4th Grade

A Busy Place to Learn

We have four 4th grade classrooms at Glenbrook, and they are very busy places. The students in 4th grade are making making a big shift to becoming "intermediate" students this year. It's a year where they must be well organized and prepared for much more independence.  

Our students spend each day working on learning new "Tier 2" vocabulary. These types of vocabulary words are words that they will find in lots of books at the 4th grade level.  They are encouraged to listen for them in the "real world," for example while watching television or listening to conversations.  They are also encouraged to use them in their writing.

Here a student in Mrs. Gustafson's class shares a story that highlights some of the very important "Tier 2" vocabulary words. The students listen to see if they can determine the meaning of the words. 

 In math, Mrs. Gustafson's and Mrs. Chellberg's classes are working hard to plot fractions on a numberline.  This is a really difficult concept, but the students have picked it up very easily with the new Eureka Math Program.

 Mrs. Chellberg has a student lead a discussion as they try to plot a fraction on a numberline.  Below the students hold up "Agree/Disagree" cards to share their thinking about the students work.  It's a great way to share ideas and talk through challenges.

Mrs. Reza's class waits patiently to talk to author Alexander London. Mr. London Skype'd in with the students. He wrote several books in the "Tides of War" series, Lucky Dog and many others. The students enjoyed listening to Mr. London and asking questions. It's nice to have the technology to be able to have conversations with published authors!

Mrs. Reza's class also worked hard on some landform projects. Checkout their creativity!

                                             

Mrs. Smith's class loves to spread out and hunker down with their favorite books. It doesn't matter if they are sitting, standing or spread out on the floor, they are happy with their favorite author by their side.

This year Mrs. Smith's class has been playing the "Stock Market Game."  Mr. Patel, a Glenbrook parent came to teach the students all about how the stock market works. The students chose some stocks to "purchase" and have been following their stocks all year!  What fun they have been having trying to make it big!

Youth Advisory Committee  (YAC) Works Hard To Keep Glenbrook 

Staff and Students Healthy and Environmentally Conscious!

Glenbrook's YAC helped us to celebrate National Breakfast week March 7th - 11th by coordinating several events aimed at supporting a healthy and environmentally conscious lifestyle.  Their "coach" Mrs. Ann McGovern works with them weekly and then learn to spread their message. 

Each morning our students made announcements to promote the healthy breakfast program that we have at Glenbrook. Glenbrook Elementary, and all U-46 schools, serves a healthy, balanced breakfast daily from 7:25-7:55 AM.  We had  over 125 students  and staff join us each and every day!

Unfortunately with kids, their eyes are often bigger than their stomachs, or they just don't like what they choose, so much food gets thrown away and wasted.  Our 4th graders, Luke, Ryan, Giana, Karla and Weronika from Mrs. Chellberg's class created a presentation to share with all Glenbrook students.  This presentation was about being environmentally friendly and less wasteful.

As a special treat, our Youth Advisory Council served the staff a delicious breakfast.  We were served a cheese burrito, fresh fruit and warm coffee. It was all very glamorous! Thank you Mrs. McGovern and the YAC students for keeping us healthy!

Aerospace Engineering and Rocketry comes to Glenbrook!

(This week's blog post by Mrs. Martha Reza, 4th grade teacher)

Mrs. Kuropas generously shared her daughter, Kathryn, with us on Friday. Kathryn went around to various classrooms to teach our students about Aerospace Engineering and rocketry. Kathryn is a sophomore at Western Michigan University majoring in Aerospace Engineering and was the founder and captain of the rocketry club at Lane Tech. Kathryn gave a great presentation about how she started her passion about rockets in middle school. She went through the process with them on how they are made and showed a cool video of her launching one of her bigger rockets. One of them went 900 feet high! She brought to the attention of the students that every school subject is important if you want to be an aerospace engineer. She also voiced her opinion that any girls that are interested in aerospace should follow their passion. Unfortunately there are not many women in this industry.

Students were very interested and had a great time getting their hands on some of her model rockets. She let them know that they could purchase model rocket kids at hobby stores with their parents permission.

Wrapping up Learning about Black History Month 

Black History Month began in 1926 and is observed annually in the United States as a remembrance of the contributions that black Americans have made to the United States. At Glenbrook, we have read many books, researched many famous people, done projects and learned about many famous black Americans, cultures and traditions.  Last week, we welcomed two visitors who shared their stories.

Kenneth Rapier 

Chicago "Dodo" Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen

Mr. Kenneth Rapier, a cousin to an original Tuskegee Airmen, spoke to all 1st through 6th grader students and staff about the mission of the brave young pilots from World War II.  The Tuskegee Airmen were the first black servicemen to serve as pilots in World War II.  They faced much discrimination before, during and after the war, despite their success. In fact, they were actually trained to fail, but proved everyone wrong.  

When the men returned from war, they were unable to get jobs as commercial pilots despite their exemplary skills, all because they were black.  This discrimination made them feel like the "dodo" birds which became extinct due to their inability to fly.  Thus, they nicknamed their Chicago Chapter, the "Dodo" chapter.  New generation members are determined to have their name and their message live on forever and never die.

The organization has a great program for youth where free flights are provided on Saturdays.  Scholarships are also offered for High School Seniors.  All students, no matter their gender or race, are welcome. They do not discriminate. Their message is to provide opportunity for all. For more information, go to their website at:

http://www.taichicago.org/

                    

The second graders came up with many amazing questions to ask. They were very curious about the mission of the Tuskegee Airmen.  Great job Ms. Reiser's class!

Mr. Rapier shared with the students the Tuskegee Airmen's method of success.

1.  Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do something.

2.  Remain united to a common goal

3. A Standard of Excellence, in everything you do, leads to success.

Mr. Rapier also shared with the children the slogan of the Tuskegee Airmen.:

"With Courage and Determination I Can Overcome Adversity."

We were honored to have Mr. Rapier, a new generation member with us. As a thank you for their service, we presented him with a "Certificate of Appreciation."  

Ina Dews

"Quilter," Elgin Artist

 Ina Dews was gracious enough to come out on a blustery, cold, snowy day to share her beautiful quilts and her story with the 6th graders in Mrs. Chandler-Roth's class.  The class had been reading the story Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt and learned about how quilts told stories. Ina shared several of her own stories with the students as well as the types of quilt pieces and their meanings. 

Ina challenged the students to tell their own stories using their own imaginations along with this fabric. They had a great time and enjoyed learning about the work and creativity that goes into the beautiful quilts made by Ina Dews.