Color Poems

After learning about the poetic tools of alliteration, repetition, personification, similes, and metaphors, Team Gibbas students put these tools to use and created original Color Poems.

Massachusetts Writing Standard: MA.3.A. Write stories, poems, and scripts that use similes and/or metaphors.

Northeast Slide Presentations

As part of our study of the United States' regions, Team Gibbas students created slide presentations about each northeast state.  Today in class, students had the opportunity to present their presentations to each other.  Click the arrows on the slide presentations below to see the students' hard work and to learn about the states in the Northeast Region.

Massachusetts Grade 4 Social Studies Standards Regions of the United States: 4.10  Identify the states, state capitals, and major cities in each region. (G) 4.11  Describe the climate, major physical features, and major natural resources in each region. (G)

Data Collection through Class Challenges

Essential Questions:  How can we create line graphs and bar models from data that we've collected?

Team Gibbas has been learning about bar graphs and line graphs as part of Chapter 4 in Math in Focus.  To give students some fun, hands-on, and authentic opportunities to create a bar graph and line graph students participated in two classroom challenges.

To generate data for a line graph, which displays data that changes over time, students were challenged to see how long they could stay in a wall squat.

To generate data for a bar graph, students participated in a dice challenge to see how many dice each student could balance on a popsicle stick held stable in the student's mouth.

Massachusetts Math Standard 3.MD  Draw a scaled bar graph to represent a data set with several categories.

Mystery Skype

Last week we had our very first Mystery Skype.   We looked forward to figuring out where the classroom we were skyping with was on the map and which state they were in.   We had to ask lots of questions in order to find out where they lived.    Some of the questions that we asked were, "Are you in North America?"  The class that we were skyping with said, "Yes!"  Also one of the other questions asked was, "Are you east of the Mississippi River?"  The other class answered, "No."   We finally guessed where they were - Nebraska! They guessed where we were too, Massachusetts!  We had so much fun and we hope that we will be able to have another Mystery Skype soon. 
Written by:  Class Reporter - Abby Photos taken by: Class Photographer - Tristan

Working as a team to figure out where the mystery classroom is

Class Reporter and Note Taker hard at work

Owl Pellets

Can we discover what an owl eats by dissecting an owl pellet? Before Thanksgiving break Team Gibbas students had the opportunity to learn about an owl's food chain by dissecting owl pellets!  Students discovered that their owls had eaten a variety of things, including birds and mice.  Students were able to look at bones under a microscope and match the bones they found to a chart before attempting to draw a skeleton of one of the creatures that they found in the pellet.

Massachusetts Science Standards:

Energy and Living Things (Grades 3 - 5)

11. Describe how energy derived from the sun is used by plants to produce sugars (photosynthesis) and is transferred within a food chain from producers (plants) to consumers to decomposers.

Traveling Teddies

On November 18th, the furry members of Team Gibbas began their quests to explore various parts of the United States and to help us learn about the different regions of the United States. Students' teddy bears will be traveling to different states from now until April.  Teddy bears may report back to students about their travels via postcards, a travel journal, and/or send pictures and information to be posted on our Teddy Bear blog.  Our furry friends help us learn about the physical features, natural resources, landmarks, and major cities in each region.
Thank you, Teddy Bears for helping us learn.  We look forward to hearing from you!

Click here to follow our Teddy Bears on our Teddy Bear Blog!

Massachusetts Grade 4 Social Studies Common Core Standards Regions of the United States:

4.10 Identify the states, state capitals, and major cities in each region. (G)

4.11 Describe the climate, major physical features, and major natural resources in each region. (G)

Thanksgiving padlet

Essential Question:  What do good writers do to improve their writing?
Team Gibbas students have been working on the writing trait of sentence fluency to improve their writing.  Students have learned that good writing includes sentences with of varying lengths.  For longer, descriptive sentences students learned the useful tool of adding a series of three to their writing. Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on things that we are thankful for.  Today during writing students had the opportunity to express their gratitude and practice their newly learned writing tool of writing a series of three with the proper use of commas.  Students were highly engaged with this activity as they worked on their laptops and were able to see their padlet posts simultaneously appearing on our classroom blog.
Student Challenge - Can you figure out how to add a picture to your padlet post?

Created with Padlet

Bar Modeling Video

Essential Question:  How can we solve multi-step word problems by using bar models?

To learn how to use bar models watch the video below!  On Friday, November 6th, Mrs. Steinberg, our math specialist, led a group of parents in the discovery of how fun and useful bar models can be when solving math problems.



Bar Modeling from Mrs. Klipfel on Vimeo.

Grade 4 Common Core Standards: 4.OA.A.3  3. Solve multistep word problems posed with whole numbers and having whole-number answers using the four operations, including problems in which remainders must be interpreted. Represent these problems using equations with a letter standing for the unknown quantity. Assess the reasonableness of answers using mental computation and estimation strategies including rounding.

Literature Circles

Essential Question:  How does engaging in conversations enhance our understanding of a text?

Last week students began reading self selected realistic fiction books from several choices offered to the class. Students were assigned a certain of number of pages to read and be ready to discuss by Friday. Students were also asked to choose a passage that was meaningful to them and to describe the main characters with character traits and evidence from the text. On Friday students met with their Literature Circles for the first time and had meaningful and insightful conversations!

Students, comment below, describe how participating in a literature circle discussion deepened your understanding of the text.

Massachusetts Common Core Standards ELA Literacy Speaking and Listening

*SL.4.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 4 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.

*SL.4.3 Identify the reasons and evidence a speaker provides to support particular points

Math in Focus Long Division

What better way to start the day than with long division the Math in Focus way?

Many parents started their day on Friday, October 30th practicing long division the Math in Focus way with Jen Steinberg, our math specialist.  Mrs. Steinberg led parents and some students through a few long division problems using the Math in Focus method and language which emphasizes place value.  Click on the video below to watch Mrs. Steinberg work through a division problem.

Helpful tip for long division:  Use your hand to cover up the numbers that you are not dividing so that you see only the place that you are dividing.

Massachusetts Grade 4 Common Core Standard
4.NBT.B.6  Find whole-number quotients and remainders with up to four-digit dividends and one-digit divisors, using strategies based on place value, the properties of operations, and/or the relationship between multiplication and division. Illustrate and explain the calculation by using equations, rectangular arrays, and/or area models.

Animal Adaptations

Essential Question:  How do animals use physical and behavioral adaptations to survive?
After learning about physical and behavioral adaptations, Team Gibbas students had the opportunity to research an animal of their choosing.   Students then created a "Creature Feature" poster which described the creature's habitat, the creature's adaptations, and how the creature fit in a food chain.

Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework

Grades 3 - 5:  Life Science - Adaptations of Living Things

8.  Describe how organisms meet some of their needs in an environment by using behaviors (patterns of activities) in response to information (stimuli) received from the environment.  Recognize that some animal behaviors are instinctive, and others are learned.

Kidblogging about the Global Read Aloud

How can one book connect the world?  Why with the Global Read-Aloud of course!  Team Gibbas students have been reading the book A Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt as part of the Global Read-Aloud which was launched on October 5th.   Classrooms from around the world commit to reading certain chapters of the book on specified weeks.  Classrooms then have the opportunity to discuss what they've read with other classrooms.  One way to connect is through KidBlog.  After reading chapters 1 - 8 the week of October 5th  students offered the main character Ally advice on how to work through her reading challenges.  This week after reading chapter 11 and learning about Ally's struggles to make conversation with a classmate, Team Gibbas students blogged about ways to make conversation with someone you don't know well.  

Click here to visit KidBlog to read students full blog posts.  You can also access our KidBlog by clicking the Our KidBlog tab on this blog.  Be sure to leave a friendly comment about the students' advice!

Grade 4 - Massachusetts Common Core Standard - Writing

6. With some guidance and support from adults, use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of one page in a single sitting.

Character Traits - Disney Style

Essential Question:  How can we use text evidence to determine character traits?

On Thursday Team Gibbas students joined the students in Mrs. Kelleher's class for a fun lesson on character traits led by Mrs. Moses our Reading Specialist.  Mrs. Moses had students identify character traits of familiar characters from Disney movies.  Students worked together to name the traits then support their thinking with evidence based on the characters' actions in the story.  Thank you Mrs. Moses for sharing this great lesson with us!

Massachusetts Grade 4 English Language Arts Standards

3. Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character’s thoughts, words, or actions).

How does a beaver meet its needs for survival?

Today in Science students learned about a beaver's physical and behavioral adaptations that enable it to survive.  A physical adaptation of the beaver's tail is that it stores fat which can be used as a source of energy.  A behavioral adaptation of the beaver's tail is that when a beaver slaps its tail on the water it is warning its babies of danger.

Students learned about several other physical and behavioral adaptations of the beaver and one lucky student got to dress up as a beaver and model each physical feature.  Then students categorized what they learned as either physical or behavioral adaptations.

Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework

Grades 3 - 5:  Life Science - Adaptations of Living Things

8.  Describe how organisms meet some of their needs in an environment by using behaviors (patterns of activities) in response to information (stimuli) received from the environment.  Recognize that some animal behaviors are instinctive, and others are learned.

Topsfield Fair Map Skills

How will students be able to find their way around the Topsfield Fair?  By using their map skills, of course!

On Friday, Team Gibbas students practiced their map skills in a fun way by using the official Topsfield Fair map.  Students were given a map story about visiting The Topsfield Fair and were asked to navigate to specific locations using the compass rose, the legend, and the index.

Click here for the official Topsfield Fair map

Grade 4 Common Core Standards

History & Geography

2.  Interpret a map using information from its title, compass rose, scale, and legend. (G)

The Math in Focus website is ready for home use

Did you know that the Math in Focus program offers students and parents a way to view the math textbook and other math resources online?

Accessing these math resources from home is simple.

1.  Go to the thinkcentral website
https://www-k6.thinkcentral.com/ePC/start.do

2. Select the state:  Massachusetts (from a drop down menu)

3. Select District: Supervisory Union 58, Boxford, 01921 (from a drop down menu)

4. Select School: Proctor Elementary School, 01983 (from a drop down menu)

5.  Then enter your User Name: first initial last name (all one word all lower case)

6.  Enter your Password: mathisfun

Hello Team Gibbas Families,

I know many of you might be wondering, "What days will I have gym?"  Well, I have the answer.  We will have Gym on Mondays and Tuesdays!   We will have Music on Wednesdays, Library on Thursdays, and Art on Fridays.  This schedule information can now also be found under the Schedule tab on our blog.

See you soon!

Mrs. Gibbas

Ancient China

After weeks of researching, creating, and writing, the Country Share Day finally arrived on Friday, June 19th and Team Gibbas students were able to teach others all that they had learned about Ancient China!  Students became classroom experts on the topics of Emperor Qin, Confucius, bronze, silk, and Chinese Writing then shared their knowledge by creating books then showcasing their knowledge at booths in the classroom.

How silk was first discovered?    Why the Great Wall of China was built?  Why were 8,000 terracotta warriors made and then buried underground?  What makes Chinese Writing different from English?   The answers to these questions can be learned by reading the student created books  below.
Fourth Grade Standards Social Studies - Ancient China, c. 3000-200BC/BCE 4.1  On a map of Asia, locate China, the Huang He (Yellow) River and Chang Jiang (Yangtze) Rivers, and the Himalayan Mountains. (G) 4.3  Describe the ideographic writing system used by the Chinese (characters, which are symbols for concepts/ideas) and how it differs from an alphabetic writing system. (H) 4.4  Describe the important technologies of China such as bronze casting, silk manufacture, and gunpowder. (H,E) 4.5  Identify who Confucius was and describe his writings on good government, codes of proper conduct, and relationships between parent and child, friend and friend, husband and wife, and subject and ruler. (H,C) 4.6  Describe how the First Emperor unified China by subduing warring factions, seizing land, centralizing government, imposing strict rules, and creating with the use of slave labor large state building projects for irrigation, transportation, and defense. (e.g. The Great Wall). (H,C,E)
Writing Standards 2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly. a.  Introduce a topic clearly and group related information in paragraphs and sections; include formatting (e.g. headings), illustrations, and multimedia when using to aiding comprehension b.  Develop the topic with facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples related to the topic. c.  Link ideas within categories of information using words and phrases (e.g. another, for example, also, because). d.  Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic. e.  Provide a concluding statement or section related to the information of explanation presented.