Brooklyn Historical Society UPCOMING TRIP

Please be reminded that on Tuesday, December 21st we will be going on a trip to Brooklyn Historical Society. We will leave school at 9:30 and be back by 12:15.

 

We will  be having a one hour guided tour titled "It happened in Brooklyn".

 

Students will meet a diverse range of residents from Brooklyn’s earliest Native American settlements, to the men and women who fought in the Revolutionary War on Brooklyn’s shores; from the Brooklynites who worked to abolish slavery to immigrants from all over the world; we will also learn about the women who kept America going by working in the Brooklyn Navy Yard during WWII.  

 

With primary sources from the Brooklyn Historical Society collection such as photographs, artwork, documents and oral histories students will engage with key moments in our nation’s history and learn how they played out on Brooklyn’s streets.

 

THANK YOU!

A great BIG THANK YOU to the parents of Noah Niyazov and Daniel Ganopolsky for responding to our need for a classroom projector! We received the projector (and cart, no less!) which will enable us to partake in interactive and interesting lessons that we can all enjoy. Thank you so much!

Math Update!

We've begun a new unit in Math! We are discussing the multiplication of extended facts, i.e. extending our knowledge of multiplication facts of single digits to multiplying factors of ten.

For example, we know (original fact) that 4x5=20, so now we can think of (extended fact) 40x5=200  in a similar way by thinking of 40 as: 4 tens, 4 dimes, 4 base-ten "longs" (blocks consisting of ten small cubes), etc. A shortcut would be to multiply the extended fact as 4x5=20 and then add a zero to the answer.

We have also discussed more extended multiplication facts where BOTH factors are multiples of ten, for example 40x50=2000.

The same shortcut can apply: multiply 4x5=20 then add "00" to the answer. So if we understand that 4x5=20, we can understand that 40x5=200, and 40x50=2000. It is helpful to use the term "ten times as much" or "ten times as many" when doing work with multiples of ten.

CHANUKAH RECITAL TOMORROW!

Dear Parents,
Please be reminded that our Chanukah recital will be tomorrow, Thursday, December 9th at 10:00 untill about 12:30. Please have your child wear: a white shirt, black or blue pants or skirt, and solid colored socks/tights. Hope to see you there!!
Happy Chanukah!

Our Very Own Acrostic Chanukah Poems!

We made our very own, creative Chanukah acrostic poems, with artwork to match in honor of the holiday! Each student wrote a unique poem - read and enjoy! (P.S. We learned that Acrostics are when you take the first letter of a word like "Dreidel" and write a word or sentence beginning with each letter).

Happy Chanukah! Here's a great kids' Chanukah link...

  Happy Chanukah! If you'd like some great kids' Chanukah games, crafts, recipes, video, etc. visit this website, and make sure to check out the KIDS' ZONE, too.

http://www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/default_cdo/jewish/Hanukkah.htm

Enjoy!

Upcoming Mini-Trip: Performance at Adult Senior Center

Following the success of our last trip to the Adult Senior Center, we have been invited again...This time to perform Chanukah songs!

The performance will be on Tuesday, December 7th at 11:30 a.m.  If your child has any elderly relatives that could come and join the audience,  please let them know about this great event.

 

 

 

We look forward to sharing the joy of Chanukah...

 

Happy Chanukah! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

We've learned a lot about Thanksgiving! We explored what we already knew, and then asked ourselves: what would we like to learn about the First Thanksgiving? Some of us wanted to know what the Pilgrims and Wampanoag ate; some wanted to know what games they played; others wanted to know if the two groups lived peacefully together... After sharing our thoughts with our friends, we went to find answers!

First we saw a moving map of the travels of the Mayflower, and learned why they reached Cape Cod first (instead of Virginia, as expected).We read letters written by  a (fictional) Pilgrim child and a (fictional) Wampanoag (Native American) child to help us understand what both groups of people were thinking, feeling, and doing on that first Thanksgiving. Did you ever wonder how the Pilgrims lived? What they ate? What they played with?

Through slideshows we explored the daily life of the Pilgrims and Wapanoags, as well as a description of the first Thanksgiving celebration. Did you know the feast lasted three days? Did you know that cranberry sauce hadn't even been been invented yet? And, nope! There was no pumpkin pie... Did you know that the Indians hunted deer and shared the meat with the Pilgrims? Although the Pilgrims and Wampanoag were so different,  they both had special ways to give Thanks to the Creator for the good things He gave them!

Lastly, after learning what the Pilgrims were thankful for (survival and a successful harvest) we asked ourselves - "what am I thankful for? Why?" and wrote our ideas on colorful leaves hanging in our classroom.

Ask your child to share their First Thanksgiving trivia questions with you!

The 4th-5th Grade Official Book Challenge!

So, it's official! The 4th and 5th Grade at Mazel are on a mission: to collectively read 180 Mazel Library Books by the end of the year! (Grand Class Prize to be announced.) In addition to the collective goal, points will be acquired individually for completing books as well as responding in written form. Points will  buy bookmarks, book-covers, and other literacy-related materials.

Morah Chani visited our classroom on Friday and read us a great, humorous book titled Miss Malarkey Leaves No Reader Behind. The book illustrates how one boy finally finds the book that he is interested in with the help of his teacher, Miss Malarkey.

Our goal is that each student find books in many genres in our library that he/she will find captivating! Like one of the students said during the discussion "when I read a good book, I don't want to put it down!" That's the kind of reading we want!

More details to follow soon.

We had a STAR PARTY!

We are pleased to share that the 4th-5th Grade earned a Star Party with good behavior, kindness toward friends, good work habits, etc. Since the first day of school, lines were continuously added to stars on the board, as we accumulated ten complete stars. The last lines on the very last star were earned this Friday, and to the students' surprise Morah had the party already planned and ready to go!

We started off with a super-fast-and-fun scavenger hunt with clues. Each clue led to another...(under the lunch table, behind the garbage can, in the dictionary...) until we found the gift bag! Inside, was our first activity: plaster painting! We really enjoyed this art activity, while listening to a CD of the Chanukah story. When we were finished painting we got one final surprise...delicious pre-Chanukah sprinkle donuts for all our hard work... What a great way to celebrate! Keep up the good work!

Thanksgiving Webcast!

The children in 4th and 5th Grade were lucky enough to participate in a live web-cast that featured a Virtual Field Trip to Plimoth Plantation; We met Pilgrims and Wampanoags (Native Americans) dressed as if they were living in the time of the first Thanksgiving and listened to their discussion about differences and similarities between them. Although the two groups were quite different they both had what to be thankful for. It was fascinating! For a replay, visit http://www.scholastic.com/thanksgivingwebcast . We will be following up with a writing piece next week - We will keep you posted.

We are sharing the abundance we celebrate on Thanksgiving with others! We will be collecting Kosher food cans to share with others who are needy. Please look out for the note that is being sent home over the weekend...

Math Test - Tuesday

Math Assessment/Test on Unit 3 has been rescheduled for this Tuesday, November 16th. We've been reviewing in class, however it is your child's responsibility to also study at home. Studying should be done using the Review Sheets, as well as studying the terms in the Personal Reference Book (the small notebook). Your supervision/input is recommended.

In addition, when the Math Assessment/Test is sent home PLEASE take the time to look through it with your child, have him/her redo any incorrect answers, and then SIGN and RETURN. Thank you!

Math Test - Rescheduled

Although the Math Test was put down for tomorrow, Friday, we have rescheduled the test for next week. The children know about this. Please help them review (using the Math Review that has been sent home for homework)! We will keep you posted as to the new test date.

We would really love to have an overhead projector!

Hi! We in 4th-5th Grade would love to have an overhead projector for our classroom! This will help us share in interactive lessons and use enlarged, shared text together as a group! If anyone would like to contribute in part or in entirety to this great cause, please let me know! It is a relatively low-cost machine ranging from $100-$150 for a simple projector. Thanks!

World Tour in Math!

As we go our "World Tour" in Math, visiting countries in 5 regions across the globe, we measure air distance from our origin (for example, Washington DC) to our destination (for example, Cairo, Egypt).

We figured out a 12 inch Globe SCALE that can help us work out the amount of miles flown per each inch measured on the globe. A trip around the world is a distance of 25,000 miles. If so, we learned, then each inch on the globe represents approximately 660 miles.

So a trip to Cairo from D.C. may be a distance of 9 inches on the globe, and therefor approximately 5,940 in air distance. The 4th graders truly enjoyed this activity and learned so much while doing the Math exercises! At the end of the exercises each student chose a destination of their choice. Ask your child what their destination was, and why:-)

Central Park Zoo

We visited the Central Park Zoo today! 

We prepared yesterday by reading articles in groups: 1 group read about the zoo's history, and the other group read about the zoo today. Each group recorded key information and then shared what they learned with their friends, as well as some of our friends from 3rd Grade.

At Central Park Zoo, we observed many interesting things;  here are some of our friends' observations: people playing music, people drawing portraits, an art class drawing sea lions, a lot of trees and leaves ("like it was raining leaves!"), skyscrapers behind the trees, and...a policeman eating a hotdog! So many things to see, not just animals...

As we observed the animals in the zoo, we recorded them, noting if they were a Vertebrate (animal with a backbone) or an Invertebrate (an animal without a backbone), as well as which sub-group they belong to (mammal, reptile, amphibian, bird, fish, etc). We also noted their natural habitats.

On our long bus ride we got to see some other famous NYC landmarks (which we recorded, too!) such as the Manhattan Bridge, the Brooklyn Bridge, Hudson River Park, Pier 17, the Intrepid, and many more:)

Enjoy the pictures!