My Favorite 4th Grade Memory is...

Image Credit:  http://www.misskatecuttables.com/

• when Johnny and I pulled Mrs. Wherritt's Aslan tail and she roared.  (Tiara)
• when I first came to school.  (Kollin)
• when Johnny pulled Mrs. Wherritt's tail.  (Elizabeth)
• when I met my friends.  (Omar)
• when we went to Grandfather Mountain and walked across the bridge.  (Queren)
• when I walked on the stage to receive my award for math.  (Kash)
• when the whole class went to Grandfather Mountain and Linville Caverns.  I got to spend more time with my teacher and it really was a lot of fun.  (Maria)
• when I was playing at field day and another person put water in my face and it felt like it was raining.  (Marilyn)
• when got an award for math.  (Mariana)
• when Mrs. Wherritt was checking Omar's paper and he got the answers wrong and he said, "That's how you write it in French."  So from then on we called him "Frenchy".  (Mallory)  
• when Tiara and I pulled Mrs. Wherritt's tail and she screamed.  (Johnny)
• when we were walking in the line in the hallway and we were going so fast that the paper flew up into Jayla's face and hit her twice and she said, "Ouch, OUCH!" and I looked back at her and we just started laughing together in the hallway until we got to the classroom.  (Emily)
• when we had our celebration with our teachers.  I had a great time; it was a blast!  I will miss Mrs. Wherritt because she taught me a lot of poetry in writing and a lot of fun activities in math.  I won't forget who my 4th grade teacher was.  (Jayla)
• meeting Mallory!  (Chloe)
• when we went to the mountains.  (Kylee)
• when everyone was joking and laughing.  (Noah)
• when we went to Linville Caverns and I got to go to the gift shop.  (Aaliyah)
• when Chris tried to do a back flip and landed on his neck.  (Chase)
• when Mrs. Wherritt dressed up as Aslan and Johnny and Tiara kept pulling her tail so she roared and scared them.  Johnny turned pink.  (De'onna)
• that I was a good boy and I made new friends and still had my old friends too.  (Chris)
• when Mrs. Wherritt dressed up like a lion.  We pulled her tail and she turned around and screamed!  (Shauna)
• days without homework!  (Inocente)

Engineering is Elementary

This week in class we have been learning about electrical circuits.  First, before we started to build, we read a book about a girl named Emily.  She has to water her sheep each day.  Emily and and her friend Pete decided to build a circuit to remind her to water them.

In Mrs. Wherritt's class we are going to try to make an alarm clock to remind Emily to water the sheep.  The materials that we have are: light bulbs, light bulb holders, batteries, battery holders, switches, wires, and a water trough.  We also have a variety of conductors and insulators that are used to help with our circuits.   

Our class is having fun but sometimes it can be a little frustrating not having everything work the way we want it to.  I am really excited about doing this because I haven't ever done this before!

~Kylee

This week in class we have been working with electrical circuits.  We read a story about Emily who gives her sheep water every day.  Emily has a chore to water the sheep but she forgets to do it all the time.  She went to her friend Pete's house and he helped her make a alarm so she can remember to water the sheep.  When the water is low the alarm and a light go off; that's how she knows to water the sheep. 

Do you remember how we made bridges back in November?  Well, now we get to make circuits and alarm clocks!  We are using the following materials: light bulb, bulb holder, switch, wires, a water trough, water / marbles, battery, and battery holder.  We make circuits all the time now.  Circuits are fun and they make us happy!

~Chloe

North Carolina's Eastern Gray Squirrel

Have you ever seen a baby gray squirrel?  Kollin's family had a sneaky squirrel living in their attic recently and it had two babies!  Kollin's family rescued the babies, took them to the vet, and are making sure they receive the food and water they need.  The squirrels came to visit our classroom this week, they are very cute and super tiny!

St. Patrick's Day

March 17, 2015 - A sneaky leprechaun visited our classroom last night and dumped his magic dust all over our desks!  

Krispy Kreme Doughnut Fundraiser

Image Credit:  www.krispykreme.com

 Yummmmmmmm!

This is Chloe and Kylee reporting on something amazing! Shady Brook Elementary is selling Krispy Kreme doughnuts!

1 box of 12 donuts is only $5!

If we sell 1,000 box's of doughnuts students will have a No Uniform day on Friday, March 27th!!  By grade level the class that sells the most boxes will also earn a doughnut party.  The class that sells the most overall will earn a pizza party!

This fundraiser is important because if we do good on this it will lower the cost of our Grandfather Mountain field trip!!!!!!!!!!!

Fred L. Wilson Elementary has 1/2 as many students as we do (350) and they sold 2,300.  So remember SELL DOUGHNUTS!  As a last reminder, Mrs. Wherritt encourages us to sell doughnuts with a parent or guardian; never go alone!   

~Chloe & Kylee 

Cabarrus County Fire & Life Safety Bowl

On March 3rd our fire bowl team attended the Cabarrus County Fire and Life Safety Bowl at Connect Christian Church.  Our team is made up of 5 fourth graders.  We have 1 captain, 1 alternate, and 3 regular team members.  When we got there they gave us a T-shirt.  After that you go sit down at a table.  Once the actual bowl starts you go into the classrooms around the gym and you compete against other schools.  This year we did double elimination which means that you have 2 chances to stay in the bowl.  Once you get eliminated they have a game truck that you can go in.  For lunch they have pizza and soft drinks.  At the end, the teams who were eliminated got a participants medal and the top 3 teams go to Best in State.

~Kylee

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss &
Read Across America Week

Dr.Seuss was born on March 2nd, 1904.  He was a very famous writer.  He wrote books like Cat in the Hat and the sequel, The Cat in the Hat Comes Back.  On Tuesday Emily's mom, Mrs. Karmanocky, came to our classroom and read Oh The Places You'll Go.  Mrs. Burgess also came and read Bag Head, it was a fun story.  On Wednesday Mrs. Snipes came and she read Bartholomew and the 500 Hats and on Thursday Officer Lafferty came to read Puff the Magic Dragon.  He also talked about what he did as a police officer.  Afterwards we got to listen to Puff the Magic Dragon by Peter, Paul, and Mary.  On Thursday we also had Book Character Day so we had to dress up like our favorite book character and bring the book to school with us.  We went to the gym at the end of the day to show our costumes to the other 4th grade classes.  Read Across America week was very fun; I hope we do it again!

~Chloe & Kylee

Fractions!

Image Source:  http://bridges1.mathlearningcenter.org

Fourth grade began studying fractions in January.  We have had a blast learning how to compare, order, add, subtract, and multiply fractions.  Miss Jayla has given you a brief lesson on how to multiply fractions:

Over the past few weeks we've been learning how to multiply fractions.  When you multiply fractions the denominator stays the same.  You multiply the numerator by the number that your multiplying with.  What answer you get it might be an IMPROPER FRACTION!  When you get an improper fraction you divide the numerator with the denominator.  You have to know how many times the numerator goes into the denominator.  You subtract the answer with the numerator.  If you get 0 your answer will be how many times you multiplied the denominator.  If your answer has a remainder then you still have your whole number and you use your remainder as your new numerator and your denominator stays the same.

~Jayla

1st Semester Awards

The 1st semester has come to a close and we have a lot to celebrate in 4th grade!  The following students were recognized for their hard work at the November and February awards ceremonies!  Keep up the fantastic work kiddos!

1st Quarter Awards, November 2014:

Highest Class Dojo Points:  Elizabeth J. (139 points) & Johnny H. (136 points)
Character Ed Awards:  Maria F. (Friendship) & Johnny H. (Respect)*
Perseverance with Division:  Jayla M.
Mastery of Informational Texts:  Chase T.
Detailed Personal Narrative "Trapped":  Emily K.
Principal's Award for Academic Perseverance & Growth:  Chloe H.

2nd Quarter Awards, February 2015:

Highest Class Dojo Points:  Jayla M. (183 points) & Johnny H. (176 points)
Character Ed Awards:  Chloe H. (Responsible), Mallory W. (Caring), & Jayla M. (Honest)*
Excellence in Perimeter:  Chris W.
Mastery of Inferencing:  Kylee S.
Persuasive Writing "Why Shelter Dogs Should be Rescued":  Noah C.
Principal's Award for Academic Perseverance & Growth:  Elizabeth J.

*Students were selected for these awards by a peer vote.

January PBIS Celebration

Image Credits:  http://frozen.disney.com/

On Thursday January 15th we had our second PBIS celebration.  Fourth grade had to earn 100 points to go!  In the Shady Brook Cinema we watched Frozen!  Frozen is a movie about two sisters; one has magical powers.  Elsa has the powers and Anna is her sister.  Anna gets struck by Elsa's powers and luckily the troll can cure her.  After around 20 years, Elsa becomes a queen at her Coronation.  She accidentally gives away her secret because Anna wanted to get married.  Then she runs off and makes a magic ice palace.  Anna goes after her and meets a boy named Kristoff and his reindeer Sven.  While looking for Elsa, Anna and Kristoff meet a joyful snowman, Olaf.  Olaf helps them on their journey.  They find Elsa and she strikes Anna with her powers.  Kristoff took Anna to the trolls and Grand Pappy troll can't remove the ice.  The only way to remove it is with true love.  Anna goes back to Prince Hans and actually lied about loving Anna.  Olaf rescues Anna and brings her to Kristoff.  Then Anna sees Elsa and Hans.  Hans was trying to kill Elsa.  Anna ran over to Hans and tried to protect Elsa.  Then she turned into ice!  Elsa is heartbroken.  She cries and then Anna turns back into a human.  Elsa melts everything and then the kingdom and village is happy!
~Chloe Helton

Giving Tree

Our class would like to send a huge THANK YOU to the wonderful volunteers at Midway United Methodist Church and Opportunity House.  They came to Shady Brook today to coordinate the Giving Tree.  Each year students visit the Giving Tree and practice giving to others by selecting two gifts for family members or friends.  Students then wrap their gifts and label them with loved ones' names.  It is a great experience for students to learn about the Season of Giving.  We would like to wish everyone at Midway United Methodist, Opportunity House, as well as our family and friends a very Merry Christmas!

Larry the Elf

Larry Elf hides in our classroom and spies on us until the end of the day when he returns to the North Pole.  He can send us an email through Gaggle and we can respond to him with questions.  If you ever touch him he will lose is powers and he will have to go back to the NORTH POLE to get his power back.  Mrs. Wherritt touched him on a accident last year and he couldn't come back for two days!  Today we can`t even find Larry; someone might have touched him.  I think he went to go get his power restored.  

~Kash

We have an Elf, his name is Larry.  This morning he was sleeping in Mrs.Wherritt's file cabinet she screamed so loud when she found him!  Larry has a twin in Mrs. Little's class, her name is Hershey.  One day Larry built a little fort to stay in for the day; it was cute.
Larry likes to spy on us, especially Kash.  Larry left snowman poop on the Kash's desk and he ate it!

~Shauna

 

Latta Plantation

In social studies we have been learning about technology changes over time and slavery.  On Tuesday December 9th we visited Latta Plantation to take a look at how people lived 200 years ago and to learn about slavery.  We enjoyed touring a slave house, the big house, and the outdoor kitchen.  It was also really cool to see the farm animals and barns.  

Life was very different 200 years ago.  Fireplaces were used to heat homes, there were no electric appliances, and clothing items were handmade along with many household tools and gadgets.  It was fascinating to see how people lived back then.  

Bridge Building Fun!

For the last two weeks we have been studying engineering and on November 24 we brought our bridges to life!  We brought them to life by by buying supplies with classroom money. Mrs. Wherritt challenged us to make the safest and strongest bridge but at the lowest cost. Once we got all the supplies, we started to actually bring them to life by building and testing how sturdy and strong they were by taking a plastic car and seeing how many times the car would go over the bridge (stability).  We also used weights to see how many strong our bridges were (strength). Then at the end Mrs. Wherritt made a chart on PowerPoint presentation to compare whose bridge was the strongest.  We had team names so she averaged the bridge’s cost, strength, and stability to get our total score.  

~Kylee

Wherritt’s At Bridges

Our class recently started talking about building bridges.  We used wood as our abutments and paper as our bridges.  We tested the bridge with weights.  At the back table with Mrs. Wherritt we used her fan as wind to test her bridge.  There are four different types of bridges: (1) a suspension, (2) an arch, (3) a beam, (4) and a deep beam bridge.  We had A.L. Brown students come to help us with building our bridges and we tested them by rolling a car across the bridges.  I learned a lot about engineering bridges!

~Jayla

  

"The Strongest Bridge"

  

"Wherritt's Wonderful Bridge"

  

"The Golden Gate Bridge"

  

"The Cool Bridge"

  

"The Frozen Bridge"

How do you get to go to the PBIS Celebration?

Image Credits:  north.aurorak12.org

Many people are going to the PBIS celebration because they follow the Shady Brook promise.  They are safe, respectful, responsible, and a learner.  A few ways you can get to the PBIS celebration include being quiet in the hallways, playing safe on the playground, and being respectful to your classmates. You can also make sure you remember things like how now we put our book bags in the classroom. D on’t talk when the teacher is talking.  You  should make a goal for yourself to get even more points.  For example, you can try to get 70 points.  These are some helpful tips about the PBIS celebration.

~Chloe

PBIS Celebration Fun

Image Credits:  piedmontbgc.org

I got to go to the last PBIS celebration and it was a lot of fun.  I got to go to the celebration because  I got 50 points.  The celebration was a fall festival and there were a lot of games. I even won a lot of prizes and got a sticker.  My favorite game was fishing.  You would throw the fishing line in the water and you would pull it out of the water and something would be on the end of my fishing line.  I got a pack of  pretzels.  I also liked corn hole and the mystery bucket activity.  When you felt what was in the bucket all of them felt gross. There was also a station called “Minute to Win It” where you had to get a cup from the bottom  to the top in 1 minute; it was very hard but I did it!  We had races where you had to dress up in a scarecrow outfit and run down to the cone and back.  I also got to go and try to play a game where you had to get little things in the cup.  I didn’t make it in, but I tried my best.  Then it was time to go.  I was sad that it was time to go but I had a really good time!      

~Mallory

Blackbeard

Image Credits: mrnussbaum.com

Our class is learning about Blackbeard.  Blackbeard was a pirate that lived years ago. Blackbeard traveled around the eastern coast of the United States.  Blackbeard was a creepy old man; he made his men work a lot.  Robert Maynard killed Blackbeard and hung his head on his ship.  We have had a lot of fun learning about Blackbeard; our teacher makes it fun for us!

~Tiara

WSBE

Image Credits:  http://kcsshadybrook.ss3.sharpschool.com/

WSBE is something we do in the morning from 8:00 to 8:15 it is really fun.  We go to the design lab in the morning and we record the announcements or control the iPad that scripts what the announcers say.  Or you can be the backup person for when somebody is absent.  Last but not least, the announcers report everything that is happening at Shady Brook.  It is also fun to watch the announcements with your friends on the carpet and see how you did on the broadcast.  If you are interested in participating in WSBE at the beginning of 4th grade Mrs.Dancy will give you an application that will ask you what you would like to do.  If you turn it in early you will more than likely be the first one on broadcast and get the job that you wanted.  Have fun; I am sure you will have a blast

~Emily

The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

Image Credits: www.movies.disney.com

In class we are reading The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.  So far in the book Lucy, Edmund, Peter, and Susan have moved to a professor’s house.  They moved there to avoid the World War II.  While the children were playing hide and seek Lucy hid in a wardrobe.   There were many fur coats in the wardrobe.  Lucy was feeling all of the coats and then she noticed it was open on the back side and the soft fur coats started to feel like branches on a tree.  Lucy opened her eyes and saw that she was no longer inside of the professor’s house she was in a forest.  When she had left it was summer but now it’s winter.  While Lucy was in the wardrobe she met Mr. Tumnus, the faun.  Mr. Tumnus invited Lucy to his house.  He told Lucy about working for the White Witch and about where she was.   He said the land was called “Narnia” and  he was supposed to take any “son of Adam”* or “daughter of Eve”** to her.  Lucy eventually went back to the wardrobe and she came back the way she came in.  She stepped into the wardrobe and pushed her way through the coats.  Lucy told her brothers and sisters about what had happened and how she got to Narnia.  They went over to the wardrobe and went inside and at the back there was wood - no forest or snow, no Mr. Tumnus, just plain old wood.  Since no one believed her she ran back into the wardrobe.  She saw the trees and snow and the forest.  She ran to Mr. Tumnus.  Meanwhile, Edmund had chased after her and had seen that Narnia was real.  While Edmund was there looking for Lucy, he met the White Witch.  He thought he was the queen of Narnia.  She gave him 7 pounds of Turkish Delight but she said he wouldn’t get anymore unless he brought his siblings to Narnia.  Our class thinks that the queen is bad but is just pretending to be nice and that he will eventually bring his brother and sisters.  That’s all we have read in the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.

~This is blog reporter Chloe signing off!

Footnotes:

*A Human Boy

** A Human Girl

Personal Narratives

We have been writing personal narratives during the throughout the first quarter of this year.  We have focused on adding sensory details to our narratives.  Chase wrote a great narrative about his trip to Carowinds.  Check it out:

Going to Carowinds

Image Credits: www.newyorknewyork.com

One day John John, and my grandma and I went to Carowinds.  It was about a forty-five minute ride. When we got there we had Wendy’s before we went in; it was good.  When we got passed the gate I saw the roller coaster parts for the new roller coaster called “The Fury” it smelled like fear.  When we parked we had to walk a long way.  When we got in the first ride we rode was “The Intimidator”.  It looked like fun.   We got in line and got on and headed up the big hill.  The roller coaster felt like rubber.  When we were going down the big hill I was screaming and laughing.  As we were going down the hill it sounded like a roaring dragon.  And all I could taste was the fresh air.  After it was done I saw my picture it was so funny; John John’s face was flapping.  We rode a lot more rides.  I still can’t get his face out of my head, his lips were flapping in the wind like a dog!    

~Chase

dreambox, Hooray!!

 

Image Credits:  www.dreambox.com

Dreambox is a math program on the iPads and computers that we use during math.  There are different math activities you can chose from.  You can choose from topics such as subtraction, algorithm, or common multiplies as well as many more activities.  You can also collect coins and spend them.  You can buy music you can listen to during sessions, or change your wallpaper, and even change your avatar.  You also can get badges for completing different tasks.  You get a badge for completing a tutorial or getting ten math questions correct in a row.  There are also many other ways to get badges.  Dreambox is very fun, I love it!

-Chloe

Number The Stars

Image Credits:  www.amazon.com

We have been reading Number The Stars by Lois Lowry in literacy.  Number The Stars is a historical fiction book about the Germans and how they persecuted the Jewish people.   In the book Annemarie risks her own life to help her friend, Ellen, who is Jewish.  Both girls are very scared of the German soldiers but are also very brave.  It’s a great book; you should read it!

-Queren

The Lost Colony

Image Credits:  http://news.nationalgeographic.com/

In class we have been learning about The Lost Colony at Roanoke Island.  We have learned about Native Americans who helped the English men who came to establish a colony in the New World.  The Native Americans tried to help the English men but they didn`t have enough food for them.  They had only planted enough food for themselves and their families.  So the English colonists sent John Smith back to England to go get supplies.  John Smith was gone for three years!  John had a little trouble getting back but he finally made it.  When he got back to Roanoke there was no one there.  He looked everywhere but he couldn`t find anybody.  All he found was a tree that said CROATOAN on it.  And still to this day it is still a mystery.  Where did the colonists go?

-Maria

Class Dojo & Spike’s Paws

Image Credits:  Class Dojo & www.clipartbest.com

This year in 4^th grade we are using Class Dojo instead of our PBIS hole punches.  Class Dojo is where students keep track of points earned in order to go to our PBIS celebration.  We each have to get 50 points in order to go to the celebration.  Mrs. Wherritt’s two students with the highest number of points are Elizabeth and Johnny!  This year our whole school is also competing for Spike’s dog paws so we can get extra recess.  Each class has to get 10 paws and right now Mrs. Little’s class is in the lead with 23 paws.  Mrs. Little and Mrs. Wherritt are in a competition to see who can earn the most paws.  GO MRS. WHERRITT!  

-Kylee