Spring Picture Things

Mr. History came for a visit last week and drew us this! While he drew he explained about Thomas Jefferson, the Louisiana Purchase, how Lewis and Clark and their team (pictured here) traveled and explored the area, and what happened to each of of these individuals. Did you know one of the men accidentally shot Meriweather Lewis in a very "uncomfortable" place? You'll have to ask your kiddo where that was... :)

On Friday we said goodbye to Miss Yaniero, our practicum student from NDSU. She will make a great teacher in a few years, and we will miss her!!!

You may remember that last fall and right after Christmas we had conversations surrounding our classroom "CARES" rules (how we take care of ourselves, each other, and our learning). After winter break the students worked in groups to brainstorm words for each letter to complete the thinking stem "We expect students in our class to be_____" They came up with GREAT, powerful words, and they have lived up to these expectations for sure!!!

The picture below is of one of the windows at the back of our classroom. We've covered it with a giant grid and are recording the titles of all the books we've read (on our own) this year. Apparently I should have made the boxes smaller to fit more boxes, because we have less than 20 boxes open and have more than a month left of school. Whoops! I am ASTOUNDED by the amount of reading these guys have done this year...amazing!!!

Brownie Maps

A few pics of our very successful afternoon of map making! Thank you SO MUCH to all the families who provided ingredients and to Mrs. Kililea for joining us!!!

Pic #1 - getting started

Pic #2 - all done! Amazing how accurate these are if you study the details!!!

Immigrant Collage Presentations

Our first unit in social studies was learning about maps. What is their purpose, and how do we read them? How do we interpret special purpose maps (elevation, rainfall, population, etc)? How do we use a map key and lines of latitude / longitude? We also discussed how to categorize and apply that skill to maps, especially a map of the regions of the United States. We have 5 regions in our country, and each region has unique characteristics. 

Our second unit has focused on the 5 major immigrant groups that have merged together to create the unique and diverse culture that we all experience every day. During this unit we studied where these groups came from, reasons they came here, and how our culture has grown and changed as a result of their presence. We broke into 5 groups, and each group studied one immigrant more in-depth in order to create visuals of the group's contributions, which we used to create a collage. Here are the groups! Notice the additions to the collage behind them as they each added their pieces!

After presenting in a "dress rehearsal" to our classmates, we invited Mrs. Volrath's class down for a true presentation. I could not believe the way our fourth graders stepped up to the challenge. My teacher heart filled with pride as they spoke confidently and thoroughly about their learning. Each group had prepared not only their items and content, but also an introduction of themselves and their immigrant group. 

After finishing, our first grade friends retrieved their book boxes and shared some time reading around our room. What a great opportunity for them to step into a leadership role!