Shana Tova!

Dear Students and Parents,

May you and your family be blessed with a "K'tiva V'Chatima Tova" - a happy, healthy, and sweet new year! May we merit a year of true peace, success, and contentment! 

Have a wonderful Rosh Hashana,

Morah N.D.

4th Grade Update

 Welcome again to our very own 4th Grade blog! We've been doing an amazing amount of learning in 4th Grade since we've started the school year. We hope this blog will keep you informed about some of the learning experiences we have and some of the content material we learn.

MATH: In Unit 1, which we've just completed, we focused on Geometry. We discussed polygons and their properties, types of lines, line segments and rays, and various types of circles (concentric, congruent). We used compasses and straightedges to create various geometric constructions. We learned the difference between regular polygons, irregular polygons, concave polygons, and convex polygons...among the many concepts we covered. We know that trying out our compasses was new and maybe difficult in the beginning,  but with practice we are sure to become more proficient!

SCIENCE: In chapter 1, we began the way real scientists do...we asked a great question: what are all living things made of?? We then explored with the microscope, and took a close-up look at an onion skin. We were quite surprised! You can actually see the individual cells through the lens! We were amazed to know that although our human cells are different than a plant cell, all living things are made up of cells that contain a nucleus, cytoplasm, etc. We learned about the necessary functions of all living things, and then explored how scientists group plants. The students brought in leaves which we grouped according to edge-type, and agreed that scientists use certain criteria to divide plants as well (how they get water and nutrients, and how they reproduce)! We brought in plants (grass, bamboo, moss, celery, etc.) and some of us brought in illustrations of types of plants. We learned about the classification of animals as well. We learned about Vertebrates and Invertebrates...AND got an Invertebrate pet- a water snail! now we can observe it from up close...

ELA: Reader's & Writer's workshop have begun in full speed! We've gathered ample tools in both areas - reading and writing - so that we can not only be good readers and writers, but will read to write and write to read... We know that by reading well, and noticing what the writer's craft was, we can incorporate that in our writing. As writers, we need to be mindful of our readers- we must write so that our readers will read! We've been practicing noticing patterns, asking deeper questions, making inferences, etc. We've been reading some beautiful books by Patricia Polacco, including 'Thunder Cake' in which we discussed Conflict & Resolution... (Patricia had many fears, and her Babushka helped her overcome them). We'll be incorporating that into our writing. The student's have asked for the recipe in the back of the book, so you can find that below! We've also been discussing the making of a good paragraph, and identifying topic sentences...

That's the news for now! Ask your 4th Grader for more...

Thunder Cake Recipe:

Thunder Cake!

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream together one at a time:
1 cup shortening
1 3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs, separated
( blend yolks in. Beat whites until they are stiff, then fold in.)

1 cup cold water
1/3 cup pureed tomatoes

Sift together:
21/2 cups cake flour
1/2 cup dry cocoa
11/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Mix dry mixture into creamy mixture. Bake in two greased and floured 8
1/2 inch pans at 350 degree for
35 to 40 minutes. Frost with chocolate butter frosting. Top with
strawberries.

ENJOY!!!

WELCOME!

Welcome to 4th Grade at Mazel for the 2011-2012 school year! I invite you, students and parents, to participate in our blog. We will use the blog as a means to communicate important messages, updates, and most importantly to keep you posted about our learning and experiences at school!

I am looking forward to a year of great learning and growth,
Morah Nechama Dena