Red Ribbon Week Theme Days

Monday - Rally in Red...Don't be Silly...Don't Use Drugs Day!
Wear red, silly bands, and silly socks

Tuesday - Drugs Will Mix You Up Day!
Wear mismatched clothes and shoes

Wednesday - Shade Out Drugs Day!
Wear hats and sunglasses

Thursday - Drugs Will Make You Crazy!
Wear crazy hair

Friday - Team Up Against Drugs Day!
Wear a team shirt or jersey

Walk at School Day

Walk at School Day has been rescheduled for Friday, October 8th. We will head over to the track after announcements to walk some laps. Be sure to wear comfortable walking shoes.

September News

We are off to a great start in Room 202. We are wrapping up our map skills unit and our test will be on Tuesday, September 21. Please encourage your child to study their study guide. Today we played a game using longitude and latitude. The students were trying to rescue castaways on deserted islands using longitude and latitude coordinates. I hope to post some pictures soon.

Tomorrow we will have a Constitution Day assembly around the flag pole. On September 23rd, we will have a kick-off assembly for our Olweus Bullying Program. September 30th is picture day.

Your child should have already brought the food fundraiser information. This is the CATS organization's big fund raiser. CATS does many things to help our students. They fund a large part of the transportation costs for our field trips. Hopefully, everyone can participate in this fundraiser to support CATS.

Back to School Night

Fourth grade will hold a back to school night on Tuesday, September 7th at 7:00. I will be discussing with parents what to expect this year in fourth grade. Hope to see you on the 7th!

Welcome Back!

Welcome back! I hope everyone had a great summer. We had a great first day yesterday, and I am very excited about this school year. Yesterday, we shared the boxes the students made. I really learned a lot about the students from their boxes. This year we will be doing kindergarten buddies with Mrs. Campbell's class. Yesterday, we helped our buddies find their bus to go home.

PA Trivia Blog Challenge

Here are today's PA trivia questions:

1. When was the PA turnpike completed?

2. Where is Penn State University located?

3. What is the Penn State University mascot?

4. How many members are in the PA House of Representatives?

5. Who was the only civilian killed in the Battle of Gettysburg?

Remember to email me your answers: vcotton@keyknox.com

PA Trivia Blog Challenge

Just a reminder that our classroom competition for the PA Trivia Contest will be this Friday. We will be narrowing it down to the top 10 students from our classroom that will compete in the 4th grade competition on June 1st.

I please ask that you take a little time each day to help your child study these questions. This is a great activity to exercise the brain and work on plain old memorization.

PA Trivia Blog Challenge
I am going to post a few questions each day to challenge everyone. Please e-mail me your answers at vcotton@keyknox.com . I will keep a running tally of each participant's correct answers. Parents and students can work on the questions together and e-mail me your answers.

Here are today's questions:

1. What river in Pennsylvania flows north?

2. Where did Little League baseball begin?

3. What was William Penn's religion?

4. What is the largest county in Pennsylvania?

5. What product does Pennsylvania "tap"?

Check back tomorrow for the answer to today's questions and for new questions. Let's see who will be the winner of Mrs. Cotton's PA Trivia Blog Challenge.

Pennsylvania Trivia Contest

Fourth grade has a Pennsylvania trivia contest each year which is similar to a spelling bee. Instead of spelling words, students will answer questions about Pennsylvania. Yesterday, the students got a packet of Pennsylvania trivia questions to study. On Friday, May 21st, we will have our classroom competition. The top 10 from our class, will go on to the fourth grade competition which will be held on June 1st. Study those PA trivia facts!

Animal Research Report

We have been working very hard on our animal research reports. The students' books will be due on Friday, May 7th. Several students have already turned in their books, and I am very anxious to start reading them. I have learned some very interesting information while helping the students with their research. One of the things that surprised me the most is that bald eagles are able to swim. Krista is researching the bald eagle and she found that if a bald eagle catches a fish that is too heavy to fly with, the eagle will swim to shore with the fish. The students have enjoyed researching their animal and have learned a lot of interesting information.

Field Trip

Just a reminder that our field trip is on Thursday, May 6th. Your child needs to be to school at 7:20. You can either bring them to school or they can ride the high school bus. They need to be sure to bring a lunch and a plastic container to dig in the sand with. They will also need a change of clothes because they will be wading in the stream for a stream activity. Please try to send an extra pair of shoes to wade in the stream with because it is hard to walk on the slippery rocks in bare feet. Please be sure your child dresses for the weather of the day. Now we just have to hope for a warm, sunny day.

Clear Creek Field Trip

On Thursday, May 6th, rooms 202 and 203 will be taking a field trip to Clear Creek State Park. Permission slips were sent home earlier this week. There is a cost of $2 to help cover the transportation. If your child hasn't already returned their permission slip and $2, please have them return it.

Students will need to be at school at 7:30 that day. We will be returning in time for regular dismissal. Students will need to take a lunch. We also ask that you send a complete change of clothes for your child, including shoes. We do a stream exploration activity where the students wade in the creek, and they usually end of getting wet.

Now we just have to hope for a warm, sunny day! Hopefully the weather will cooperate for us.

Wildlife Research Reports

Last week, students began research on their wildlife research report. The outlines with all their information is due on Friday, April 16th. We did a lot of research in class last week, and we will continue to research this week. Rough drafts will be due on Friday, April 23rd. Then students will be publishing their report into a blank hard back book. Their books will be due on Friday, May 7th. The students are very excited about their project and are already learning a lot of interesting information about their animal. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

PSSA Testing

It is that time of year again! We will begin the PSSA testing on Wednesday. Testing will continue through next Wednesday. We have been preparing very hard for these tests. It is very important that your child is well rested and eats a good breakfast.

Recipe for "GAK"

Last week we made GAK with our kindergarten buddies. They were learning about the letter G, so we helped them make some green GAK. All the kids loved it, and many asked for the recipe so here it is.

Mix: 2 cups glue
1 1/2 cups cold water
green food coloring
Set aside.

Mix: 1 cup hot water
1 tablespoon borax
Mix until dissolved. Then mix into the first mixture very slowly. Knead. Then enjoy.

Beauty and the Beast

On Wednesday afternoon, we will be walking to the high school to see a preview of the high school musical, Beauty and the Beast. Please be sure your child is dressed for the weather and is wearing comfortable walking shoes. I can't wait to see this. I have heard that the costumes are wonderful.

The Race is on!

What race you may be asking? The Last Great Race otherwise known as the Iditarod started on Saturday. We began studying the race last week by doing an Iditarod trivia search on the computer. The Iditarod is a 1,112 mile dog sled race from Anchorage to Nome. Each student has chosen a musher to follow in the race. Students will be keeping a daily journal tracking their musher as they head to Nome. The students are already very interested in the race, and I am excited to see their enthusiasm grow as they track their musher to Nome. Hopefully, one of the students will be following the winner of this year's race. We will also be reading many books about the race so students will realize what it is really like to race in the Iditarod.

I encourage you to check out the official Iditarod website with your child: www.iditarod.com . They will be able to share lots of interesting information with you from the website and they check their musher's progress. The race will wrap up around the middle of next week. The students will be anxious to see how their musher is performing as they get closer and closer to Nome.

Valentine's Buddy Activity

Last week we did a Valentine's Day activity with our kindergarten buddies. The students worked with their buddies to sort candy hearts by color. Then they made a bar graph of their colors. We then compiled the individual bar graphs into a giant classroom bar graph. The fourth graders did a great job of helping their buddies. Pictured in the top photo are Karlee and her buddy. The bottom photo shows Riley with his buddy.

Sandwich Book Reports

Last week I assigned the students a book report. Each student has their book for the report and has already started reading the book. They are making their report in the form of a sandwich. On each part of the sandwich, they must report on one aspect of the book. For example, on the lettuce they need to describe the book's setting. Book reports will be due on February 17. This is an independent project, and most of the work will need to be completed outside of school. Please encourage your child to tell you about the book they are reading and show you the sandwich as they are working on it.

New Grading Period

It is hard to believe that we are starting the third nine weeks today. This year has just been flying by. Today we will switch for Science, so my homeroom will be going to Mr. Bowser for Science this grading period. There they will be learning about simple machines, energy, and wetlands.

We have also started a new textbook in Social Studies. We are now learning about the regions of the United States. I have a lot of fun teaching the regions, and the students will get involved in many different projects. We are going to begin with the Southeast region.

In Reading this week, we are reading a story called Scruffy. Scruffy is an arctic wolf living on Ellsmere Island. He is a low ranking wolf in the pack, therefore his job is the baby sitter. The children have really been enjoying this story.

Tomorrow our class will be going to the book fair. Yesterday we went for our browsing day, and there were many wonderful books to choose from. Remember that you can use Boxtops for Education to purchase books.