Growth!!

Miss Barber's students were SO excited about their growth on their timed fluency quizzes that they couldn't even stay in their seats! During our last round of testing, EVERY SINGLE STUDENT IMPROVED their score! In these pictures, we are holding up our graphs that show our growth. We are so proud!!

Crazy Miss Barber

Miss Barber got a pie in the face at our last school assembly!

Miss Barber and one of her former students at the Girls on the Run 5k race! Beware, olympians. This girl (not Miss Barber) is a rocket!!

Look at these awesome PJ pants Miss Barber got from her Secret Santa, who turned out to be Dr. Kim!

Studying Solar Energy

Our class recently studying renewable and nonrenewable resources, including hydro energy, wind energy, solar energy, and fossil fuels. We conducted an inquiry experiment using metal bowls, plastic bowls, and paper bowls to see which material would make the best collector of solar energy. We measured the temperature in each bowl when they were placed in direct sunlight for 1 and 5 minutes. Of course, we found that the metal bowl collected the most heat energy from the sun.

The Election!

Our class participated in the presidential election in November. We first studied the electoral college and calculated the fewest number of states a candidate would need to win the necessary votes. Then we studied the candidates and their views on popular isses. After we decided which candidate we most agreed with, we took a vote. Each row was given a certain number of electoral votes based on the number of students who sit in that row. The popular vote in each row decided the winner of that row's electoral votes. Scroll to the bottom of this post to see which candidate won our class election!

According to our electoral college, a candidate needed 18 electoral votes to win. Obama narrowly won our class election with 19 electoral votes!