WE ARE FOURTH-GRADE

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As parents and teachers, we understand the critical role that positive relationships and emotional connections play in a child's development. It's those relationships and connections that offer the support necessary for children to develop empathy, a sense of belonging, and a responsibility to themselves and others. This foundation creates a pathway for developing essential life skills (self-regulation, social awareness, and responsible decision-making, to name a few) and to function well in a classroom, the broader community, and in life beyond school. What has become apparent to all of us is that children's limited ability to nurture and develop these relationships and connections during the last two years has, in some way, had an impact on their social and emotional well-being, and in turn, their academic success. 

Despite the challenges of the last couple of years, we now find ourselves with an opportunity to redesign how we can best support our students socially and emotionally and help them establish and/or re-establish positive, fulfilling relationships and connect/reconnect with one another. We've identified a need to address this as a grade level, providing opportunities for students to comingle with other classes and engage with one another in much-needed fun and interactive community-building experiences.

This week's guest bloggers reflect on these adventures and the hope of what lies ahead. Enjoy!

Our community-building experiences are important because the Coronavirus broke up a lot of friendships and we need to reconnect with each other. Some people were able to keep their friends, but some lost their friends or are not allowed to have play dates because of the pandemic. Giving kids a chance to reconnect with each other is really important.   - @Koala333

A positive experience that I had during our last community-building experience was playing the game THIS or THAT. It helped me figure out what other people were like so that I could better connect with them. I made some new friends because of that.   - @WowWriter

These community-building experiences are important because lately, the fourth-grade has been kind of shaky since Covid-19 struck. In first-grade, I had a bunch of friends, but these past two years we haven't seen each other as much as we used to. It will be really great to reconnect with each other.    - @Pickle03

Community-building experiences are important because some people have forgotten that other people have feelings. We can get to know each other better and make some new friends.   - @Kiwi222

There are a couple of things that I hope come out of these community-building experiences. One is for the friendships that have been fractured, due to the pandemic, to be repaired. I know some people who have lost a couple of friends because of Coronavirus and I really hope that those friendships can be repaired. Another thing is for the fourth-grade community to be whole again. For the last two years, each classroom has been sort of isolated, as if they were on their own little planets. We need to bring everyone back together.   - @M&M

These types of community-building experiences are important because since the pandemic started, it has been really hard to create friendships. Group activities can help with this and it's even better since we're mixing up the classes.    - @NonCat

I haven't made new friends since Covid and I would like to. I'm sure the kids who are new to this school would like to as well. Doing these community-building activities will help with that and maybe we can all become friends with everyone.    - @recycle

Our community-building experiences are important because we get the chance to meet new people since it's been hard to see friends out of school or in school during Covid-19. We also get to hang out with new people and with friends you haven't seen in a while.    - @Wolverine12

These community-building experiences are important because there has been a lot of friction between some kids and that friction could turn into bullying, which would be really bad. It's important to put this all to an end and bring people closer together.   - @Moon_Drop

One positive experience from these activities has been meeting new people and getting to know how they think. I hope that this will bring out more kindness and feeling open to others. Our community-building experiences are important because the pandemic has been dragging kids apart and instead we should be bringing them closer together. Friendships should be made instead of broken.    - @Lightning24

Sources: https://edulastic.com/blog/social-emotional-learning/ (Edulastic logo)

Connecting the Present With the Past

As we embark on our learning journey through the early civilizations of North America, we'll explore how Native Americans lived and worked together in families and communities.  Concern and respect for others, particularly elders in the family and community, was central to their daily life. Elders in ancient Native American communities played an important role in sharing knowledge, wisdom, and an understanding of people and the world around them through strong oral tradition and storytelling. To help make this topic relevant, we explored how we might connect the past with the present. Learners paid tribute to the elders in our own community, gaining new respect and empathy for the wisdom these elders can share with us as we navigate through life. 

As an entry event to a much-anticipated project-based learning experience, we invited some familiar elders into our classroom to share their own wisdom and life lessons with us. Grandpa, Grandma, Grandad, Nana, and Pepèré were gracious enough to share with us stories of their journeys through life and important lessons they've learned along the way. We were all ears.

This week's guest bloggers share their takeaways with us. Enjoy!

One thing I learned from Will's grandparents' visit is that many years ago when they took a bath, they only had a little bit of water. We don't have to worry about that today. I think that is kind of crazy!    - @GoatLover

I learned from Grandad that anything is possible and if you believe in yourself, you can expect success. Another thing, don't tease, mock, brag, or be cocky - winning doesn't mean you are better than everyone else.   - @TheBeeGuy101

I enjoyed hearing how Grandad grew up in Ireland and how different his life was back in the day.     - @WaterBottle1

Something I remember Will's grandad said is "different is good". I think that is such a good saying because it's so true and just because you may be different does not mean that's bad.    - @Strawberry

The highlight was when Will's grandad did a little Irish step dance for us, especially because his leg hurt. I would have politely said 'no', but he did it anyway. It looked fun and complicated at the same time.     - @Ham

I thought it was really cool that Nathan's grandfather got to learn so much about making things from maple syrup. He even brought in maple syrup candies for us so that we could share his experience with us.    - @EarthySmurf

I learned from Pépère that no matter what gets in your way, you can achieve your goals as long as you believe in yourself.    - @TheBeeGuy101

A highlight for me was hearing Nathan's grandfather's memories he made as a kid. I enjoyed hearing about his French Canadian customs and traditions, like making maple taffy! He taught us that if you heat maple syrup to 235 degrees Fahrenheit and then pour it over snow, it makes maple taffy!    - @M&M

I liked hearing about Nathan's grandfather's family history and traditions and that each second he spends with his family is something special.    - @Venom

I think something important to highlight is that Isla's grandfather talked about how it took such a long time to come to America and how much work it took to get here. Perhaps they did that so their family could be happier.    - @Pineapple

I thought it was really cool that Isla's grandfather brought in a homemade map that explained how they got to America.    - @Koala333

It was nice to learn that Isla was named after an island in Scotland where her Nana's family is from.    - @G-Money

Breaking News!

As we approach the tail end of our exploration into plate tectonics and how the resulting movement can produce dramatic changes in the earth's crust, students took a deep dive into the volcano and earthquake epicenter of the world: The Ring of Fire. They analyzed and interpreted maps of the deep ocean trenches and volcanoes and identified patterns of these features and their locations relative to boundaries between continents and oceans (the recent eruption of the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai underwater volcano in Tonga peaked our curiosity even more!). All of this in their quest for answers to our driving question: How does geography affect how and where people live? 

Each student produced a breaking news story about the human impact of living in these volatile regions of the world (see some of their breaking news stories at the end of this post). They also conducted an in-depth investigation into Kilauea, an active shield volcano on Hawaii's Big Island. They were surprised to learn that people actually live on the Big Island and were curious as to why people would choose to live near an active volcano, despite the dangers associated with living within its proximity. At the conclusion of their investigation into the plate boundary activity affecting the island, we asked each of them to use their knowledge and understanding to decide for themselves whether or not living on the Big Island was worth the risk. Here's what they had to say: 

I'm tempted to say that I'd like to live on the Big Island just for the warm weather and beaches, but from a scientific standpoint, there are many reasons not to live there. For one, the Kilauea volcano has been continuously erupting since 1983 and I would not like to live anywhere near an active volcano. Second, there are a lot of other natural disasters in that area because of tectonic plate movement (earthquakes and tsunamis). I would not like to live in a place where all of those things could happen.   - @WowWriter

I would want to live on the Big Island because even though Kilauea has been erupting since 1983, it is still a beautiful place with its teal waters and light blue skies. The lava might destroy roads and buildings but everyone that lives there knows the risk and threats of living near an active volcano and they do it anyway because of the warm climate and beautiful beaches. I think it would be the most splendid place to live and the destruction of that island (disappearing under the North American tectonic plate) won't happen for millions of years from now.   - @Lonnie

I would not want to live on the Big Island because it is in the middle of a tectonic plate boundary that is slowly moving over a hot spot.   - @giraffe

I would not want to live on the Big Island because there are a lot of risks. Kilauea is something you really have to look out for. Risking your life and house for good weather and beaches is silly. There is also a lot of seismic activity still going on in that area today.    - @Chickadee

I would definitely want to live on the Big Island. The first reason is the weather, averaging 85 degrees all year round, and nice beaches. That sounds like the perfect place for me. Despite many houses being burned by Kilauea, it's a risk I'm willing to take. I would live in a house far away from Kilauea so that the chances of my house getting destroyed would be even lower.    - @21savage

I would not want to live on the Big Island of Hawaii. Sure there are nice beaches, but why do you think they are black? Lava. Cool, dry lava made those beaches. Molten lava burns people's belongings and houses (not to mention the toxic gases that are emitted when a volcano is erupting). The Big Island isn't the place to live unless you're a farmer because the volcanic soil is very fertile.    -@waterbottle1

I would not want to live on the Big Island because it's unstable (but I would want to go on a vacation there). Kilauea is continuously erupting and getting bigger and bigger. It's not the place to live.   - @recycle

I would want to live on Hawaii's Big Island because the weather is great, the beaches are beautiful, the houses are pretty, and you can do more fun things in every season. You can always play an outdoor sport, you can surf (riding those massive waves would be really rad), and you can always lounge on your porch to watch a pretty sunset of spectacular colors. If you're worried about Kilauea, just live on the other side of the island so that your house has less chance of getting destroyed. It's going to take millions of years for the Pacific Plate to slide under the North American plate (which is when the Hawaiian island will disappear), so just sit back, relax, and enjoy the good life while it's here.   - @Wolverine12

I would not want to live on Hawaii's Big Island. I know that people enjoy it there for the warm weather, but I'm sorry, I choose life. Kilauea scares me because it is continuously erupting. If I lived there and had to evacuate, I would not come back with high hopes. It would be heartbreaking to have all of your belongings destroyed. I do respect the people who have chosen to live there, but I hope they know what they're doing.    - @Ham

I would like to live on the Big Island for a couple of obvious reasons: the climate and beaches. Must I say more? OK, now on to the more scientific reasons... The soil is incredibly fertile on the island because of the igneous volcanic rock in it, so it wouldn't be very hard to find a job on a farm. As for the active volcano on the island, the only reason that Kilauea is continuously erupting is that there's a hot spot directly underneath it which is always moving. Once the hot spot moves away from the Big Island, Kilauea will stop erupting and the dangers of living near an active volcano will be gone, I would definitely move to Hawaii (if I could afford to).   -@M&M

HERE ARE SOME OF THEIR BREAKING NEWS STORIES: