First Field Trip-- Appaloosa Horse Museum and using Newsela on Chromebooks

Cooperative Table Partners discussing their work.
The 10 minutes sand timer on the table is a
way to help them see that in small
chunks of time, they can get a lot done.

Continuing the reinforcement from the grades before about paragraph writing. There is a way to get a cohesive paragraph put together and in 4th grade, the kid really begin to understand that paragraphs can be shorter and much longer than they think. We have been working on all the Editing Symbols too in Cursive and Grammar as it helps them see the language of revision.

This is a great example of a Planner in how we use it. For TBaA- Think Back and About at the end of the day, the kids remember and talk about what we did and how we did our work. It is reflection and cooperative reflection is proven to grow retention of information and being able to recall detail. Parents can read and ask specific questions and get a good handle on the day's academics. There is always a weekly goal. Besides writing about academics, the  kids reflect on their behavior or level of understanding. This tool is how the kid's learn that their work is important and important to their families. 

 The group of pictures below is how the classroom looks when everyone is on a Google Chromebook. We are using these for Newsela which is a system that the school has bought the licensing for that has thousands of articles on all kinds of subjects. The articles have 5 different reading levels. They are specifically designed to reinforce the deep thinking that is explained as the benchmarks and goals of the Common Core. Higher Order Thinking (HOT), or critical thinking is a skill that we work on each day in all subject areas.
On Newsela, each article has a short quiz or writing and I tailor the article(s) for the grade curriculum needs. The articles are assigned in one of the 4 Google Classrooms that have been set up by me and that is where I write instructions. The kids log on through their Doceo Accounts. The work they do is saved in their Drives and so you can see work they are doing in the Documents section.

 Addie's family pig gave birth and she wrote it up to tell us. She had made a prediction about how many piglets would be born and when. She observed what they all looked like and gave the size. It was a wonderful example of how they can apply scientific thinking to all kinds of events.

OUR FIRST FIELD TRIP
To the Appaloosa Horse Museum via our public transit .

We had time between bus changes to do some math we have been working on. Customary Measurement of Time, Distance, Weight and Volume have been the unit. The kids estimated the height of the building and the width of the sidewalk. The partners worked together to figure out the closest number in feet.

The Intermodel Transit Station has an art installation on the grounds. There were 5 pieces of art. I asked the kids to interact with them and describe how each made them feel. The work was all reclaimed or reused metal. The picture shows the one they loved most. It was a cube that they stuck their head in. They loved that.

 

 The history of how the horse got to North America is important to know and Ms. Ashton at the Appaloosa Horse Museum was an excellent teacher. The kids really learned so much as she talked to them, gave them quick pop quizzes and shared her enthusiasm for history and the Appaloosa. 

Learning to take notes is the focus for the kids and they had pages set up to be their graphic organizers to capture the information.

Learning about the Parfleche and making their own. Kids worked on the floor and around the table. The saddles as chairs had to be shared. :) I timed their sitting to make sure all got a turn. 

Here, Mason and Paige work through the Pumpkin Recipe measuring amounts of flour and such, but practicing with rice. They are using table and teaspoons too. Capacity is the understanding that the right amount makes a difference in the science of cooking or classroom work with magnets. Accuracy takes practice to understand--what it really is and what is really isn't. Also, the little pumpkin by the document camera is the one that Cienna grew from the seed that I gave the class to grow last year. And, the recipe is from Kylee's Mom.
The kids estimated the number of seeds-- big range this year--from 10 to 12,000. The winner gets to take home the pumpkin for the recipe. There is enough cooked pumpkin for 4 loaves. If you win, bake the pumpkin at 400 degrees for about an hour

Learning to work cooperatively takes time and practice. We have discussed and had some 'fish bowling' for the kids to see and hear what good conversations about work looks like. Since staying on topic with specific tasks is what learning cooperatively is all about, the kids were taught how to figure out who goes first in a group to making sure when they are done to get quiet so that all 6 tables can work at their own pace and as each group finishes they resume writing, or reading so we can go on.

  Learning to give helpful critical feedback takes time. We use these terms- comment, question, suggest, and compliment in all our academics. Here the kids were getting ready to do peer review. They don't write on the work of their classmate, they write these four terms on the page and write their thoughts. They sign their name so that later if there is something that isn't quite clear the two students can talk. The goal of writing it to make sure that all you want to communicate is understood by the reader and that takes a lot of practice.

 Practicing getting the rain catchers into the ground. We did great data collection with these as they went home with the kids and all took down information during three different observation times.

Diffferent surfaces provided good conversation about how to make sure that the tool was level and collect water. 

Ms. Mi'lee, our school counselor had a moment to come in and teach a fun activity around the idea of kindness.