Dear New Fourth Grader,
Hi! I’m Nora. Welcome to your new fourth grade class... room 15! In this letter, you'll find my top tips for fourth grade and how make the most of it. One last thing you should know before I start, you should know that Ms.Chown changes her projects every year so you might not be doing the projects I talk about.
In the beginning of the year, Ms. Chown will tell you about the blog. (That's what you're on now) Then you'll write your own blog post on construction paper the color of your table. My tip, is to share the air and have one person writing, and the other three giving ideas. Sooner or later you'll be able to type on a computer. Try not to fight over who types, or Ms. Chown will take the computer away and you'll just write on a piece of paper. Tip for typing on the computer: do rock, paper, scissors for who gets to type. Whoever wins, types that day, and, you switch every week.
The first project you might do, is called ¨Knowing me Knowing you¨. You might make self portraits, and have some help from a fifth grade class get the color of your eyes, skin, and hair. You might meet me in person! (You'll see me in the halls of course). Some buddies might not get everything completely right, but, they'll try. My tip for this is to be patient and not to let your buddy do all the work. When Ms. Chown tells you that you'll be drawing on- well, I'll let have to that surprise. Even if you don’t do this project your first project will include drawing.
After you finish your portrait you might exhibit them at Con Pane across the street. Then, you might have a play called Poets vs. Portraits with Ms. Zimmers class. My tip for exhibitions: when you’re hosting an exhibition anyone who comes wants to see your work. So, show them around, tell them about how you made your work and the struggles you faced. It’s okay if you stutter or forget something; they won’t notice. My tip for plays: Every part in a play is important. Last year I performed in the play: Beauty and the Beast. I tried out for Belle, but, I got the role of Silly Girl Two instead. I was really disappointed. But I made the most of it and had a lot of fun learning the dances and singing the songs the three silly girls were in. My point is, even if you don’t get the role you want, it’s still really important.
This is one of my favorite projects. You might research animals! I know it doesn’t sound exciting, but after you research them you write a story about them! Last year, I wrote about a Malayan Tapir. If you don’t know what it is, go onto google and type in those exact words. You might recognize it. Anyways, last year, Our stories were published into a real book and we sold it for $10.00 per book. We also made plaster models of our animals with wire, tape, and newspaper. Then, we covered it with plaster bandages, let it dry, and painted it. This project was actually about raising money for a local bookstore: Yellow Book Road. We put on an exhibition there and sold a lot of copies. We actually sold out! it was awesome. I already gave you my tip for an exhibition so go back to it if you forgot.
The last project we did was called Operation Story Cushion. We were each assigned to a different person who had a parent in the military. Some people did two people. (I did two people) We hand sewed every detail on the pillow, and tried to finish as fast as possible. Then, after we finished our pillows, we came up with a speech, and a letter for our buddies. My buddies were Hailey and LaNiya. Hailey wanted a light blue background, with pom-poms, and the word love in red. LaNiya wanted a yellow background with pink and purple butterflies, and the words “Daddy Always Loves You”. I was so excited when Ms. Chown asked me to write an opening speech for our exhibition at Dewey Elementary! I was also excited when I saw the smiling faces of ten year old Hailey and three and a half year old LaNiya! This project was my favorite project, because, I was able to make a difference in peoples’ lives.
I really hope you have a wonderful year, in Room 15. My final piece of advice to you is to try to have fun, because, someday you’ll be looking back saying: “I wish I was still in fourth grade.” make the most of it!
Love,
Nora
Hi! I’m Nora. Welcome to your new fourth grade class... room 15! In this letter, you'll find my top tips for fourth grade and how make the most of it. One last thing you should know before I start, you should know that Ms.Chown changes her projects every year so you might not be doing the projects I talk about.
In the beginning of the year, Ms. Chown will tell you about the blog. (That's what you're on now) Then you'll write your own blog post on construction paper the color of your table. My tip, is to share the air and have one person writing, and the other three giving ideas. Sooner or later you'll be able to type on a computer. Try not to fight over who types, or Ms. Chown will take the computer away and you'll just write on a piece of paper. Tip for typing on the computer: do rock, paper, scissors for who gets to type. Whoever wins, types that day, and, you switch every week.
The first project you might do, is called ¨Knowing me Knowing you¨. You might make self portraits, and have some help from a fifth grade class get the color of your eyes, skin, and hair. You might meet me in person! (You'll see me in the halls of course). Some buddies might not get everything completely right, but, they'll try. My tip for this is to be patient and not to let your buddy do all the work. When Ms. Chown tells you that you'll be drawing on- well, I'll let have to that surprise. Even if you don’t do this project your first project will include drawing.
After you finish your portrait you might exhibit them at Con Pane across the street. Then, you might have a play called Poets vs. Portraits with Ms. Zimmers class. My tip for exhibitions: when you’re hosting an exhibition anyone who comes wants to see your work. So, show them around, tell them about how you made your work and the struggles you faced. It’s okay if you stutter or forget something; they won’t notice. My tip for plays: Every part in a play is important. Last year I performed in the play: Beauty and the Beast. I tried out for Belle, but, I got the role of Silly Girl Two instead. I was really disappointed. But I made the most of it and had a lot of fun learning the dances and singing the songs the three silly girls were in. My point is, even if you don’t get the role you want, it’s still really important.
This is one of my favorite projects. You might research animals! I know it doesn’t sound exciting, but after you research them you write a story about them! Last year, I wrote about a Malayan Tapir. If you don’t know what it is, go onto google and type in those exact words. You might recognize it. Anyways, last year, Our stories were published into a real book and we sold it for $10.00 per book. We also made plaster models of our animals with wire, tape, and newspaper. Then, we covered it with plaster bandages, let it dry, and painted it. This project was actually about raising money for a local bookstore: Yellow Book Road. We put on an exhibition there and sold a lot of copies. We actually sold out! it was awesome. I already gave you my tip for an exhibition so go back to it if you forgot.
The last project we did was called Operation Story Cushion. We were each assigned to a different person who had a parent in the military. Some people did two people. (I did two people) We hand sewed every detail on the pillow, and tried to finish as fast as possible. Then, after we finished our pillows, we came up with a speech, and a letter for our buddies. My buddies were Hailey and LaNiya. Hailey wanted a light blue background, with pom-poms, and the word love in red. LaNiya wanted a yellow background with pink and purple butterflies, and the words “Daddy Always Loves You”. I was so excited when Ms. Chown asked me to write an opening speech for our exhibition at Dewey Elementary! I was also excited when I saw the smiling faces of ten year old Hailey and three and a half year old LaNiya! This project was my favorite project, because, I was able to make a difference in peoples’ lives.
I really hope you have a wonderful year, in Room 15. My final piece of advice to you is to try to have fun, because, someday you’ll be looking back saying: “I wish I was still in fourth grade.” make the most of it!
Love,
Nora