Chris Van Allsburg

We are learning all about Chris Van Allsburg, his illustrations, and his stories.  So far, we have read The Garden of Abdul Gasazi, The Stranger, and The Wretched Stone.  Have fun learning more about this interesting man by visiting his website at http://www.chrisvanallsburg.com/ .  Earn some "Behavior Bucks" by answering these questions:
What was the first book he published?
What is his special musical talent?
How did he get the idea for the story of Abdul Gasazi?

Factors of 100 and Multiples of 100

Our classes this week worked on finding the factors of 100 and then made comparisons of those factors to factors of multiples of 100. Here are some of our findings.

* The factors of 100 are - 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 20, 25, 50, 100
* All the factors of 100 can be found by looking at common U.S. coins
100 pennies make a dollar - 100 x 1 = 100
20 nickels make a dollar - 20 x 5 = 100
10 dimes make a dollar - 10 x 10 = 100
4 quarters make a dollar - 4 x 25 = 100
and 2 half dollars make a dollar - 2 x 50 = 100
* 100 is an even, composite, and square number

While discussing the factors of 200, 300, 400, and 500 we made a chart of the factors of 100 compared to its multiples. A copy of the chart is shown below:















Our class observed:

* All the factors of 100 are also factors of all the multiples of 100
* Multiples of 100 have more factors than 100 (not all the factors of 300 are
factors of 100)
* You can use a pattern "rule" to find how many of each factor of 100 is in a
multiple of 100 (ex: If there are 4 25s in 100, then there are 5 x 4
25s in 500 or 20 25s in 500.)

Florida Geography Projects

Florida Geography Projects were assigned two weeks ago and will be due on Friday, September 30th. The purpose is to have a fun and meaningul way to culminate all that we are studying in our first 6 weeks of Social Studies (DOSS) about Florida's Geography. Each student has a guideline with all of the expectations for this "at-home" project. The above slideshow highlights a few examples of projects that have been completed by Chets Creek 4th Graders in the past. They are provided simply to give you ideas on how you might proceed, however, we encourage creativity and artistic uniqueness on this assignment. This project will count as a test grade in Social Studies for this first nine weeks. Have Fun!
Happy Crafting!
Mrs. Phillips and Mr. Pinchot

Building Our Lives As Readers

This year, readers are empowering themselves to take charge of their lives as readers.  But what does that mean???  Here's how our readers completed this sentence,

"To me, being in charge of my life as a reader means..."

...not having to read from one bucket and being able to read what I want.  To make reading more fun I read what I'm interested in.  Elisabeth
...choosing what I want to read.  Kofi
...that I can go have fun reading any book.  Sophia
...I can read any book I want.  I don't need to time my reading.  Choose if it is a just right book.  Alex
...being responsible for my books and taking it everywhere.  Chloe
...to take care of it and read right and fluently.  Robert
...not counting my pages and the minutes and making sure I'm "into" my book I'm reading.  Alexandra
...it feels good because I don't have to time or read [a specific] amount of pages, but now I like to read a lot.  Alexis B.
...I read every day.  I read anywhere I go.  Zachary
...I have a big huge responsibility because I get to pick my own books out and pick a just right book too.  Seth
...that I am the only one that is in charge of my life as a reader.  David
...to pick a just right book, not too hard or not too easy.  Noah
...to bring my book everywhere I go, and to love reading more.  Ryan
...choosing my own frequency of reading, and knowing that my book is just right.  Conor
...I can read just right books instead of not being able to choose a book.  Hunter
...that I'm going to pick a confident place in class to sit.  Dillon
...I've always been in charge of my life as a reader at home, but not at school.  I'm glad I can be in charge now.  Alexis S.
...I can choose when, where, how and how long I read.  Parker
...that I finally get to pick my own book.  Isis
...that I can read everywhere I go.  Sa'Tasha
...I can pick my book that I want.  Cliff
...I'm asking me, "Where did I write my time on a sheet of paper?"  Megan
...that I am going to try to stop after every chapter and think about what I just read.  Kristina
...choosing my just right book responsibly.  Tara
...I get to choose whatever I'm interested in.  Justin
...I can choose a just right book.  Luke
...I can pick books that I want instead of picking specific books from "W" or "K".  Jackson H.
...I can choose freely and I'm not being treated like a baby.  Jasmine
...I get to choose which genre and author I want to read.  Jackson D.
...to understand a book I pick, to read very comfortably.  I have to love reading.  Sydney C.
...I should use it wisely and respect my book.  Piper
...to choose when and where to read my book.  Gael
...to read every day and log my book and read as long as I want.  Dominic
...to choose a reasonable amount of book pages and how many minutes you've read for.  Carter
...I am a better reader.  Tracie

Categories of Number

During our first investigation in our unit Factors, Multiples, and Arrays, our class created posters of the arrays for various numbers. Using these posters, students put numbers into different categories based on the kind and number of arrays they could make. The class came up with five types of numbers - odd, even, prime, composite, and square. Numbers may fall into as many as three different categories. Here is a list of noticings for each category:

Odd Numbers:
* have a 1, 3, 5, 7, or 9 in the ones place
* have only odd factors
* odd x odd = odd

Even Numbers:
* have a 2, 4, 6, 8, or 0 in the ones place
* always have a factor of 2
* each factor pair must have at least one even factor
* odd x even = even, even x odd = even, and even x even = even

Prime Numbers:
* only have 2 factors (one and itself)
* only produce one array
* 2 is the only even prime number

Composite Numbers:
* have more than two factors
* make at least 2 different arrays
* can be even or odd

Square Numbers:
* make a square array
* have an odd number of factors
* follow a pattern of odd, even, odd, even, ...
* can be made by multiplying a number by itself
ex: 1 x 1 = 1, 2 x 2 =4, 3 x 3 = 9 therefore, 1, 4, and 9 are square numbers

Science Totally ROCKS!

Our first two weeks of school have been colorful, shiny, streaky, volumous, and very rocky! As we have been learning about “what good scientists do”, we have also been using our observation skills (and science sleuthing capabilities) to collect important data about mysterious minerals by observing their physical properties using hand lenses, and then using our data to identify the names of the minerals by comparing our data to scientific mineral charts. Our first exploration allowed us the use of hand lenses to observe actual minerals in our classroom- we identified their color, streak, luster, and hardness. Next, we repeated this process in a “virtual” science lab on the internet in a program called Gizmos, and we conducted density tests (by finding the mass and volume of the unknown minerals and then dividing the two measurements using calculators), and acid tests (which was a favorite for many students). We culminated all of this hands-on lab experience with researching and reading in our textbook, Chapter 8 Lesson 1: What is a Mineral? Our next venture will be to explore, compare and contrast sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks. Many “rocky” roads lie ahead!

For those students who would love to earn extra Behavior Bucks, revisit Gizmos at home and identify mystery mineral “W”. Secretly tell your science teacher (Mrs. Phillips or Mr. Pinchot) the name of this mystery mineral, and you will earn $5 extra bucks to spend at our next auction! (Shhhh-don’t tell your friends and classmates. They need to read this blogpost and visit Gizmos all on their own in order to earn these special, extra bucks!) Happy science sleuthing!