fourth grade explores animal behaviors, visits Madison

The students have been problem solving machines this year in math! We’ve explored multiplication and division, fractions and decimals, and geometry. We utilized our classroom technology in many different ways by trying a new math program called Derivita and practicing our skills with a game-based learning program called Blooket. We tried out new interactive boards in order to give our tech department feedback. We also solved some math puzzles and mysteries along the way.

We’ve had quite the adventurous year in reading as we explored our new curriculum units of poetry and animal defense mechanisms. We used trail cams to capture some live footage of various animals at our school forest to research and give presentations on. One team had the privilege of presenting to our school board during the April meeting.

We ended our year “traveling” the world and earning passport stamps by completing various reading missions. Accelerated Reader (AR) contests have become an exciting tradition in fourth grade reading, and this year’s team did not disappoint with how they persevered through every challenge. Speaking of which, if you heard a bunch of scurvy pirates yelling “Walk the plank!” earlier this week, don’t worry; it is nothing to fear, just Mrs. Eckes having one last final pirate themed AR challenge to motivate and excite readers.

In the busy month of May, we also managed to go on our traditional fourth grade field trip to Madison. We were able to tour our beautiful capitol and learn more about our state’s government system. We want to extend a huge thank you to the Spencer community for continuing to support this field trip through our can cage in the elementary teachers’ parking lot.

The timing of our Madison field trip is always bittersweet, as it means our time together in fourth grade is quickly coming to an end. It has been an amazing year with lots of academic growth and memories made! We are very proud of our team and all our hard work and accomplishments. We hope our students have a great summer and we look forward to seeing what adventures await them as the “top dogs” of the elementary school next year.

~Whitney Eckes and Nicole Fischer, fourth grade teachers