The 3d Project, the Play, THE Wedding, and much more

For many of my St. Catherine's years I have been fortunate to be part of a class who is allowed to attend a Naturalization Ceremony.  Understanding how America was populated and what that process entailed is the foundation of our curriculum. Although we have read and studied about the early groups of people, the most fun part is about to begin with the study of Immigration beginning in the 19 th Century.  Margaret Harker, a friend of mine and an Assistant United States Attorney, was kind enough to speak to my class about the naturalization process and the seriousness of taking the oath of allegiance.  This was particularly cool because she was also the attorney at the Naturalization Ceremony who reads the name of each new citizen--quite a challenge since they come from all over the world.  As usual, Judge Hannah Lauck and the US Marshals did an outstanding job of explaining the court and introducing Wanda, the bomb sniffing dog, to the girls!  Wanda was a big hit!

Margaret Harker, Assistant US Attorney, talking to the class about the Naturalization Ceremony.  
Play Practice
It's officially that time of year...we started play practice today, and are the girls ever excited about that! They are having a blast singing these wonderful songs and practicing their ultra cool dances.  Remember costume information is on the blog. Thursday, May 3, is the big day! I can't say the name of the play because...ssh!...it's always a major secret!

3D Project

The 3D project culminates in a sale tomorrow on Alumnae Weekend.  The scratch projects from our class are incredible and show an unbelievable ability to utilize technology in a whole, new way.  I'm convinced that some of these girls may start the next Google.  Wow!  Wait until you see their work! Several of the girls from our class have signed up to help sell all of the fabulous items they designed and printed.

THE Wedding

Now for the fun news! What is the wedding of the season? In case it is not on your radar, it's all about Meghan Markle and Prince Harry on May 19. We have designed some exciting activities for the girls, one of which is to make a fascinator to wear because in our own way, we are making a trip across the pond! In the Parent Folder is a sheet about this.  The girls can bring feathers, ribbon, tulle, etc. to school to make the fascinator.  All materials must be in by next Friday.  Full details are on this paper in their folder!  We have a special place on the Fourthie Website devoted especially to the Royal Wedding. Working Edpuzzles, calculating distance... and making an invitation...it's all there!

And more...

For my girls, it's all about the Puritans, and I bet that you have learned a little more about these straightlaced folks along the way! The girls worked extremely hard on their projects and as each group presents, I am so impressed with the hard work that led toward the final product. For girls who are only ten years old, they are doing a great job of figuring out how to handle the dynamics of group work, for this is truly a learning process.  Each girl has grown so much and in ways that, frankly, I am in the best position to see. Lucky me! I can see what they are doing in class, and I am able to guide them along their individual paths of growth. Today, after the last group presented, the girls just spontaneously started talking about everything they had learned from this project.

This is what "learning how to learn" is all about. There is no substitute for the enthusiasm I have witnessed with this unit. Having read many books and websites, the girls were able to incorporate vocabulary and spelling from the Witch of Blackbird Pond, take notes and participate in lively, as well as thoughtful, discussions in class about why these groups of people made a dangerous trip across the ocean. Don't worry!  We are not finished with this unit!  Not yet!

Final Assembly Form

Final Assembly Information

It's that time of year!  Your girls will soon be leaving lower school. This is the first part of getting ready.  Please click hereso that you can fill out this form with your daughter's name as you would like it listed on her certificate. Stay tuned for more information!

Just an FYI

Dress Code  -   Just an FYI

Now that the weather is warmer, please be mindful of the Dress Code. Girls grow through the year, and those shorts and skirts that were perfect in September often are too short by April.  I gave every girl a copy of the Dress Code to give to you, and the Parent Handbook is on the blog, as well. Page 46 will refer you to the Dress Code for Lower School girls.  Athletic wear and denim are not permitted unless it is a special day.   The girls tell me that great shorts are available at Target and The Gap!

Naturalization Ceremony - Field Trip

                                            Naturalization Ceremony  -  Field Trip

Grade:  4

Date of Trip: Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Location:  Naturalization Ceremony at the United States Federal District Court, Downtown Richmond

Time of Student Drop Off at School: Regular drop-off

Time of Trip Departure: 9:00 am   

Time of Trip Return: 12:00 - 12:30 pm

Trip Attire: Field trip attire

What to bring: We will have a picnic lunch at school when we return so everyone will need to pack a lunch and a drink.

Description: We are excited to attend a Naturalization Ceremony. This is a wonderful opportunity for the girls and a perfect culminating activity for our study of Immigration. While we are there, we will have an opportunity to visit a courtroom with Judge Hannah Lauck and then see the newest American citizens sworn in.

Thanks, Everyone!

Fourth Grade Team

Dates for the Class Play

Hi Everyone,

These are the dates given to us from Jennifer Ivens for the play.

Performance for Parents
Thursday, May 3, at 2:30

Friday, May 4,  9:45  Performance for Senior Class and Lower School.

The Seniors performed The Wiz when they were in Fourth Grade!

Costume Information for Play

Parents,

A very dedicated and talented pair of ladies, have been hard at work costuming the show.  All of the characters will have a portion of their costume provided for them by the school.  However, listed below is what each student is expected to provide from home.  Please make sure the items listed are brought into school in a paper grocery bag labeled with the name of the student.  We ask that all items be delivered to school no later than Friday, April 27^th.  Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

·      Shoes:

Toms, Converse, or any dance shoe will work nicely.  We have ballet shoes if girls need them – please see the Google Form to request a size.

Dorothy -white leggings, white short sleeve shirt and silver slippers (see email that was sent out a few weeks ago)

Uncle Henry -overalls or jeans and a plaid shirt

Munchkin- Pink/orange short-sleeve plain t-shirt

Addaperle- white leggings and white tank

Scarecrow- overalls or jeans and a plaid shirt   

Tinman- gray leggings or sweatpants and plain white long-sleeve shirt

Lion- black leggings and plain black long-sleeve shirt

Gatekeeper- gray or white leggings and plain white long-sleeve shirt

Citizen/ Winkie- black leggings and black tank top

Wiz- plain green t-shirt and leggings

Lord High Underling- black leggings and plain long-sleeve black shirt

Evillene- plain red shirt and red leggings

Messenger- plain black shirt and black leggings or blue jeans

Lead Monkey- brown leggings

Glinda- white leggings

Tornado Ballet- plain brown long sleeve shirt and brown leggings

Yellow Brick Road Dancers- yellow leggings         

Kalidahs/ Flying Monkeys- brown leggings and plain black long-sleeve shirt

If your character is not listed, it is because you do not need to provide anything.

Thanks for all of your help to make this show a memorable one for the 4^th graders!

Jennifer Ivens

Music Teacher

The Wearin' of the Green, etc.....

I'm not sure how we managed to not get any pictures of our St. Patrick's Day activities because we had a lot of fun with the wearin' o' the green!  Green cupcakes and green peeps and green math...we had it all!  We are finishing up our unit in math on measuring, and it has been so interesting to teach US Standard and metrics all at the same time...seriously, we have done math in quarts and gallons, liters and milliliters, meters and kilometers, feet and inches, etc....Amazingly, they can do it.  You should ask them to show you how they multiply and divide with these quantities.  It's really cool, and a whole lot easier than the way you learned.  They do need work in understanding the concept, so today we stopped and measured a lot of things in the classroom.  We've been working on this the last few weeks, and they are getting better.  When both are reinforced and mastered, they will be powerhouse math students!  Check out the pictures below and you will see what we did today!

Another great picture of the girls at the fabulous Terracotta Soldier exhibit at the VMFA!

As you know, teaching the girls how to write is a priority for me.  We have been working on it all year, and their hard work is beginning to show.  The other day the class had an assignment in relation to something they had read, and I was completely impressed with the level of writing I saw. Their ability to include sentence variety and examine a subject deeply was fantastic. Their growth this year is amazing!  I will show you some of their work at our next Conference Day.

Caritas

Thank you so much for sending in the snacks for the families who will be our guests in a week or so.  This is such a great opportunity for the girls to help people and see first hand how important this is for real families in dire circumstances.

Maypole Information!

Daisy Days is almost here, and with that comes the annual Maypole Dance performed by the Fourthies!  This is a longstanding tradition at St. Catherine's.  Many of the alum mothers in this class may remember performing when they were in lower school.  Thanks to the dedication and commitment of Sara Waechter, Jean Hershey, Elizabeth Peay, and Cary Williams the tradition will go on.  What a fun way for the girls to celebrate Spring and our wonderful school!  Click here, and you will find a video for the girls to watch along with important information on the Maypole and how to become familiar with the dance itself.

The Maypole Information is also available on the Fourthie Website under Everything Else.

Innovation Day- a huge, creative success and Spring Break is here....

I first met the current Fourthies when they were in Kindergarten the year we initiated Innovation Days.  Anna Safran was in my group that year.  I can remember that day as if it were yesterday...the girls in my class looked over at Anna and said, "Wow, Mrs. Roberts, look at what that Kindergartener is drawing for her model."  What a wow it was!  These remarkable Innovation Days have produced girls who can make something, utilizing simple materials. After five years and ten innovation projects, the impact of these Innovations Days is clear.  The girls can think, design and produce in a way that is definitely innovative. They thrive on these occasions, and they love every minute of it!  They were inspired by a wonderful innovator, Angela Luna, who spoke to the Lower School, as well as the entire school, in the fall.

The challenge to the girls was to design something that could be useful or helpful to other people.
Last fall they met as a team to decide what they wanted to design. Then on Tuesday, they met again to figure out their materials, and today they made their designs.  This was accomplished today without me! I was sick at home.  It killed me to miss it, but I will see their final projects after Spring Break.  I thought that you might like to see the results today! These are the projects that have been shared with me.

See this link to read about Angela Luna.  https://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2017/10/12/angela-luna-23-is-building-a-business-with-clothes-that-save-lives/#547cdfb71b1a

Flipping Bike Pack

We made a flipping Bike pack. We made it out of fabric, duck tape, plastic cup, ribbon, buttons , rubber bands,and some teamwork along the way! This will help people that are traveling and don’t have a car or can’t afford one.

         Not only does the flipping bike pack carry  your things,but it also has water cup holders ,and a mat that you can sit on. The water holders will either hold your water bottle or you can just put water right in the cup! Although the basket is cardboard, it is covered in fabric, so if your item is fragile it will be in good shape when you take it out. The awesome blanket that folds out can buckle up tight when you are on the go. You may also have a nice little picnic too!   

Education Bags

By Natalie,Clare,Darcy,Laudie,and Becca

These are our Education Bags.Inside of the Education Bags are materials for parents who can’t send their kids to school. Inside the bags are pencils,paper,a book,crayons,a calculator,a coloring book,and glue stick. Parents can take one bag or as many as they want.We want the Education Bags to go to Child Fund. We all made the flashcards in class,and Natalie made the bags at her house from cloth and string. Everyone helped load the bags.    

Let’s help!

Sleeping bag design

Idea: make a sleeping bag that can turn into a purse, it can turn into a solar panel

Step one: make the sleeping bag

Step two: turn into a purse

Step three: color

Step four: take pictures

Step five: show teachers

Pictures go here:

sleeping bag                                                      flat`

purse

This design is a sleeping bag that turns into a purse! If you tie the rubber bands it turns into a purse to carry things in. Who likes to be cold at night? Well, it has a solar panel to keep you warm at night. It gets very small so it is easy to carry around. We made it by tissue paper, cardboard, a lot of tape, a few rubber bands, and paper.The sleeping bag will be made out of waterproof material so if it is raining you will not get wet. If we think about other people’s needs then we can change the world.

Paxton Raymond

Madelyn Smullen

Betsy Spalding

Kensie Toepp

Learner Buddy!

By Lillie, Laila, Violet, and Isabella

Our project is called The Learner Buddy. The way it works is you put a piece of paper into

the slot. Each piece of paper has educational things on it. Then you type the things or answers to the questions that are on the slide. It helps little kids learn their ABC’s and 123’s.We used cardboard, fabric, construction paper, and rainbow duck tape.   

This is our Arrow Filter. We built it to help hunger and thirst. It is an arrow and a water filter all in one. We built it from a pipe, rope, rocks, hook, and a filter. We made it so that you can sling it onto your back. You use it by throwing it into the water. There is a filter at the bottom that cleans the water that comes through the pipe, and when it is in the filter you open the cap on the bottom of it.

                              The End

The Sleeping Coat Team Asra, Emma,Tayloe and Madison

Our idea was to make a coat that turns into a sleeping bag. We think that people who are in a rush won’t have the time to pitch a tent and take it down every day, so we decided to make this a sleeping bag. We hope it will help people who don’t have the money to buy one of Angela Luna’s tents. Our creation was inspired by Angela Luna’s tents but we had different ideas. We think that just flipping it inside out will be easier than pitching a tent. It would work for people who travel and those that don’t have enough money to buy a bed.

In our innovation project, we created an umbrella that turns into a tent. The umbrella can also be attached to a backpack using the velcro strap most umbrellas have to keep them together. The tent can be put together by putting a blanket on top. Just close the umbrella and take the blanket off to make it back to normal.You could also open the umbrella while it's on the backpack. In the classroom, it was kind of hard to make the backpack attach to the umbrella because we had to make a way to open it while not blocking the path of the umbrella as it closes. Using the velcro strap solved this problem. It was also kind of difficult to keep the umbrella from falling, but we supported it with the backpack and some tape and it stayed up. We also put  the umbrella on it’s side and it stayed up that way too.

By Maddie Bridges, Mary Mac Starke, Courtney Carter, Amelia Ellis