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