Humans Arrive in Illinois

We been reading about the first humans to arrive in Illinois.  We learned that they started as hunter-gatherer societies, then developed permanent settlements, and finally created societies with governments and laws.  Today we made timelines of the arrival of humans.

Point of View Stories

We've been reading the story When I Went to the Library by Ken Roberts.  This is a humorous story written from a young girl's point of view as she is apologizing for bringing a snake into the local library.  Our class worked in groups today to rewrite the story from another point of view.  They wrote it from the point of view of the other kids in the library, Mr. Winston (library employee), the ambulance driver, Cara's parents, and the snake.  Each group presented their finished stories to the class.  I was impressed by their creativity and use of details in their stories.  Way to go 4th grade!

Adaptations

We've been reading and learning about animal adaptations in science.  Today we taped up our dominant hands, and tried writing and eating.  We learned that thumbs are an adaptation that help us meet our basic needs.

Player of the Week

Madilyn is our Player of the Week this week.

Lessons & Assignments Thursday, October 20th

Math - 4.4 - We practiced dividing by tens, hundreds, and thousands today.  The easiest way to do this is to identify the basic fact, and count the number of zeros.

Science - None - We did a lab activity on adaptations of bird beaks today.  Students took different tools (pliers, forceps, pencils, spoons, clothespins) and tried to pick up various types of food (rice, spaghetti, gummy worms, raisins, sunflower seeds).  They were able to figure out that birds' beaks are adapted to the types of food that they eat.

Language Arts - None - We had JA during our language arts time today.  We also completed a spelling and grammar page in class, and reread our weekly story.  We practiced identifying when, where, and why details in writing, and wrote our own sentences that included those details.

Social Studies - None - We worked on our DG, and read about the early inhabitants of Illinois.  We read about the Cahokia Mounds, and watched a quick Discovery Education clip about the history of the mounds.

Junior Achievement

Mrs. Sara Reed from Country Insurance visited our classroom today for a Junior Achievement (JA) lesson.  She will join us for lessons over the next 5 weeks.  Students will learn about regions, including entrepreneurship skills.

Lessons & Assignments Wednesday, October 19th

Math - 4.3 - We practiced interpreting the remainder in division word problems today.  We learned about problems that could be answered in fraction form, those using just the quotient, those using the quotient plus one, and those requiring just the remainder.

Science - None - We took our chapter test today.

Language Arts - None - We used part of our LA time to finish our science tests today.  We completed a spelling and grammar page in class today, and finished our selection story and graphic organizer.

Social Studies - None - We did not have social studies today.