"You're a grand old flag...you're a high-flying flag."
We had a wonderfully patriotic and touching assembly today to honor our military students and families. We sang songs, watched a movie honoring our Red Oak military heros – both past and present and we learned about the pledge and what it means. The Highland Park Mayor stopped by and gave a speech too! All and all it was a wonderful event and made us all feel proud to be Americans!
This week, 4th graders will be given a new long term assignment. This project is called “Be An Inventor.” Details about the project will be sent home tomorrow. Please read through the packet with your child, sign it, and return the first page to school. All inventions, posters, and explanations will be due on Tuesday, May 29th. On Thursday, May 31st, we will be having our annual Invention Convention in the Red Oak cafeteria from 2:15 to 3:15. Please feel free to come and check out all of the fabulous 4th grade inventions!
To kick off our invention project, we had a special guest speaker, Mr. Share, come and talk to the 4th graders about brainstorming! He is an engineer and has designed many products such as power tools, light fixtures, door hinges, and even a portable refrigerator. The students learned various techniques and strategies to help with brainstorming ideas for inventions. They received a packet of resources that they can use at home to help come up with ideas! We are looking forward to seeing the final products on May 31st!
Oh..the poor wounded Union soldiers!
We had a great time performing our Illinois History play. I will soon have a slide show ready of our wonderful 4V actors…stayed tuned!
Long division using the iPad and Showme
Long division…you remember the steps…Divide, multiply, subtract, bring down and start all over again! We have been practicing long division for the last couple of weeks. We have gotten modern and used an App called Showme to help us remember the steps. However some kids still preferred the good old-fashioned white board.
Long division - old style!
Yeah...I finally got it!
Is 2/4 or 3/5 bigger? Ask your 4th grader. We have spent a lot of time learning all about numerators, denominators, equivalent fractions, mixed numbers and irregular fractions. We have had lots of fun figuring out what is bigger and what is smaller. We are so looking forward to fun-filled Friday so we can put our new skills to use by doubling a recipe and reducing a recipe to make two different loaves of delicious bread. Stay tuned to see how our bread turns out.
Notice the hair! This was right after he turned in his last test.
Whew…were we ever happy that Aprenda was done for the year. This picture says it all – this is how most of us felt when it was finally over!
Girls with glasses - beware of glow sticks....and tricky 4th graders!
Yes the comadres played a joke on Ms. Van Arsdale! I truly believed that the girls needed to wear glasses for a month because they told me they had an accident with a glow stick at a sleepover. I finally caught on after a week that it was a joke! Tee Hee.
Is that a mineral I see?
In science, we just began our rocks and minerals unit. Students did an exciting hands-on activity where they observed minerals with a magnifying glass and sorted them by their physical properties. Some groups sorted them by color, while others used size. Afterwards, we learned about all of the physical properties of minerals, including size, color, luster, and texture. We have also learned the three types of rocks: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. The 4th graders think that science really “rocks!” 
Illinois - Land of Lincoln
On Thursday, April 5th, the 4th graders will be performing in an Illinois History Play. We will have a special guest, Fax Gilbert, who will be leading rehearsals in the morning and teaching students about the history of Illinois. At 2:15, the 4th graders will be performing their play in the gym and would love to see you there! The play will last about 40 minutes. Mr. Gilbert will supply most of the costume needs, but students should be encouraged to bring as much of the following as comfortably possible to supplement and enhance their costumes, so as to best re-enact history. Please do not buy these items.Look in the attic/basement etc. or borrow if possible.
Boys:
Dark colored pants. Jeans are second best. Any modern looking pants with writing or logos on them should be avoided.
Leather shoes or boots. (If not, wear dark colored socks.)
Cowboy hats – the older looking, the better
Vests
Long sleeved shirts, preferably flannel. (No writing or logo)
Girls:
Long sleeved blouse, shirt or sweatshirt without logo or writing
Shawl and apron
Long, wide bottomed, full skirt or dress
Bonnet or scarf for head
Leather shoes or boots
We look forward to seeing you at the performance on Thursday, April 5th at 2:15 in the gym!
Today, we had an assembly that focused on reading! Ms. Banas gave us helpful suggestions about reading at home, and she encouraged us to read as much as possible over Spring Break! Students brought their favorite books and sang a fun song about reading. The teachers were so excited that we even sang along and danced! Let’s keep reading so that we can bring the iRead trophy to Red Oak! Click here for the video that we watched at our assembly!
