In fourth grade we work hard on academics, but we also go for walks, play, foster friendships, get creative, and so much more!
On the first Friday of the school year the fourth graders gave the Kindergarteners a flower to welcome them to our community.
This week, we worked on our class mural and message to help build our community. We talked about how each of us is a unique individual who walks through the door—special and different in our own ways. At the same time, when we come together, we become one community. Both truths matter: we are individuals, and we are a community. Everyone is welcome in our room and in our hearts.
Students then explored a variety of art mediums—paint, oil pastels, glitter, watercolor, and more—to create their own unique papers. They cut these into pieces and combined them into a collaborative collage, forming one beautiful piece of art.
On Wednesday Ms. Spaulding and Mr. Aaron facilitated two team building challenges.
One of the challenges required the students to work together to cross a "river" using pieces of "river trash". If a part of a student wasn't touching the trash, it got washed away! Students learned that they really needed to communicate, take their time, and encourage one another. We built up our frustration tolerance for sure!
The second challenge required the students to get through a "key pad" with a certain code, however, they were not allowed to talk to one another! They quickly learned by pointing, and giving other silent cues, helped the whole group be successful!
We later debriefed what we learned and how these skills will apply to the classroom. Way to go, fourth graders!
To help develop our growth mindsets, we watched this inspiring video! We learned that everyone can do math, math is slow, mistakes are what makes our brains grow, and so much more!
Today we listened to music during Mindfulness. We illustrated what we heard, felt, and saw in our imaginations. Some students closed their eyes to better connect with the music, and kids just let their art flow from their bodies.
When the music stopped, we walked around the room and described each other's art using deliciously descriptive words. Then we used inspiration from our art, and the words gifted to us, to start writing our poems!
Mrs. B. thought of our classroom while out shopping one day and surprised us with a very special class penguin to go with our mural! 🐧 We ...
