Spy Day

4th graders arrived at school Thursday to discover some shocking news...Mango was missing! We met at headquarters to get our briefing from Agent Bryson and get caught up to speed. Check the video out here:

Quickly, 4th graders were transformed into spies and ready to use their fictional story element knowledge, mathematical skills, and problem-solving strategies in order to gather clues and uncover the secret information.

We started by opening our top-secret mission file which had our first clue, spy notebook, invisible pen, and helpful disguise.

Spies discovered the QR code took them to the spy lab where they hunted for hidden clues. There were codes to crack, puzzle pieces to put together, hidden magnifying glasses to use, and mystery high-tech pictures. Check it out:

    

Head to the full spy lab and give it a try yourself here. 

Correctly solving the different clues and discovering the mystery words granted agents access to the confidential information. Secret agents safely rescued our beloved Mango. Just another day in the life of a 4th-grade spy.

Case closed!

England Friends

Written by Guest Bloggers: Addison G & Daniel S.

In Miss Klipfel's fourth grade class, we have partners in England. We call them our JDO partners. We each have one or two partners and we do projects on Google Meets with them. For example, we are using the book Make Way For Ducklings to work together and make our own book together.

When we first met we shared a slideshow to talk about our school and the town where we live close to. We learned they have a school dog named Sassy like we have Howie! We also played a spinner game to meet our partner and answer questions together about places in England and places here.

We also get to write to our partners to learn more about each other and learn about things we want to know about them. For example, my partner likes the sport netball. I didn't know what that was so I wrote back asking them to explain. It's just cool to learn about somewhere else in the world and what they do and how it's different than what we do. We also learned that lots of things are the same too. We love meeting with our partners in England and can't wait to share our first projects soon.

Klipazon

We know you have heard of Amazon, but have you heard about Klipazon?! Let us tell you all about it... We earn real cash in Miss Klipfel’s classroom. Wait did I say real cash? I meant Klipfel cash! You earn it when you are good, follow directions, do your best work, or when our class fills the whole brownie pan. You never know when you will earn some cash.

Once we have enough money, you head to Klipazon to spend it. Klipazon is exactly like Amazon but you can buy all kinds of things for the classroom. You can buy the fuzzy chair for a day. You can buy Flappy Dragon which is a game like Flappy Bird. You can change your name for a day. You can even buy no shoes for a day.

So far, Flappy Dragon is the BEST seller. We hope you check Klipazon out! We LOVE Klipazon and we think you will too! Happy shopping!

Written by Guest Bloggers and Klipazon Customers: Brynlee & Nathan

Reader's Workshop

Reader's Workshop is well underway in 4th grade. We have been practicing REAL reading (no fake reading here) with STAMINA. We've been enjoying read alouds together, and practicing our reading strategies. Let's just say, I am one impressed and proud teacher! Not to mention there are tons of comfy spots to stick our noses in our books. 

We kicked off our first genre study on fiction with a delectable book tasting. Reservations were made and Klipfel Cafe was packed.

Students were exposed to a wide range of fiction texts. They whet their appetites with historical fiction, realistic fiction, fantasy, science fiction, adventure, and even mystery books. I loved hearing students hunt for these books in our classroom library, school library, and even Flint Public Library.

Wait, did I mention our noses in books? We are well on our way with our love of reading!