Day 153 - Stream Table Demo-Mr. Daley-Fox Hill Grade 4

This post first appeared on Mr. Daley's Blog

Yesterday, Mr. Musselman, from the Burlington Science Center, visited Fox Hill 4th graders to lead a "stream table demonstration" as part of our "Earth's Changing Surface" science unit. During the hour-long hands-on activity, students recreated models of river systems in tabletop experiments. The demonstration advanced students’ understanding of how rivers shape the Earth’s surface, while explicitly providing kids with opportunities to develop their scientific practices such as observation, modeling, and experimentation. Students gained knowledge that the angle and amount of water flow affect the shape of a river and observed the surface features that resulted. Following are some photos of our Room 20 scientists "in action" at the stream table activity. Enjoy!

Day 133 - The Importance of Play - Ms. Greene - Fox Hill Guidance

For kids, play is some of the most important work they can be doing each and every day. It is through play that kids develop intrinsic motivation, make sense of the world, increase their ability to persist, among many other benefits.

Consider two children who sit down to complete a puzzle. To begin, they have to agree on which puzzle to complete and then create a plan of how they will assemble it together. They have to negotiate the physical space, share the pieces, and make a plan to connect what they have completed individually. As they work on the puzzle itself, they will problem solve to find the right piece, and have to think critically to make sure they turn the piece in the right direction. From there, they will need to persist and find motivation from within to complete the puzzle. There is a lot happening in this one activity, and although it can be a lot of fun, there is so much learning occurring simultaneously.

Over school vacations, on weekends, after school, and throughout the summer, find ways to play! The skills your child will gain are incredible and remember there are so many ways to turn everyday activities into a game.  For examples of some simple and fun games, check out, “A Moving Child is a Learning Child: How the body teaches the brain to think,” by Gill Connell and Cheryl McCarthy.

Day 71 - Lowell Mills Field Trip - Mrs. Nolte - Fox Hill Grade 4

This post originally appeared on Mrs. Nolte's Blog

This month, Fox Hill 4th graders visited the Lowell Mills National Park to participate in the "Yankees and Immigrants" Program. Students were given a passport of a person who immigrated to America, and they took on the role of their immigrant. Students also participated in an 1800's "town meeting" debate as to whether the town of Lowell should construct a school for the Irish using taxpayers' money. Taking on the role of townspeople, students shared their opinions to build or not to build a school for Irish children. Unfortunately, the only townspeople whose votes actually counted were wealthy adult men of the time. Thank goodness times have changed!

Day 31 - Scientists in Action - Mr. Daley - Fox Hill Grade 4

This post first appeared on Mr. Daley's Blog 

As part of our science unit on Plant & Animal Structure and Functions, students have been testing different materials for "picking up and dropping off pollen from one flower model to another" in preparation for their designing and building hand pollinators. I captured our "scientists in action" this week as they conducted their "fair" tests, being careful that variables were controlled for each investigation.

Day 16 - Can’t Stop the Feeling at Fox Hill! - Jenn Scheffer - Fox Hill Tech Integration

We are on fast forward here at Fox Hill, and September has been an incredibly busy and productive month! A definite highlight of the first month of school, and an excellent example of school-wide collaboration among teachers, students, and staff, was the production of Fox Hill’s version of  “Can’t Stop the Feeling,” To celebrate the start of the 2017-2018 school year, our “tiny dancers” showcased their best moves in an adorable video that was shared with parents at our annual Back to School night. The video also features class pictures of kindergarten through the fifth grade and will be a wonderful memento for parents, students, and teachers to look back on at the end of the year. We are excited to be sharing our video with the Burlington district as well as a global audience, and we will continue to highlight the creative and collaborative work of our students and teachers on this blog, so stay tuned! Special thanks to David Miyashiro, Superintendent at Cajon Valley Union School District in El Cajon, California, for the inspiration to produce this video!