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!

Room 216

I'm looking forward to seeing lots of excited smiling faces tomorrow. I can't wait to hear about your summer adventures and look forward to many shared stories this school year. Klipfel & Kids is your one-stop spot in virtual room 216. Take our hand and let us take you on a tour of our classroom...

We can't thank those of you who purchased items from our wishlist enough! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! We are truly and greatly appreciative of your willingness to help turn room 216 into a home. Our classroom couldn't look this amazing without you. Make sure to check back soon and see our adventures. We also love to receive comments on our blog throughout the school year!

Summer Adventure

Old friends and new friends, add a post or picture with your summer adventures. I look forward to seeing your days at the beach, reading by the pool, and flights to adventurous places. If you are having trouble adding a post or picture, email it to me at jklipfel@middletonps.org and I will add it for you. Happy summer days!

Goodbye Friends

Dear Fourth Grade Families,

Fourth grade sure was easy!

It's finally here-summer! This school year sure has been one for the record books. Today, I officially give you back the same child from the fall, a few inches taller, a few months wiser, and much more mature. Although this growth would have happened anyway, it has been my pleasure to watch and be a part of their year. I am overwhelmingly proud of each and every one of them.

One last thank you to all the students for their continuous hard work this school year. You rocked it and we had so many laughs along the way! Thank you also to the parents, grandparents, and relatives for all your support and encouragement from home, as well as, all our faithful blog followers.

Enjoy your days at the beach and nights by the BBQ. Don't forget to post your summer adventures on our summer padlet or send me an email jklipfel@middletonps.org with what you are up to. I love nothing more than getting notes and postcards too! This summer, don't forget to READ, READ, READ. Need a book recommendation or want to chat about a great read, just send me a message. You know I LOVE talking books.

We have truly lived, loved, laughed, and learned together this year. I wish it could continue but each and every one of you is ready for next year. Remember, I will always be interested in your future, wherever you go, whatever you do. Your joys and sorrows I will always be happy to share, so please make sure to keep me in the loop for many years to come. Until we meet again!

Love always,

Miss Klipfel

Comic-Con 2024

Deep in the halls of Howe-Manning, students have been showing their true superpowers. By day you know them as Howe-Manning 4th-grade students but when problems arise they turn into superheroes. Some are able to leap Howe-Manning in a single bound while others are able to stop a speeding monkey. They are all here to eliminate crime one diabolical villain at a time!

Over the last month, students have been preparing for Comic-Con. Students reviewed parts of plot and watched clips of past and present superheroes/villains to then create their very own. Check out all the published 4th grade comics here.

Dressed from head to toe students, families, and friends met to share all their SUPER work for our annual Comic-Con event.

 

State House

Written by guest bloggers Shawn & Joey

The State House was so fun to visit. Let me tell you ALL about it! First, we went on a bus from Howe Manning to the State House. When we arrived at the State House we saw… The GOLDEN Dome! It was so shiny and did you know that the golden dome is made out of 23k Gold. Did you know that more than a thousand people work at the State House?

When we went into the State House we had to go through security and there were big gates in front of the State House to keep it safe. There is a nice beautiful garden in front of the State House. When we got through security we had to walk up so many stairs. Then we went under the Golden Dome and under the Golden Dome is the Senate room. There are two fake fish that give you good luck. One is Under the Golden Dome on a chandelier called the Holy Mackeral (pictured below on the right) and one is in the House Chambers called the Scared Cod. 

Representative Jones got us special permission to go into the House of Representatives Chambers. The House floor is where the House of Representatives works to make laws and take votes. We got to sit in the House seat. 

After that, we took a picture on the grand staircase with both representatives and Sentate Tarr. Then we headed over for a picnic in the Boston Public Garden and for a ride on the swan boats. It was a great day in our state's capital.

360 Patagonia (Part II)

Written by Guest Bloggers: Maya & Penelope

Miss Klipfel's class went on an unexpected expedition today! Miss Klipfel told us to get our passports and run to the airport…“We're going to PATAGONIA!” she announced excitedly. Well, we didn’t actually go to Patagonia but we got the next closest thing. Patagonia VR!!! 

 
Miss Klipfel put each kid in expedition partners each with their own VR headset. Then you got to choose a video from four different Patagonia locations. Once you finished the 360 video from one location you had to solve the puzzle that went with it.

There were super fun activities to go with each location! For the first stop, Staten Island, in the VR we saw a king penguin and then went to the Lighthouse at the End of the World. After we read a passage about Staten Island to learn about the conservation work happening there then filled in the sentences. For each word, there was a circled letter and all of the circled letters would make a word. On the second stop, Karukinka National Park, the activity was a puzzle to learn more about plastic pollution and how it's impacting Patagonia. When you finished the puzzle it gave you the next clue word. 

The third stop, National Geographic Explorer, which is the ship Miss Klipfel lived on, we got to see the library, the observation deck, bridge and stood on the bow while in the Chilean fjords. After we had a Patagonia map and you would answer questions like, if you were to go from Ushuaia to the Pia Glaciers would you head North, South, West, or East? Right next to the answer was a symbol and that symbol had a letter and those would make up the next word. The fourth stop was the Bernal Glacier, the activity that went with this was a mystery picture. So you would have to answer math questions about how climate change is impacting glacial recession and adding to sea level rise. Every time you got the answer right you would get a part of the picture which gave us our final word.

We put all four clue words, explorer, curious, empathetic, and empowered into the Google Form to earn our cool Patagonia Explorer Badge. Check out the website Miss Klipfel made here with all the activities on it. 

We all earned our Patagonia Explorer Badge

We still can't believe how real the VR felt like we were really standing in Patagonia and even felt like the elephant seals were coming right towards us. Lots of us liked the waterfall in Karukinka National Park and being able to stand on the bridge with the captain and see how the ship navigates. We are so lucky we got to go to Patagonia with Miss Klipfel!

Read 360 Patagonia Part I Here

Fashion Disaster

Written by guest blogger: Penelope

One day everyone came to school with an odd way of fashion, you could call it a...FASHION DISASTER! This day every student in Miss Klipfel class had a fashion show. But the twist is they come to the Klipfel Fashion Week in hopes to start a brand new unique fashion trend.

How it works is that other contestants sit on a bench while cheering on the person on the runway. The trendy model walks the red carpet and at the end of the carpet they strike a pose and everyone cheers. Then the next models walk the runway and strike a pose.

At the end, each model gets a card and writes down who deserves first, second, and third place for the best fashion disaster. Once everyone turns their votes in Miss Klipfel writes the amount of votes on the board. Then Miss Klipfel would tally them up. Usually, she would do a clap off, but this year we had a clear winner, Tessa. We still did a clap off for second, third, and fourth. Maybe someday you too will be in Klipfel Fashion Week!

Next step take our fashion disasters and write persuasive pieces to convince you why these are the next fashion trend.