Meet Steve our Christmas Scout Elf.

We had a lovely surprise this morning in grade 4. We all came into the classroom to this:

A surprise present to our class all the way from the NORTH POLE!?!?  What could it be?  It was found by the students under a tree that was somehow put up over the weekend what no one was here!

The box was covered in the garland under the tree and just sitting there. I wonder who set up the tree and left the presents?  Some students guessed that it was me (Miss. Komar), but it wasn't! Other students (who I think are right) thought that it was from Santa! 

Check out the predictions the Grade 4's made about what was in the box: Grade 4 KidBlogs

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We finally got to open our classroom present after lunch. We sat around the tree and discussed our predictions. Turns out our present was a Christmas Scout Elf! 

Steve the Scout Elf

He came with a letter and a book that told us all about him. He is a Scout Elf... he comes to our classroom and watches us all day. He makes sure we are respecting each other, being nice to each other, and behaving in class. Then after we all leave, he flies back to the North Pole and reports back to Santa about what he has seen in our class that day.  It was our job to name him in order to bring him to life.... Our Scout Elf's name is Steve. 

Keep checking our blog, and the students individual blog, too see what he is up to!!

Owl Pellets

Today in science we had a very special lab experiment... we dissected OWL PELLETS!
It was very cool and very fun. There were a few students who were a little grossed because of them, but they eventually came around and had an awesome time learning.

Owls are predators, which means that they are consumers that hunt the animals they hunt the animals they need to eat for energy. An owl will eat its prey (usually small animals such as voles, moles, mice, shrews and bird) whole, but its stomach cannot digest the fur, bones, teeth, feathers and shells. These undigested parts form a "pellet" in the owl's stomach and are later regurgitated by the owl.

We can use these pellets to learn exactly what owls eat, and what type of animals are in the area of the specific owl. This relates to our studies about food webs and food chains.

Tune into the students individual blogs to see their thoughts and reflections about the activity.

What's Brewing in Grade 4?

We've been doing a lot of work in Grade Four lately!!  So much that we haven't had time to blog!!

In math we are working on a variety of mental math and estimation strategies for addition. By practicing our mental math skills we can get better and better at addition (and subtraction), which helps us add larger numbers quicker (in our heads) and also helps us with our multiplication (and division)!

We've also started an ELA unit on Descriptive Writing. Descriptive writing is writing that uses our five senses in order to vividly describe things. Good descriptive writing paints a picture in the readers mind with exactly what they are describing. We started this unit by listening to to a piece of descriptive writing written by me (Miss Komar). I described my monster friend "Kerploof" who comes to visit me every year. As I was describing my friend, it was the students job to draw what I was describing. Then we discussed what kind of words and descriptions were used to describe my friend. Check out their versions of Kerploof based on my description and stay turned for their own descriptions of their own monsters!!!

Agriculture in the Classroom is putting on a contest for grade 4 students throughout the province and we are taking part! The contest is to see which grade 4 class can read the most minutes in class and out of class. Miss Komar is in charge of updating our weekly in class minutes and we are in charge of keeping track of our at home minutes. If we win we get a pizza party!!! So... READ READ READ. Remember: Real Reading is thinking about what we are reading and making connections to what we are reading with our Schema!
Reading does not have to just be reading a novel... it can include anything from reading comic books, magazines, or books by yourself, to reading a picture book to your siblings, or helping your parents read recipes and instructions.
There are 3 types of reading: 1) Reading the Pictures 2) Reading the Words and 3) Retelling the Story.
READ READ READ! The contest ends October 31.
(And don't forget to do you AR tests!)


In Science class we are continuing our look at Habitats and Communities. We have a new addition to our classroom to help enhance our studies... two new additions to be exact: Finn and Webster, our two "African Dwarf Frogs!!"

They are super cute, super fun, super easy to take care of AND the little cuties can help us get a first-hand look at observing a small community of two populations in this habitat. We are currently creating our own food-webs and food-webs, but I have a special project/lab coming up to give the students a first-hand examination food chains and food webs.



In art we have been studying the concept of colour using the medium of paint. We definitely have some wonderful artists in this grade 4 class!   We have reviewed Primary and Secondary Colours and created a series of "dots" showing tints and shades of both primary and secondary colours. This past week we put our creative juices to the test and created our own "Sunset Pictures" using warm colours.  They turned out great... check them out:

Next Up: Remembrance Day Posters, "Cool Colour Artwork" and (hopefully) a special halloween surprise!


-- Miss Komar

Miss.Komars class

Hi it's Ashley  again today we got a new student named Charlie today now we have 25 students. Today we celebrated Wonald dahl's  birthday.

Miss.Komars class

Hi! I'm ashley I'm the blogger this week I will be telling you what we're doing this week. In are class we have 24 students me, dahlia,Adam,Elaine,Tristin,Shea,Vinson,Carrie,Ryder,Tanner,Jaydon,Layne,Madison,dorian,Brayden,Owen,Daylan,Kelsey,Kristen,Wesley,Parker,Taelyn,Ally,Kristina. That's every one in are class.

iPads!

We finally got our iPads this week... The kids sure were excited. 

We came up with rules and guidelines we all need to follow when using iPads as a class and then we finally got to explore the apps and try a few out! 

Some of our rules included:

- hold and carry iPads carefully

- don't go into "Settings" or the "App Store"

- don't use anyone else's iPad or pretend to be anyone else

- only use apps when the teacher asks us to 

- be responsible and build relationships

Here we are hard at work talking our STAR reading tests!

Metacognition

This week in ELA we learned about METACOGNITION and real reading.

We learnt that fake reading happens when you read a book, but you are not paying attention. You read the words, but are thinking about something els.e  Real reading happens when we read AND think about what we are reading!

We did this by relating reading to salad! Fake reading is like a salad made of just lettuce.... BORING!! Real reading is like a salad with all the delicious toppings, like carrots, onions, tomatoes, croutons, bacon bits and dressing! More delicious, more fun, and definitely more meaningful!

Metacognition is the fancy word to describe this process... it is when we think about  our thinking!

(Photo Borrowed)

First Day of School

Today was our first day of school in Grade 4.  
It was so great to meet all my little grade 4 kiddies. I can tell this is going to be an AWESOME year!
It was also great to have the opportunity to meet so many parents as well! I hope if any of you have questions about what is going on in our class, you don't hesitate to call the school and ask!.

Today being the first day of school, and MY first day at a new school, meant it was pretty hectic. The kids all have 1 name to remember, but I have 23 to remember in grade 4 and 26 in grade 3! Crazy.

We did a lot of fun stuff today:

• T/F Quiz about Miss. Komar
• Wrote our OWN T/F for Miss. Komar
• Read "The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes" and learnt that it is OKAY to make mistakes once in a while, that's how we learn and grow!
• Played a "name game" in the gym, which got pretty chaotic!
• Had a contest to build the BIGGEST SPAGHETTI TOWER ever (which hopefully showed us how important it is to work as a team). 
• Learnt about the classroom jobs we will be in charge of this year
• Had a chance to write about what we did this summer (or what we WISHED we did this summer) 

I hope all my students had as much fun as I did today! 

Check out the pictures from our tower building... it was awesome!

Teamwork!

Brainstorming!

Working Hard!

The boys hard at work!

Most Creative Tower!

Tallest Tower!

Most Effort//Biggest Mess!

Best Teamwork!

Best Teamwork!

Welcome to Our Class Blog!

Welcome to the Unity Public School Grade 4 Blog! On this site you will find our class blog that will keep you up to date on what is going on in our classroom. We will try out best to update this blog at least once weekly. 

The students also have their own individual blogs. Check them out here! These blogs are way for my students to share all the wonderful learning that is happening in our classroom, individually. The students will begin blogging, individually, shortly and learning new technology in order to share their learning in many different ways.

Please feel free to comment on their posts. This will make their learning more meaningful. Please share in our learning journey!

Happy Blogging

Miss Komar

Surprise Visit

Today we got a surprise visit from a police officer that works in Kerrobert! :D   He showed us his gun, tazzer, pepper spray, and more of his cool weapons. He told us some of his cop stories, and how to be nice to people. He told us always to be safe, listen to our teachers, and have fun.

electricity experiment

this is a paralell circuit. the path is the wires the source is the battery and the load is the light.

the path is the wires, the battery is the source, the load is the lights, and it is a series circuit

the path is the wire , the source is the batteries ,the load is the light and it is a series circuit.

the path is the wire, the source is the batteries , the load is the light and it is a series circuit.

The path is the wire, the source is the battery, the load is the light , and it is a series circuit.