The Last Snowfall of the Year??? Or not?????

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Something a little different

Technology “happens” for both students and Miss Ladwig each day of the school year. If you glanced at my lesson plan book, you’d see “SB” written in frequently over the course of a week. The “SB” stands for SmartBoard™.

The SmartBoard™ is used nearly every morning before school for spelling games or geography activities. The only class that we haven’t used the SB for is Phy Ed! I’ve looked for “Jesus” pictures or ready-made SB religion lessons that will enhance Christ Light. There aren’t too many available for download.

We’ve used the SB in science to view physics experiments and in social studies to get a closer look at The Constitution. Interactive spelling activities are a normal part of many mornings from 7:45 to 8:00. It took a year, but every math lesson has a SmartBoard™ file. The lessons that were created last year get tweaked to be sure that everything still applies. English and reading lessons aren’t as interactive, but it still is nice to be able to visually present the lessons and assignments. That often helps “straighten out” potential problems. The SmartBoard™ isn’t the easiest way to show drawing techniques, but it’s better than just telling the children what they will be doing.

Another favorite use of technology is Google Earth™. Science and social studies have both benefitted from its use. We’ve taken looks at the oceans, national parks, foreign deserts, and rivers around the world. We’ve even used Google Earth™ to locate places closer to home, like Emanuel Lutheran School. If you haven’t checked out Google Earth™, try it sometime. You will probably enjoy it as much as the children.

This has been just a tiny snapshot of the use of technology in our classroom. Want to know more about technology in the 4^th grade room? Just ask. 

God's blessings!

Jeremiah 17:7-8

But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD,
   whose confidence is in him.
They will be like a tree planted by the water
   that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
   its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
   and never fails to bear fruit.

What's up?

This past week:

• Alice in Dairyland 

• Several months ago 4th grade teachers (I assume all over the state of Wisconsin.) got an email from "Alice" inviting us to schedule a visit with her.
• Alice does about 300 appearances each year.
• As far as classrooms…she only visits 4th grade classrooms. That's because 4th graders study Wisconsin. We'll be starting our study of Wisconsin next week.
• Thursday morning Alice was in Waupaca. Thursday 12:30 she was here. After she left us she was headed to Rhinelander.
• The 4th graders seemed to enjoy her visit and willingly participated in her presentation.
• I've never had "Alice" contact me before. I hope the next "Alice" contacts me, too.
• This coming week:
• The 3rd and 4th graders sing for worship at the 3:15 Lenten service this Wednesday.
• We're starting a moon project because we're in the solar system chapter in our science book. 
• The blue social studies book that parents are used to seeing will be completed this week.
• The following Monday, the students will hand in that book and receive their Wisconsin text book. We'll be using that for the rest of the year. As we study our state, I usually "do away" with tests. There may be an occasional quiz, but no big tests.

God Bless

Isaiah 25:1

LORD, you are my God;
   I will exalt you and praise your name,
for in perfect faithfulness
   you have done wonderful things,
   things planned long ago.

Lent Begins

March 7-11

• Wednesday was Ash Wednesday. We have the privilege of spending the next 7 weeks worshiping our LORD for His gift of forgiveness!
• This past week:

• The biggest surprise for the class??? Miss Pamperin was on spring break from MLC and decided to come and visit us.
• We practiced chimes with Mrs. Gielow again this week. We hope to play this song in church on Monday, April 10, when we sing in church with the third graders.
• The third set of Christ Light books were started this week. That means we're two-thirds of the way through the school year.
• Two FVL projects have been worked on over the past few days. One is the annual 4th grade poster contest. The other is a first. It's an essay contest. The topic for 4th graders is "What I Like about My School." Their first drafts were pretty good.

March 14-18

• FANG will be here on Monday…rescheduled from the "snow day". 
• Chimes practice will continue on Tuesday.
• Wednesday is a 1:35 dismissal.
• Alice in Dairyland will be here on Thursday.
• Friday is All-School worship.

God Bless

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

"Stuff" this past week…

Feb. 28 - Mar. 4

• World Math Day and World Spelling were fun. Ask your child about it.
• Last week we folded a few pieces of paper to create some origami creatures. This week we had a second lesson on origami. They did quite well. Jordyn brought in some patterns that we might use next time we do origami. Jared asked for a pattern of a "blow up" box. He and Taya figured it out. Good for them!
• One of the origami designs was a chop stick case. I told them that it was a pencil holder.
• The next day when I gave them all chop sticks, some of the 4th graders figured out that the "pencil holder" was really a chop stick holder. The plastic bag that the chop sticks came in was not meant for storage. James decided to put his in a zip lock bag. Jared made a new chop stick case to carry his chop sticks.
• I've taught chop stick use to 4th graders for the past several years. This class picked up the "how" very quickly. Many of the students have taken their chop sticks to lunch everyday since.
• We started by picking up erasers. Those work well because they aren't slippery. Then the students found other things to pick up that were more challenging.

• The chop sticks were washed before we headed to lunch! 
• More pictures are on the student work page of the classroom website.

Mar. 7 - 11

• March is FVL Schools month. As part of that recognition, the 4th graders in the FVL Federation have the honor of creating a promotional poster that will be used throughout the federation for the next school year. Each school is allowed ten submissions. One winner is chosen per school. All of the winning posters are then judged by FVL representatives. The grand prize winner gets prizes, and their poster becomes the FVL's official poster for the following school year.
• We will start our posters this week.
• A few years ago an Emanuel student won the grand prize. Cool!
• We are also taking part in a second FVL contest. It's a writing contest. The essay topic for 3rd and 4th graders is, "What I like most about my school…" This is the first time that FVL is running this contest. 
• There may be other surprises throughout the week…you never know!
• A thought for March14…Fang will be in our room for about 10 minutes. If the students have anything that they'd like Fang to sign, that's the day to have it here.

God's Blessings

1 John 4:10

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.