Mystery Graph Pictures

After finishing the test on long division, the fourth graders worked on mystery graph pictures for Christmas. They did a great job using the clues and the grids to color the corresponding squares to make a Christmas tree, reindeer, candle, Santa or Gingerbread house.

Equation Station

 A fun activity that we started today is called "Equation Station". I have a bulletin board in my classroom with a grid of 16 numbers. The students have to find as many equations as they can using the numbers that are connected in the grid. Points are given according to the length of the equation. All operations (add, subtract, multiply, divide) can be used. Some students even used parentheses and wrote algebraic equations! Several of us, including Mrs. Riepe and myself, are trying to figure out an equation using all 16 numbers in one equation. This activity is great for all levels of students.  It's been a fun challenge! :)

These boys are working together to write equations at the Equation Station.

We changed the rules a little bit...we made equations longer than 6 numbers!!

Very Thankful

Check out our Kidblog posts to go along with Thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for! I am thankful for this wonderful bunch of kiddos that are in my homeroom this year. What a great group! 

Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone! :)

Click HERE to visit our Kidblog.

Kakooma and Inside Recess

Has your 4th grader been talking about Kakooma? This math puzzle is a great way for students to practice their fact fluency. It's even fun for adults, too! Kakooma was developed by Greg Tang and can be done on paper, a website or as an app. Have your favorite 4th grader explain it to you. :)

Kakooma on paper...

Kakooma on gregtangmath.com

The Kakooma app for iPad, iPod or iPhone

Today we were stuck inside for recess because of the rainy weather. I tried to snap a few photos of my homeroom kiddos while they were busy during inside recess...

Constructing things with magnets

Playing "Headbanz"

Moby Max

Today was our first day using MobyMax. The fourth graders logged into their new accounts, took a pre-test and some even began completing some lessons on MobyMax. For every minute spent on MobyMax they earn "game points". MobyMax replaces the "ALEKS" program that our school district used to purchase for our students. MobyMax covers all curriculum areas, but I will be focusing on the math portion of it during my math classes. It's new to me, so I'll be learning right along with the students! 

http://www.mobymax.com/

Kid Bloggers

Has your fourth grader told you about our Kidblog? They are beyond excited about it! Kidblog is an online blogging tool for classrooms. I used it with my first graders at Morning Sun for several years, so I knew the fourth graders at Mediapolis would do very well with it. I introduced it to the kids yesterday and showed them how to log in on the iPads and they caught on very quickly!

The exciting thing about blogging is that the students' writing isn't hidden in a notebook in their desks at school. It is visible for others to read and comment on. We talked about reading each other's writings and leaving positive comments for each other. For their first posts the students were asked to use some of this week's spelling words.  Their writing isn't perfect, but it will give them the opportunity to work on their editing skills.

I welcome you to check out our Kidblog and leave comments if you'd like! All posts and comments go through me first for approval. So, if you don't see your child's post or a comment you've left, that means it hasn't been approved or published yet.

We will continue to use Kidblog to write about various different topics. Stay tuned for next week's fun Kidblog posts! :)

https://kidblog.org/class/MsHiltons4thGrade

Our Kidblog: kidblog.org/class/mshiltons4thgrade/

Our First Time Blogging with Kidblog on PhotoPeach

Math Games

Some of the time spent in our classroom is on math games to practice basic facts and skills. One of the games that I just added to the shelf is "Capture the Factors". The fourth graders are getting good at knowing the factors of a number (1,2,3,4,6 and 12 are factors of 12) and if the number is prime or composite.

Capture the Factors

"Zoom" is a fun card game that gives the kids practice on multiplication. We are continuing to work on our fact fluency and on multiplying 2, 3 and 4-digit numbers by 1-digit numbers. This game gives them more practice on these skills.

Playing the multiplication card game "Zoom".

Yes, ALGEBRA!

This week in fourth grade we've been doing some algebra. Yes, ALGEBRA! The fourth graders learned the "order of operations" for Algebra (1. Parentheses first; 2. Multiplication and division from left to right; 3. Addition and subtraction from left to right)

We enjoyed an assembly this morning by Matt Wilhelm. Matt performed amazing BMX bike stunts while talking about bullying, perseverance and character. His stunts were incredible, his message was very valuable and the children were a wonderful audience! 

Sudoku and Snowball

Today we did two Sudoku puzzles. 

Some of the fourth graders were challenged by the 6 x 6 Sudoku!

To review "rounding" we had a snowball fight! :) 

Ask your favorite fourth grader about our snowball fight!

Wimps and Changers

Today we talked about ROUNDING and how important it is that we learn this skill because we are going to need it when we are adults! In third grade the students learned about "wimps and changers". Ask your favorite fourth grader what "wimps and changers" are. 

We drew pictures and made notes about rounding in our Math notebooks for future reference. I love fourth grade writing and drawings! :)

A Good Start

We've had a very good start to the 2015-2016 school year! This first week of school we have been busy going over rules, routines and procedures. We've also started our PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports) program at Mediapolis Elementary. The students have earned BARK tickets by following our four principles: Be Responsible; Achieve Success; Respect Your Environment; Kindness Toward Others. BARK tickets are used for drawing of prizes.

Today in my math class we played a multiplication game with dice. The fourth graders had to roll the dice, then multiply the numbers. They played the game with a partner and tried to fill in more squares on the game board than their partner. It was a great way to practice those multiplication facts that some of the kiddos have forgotten over the summer!

Candy Heart Estimating

Estimating is a skill that we use on a daily basis. Sometimes we don't even realize we are using that skill. Children need plenty of practice with estimating so that they will be able to use it as adults. A fun way to practice estimating is with food or candy. So, yesterday during math class we did some estimating...with candy hearts in baby food jars. We spent time discussing what a good "guess" would be and how to adjust our estimations based on previous guesses and actual amounts. 

This is an activity that I used for many years when I taught first grade. The fourth graders did an excellent job of explaining (in writing) what they learned or discovered from this activity. We even took the math a step further and did some long division to figure out how many candy hearts each student would get to eat at the end of the class period. One kiddo even wanted to divide the remaining candy hearts into fractions! :)

Estimating candy hearts

What We Love

The fourth graders in my homeroom completed a little project to go along with Valentine's day. Using the website imagechef.com, we made word clouds in the shape of a heart. The kids typed what they love, chose the font and colors and the website created a heart shaped word cloud.

Here's my Valentine's day word cloud. :)

Our Classroom Door decorated with our 
Valentine's day word clouds.

Spelling Word Clouds

We were able to practice our spelling words last week in a very fun way! We used the mini-laptops to type the words and then made "word clouds" on www.abcya.com . This is an activity that I used many times when I taught first grade, so I knew the fourth graders would do great with this. They had so much fun! After checking their spelling, they had fun changing the fonts, color and layout of their word clouds. 

http://www.abcya.com/word_clouds.htm