Spotlight on Specials
Fourth Grade- 4th Quarter 2015-2016
Exploratory Team
Art
During the fourth quarter, fourth graders completed two projects. First, students learned about art and math. During this lesson, students read an article about tessellations and analyzed images created by artist M.C. Escher. Next, students invented their own tessellation. The final project of the semester was a very in-depth project, in which students selected an artist they wanted to study. After independently reading, writing, and sketching about their artist, students created a design that emulated their artist's artistic style on a kite. Can you guess which artist they chose? If you would like to learn more about each project, please read the note that accompanies your child's art portfolio! To receive updates about the art room follow me on twitter @RiverviewArt.
Library
In our library classes this quarter students that participated in the William Allen White reading program voted for their favorite 3rd-5th and 6th-8th nominees. It was fun to see the variety of favorites this year! We explored books from the reference section of our library. We discussed the purpose of a dictionary. Students looked up words with a partner, read the word’s definition, and then matched their word to a word found in the definition. We also looked at a thesaurus and discussed its purpose. Students looked up words and identified both synonyms and antonyms for that word. We enjoyed stories read by members of the Screen Actors Guild online. We also enjoyed hearing some of the new books that have been added to the Riverview collection. Fourth graders can begin reading the William Allen White nominees for 2016-2017 this summer! Information about the program and a Reading Log to track your child’s reading will be posted to my website by June 1st. You can visit my website at: http://riverviewlibrary.weebly.com/ Please keep reading and enjoying books from the public library over the summer!
Music
During the 4th quarter, students in 4th grade continued working on a Recorder Karate unit.
I am very proud of how far so many students were able to go! One of the many important music skills learned through this unit is the ability to read music notation and perform on an individual instrument. I have heard many students talking about which band instrument they’d like to play after learning the basics with their recorder! I am hoping many of them join band with our Elementary Band Director, Mr. Harvey in 5th grade. He will send home detailed information about band. Please remember that students in 5th grade can be in band in addition to choir! That’s right – they can do both! Choir information will go home with all 4th and 5th grade students in August. To finish the year, students watched “Annie” and discussed the Musical genre, including the difference between the movie version we watched and a stage version.
I hope you have a wonderful summer and take some time to sing and dance along the way!
P.E.
This year has certainly flown by! It has been such a busy quarter, but filled with a bunch of fun events. The students were briefly reacquainted with the parachute, (still a fan favorite), and were able to play some classic games. We then got right into striking, where students learned about striking an object using different body parts. We were able to strike balloons, as well as dodge balls and wiffle balls. The students learned how to swing their arm correctly and the amount of force they needed to put into it. We were able to learn the skills and also put them into different game like situations. After spending some time on striking, we got into volleyball. We learned all about volleyball, when it originated, and how it is played. The students were able to learn the main skills and got ample time to practice during different activities. They are all amazing athletes! They also completed their last Pacer Test of their fourth grade year! The last couple weeks of PE were spent talking about Field Day. We talked a lot about sportsmanship and the importance of showing great sportsmanship no matter the outcome of an activity. We practiced showing our sportsmanship while playing different games that were played during Field Day. The words they learned during this quarter were fitness, kinesthetic, agility, athlete, volley, and champion. I have had an awesome year getting to know the students, and can’t wait for the years to come!
Technology
If you are looking for an activity for your child to do over the summer, consider typing skills. My site offers a full page of typing games. Check it out! I hope you have a super summer!
Counselor
In guidance the last nine weeks have been busy ones. We continued to work in our Too Good for Drugs curriculum learning about good decision making, consequences, peer pressure, peer pressure strategies and ending with the harmful effects of tobacco and alcohol on the body. We also had lessons on Careers, Trustworthiness, and Citizenship. Have a wonderful summer and I can’t wait to see you back in August.