Double Digit Multiplication

Help With Long Division

Hour of Code - Scratch Holiday Cards

During the Hour Of Code, students created holiday cards using the Scratch tutorial. Here are some of the projects created by students in the afternoon class:

This is Sarah M.'s card. Click on the little polar bear in between the two cabins.

This is Charlize's card. Click on the green flag!

This is Ellis' card. Turn on your speakers. Click on the green flag!

This is Anny's card. Click on the green flag!

This is Danny's card. Turn on your speakers. Click on the green flag!

We Made Applesauce!

Tuesday is an exciting day for fourth graders. It's nutrition day with Mara from Common Threads Farm! 

This week is also the Whatcom Farm to School Harvest Lunch. Thanks to Whatcom Farm to School for the resources we were able to share on our blog. We used the poster below, the PowerPoint, and the Apple Trivia from their materials. 

This month's Featured Item:

In honor of our Featured Item, we made applesauce from scratch! I had no idea making applesauce was so much fun or that it was so easy! 

Thanks to our bloggers: Sarah M., Angelina, Elizabeth, Sebastian R., and Benjamin!

The class is getting ready to make apple sauce for nutrition class in room 12. They cut the apples up with a cutter that cuts out the core and cuts the other parts up. 

First we chop up the apples from the core and into slices.  They are very hard but they made it through. It is a little messy and sticky.  The juice from the apples is getting everywhere.

Once they are finished doing that, they use the corer again to chop them into smaller chunks, (the smaller they are the faster they cook). 

What they did next is they put the apples in a skillet along with ½ cup of water. Daniele is putting the apples in the skillet for one of the groups. While David is stirring the apples in his skillet, Brian is cutting the apple with the apple cutter. Brody carefully pours the water into the skillet.

Now we add half a cup of water in the hot skillet plus the apples go in too!  Students are taking the wooden spoon and mixing the apples in the skillet.  The smell is so rich and very apple.

Then they close the lid to the skillet for about 5 minutes.

Waiting for the apples to cook will take a while.  Ms. Mara, our nutrition teacher, calls every one over to their seat to let the apple sauce to cook. Mara tells us about local apples and how Washington is the biggest apple supplement in the U.S. and she shows us a slide show.  Brian checks in his group to make sure the apples don’t burn. Ms. Mara passes out a sheet that asks questions about apples like “how many does the average consumer eat every year?” Brian answers 10 lbs.

Each person from a group will take out the apples from the skillet.  Once the apples got out of the skillet, the apples almost smell like applesauce to me.  When you mash the apple the apple juice comes all out.

As you mash up the apples the heat starts to raise up your hand.   By the time you open the cinnamon lid the cinnamon smell rises up your nose.  Next,  Izabelle mashes the apples; then lets Hanna go. The room starts to smell of the sweet cinnamon that they are putting in the apple sauce. Yolibeth remarks that it is very hot.

Everyone think that the applesauce is really good but it is a little hot. I can taste the applesauce.

  

While the apples were cooking, we took this Apple Trivia Quiz. Give it a try and see how you do!

Mathletics Certificates

This week's Mathletics certificate winners are: 

in the A.M. class: 

Hayden, Angelina, Eric, Alex, Tim, Gurparam?, and Miranda

Alex was also awarded a Silver certificate this week!

and in the P.M. class: 

Kyle, Gavin, Ellis, and Mattias

Congratulations! 

Fun and Learning With Food!

Yesterday was Tuesday; that means Mara from Common Threads Farm joins us for fun, exploration, discussion, and COOKING. Our students observe, analyze and discuss healthy foods. And on days like yesterday, they actually get to read and follow a recipe as a team in order to prepare healthy, DELICIOUS Squash Soup from scratch.


We had great conversations about fractions (Exactly how much is 1/4 of an onion?) and measurement (Can I use this cup to measure 1 cup? How do I know what 1 3/4 cups is? Which line do I look at?). 


We also worked together in teams like we do in science and math, but it is something we are still learning to do better. Cooking together was a GREAT way to work on those skills. We had to read directions together, discuss the process together, LISTEN TO EACH OTHER, and take turns. These are all essentials skills, and I am so happy to have an opportunity like this to help my students learn them.


Here is our recipe:

Here is a little slideshow to give you an idea of how much fun we had. Thank you, Mara and Common Threads!

Please comment!

What was your favorite part of making Squash Soup? 

Do you think you will try making it at home? 

What are some observations you made as you chopped, mashed, stirred, and finally ATE the soup? 

What would you like us to make in the future?

Hour of Code Kickoff - It's a Hit!

Students were revved up by President Obama





and astronauts at the International Space Station



and then The Hour of Code erupted into problem solving, critical thinking, team work, and...FUN! 

Ready. Set. Go!

 

Hayden and Vanessa working as a team.

Brian is giving some useful advice.

"Wait, how'd you do that?"

Liam and Hayden are trying another strategy.

Sarah is SO into this!

Sarah is using her body to make sure she enters the right instructions. Great strategy!

Avari is helping out. Way to go!

Mike thinks Hour of Code rocks!

Please comment! What was the best part of the Hour of Code?

What did you learn? 

What do you want to do next?

Mathletics Certificates!

This week's Mathletics certificate winners are:

In the A.M. class: 

Devin with a Silver certificate

and Angelina, Alex, Benjamin, and Brian with Bronze certificates

and in the P.M. class: 

Jackson?, Kyle, Gavin, and Ellis with Bronze certificates

Students earn certificates for accumulating at least 1,000 points on Mathletics in one week. Points are earned by answering questions correctly, trying new learning activities, and by the amount of time students spend on the program. 

Congratulations!

The Hour of Code

Along with millions of other kids around the world, Sunnyland 4th graders are participating in the Hour of Code.





“Learning to code makes kids feel empowered, creative, and confident. If we want our young women to retain these traits into adulthood, a great option is to expose them to computer programming in their youth.“ -Susan Wojcicki, Senior Vice President, Google


What Is Computer Science?
Computer science develops students’ computational and critical thinking skills and shows them how to create, not simply use, new technologies. This fundamental knowledge is needed to prepare students for the 21st century, regardless of their ultimate field of study or occupation. From "What is Computer Science?" published by Computing in the Core and code.org. Read more here.



“I think everybody in this country should learn how to program a computer because it teaches you how to think.” -Steve Jobs, founder of Apple



Anyone can learn to code...


“Learning to write programs stretches your mind, and helps you think better, creates a way of thinking about things that I think is helpful in all domains.” -Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft 


Okay, I'm interested. Tell me more. What's this all about? What's the big deal, anyway?



Find out what other leaders and professionals have to say about computer science and coding here.

Let's get started!

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela
born July 18, 1918, died  December 5, 2013

"One day when Nelson Mandela was 9 years old, his father died and he was sent from his village to a school far away from home, to another part of South Africa. In Johannesburg, the country's capital, Mandela saw fellow Africans who were poor and powerless. He decided then that he would work to protect them. When the government began to keep people apart based on the color of their skin, Mandela spoke out against the law and vowed to fight hard in order to make his country a place that belonged to all South Africans." from Mandela by Kadir Nelson

Where is South Africa?

Click on the link below to get to Nelson Mandela's biography
A brief video biography of Nelson Mandela's life.

Mandela Tribute Series - General Colin Powell

Mandela Tribute Series - Whoopi Goldberg

Nelson Mandela's cell on Robben Island 

Take a virtual tour of the island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years.

The two timelines above are the best I could find on short notice. Compare the civil rights efforts in South Africa with those happening in the United States. 

Sunnyland students, click on this link to go PebbleGo:

If you aren't at school, you will need to log in using the login I gave you at school.

Thank you, Madiba. As President Obama said so eloquently yesterday:

 "You no longer belongs to us; you belong to the ages." 

New Math Channel Video

This really helpful video created by one of our students should assist you if you are struggling with strategies to solve x7 problems.

X7 STRATEGIES from Mr Pahl on Vimeo.

Metric Measurement

Here is an introduction to Metric Measurement from Mammoth School:




Please comment! What unit of METRIC measure would I use to measure these objects:

The length of this pencil eraser?

The length of this hallway?

The height of this shelf?

The width of this piece of tape?

The length and width of this pencil box?

The length of this sidewalk or shadow?

Congratulations Jackson!

Jackson was our only Mathletics certificate winner this week. Way to go, Jackson!

Students For Salmon Field Trip

Our fourth graders, their teachers, and a few brave volunteers ventured out in a downpour to plant trees near Squalicum Creek as part of our Students For Salmon Program with Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association.

This is part of an effort to improve the Squalicum Creek watershed by restoring the riparian zone along the creek.

The students learned how to properly dig a hole for a tree, set the tree in the hole, and mulch the area around the tree. They worked in teams to plant over 50 native trees and shrubs, and then mulch them as well.

Thanks to our volunteers and of course to N-SEA for a great field trip despite the cold and the rain. We had a great time.

What's Happening in Fourth Grade?

Here is an update from Ms. Avera. Mr. Pahl's update will come early next week.

Reading: We are continuing to work on determining the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details and summarizing the text.  Our metacognitive strategy is determining text importance.  Our comprehension strategy is: identifying sequence of events.  We are continuing, and will throughout the year, to use Readabout and Smartfiles which are non-fiction text.

We are continuing our study of Leonardo Da Vinci and finishing his biography.  Students are asking questions and writing responses about his inventions and art work.  Students are continuing to use their listening and speaking skills to have discussions around their written responses.

Writing: We have completed our “Spooky Stories” that included: strong verbs, adjectives and transitions.  We are now working on another imaginative narrative piece to solidify their understanding of sequence of events, opening hook and closing.

After Thanksgiving Break the students will be writing a personal narrative about their Thanksgiving experience and from this writing narrow the topic.  This skill or “a moment in time” will help students focus their writing.

Social Studies: We are continuing with geography and using Time Lines to understand the sequence of history.

Art:  We completed a painting of Birch Trees in the fall by using negative space and wet on wet watercolor technique.  The students ripped pieces of tape and placed them on the watercolor paper then put a layer of water down with a wide brush.  Students then dropped in analogous colors and let the paper dry.  The colors blended together to create leave patterns.  Once the paper was dry we peeled off the tape and drew the lines and knots onto the tree trunk.  When that was complete we added a shadow on one side of the trunk by mixing colors and then adding water to soften the edge.  

The students will be drawing a cornucopia of fruits and vegetables using colored pencils.  In this lesson students will be learning more about shading and proportion.   

Thanks Again, PTA

We have such a wonderful, hard working PTA. This gorgeous sign appeared in front of our school a couple of weeks ago. Thanks for all you do for us Sunnyland PTA!

Congratulations Mathletics Certificate Winners!

Our Mathletics certificate winners for the last two weeks are:

Eric and Devin

Angelina, Miranda, Brian, and Devin

Maximus, Mattias, Kyle, Sarah, Kayden, and Charlize

Seth

and Alex! (who isn't here this week) 

Our First Nutrition Class

 Mara, Common Threads Farm Garden Educator visited us today for our first nutrition class! 

Today's lesson was focused on identifying and labeling plant parts, naming the parts of different plants we eat, preparing a special vegetable "burrito," and using observations to describe foods we eat rather than sharing our opinions about taste. 

What are fruits we eat? 

What are flowers we eat? 

Leaves?

Stems?

Roots?

 Now it's time to classify these plant parts. Are they seeds, roots, stems, leaves, flowers, or fruits?

 Now the REALLY fun part begins. Let's prepare a special "burrito" using ONLY parts of plants to make it!

Yum! Shredded apples and beets, chard stems, kale or lettuce leaves and...sunflower seed butter! They were (mostly) a hit. 

Thank you Common Threads Farm for choosing us to be one of the schools you work with. We really value the service you provide our children and our community. 

Please comment! 

What is something you learned today about plant parts or eating plants? 

What are your favorite plant parts to eat?

What are kinds of flowers, seeds, roots, stems, leaves we eat? 

What observations can you make about food textures and tastes (instead of saying "I like that food" or "That's gross!")? 

Marvelous Math!

Our fourth graders are working hard learning and using math strategies to solve a variety of problems. One area I have noticed that they can struggle is in explaining their thinking and in using good math vocabulary. Some students also struggle to learn the right steps to solve a problem, so we came up with the idea of creating our own math channel on Vimeo to help us.

The students met in small groups to discuss the kinds of problems we should make videos of.

Then they wrote out how they would solve and talk about the problems.

They practiced and practiced...

until they came up with videos like this:

Area Model from Mr Pahl on Vimeo.

Come visit the Room 12 Math Channel to learn more great ways of solving math problems!