Food in many forms

1. We have all eaten rice in different restaurants, at home and in school. But have you ever sen rice in the field? Growing crops and caring for the earth are very important steps in getting food to our tables.
     Many people around the world depend on rice for survival. Click here for a fun rice game.

Words, words, words

1. Multiplication Drills
    Each of you has been playing various multiplication games.  This time you need to pass a simple test by using this website.  Remember that we have used this website in the past and several students had trouble entering in the correct answer.  Make sure that you have some scrap paper to work out the problems and find the correct answers.

2. In Language Arts we are going to look at some parts of speach and important elements that make up a sentence.
   First we are going to look at clauses.  Unfortunately, we won't be talking about the world famous Santa Clause, but the clauses that we use in sentences.
Click here:  Clauses
3.    After completing your conjunctions worksheet, please visit the following website. Here you will find a list of several conjunctions, some are very common, some are new to you. At the top of the site you will see a link that says, Spelling Test- Conjunctions. Follow that link to take the quiz. 
    Then, open your Language Arts journals and  Mr. Frisch will tell you which conjunctions to write down and use in creating new sentences.
  

Food and Art

1. It's field trip time again.  This time we are going to keep our feet planted on solid ground and visit the San Antonio Museum of Art.  Our exhibit is titled, "Art in America." Follow this link to see some of the works that are on display.  Find one of your favorites and take some notes in your writing journal.  Then, get ready to view the real thing tomorrow at the museum.

2. Over the past few weeks we have been looking at homonyms, antonyms and synonyms.  When you know how to spell and use these different words, you will really boost your vocabulary.  You will be surprised how just a little knowledge can go a long way.

     Next, we are going to dive into the study of common prefixes.  Remember how we looked at the word antonym and separated off the prefix anto, then compared it to the word anti?  Do you remember what these two prefixes mean?  Well, there are many, many, many more examples of common beginning of words, prefixes, that will give us clues about the meaning of the word.  Click here to see a list of prefixes, then record them in your Language Arts Journal. Also, write down the two example that are given on the website.  You want plenty of data in your journal for studying later.

3. Have you noticed that Mr. Frisch has been talking about food a lot?  If you haven't noticed, he loves to eat, and he brags about his cooking creations.  However, this recent focus on food is helping introduce is to National Food Day, which we will celebrate across the entire SASIC community on October 24, 2011.
      Last week, we took a look at some of our favorite foods and started to map out what it takes to make these wonderful treats.  Today we are going to look deeper into the ingredients that make our favorites taste so great.  Following these directions to find the food that you love best, and record the details of what's inside.

     a. Write down two or three of your favorite cooked foods.  Is it your grandma's enchiladas, or your mom's macaroni and cheese? Maybe you love it when your tia makes cookies?  You can even list one of your favorite things to order in a restaurant.  When you have these written down, check with Mr. Frisch to make sure that are acceptable foods for the next step of the activity.

     b. Look at one of these websites that will give you recipes for your favorite foods:

       All Recipes
       Food Network
       The Joy of Baking
       My Recipes

       If you can't find your favorite foods on these websites, you can google it, or check with Mr. Frisch.

     c. Once you find your recipe, copy it down on a piece of paper from the scrap paper folder.  You will be using this recipe in some upcoming art and science activities.  Make sure your name is clearly written on your paper.

Totally Awesome Video

1. For our morning warm up we are going to watch the following video clip.  In your writing journals,  describe what you are seeing, the changes that are happening or explain how cool the images really look.  Remember the emphasis is on writing full and complete sentences.  You grade is not determined by how much you write or how many fancy words you can use, but will be based on your use of proper grammar.  Feel free to ask Mr. Frisch or Ms. O. if you have any questions or confusion.

Here is the video

2. Photosynthesis
    Begin my looking at this website about photosynthesis and plants. Play the first game called The Oxygenator.  In your science journal, make notes of what the symbols mean.
    Next you can play the game Ask the Agronomist. You must ask all the questions and record the answers in your science journal.

3. Water Cycle

Since we have already watched several videos about the water cycle, now we are going to create our own drawings. Click here for a neat page about the water cycle and draw your own version of this important cycle that keeps our planet wet supplied with fresh water.

Remember that your drawing is important. Pay attention to details and all parts of the water cycle.  Your grade is based on how accurate your drawing is, not how fancy you draw everything.

Miscellaneous Tuesday

1. Art, Emotions and Imagination
   Today we are going to look at some different paintings and let our imaginations run wild. Click on the following link of a look at some exciting paintings Jackson Pollock.
   You are free to click on any of the painting for a larger view.  Here are some questions to stir up your imagination. What is happening in the painting? What are some of your favorite colors? Do you see any patterns? Look at the painting for a few seconds, so you see anything deeper inside the painting? What else do you see?




2. Base Ten Blocks

   Check out this Base Ten Block link for a cool demonstration about using base ten blocks.











3. Rounding Numbers
    Visit Mr. Nussbaum for a little interactive lesson about rounding numbers.  Scroll down a little and look at the rounding drills section.  When you have a complete score, please raise your hand to have Mr. Frisch or Ms. O check your work.  Remember, the games are fun, but you have to check your work for a grade.
     After you have completed some simple rounding steps, try these rounding games.

4. For a little artistic adventure we are going to make some posters about our math lessons.  Here are some guides to including the proper words on each poster, but our class can choose the character or mascot that we want help us.

Computers are Great for Learning

Planetarium Trip

On Thursday, our class took a short trip down San Perdo Ave. to the Scobee Planetarium. It was really cool to look up at the ceiling and see the stars, planets and galexies displayed before our very eyes.

Riding the city bus was really cool!

Fans Love Basketball

Adding up the numbers


1. Number are always around us.  Everything we do involves adding, subtracting or playing with numbers.
Let's take a look and some numbers about fans who came out to cheer on their favorite teams.

Look at your worksheet and answer questions 1-4 by using the following links.  Remember to use the back button to return to this page, or you can always access our class blog in the Favorites section of Internet Explorer.

Spurs Attendance

Mavericks Attendance

Lakers Attendance

Grizzlies Attendance

2. Now let's take a look at some larger numbers.  Click here to learn about the population is some of the largest cities in the United States.

In your math journals, write down the populations of New York and Los Angeles, what is the sum of these two populations?

How many people live in Philadelphia and Phoenix?

How many people live in Jacksonville and Indianapolis?

3. Extra credit
What is the total population of all Texas cities on the Top 20 list?

Early Life in Texas

 1. Today we will venture into the life, culture and art of some predominant indigenous groups in Texas.  Our groups will be divided up and they will investigate the following groups:
    Each table will be assigned one of the following indigenous groups, Caddo, The Commanche, Karankawa, or Tigua. Please visit the website, http://www.texasindians.com/ for information about these native Texas groups.  Mr. Frisch will provide you with directions on accessing the correct pages.

   

  Your table must make notes of the following characteristics of your indigenous group :
Environmental Lessons
Cultural Adaptations
Social Environment
Were they Nomadic or Seditary?
How did they get their food?
    
2. Next, we are going to look at some artistic and special features of these various groups.  While they lived about the same time in history and they lived in the same state, their lives and lifestyles were different.  Remember when we drew and colored our maps about the different regions of Texas? Now you can see who lived in those different regions and how they survived.   

     Please visit the website http://www.texasindians.com/ and ask for assistance in finding your way back to the correct page with information about your table's native Texas group.
     Complete the following drawings about your indigenous group.
Caddo
    What did they use to cut down trees? Draw two different photos of this, and draw a picture of their  
     special houses.
The Comanche
     What was a travois?? Draw a picture of the one the used by horses, and draw a picture of their familiar
     houses.
Karankawa
     What is a Wickiup? Draw a picture of this.
Tigua
      Draw a picture of their unique houses.

      Please visit the website: http://www.native-languages.org/texas.htm

3. Now we are going to read about some myths and exciting stories in each indigenous culture.  　
   As for assistance in finding the correct page. Begin by visiting  http://www.texasindians.com/
 
Scroll down to Indian Myths

4. Finally, we will tap into our artistic side and draw some important and unique items from some Texas indigenous groups. 

The Caddo tribe
     Find the Caddo Indians Fact Sheet and look for images of the Caddo Pot, Caddo Powwow  
     Drum, Caddo Tomahawk, Caddo Warrior. Your group should draw, color and label each of these items.

The Commanche Tribe

      Do a Google Image Search for Commanche Art, ask for permission about which items to draw

The Karankawa
      Do a Google Image Search for Karankawa Art, ask for permission about which items to draw

The Tigua

     Do a Google Image Search for Karankawa Art, ask for permission about which items to draw

September 11

Yesterday our country took the time to commemorate the terrorist attacks of September 22, 2001. I'm certain that many of  your parents and family members have told you about what happened on this terrible day.  Think of the stories that you have heard and the programs you may have seen.

Based on your memory and understanding, write down what you know and what you have been told.  What happened on this day and what was the reason behind the attacks? Have you seen any of the memorials, monuments or pictures that help us pay tribute to those who died on that day?  Tell us about those things in your journal entry today.

Show Me the Money

Students from 4th grae and fifth grade took part in a mock store to practice the skill of making change and keeping track of sales.  Our afternoon activity was fun and insightful.  In the end, advertising and creative sales practices became the dominant theme.

Language Arts in Pictures

Open Drawing Day
    Kids were allowed to draw anything during this activity.  The only instructions were to draw a picture of your favorite person, place or thing.  There was a lot of excitement in the air and the markers were moving rapidly.  Little did they know, but a Language Arts assignment was lingering in the background. 
    The final step of the afternoon was to use several adjectives to describe their drawing. It was a little bit of a struggle, but they all survived.

Short Stories and Hurricanes….a dangerous mix

 Click on the NOAA website to see the three hurricanes that are headed this way.

1. Wildfire stories

2. After taking our benchmark reading tests, we are going to dive deep into the art of reading, understanding and reporting.  Here are some brief short stories that will help us master the process of retaining the information we read and reporting it back to others.  I believe I see podcasts in our future…..

Destress after a reading test

4th Grade Reading Assessment

Today our class completed the first half of the benchmark reading test.  After some focused and intense reading, we took some time to review our lesson about money. We used the following online tools to add, subtract and practice making change.


Money Practice

Adding and subtracting money: Try this online game

How good are you are making change? Here's a little way to show your skills...

Now, make your budget, that means, figure out how much cash you will need for buying your favorite stuff.  Click here

Language Arts: Rules and Review
Today we need to look at a few Language Arts rules that will be useful anytime we are writing or typing anything. 

Capitalization

Drawing the regions of Texas

In our study of Texas, we learned that there are distinct features in different parts of the state.  Each of our table groups made a map of the state, we divided up the state into regions, and we labled those regions.  This will help us understand how life in our state is varied by region, production and work is different according to location, climate, and terrain, plus how each region of the state has it own cultural identity. 

Take a look at our maps...

Arts in Education Week • National Art Education Association

Arts in Education Week • National Art Education Association

Stay tuned for more exciting activities in our classroom.

Making Weather Instruments

We finished our lessons on weather by making some meterological instruments.

Artistic Words

Poetry

This week our class will begin to look at different forms of poetry. Sometimes poetry grabs our attention because of the rhyme, other times we are attracted to a poem's vocabulary. Click here to look at a few poems that illustrate alternating rhyme patterns. Click here to read a poem that shows rich vocabulary.

Our students will study various forms of poetry and create some of their own works of art.

Language Arts

This week we are reviewing the parts of speech, such as nouns, verbs, and adjectives. The students spent some time making a word wall of adjectives. On the following adjective website you will find several examples by category.