Singing for Joy!

Fourth Graders sung their hearts out at the Circular Congregational Church for the winter choir performance! Teachers could hear students rehearsing for months and what a delight to have heard the final performance echoing through the halls of the church. Our students always love singing Bo Diddley Beat during practice, where they enjoy dancing along with the song. We loved seeing all of the parents come out to support their child. Singing provides a wonderful experience for children as they gain confidence in memorizing lyrics and keeping the rhythm to each song. Please ask your child which song was their ultimate favorite to perform in front of a live audience. 

 

 

 

 

  

It’s Time to Visit Thomas Jefferson’s Home, Monticello!

Our class had the privilege of taking part in a virtual tour of Thomas Jefferson’s home, Monticello! We set up a Skype tour with an expert historian guide, Melanie, who was on the grounds of the estate! She began the tour by asking our class specific questions about Thomas Jefferson and then began the virtual tour of Monticello. The tour lasted 45 minutes and was chalk full of interesting facts and wonderful 2-D visuals of Jefferson’s Bed Chamber, Library, Cabinet, Dining Room and Tea Room. A few facts that our Fourth Graders learned was that Thomas Jefferson was an avid collector of Native American artifacts, which were displayed in the entry of his house. Jefferson owned slaves but wrote, “all men are created equal” in the declaration. Students discovered that Jefferson was the third president and is featured on the two-dollar bill. The reverse features an engraving of the painting Declaration of Independence. The tour wrapped up with multiple questions from our class and our tour guide was thoroughly impressed. Ask your child what they were most impressed with by the Monticello tour.  

 

 

Match the Meaning!

There is a window of time each day when Fourth Graders open their Vocabulary Workshop notebooks to discover new ways of applying our set of 12 vocabulary words to their writing and speech. “Introducing the Words” features an article that incorporates each of the vocabulary words. “Match the Meaning” is another meaningful exercise in their notebooks that prompts them to choose the word whose meaning is suggested by the clue given. As you can see, this exercise in their vocabulary notebook is challenging and inspiring. Students are additionally instructed to choose synonyms and antonyms as part of these multiple exercises. At the end of each lesson we collectively check our answers. Learning new vocabulary words is a group effort and students love showing off their hard work.  Ask your child to compose a sentence using one of our vocabulary words.

 

 

 

Pajama Drive

Next week we’ll be collecting pajama donations for our annual Pajama Drive.  All pajamas will be donated to the Pajama Program and distributed to children in need across the Lowcountry.

Important Dates:

Friday, 12/14 3-5 Movie Night

Friday, 12/21- Pajama Day- ½ day

12/22- Winter Break Begins