Ms. Gelzer’s 4th Grade Blog

Dear Families,

We seem to be moving quite quickly to the end of the school year. Here are some events that will be taking place soon.

• Hats off to all the students who gave their speeches about the many Native American Tribes. The students did an amazingly good job speaking in strong voices, sharing interesting information using keynote, powerpoint, pictures with the doc.camera. It was thrilling to see the improvement from spring break to now! All students had many opportunities to  score their peers.

•Firstly, the library is officially closed. Please search through your house to see if there are any Edison books still abound! We want to thank our efficient, focused, and friendly library volunteers: Lisa, Sue, Dana, and Zhong Ping who were pairing students with compatible books, checking out books, shelving books, and answering all kinds of questions. Thank you so much for making Friday afternoons so much fun! OBOB books are out and there’s great reading to complete this vacation.

• The Edison Jog-a thon will take place this Friday from 9:15-10:15am. We’ll walk to SEHS along 24th Street. Walk with us to the track, mark lap cards, walk, jog, and cheer on the kids. To help reduce waste, please make sure that your child has his/her own water bottle. We’ll label them in the class before we good. That way, our footprint is lighter as we avoid the extra plastic waste. Students need comfortable shoes, clothes, sunscreen, and a change of clothes for the afternoon, if needed.

• If your student asks for you to buy a tape measure, take it seriously. On Friday the students walked about the halls and outside, measuring the length and width of objects to figure out the area and the perimeter with a real tape measure.  Real life experiences makes the abstract math concepts come alive. We continue with more problem solving.

• Our Social Studies/Reading integrates the Oregon Trail experience. We’re reading historical fiction in both books: Dear Levi and Moccasin Trail. We’ll be working on mapping of the places that pioneers traveled through and start a simulation where each student takes the role of a person on a wagon train, choosing supplies, and moving forward without mishaps.

• Next week, 5/23/13, on Thursday is our Portland train trip to OMSI. Check your itinerary to make sure you’ve got a way for your child to get to the station by either carpooling with other families or driving yourself, or meeting Jenny at the school for your child to have a ride. Healthy snacks are a must since we’ll be on the go all day. Walking shoes, water bottle, and sturdy backpack are needed.

• We are so lucky to have all the talented student volunteers who help in our classroom. Aaron has taken the reins in in his student teaching position and is doing a great job. I Chun continues her amazing Chinese lessons, as well as Rosie and Aaron helping on Thursday and Friday. I’m profoundly grateful and impressed by the commitment of these young people working towards their degrees in Education.

 Buenas semanas y bonne semaine et have a good week,

Debra, Aaron, I Chun, and Cassidy

Dear Families,

Happy May to you with sunny skies! We’re are close to the end of school  with still many fun events to come.

Topics for the Week

• Ocean Studies: the kelp forest study has ended with a fish dissection by Peter Gardener, manager of the Fish Dept. at Market of Choice, who was so kind to provide this activity. The eyeballs were certainly the most riveting item for students! The students finished painting their tiles with Ocean themes. Laura Jackson, clay artist, will fire them this week.

• Native American Speeches: We are a third of the way done with our speeches. The students know their material very well, communicate it to the class with confidence, and the class has given such appropriate feedback. The hard work of researching, organizing, and practicing has paid off for many.

• Jog-a-thon Assembly kick-off happened on Friday. The fundraiser will take place on Friday, May 17th from 9:15-10:15am. We will walk to SEHS track and would appreciate your company walking with us, helping with marking tags, jogging with the class, and in any other way you see fit.

• Language classes: Yi Chun has been teaching Chinese to the class for five weeks. The students enjoy the games played that reinforce the word meanings. Two new UO German language students are continuing what Janine in 3rd grade started. Sage and Adrian will be teaching German twice a week! It’s such an amazing experience with foreign language lessons that the class is receiving!

• Oregon Trail Social Studies and Reading Unit: Aaron will be starting the last novel group that ties into the Oregon Trail on Tuesday. The class will learn about the people, the routes, the diasters that happened to the pioneers along the way.

Bon semaine y buenas semanas,

Debra, Cassidy, Aaron, and Yi Chun

Hi families,

Here are the topics for the class. Please look at the great photos from OCEAN WEEK. There will be no spelling homework due to speeches. See you at Wild Duck for Edison’s fundraiser.

•Language/Social Studies Presentation: with all the hard work and learning about our nation’s first people, we will start giving speeches on WEDNESDAY.  Students will sign up for a place and be ready with their notecards and picture/keynote/powerpoint (whatever medium they selected) to share information with a strong, clear, voice, knowing their material very well.
Practicing the students use their notecards to practice since reading a report makes one look down at the paper and not out to the audience. We practice Mon. eve and in class Tuesday working with partners,  to be ready for  Wed. and throughout the week. The first three students will be recognized for taking the first turn which shows courage!

•Math: We’re working on symmetry, triangles, and problem solving. Keep students working on IXL geometry for further understanding.

•Reading: Greek mythology comes to a close this week. Our D’Aulaire go back to to the district’s library. Students will complete/check journals for poems, questions, summaries and cause-effect pictures. We’ve acted in skits the main action of stories with many enjoying the small stage. We will organize a mini “Greek Festival” where the class wears togas (sheets or white towels) and create games for each other and our reading buddies and maybe some food. We may need parent help here.

Science: we’ll learn about the insides of fish, and hope that our fishmanager is able to visit us.We’ll continue to paint our kelp forest ocean scenes.

Thanks for your help and bon semaine y buenas semanas,

Debra, Cassidy, Aaron and Yi Chun