Community Meetings and "I feel statements"

We finally started our weekly classroom community meetings. Our classroom meeting takes place on Tuesday mornings from 8:45am-9:25am. We gather around in a circle, give each other specific compliments, discuss our problems, talk about ways to "cool down" when we are angry, and share our feelings.

Every classroom full of 22 fourth graders is bound to have problems! It is important for us to bring any issues we are having to the community and brainstorm solutions. So far, students have started to use "I feel" statements in the classroom and calming methods when they get upset. It is important for students to be heard when they use an "I feel statement." So, the person they express their feeling to needs to respond by saying, "What I heard you say was that you feel_______when I _______." and "Ok. I will stop."

Yesterday, we listened to a song about loneliness and emotions. The main idea of the song is to find healthy solutions when you feel angry such as telling someone how you are feeling, writing your feelings down in a letter or in a journal, drawing your emotions through art, or dancing your emotions through movement.

In April, our class will be responsible for the assembly. Our topic is "empathy." The song we learned yesterday and the skills we are using at the classroom meeting will help us present this idea to the entire elementary school at the end of April. Empathy means sharing and understanding another person's feelings.

Here are some questions to think about:

1) Have you ever tried to put yourself in another person's shoes when they are sad or lonely and imagined feeling what they are feeling? Were you able to understand them better after listening to their story?

2) What are healthy ways you deal with strong emotions such as: loneliness, anger, sadness, frustration, and fear?

3) Have "I feel statements" and the classroom calming methods helped you recently? Please comment!

Carnaval

4B had an exciting carnaval celebration in the classroom this year. We turned the classroom upside down on Thursday during the last period of the day. It was a blast! We turned the volume up and listened to all the top carnaval songs from famous Bahian artists like Ivete Sangalo and Timbalada. We made a train around the classroom, played limbo, jumped over a broom, and danced on top of the tables. Everyone was sweating, laughing, and smiling. It was a great way to begin the carnaval break!

Keeping a Journal

Over vacation, I assigned students the task of keeping of journal to document the sounds, tastes, colors, textures, dialogue, and people that surround them.

One of my students gave me a journal as a Christmas present. It is a bendable rectangular book with a pink snakeskin cover. I took the book with me to a farm I visited near Ilheus.

Every day, I took around 10 minutes to jot down notes and record the daily events. I loved the way the book felt in my hand while I wrote.

I even drew pictures of people I found to be interesting and added adjectives to describe them. I will use my journal to help me write a book in the future. Keeping a journal has helped me remember and document all of the incredible moments I have experienced during my vacation. It has also been a way for me to relax, draw, create, and simply enjoy life. I can only imagine how wonderful it will be to read this journal in 20 years from now and realize what an amazing vacation I had swimming the in the river, climbing trees, and eating bananas! I am also looking forward to reading my students' journals!

The Holiday Party

Its a HOT, Beautiful X-mas in Salvador, Bahia. We took a picture in front of these full-sized palm trees. We gave palm tree buds to our fourth graders as x-mas gifts. It´s going to be a green Christmas this year!

It´s a tradition in my family to plant trees on special occasions. We plant trees on birthdays, holidays, and for memorials. We asked students to take their palm trees home, plant them, and care for them with love and "carinho."























This is one of the gorgeous holiday scrapbook posters a student in the class made.
























We filled this table with goodies and ate while we had an amazing Secret Santa gift exchange!

My Dog B.B.

This post is dedicated to all of the fourth graders who adore dogs.

This was my dog, B.B. She was a Miniature Schnauzer from my childhood in Iowa. She was the greatest dog in the world. She was the first dog I became really attached to. She even slept at the foot of my bed at night. I loved to snuggle up with her and pet her velvety, grey fur.

The funny thing about B.B. was that when we got home, she would squeeze through the door before we opened it all the way and run outside at record speed. She just took off down the road and didn't even look back. She was too fast for us to catch her. She would eventually trot home with a mischievous "whisker grin" after chasing squirrels and barking at other dogs in the neighborhood.

Once, B.B. ran outside and didn't look both ways before crossing the street. She ran straight into the wheel of a moving car. She fainted out on the side of the road and my mom ran out screaming to see if she was still alive. She picked B.B. up and set her on the grass, trying to bring her back to life with C.P.R. The miracle was that B.B. woke up an hour later and was just fine. We wondered if she cooked some brain cells in the accident, though, because a few weeks later she ran off a high cliff in the woods and dove head first into rocks, tree trunks, and pile of leaves. She survived the fall without breaking any bones. We thought B.B. was an absolutely crazy dog. She was invincible. Nothing could get in her way. That is what I thought, at least.

Then, one summer day my mom came with the news that B.B. was hit by a car. I shouldn't have been surprised at all, considering how crazy B.B. had been all those years. However, the news shocked me. I was devastated and broke out into a crying fit that lasted about 72 hours. My face turned hundreds of shades of red while tears streamed down my face. My mom tried to comfort me, but I didn't have the strength to talk over my tears. A few years later, we got another Miniature Schnauzer. His name was Chuck. I'll tell you about the time an alligator almost ate him in Mississippi another day...

Division Websites

Here is a list of division websites for you to explore:

www.kidsnumbers.com

http://www.mathplayground.com/

Division Bingo

Timed Division Flash Cards

Division Machine

Math Skills Practice By Grade Level


Please add additional links to math sites for kids in the comment box if you find any!


Have Fun!

Ms. Anne

Guinea Pigs vs. Snakes

The Student Council raised money for each classroom to have a pet. Students are excited about the idea. We narrowed it down to either snakes or guinea pigs. We realized many parents wouldn't let their children take a snake home over the holidays. Others complained that their Rotweilers would eat the adorable guinea pig. I don't think I want to deal with feeding live mice and insects to snakes, but I do think snakes are amazing creatures. If students find any great websites with more information about snakes or guinea pigs as pets, please share them with the class in the comment box below!