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