Sunday, December 13, 2015

Annual Mikan Picking in Miura

Recently we took an exciting field trip to pick mikan (tangerines) at Miura Seisen Nature Center with our fellow fourth graders from Seisen Elementary in Kamakura. We didn't let a little rain stop us from sharing dances, playing games, picking mikan, and making new friends! 

              We filled our bags with 7 mikan each.         Our friends taught us how to cut the mikan from
                                                                                               the tree. 
                    
       
         We learned how to find the perfect mikan.                     
       Do you know the trick? If so, comment below.          Dancing to "I Love A Rainy Day"
        

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Drama Workshop - Carol Night preparations

Grade 4 students worked with the MS/HS Drama teacher today to learn how to tell stories through tableaux - frozen pictures. The girls will be using their new skills in this year's Carol Night performance.

Working with Ms Delbridge

Parents and 5 year olds

Parents and 5 year olds

Parents and teenagers

Rock stars and idols

Royalty and peasants

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Questions can be important and interesting

Grade 4 students investigated how to categorize questions recently.

After looking at these questions,

  • Who invented clothes hangers?
  • What is the name of Miss Lea's pet snake?
  • How might the way we make energy change my life in the future?

Why are some areas of Japan windier than others? ... we decided that some questions are interesting and some are important, some are neither and some are both. We then worked together to sort out some questions about energy. Here is the evidence of some of our discussions and sorts





  

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Tuning into Energy

A few weeks ago fourth graders began a How the World Works unit of inquiry about energy. As a class, they showed some very good knowledge about energy. For example, a couple forms of energy came up when we tuned in, such as electricity, light and sound.

However, the students had many misconceptions too. One activity that brought the misconceptions out was called More True or More False? Partners were given a series of statements about energy. They discussed the statements and decided whether it was more true, or more false. They were surprised to find out they were often incorrect.

In this video two students explain why "sleeping gives us energy". They decided it was More True than False. As you can see, that was the general consensus. See if your daughter can explain why "sleeping gives us energy is actually More False than True.



Here are some other energy statements we considered:

Energy and forces are the same thing.

Energy gets used up and disappears.

Plants make energy.

Thursday, October 15, 2015

Writing Celebration!

The fourth graders have been writing up a storm! The writers in 4B just published their personal narratives and celebrated by sharing their writing with each other.



They shared their writing in small groups and asked each questions such as: Where did you get the inspiration for your story? What was the most challenge part of the story for you to write? What's your favorite part?


Some writers shared their piece with the entire class. 



Grade 4 performance of Wishes for the Future

Great job to the Grade 4 students on their Festival of Nations performance on Wishes for the Future, which they composed and choreographed as a part of the Expression of the Arts Unit!
Ms.Hashimoto & Ms.Swain

Monday, October 5, 2015

Math!

The focus in math so far this school year has included topics in shape and space, number (place value), and measurement (angles).

Students have worked from 2 dimensions to 3 dimensions. Here, students use drawings of 2D faces to create a 3D object:




Students are also challenging themselves to create 2D nets of 3D objects:



                                                                 Mathletics Fun!
Mathletics.com has also been a wonderful place for 4th Graders to practice their Mathematical skills and compete with other learners from around the world. Ms. Mollie's class made it into the Top 50 Classes in Asia. Watch out World, here we come!





Monday, September 21, 2015

Welcome to Grade 4

Welcome to our Grade 4 blog! We will be sharing our learning here throughout the year. The 2015-16 school year is off to a great start. Our first Unit of Inquiry is called Expression Through the Art. We have been exploring the elements and techniques of art and how they are used to express our values and beliefs. Below are some examples of artwork created by some of our Grade 4 learners. 


These pieces of work shown above are an imitation of Joan Miro who used simple lines and shapes and mainly primary colors in his artwork.  


In the artwork above grade 4 learners used the elements of art to create symbols that convey their personal journey through life.