Wax Museum and Dinner Interview

The time is near and excitement is in the air! Our Wax Museum is always anticipated and enjoyed! Please join us between 10am-11am and be impressed with our work! 

Expectations:

Wax Museum- Students will present their persons of influence in 1st person form, as an autobiography and in costume (need not be elaborate). Each student drafted a blurb to practice in class. While memorization is not mandatory and students may refer to their speech, reading with no eye contact is discouraged. 

Menu/Interview- 

A letter was sent home giving directions for this assignment. Students were asked to imagine hosting a dinner for their person of influence. With careful consideration of lifestyle, accomplishments, and habits, what do you think your person would want to eat and why? Ideas can be literal (athletes with lean diets, proteins, etc) or figurative (Christopher Columbus with Boston Cream Pie). 

Students are then asked to create a menu (layout is up to you, we looked at several examples on the Internet) and list menu items for the evening: salad/soup or appetizer, main dish, and dessert. Menus are to be illustrated (drawn, cut out, or printed) and inviting. Again, size, layout, and materials are up to you. 

In addition, students are to bring 3 questions to ask their "person", if they were given the opportunity.

Have fun! I can't wait to see the creativity explode!

Comparing Fractions

We have moved into working on comparing fractions. There are numerous ways that we have learned to do this. Homework this week (due January 5^th) will have students using some of these methods to compare fractions. Here are the ways that we have been working on:

Draw a picture. This strategy can work with smaller fractions, but starts to get complicated with larger fractions.

Compare with like denominators. When the denominators are the same, you are comparing the numerator. The larger numerator will be the larger fraction.

Compare with like numerators. When the numerators are the same, you are comparing the denominator. The larger the denominator, the smaller the pieces will be. Therefore, the smaller denominator will give you the larger fraction.

Compare to a benchmark fraction. Determine how the fraction relates to ½ and that can help determine the larger or smaller fractions. We have also put them on a number line to help us clearly see how they compare.

Compare missing pieces. The fraction with the smallest piece missing will be the largest fraction.

Change one denominator to make a common denominator. Sometimes you only have to change one of the denominators to make common denominators.

Change both denominators to a common denominator. This allows kiddos to then compare fractions with like denominators. These are a few strategies we have talked about relating to this:

·         Change both denominators to a common denominator.

·         Multiply the denominators by each other to find a common denominator.

·         Find the least common denominator. Finding the LCD has kiddos finding the least common multiple (the smallest positive number that is a multiple of two or more numbers).

Steps to find the LCD (Least Common Denominator)

Example: Compare 1/2, 1/3, 1/5

1. List the multiples of each denominator. Make a list of at least five multiples for each denominator in the equation. Each list should consist of the denominator numeral multiplied by 1, 2, 3, 4, and so on.

• Multiples of 2: 2 x 1 = 2; 2 x 2 = 4; 2 x 3 = 6; 2 x 4 = 8; 2 x 5 = 10
• Multiples of 3: 3 x 1 = 3; 3 x 2 = 6; 3 x 3 = 9; 3 x 4 = 12; 3 x 5 = 15
• Multiples of 5: 5 x 1 = 5; 5 x 2 = 10; 5 x 3 = 15; 5 x 4 = 20; 5 x 5 = 25

2. Identify the lowest common multiple. Scan through each list and mark any multiples that are shared by each original denominator. After identifying the common multiples, identify the lowest denominator.

• Note that if no common denominator exists at this point, you may need to continue writing out multiples until you eventually come across a shared multiple.
• Example: 2 x 15 = 30; 3 x 10 = 30; 5 x 6 = 30
• The LCD = 30

3. Rewrite the original equation. In order to change each fraction in the equation so that it remains true to the original equation, you will need to multiply each denominator by the same factor used to multiply the corresponding denominator when reaching the LCD. Be sure to multiply the numerator AND denominator of each fraction by the factor.

• Example: 15 x (1/2); 10 x (1/3); 6 x (1/5)

• New mathematical statement: 15/30 > 10/30 > 6/30

Please let me know if you have any questions. 

Upcoming Events/Dates

Yearbooks

Yearbooks are for sale starting this week. Order forms will go home in Thursday folders. Parents have the option of ordering online this year! There are tons of upgrades to the yearbook, so you can “personalize” it for your child. Base price for the yearbook is $18.00.

Parents can order online by following the below link:

http://www.ybpay.lifetouch.com

Yearbook ID for Cox: 12373015

Field Trip to Fort Worth

The date for our Fort Worth field trip has been finalized and we are officially going on May 6th. Please be sure to put that date on your calendar. They 2nd payment (for those who are paying in installments) is due January 8th. 

Candy Cane-Grams

Thank you so much for all the boxes of mini candy canes! You are amazingly supportive parents and we greatly appreciate you! Candy cane-grams go on sale Monday (12/15) - Wednesday (12/17) from 7:00-7:20 and are only fifty cents! You can even purchase one to send to your kiddo from you! :)

Math and Science Night

Please be sure to mark your calendar for Math and Science Night on January 29th from 6:00-7:00. We will be playing fun games, serving food, and rewarding prizes! We hope to see you there! Please let your homeroom teacher know if you will be attending by Friday 12/19.  

Pajama Day

Friday (12/12) marks the end of our pajama drive. Please be sure to get all pajama donation in by Friday. To celebrate all the pajamas collected, we are having a pajama day! Students are free to wear pajamas on Friday, but they need to still wear regular shoes (no slippers) for safety reasons.   

Science Fair

Cox will be participating in another Science Fair this year. Be on the lookout for information coming home soon regarding dates and guidelines. I will be sure to convey more information as it becomes available.  

Adding Fractions

This week we worked on adding fractions with like denominators. The equation below shows the rule for addition. So, if your are dealing with the same (common) denominator (b), the answer is the sum of the numerators (a and c) over their common denominator. Remember that a fraction refers to the number of parts in a “whole”, and the WHOLE that we are talking about is always the number in the denominator (on the bottom). So, all we have to do is add up the parts and keep our same point of reference.

Here are some ways your kiddos have seen this:

Homework this week will have them practicing this concept. Homework will be due on Monday, December 15th. Please let me know if you have any questions. 

Have a great weekend!

The Countdown is On!

There is a chill in the air and a twinkle in our eye! I can cannot believe our next holiday is just around the corner, as we just celebrated Thanksgiving. As I counted my blessings over the break, I especially counted my kiddos and you! Thank you for making my just so enjoyable by raising fantastic children. Each bring their uniqueness to the classroom and make me smile. In fact, today I wore my new "sparkle" sweater and was told I was beautiful, stylish, and...oh yeah...that I look like a disco ball. LOL Gotta love 'em! 

The Cox Santa Shop opens next week and we are excited. I have scheduled our classes (both my homeroom and Mrs. M's homeroom) to visit on TUESDAY, DECEMBER 9th at 11:15. Please look over the info in the Coyote folder to see lists, opportunities to visit, and payment options. Students are able to bring money on Tuesday to shop. Items will be wrapped and taken home that same day. Thank you for your support!

Our Wax Museum 

One of the highlights of Fourth Grade Language Arts is the Wax Museum and believe me, they are chomping at the bit to begin this project! This week began our journey into the genre of biography/autobiography. As we learn about many significant and influential figures in the upcoming weeks, students will choose one person to research and introduce to us at the wax museum. More details will follow for sure and more specific instructions will be sent home and posted as we move through this unit. For now, the timeline is as follows:

- Friday, Dec. 5th- Each student will make a final choice on the person each would like to research.

-Monday, Dec 8- Friday, Dec. 12- Students will conduct research in the classroom during Language Arts block and prepare our speech. 

-Friday, Dec 12- A Home Project will be assigned and due on Friday, December 19.

-Monday, Dec. 15- Thursday, Dec 18- Students will be perfecting their speech in class and completing their home project, obviously, at home.

-Friday, Dec. 19- Wax Museum- Parents are invited to join us at 8:00am to tour the 4th grade classrooms and learn from our research. Please mark your calendars!

*Class parties will also be held on this day, as it is the last day before the holiday break. 

IT IS AN EARLY RELEASE DAY! 

We can't wait!