Simple Things

The school year ended last spring and I didn't get a garden planted like I had wanted. The weather didn't cooperate and I was too busy with end of the year things and home projects. But, at the end of June I was able to prepare my garden for some planting. Pumpkins and squash occupied most of the garden, along with the large rhubarb plants for which I am so thankful.

I planted the mini pumpkins for my future students. The ones that I didn't know yet, but share my classroom with now. I was so excited to watch the pumpkins grow and hoped that they'd be ready just in time for my new fourth graders.

In late September I began harvesting the mini pumpkins and some larger ones too. I ended up with plenty of pumpkins to share. Little did I know, giving a mini pumpkin to each of my homeroom kids would be such a big deal to them. They saw the basket full of pumpkins sitting in our classroom and waited for the day I would let them pick one out to keep. Last Friday was the day and they were so excited! Such a simple thing...

https://photopeach.com/album/cr2v62

 

The Amazing Race

 We did a fun activity last Friday as a warm-up in Math. The activity is called "The Amazing Race". I found it on the website MrElementaryMath. It's a great way to build number sense. The fourth graders worked in groups and had to come up with equations for the number that they were given.

" 

We made a list on the board of all of the equations that they came up with. This was just a practice round, as we didn't really play it as a race. Now that they know how to do the activity, next time we might try it as a race!

First in Math

The 4th graders are very excited about "First in Math". They have their log-in information on their Student Planners and are welcome to access it from home to get extra math practice.

The Py Game

Today I introduced the 4th graders to the "Py" game. Py (rhymes with my and by) is short for pyramid. This game is a great way for students to practice basic math facts. I am lucky enough to have quite a few of these games in my classroom for the kids to use. Ask your favorite 4th grader to tell you about the Py game.