Thursday, January 31, 2013

Outstanding Goodies for the Classroom

There's nothing better than a fresh pile of new school supplies. As part of the award, we received over $1000 in supplies, including a digital camera, a laminator, an electronic label maker, dozens of pens, pencils and markers and a plethora of other goodies.

Chicago's Outstanding Teacher Award

I am flattered and humbled to have been selected as one of the Chicago Outstanding Teacher Award Winners.  It was a genuine surprise simply to be nominated.  However, it is an honor that I could never claim for myself.  It is no secret that outstanding teachers exist only because of outstanding students.  I offer my sincere gratitude to my OUTSTANDING students, who continually inspire me to be a better teacher.

With Gratitude,
Mr. Crame

PS I must also thank Mrs. Oberhardt for her continued support, her inspiring leadership and for nominating me in the first place.

Brandon Marshall (wide receiver Chicago Bears), Barbara Byrd Bennett C.E.O. CPS at the Chicago Outstanding Teacher Award Ceremony.

Monday, January 28, 2013

T.O.D. Budget Committee Presentation


The T.O.D. Budget

Click here to see:
The T.O.D. budget powerpoint
The budget committee has finished our powerpoint. We are proud of our hard work and think you all will like to see it. It's been crazy fun, but hard and we are glad it's done.

- Elena and James

Field Trip Tomorrow

Don't forget to take a bagged/disposable lunch for our Fine Arts Field Trip tomorrow.
Chaperones: Bring your earplugs.

The Evil Math Test is Underway



Friday, January 25, 2013

Guerres De Livre Commercial


T.O.D. in stealth mode...


Code Name: T.O.D. Whalen

The inaugural ceremony for Tale of Despereaux Fridays has begun.
Today we created a "silent walk-through", taking the main ideas of the book and acting them out with actions only (no words, no props).  This allowed us to focus on the power of motion and body language as a form of communication.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Wildlife Presentation

Cyrano says hello...

Learning to preserve wildlife...





EBook Contest

Today we chose our topics for our EBook creations.  These ebook creations can be persuasive, expository or narrative writing focusing on non-fictional or fictional subjects.  All students will be required to create an EBook entry, utilizing the methods we learned this year.  Be sure to incorporate the Six Traits of Writing, the Writer's Process and your incredible imagination to create engaging stories.  Look for the contest rules, the rubric and the Common Core Standards for writing in your EBook Project Folder.  These items will help you understand the contest expectations.

Tip: To make your Ebook you may use a program like Powerpoint or Keynote to insert images, dialogue and text.  Create your pages and the book as a PDF.  We watched this video tutorial to teach us how to do this.   Using Powerpoint to create an eBook.

Here is a link to the written directions for creating an eBook using PDF: Powerpoint EBooks

Here is the Common Core Standard for Writing:

Writing - These standards are highly addressed in eBook creation, especially when care is taken to perform background research prior to writing and to edit the eBook multiple times prior to final publication.
1. Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
5. Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
6. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.
7. Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
8. Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.
9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
10. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences. 

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Digital Book Contest Rules

You & Me Book Writer's Contest

Check out the link.  Come with a topic tomorrow.  Let's use our knowledge of the "Writer's Process" and the "Six Traits" to create some fantastic stories.

T.O.D. Mission Intensifies


Today we broke down the Tale of Despereaux in an attempt to find the main ideas of each book.  The students independently selected the four most important events from their reading.  They then worked collaboratively to construct a working outline for the script.  They debated each event and developed  common ideas. These ideas will provide us with the "main events" that will guide our script writing sessions.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Health has Rules... Biographical Narrative about Ozan's Grandmother


Chiaro Versus Scuro... which will prevail?

chiaroscuro [kɪˌɑːrəˈskʊərəʊ]n pl -ros
1. (Fine Arts & Visual Arts / Art Terms) the artistic distribution of light and dark masses in a picture
2. (Fine Arts & Visual Arts / Art Terms) monochrome painting using light and dark only, as in grisaille
[from Italian, from chiaro clear + oscuro obscure]

The Tale of Despereaux is chocked full of symbolism.  We are on the lookout symbols of light and dark.  The struggle between light and dark defines the theme of the book.  Room 308 is collecting evidence of chiaro and scuro as they read through the novel. Which side will prevail?  We shall see.


Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Guerres De Livre (Book Wars)

Today we designed a trading card format for our Character Trading Card Game.  Use your nightly reading to create your first trading card entry tonight.  Here is a copy of the directions.

MAP Testing has begun...

Math MAP Tests in Session.

Monday, January 14, 2013

Developing A Character Trading Card Game

Today we are in the first stages of development.  We have been challenged to design and develop a trading card game that incorporates character traits and attributes. Stay tuned for the end product.

MAP Testing Begins Tomorrow

The testing session tomorrow will be from 1:00-2:30 for Math.  Get your rest and be ready to concentrate.

Friday, January 11, 2013

The T.O.D Budget Committee

These poor students have been tasked with the goal of estimating the budget for our fourth grade play.  From The cost of the books, props, scripts, costumes and make-up; stay tuned for the totals.


Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Drinkwater Field Museum Field Trip Slip...


M.A.P. Assessments Winter Session begins Next Week.

The second installment of our Measures of Academic Progress will be administered next week.  These computer adaptive assessments will be administered in the computer lab next week.  For the fourth grade:

  • Math MAP:  Tuesday, January 15th from 1:00 PM-2:30 PM
  • Reading MAP: Wednesday, January 16th from 8:15 AM-9:45 AM

Exciting Explorers

Today we discussed the historical significance of Vasco da Gama and other explorers of the Middle Ages.  Tonight we will be exploring other significant explorers.  We will be creating an "Exciting Explorer" trading card series with this information.  The students can use http://www.biography.com/ or http://www.history.com/ to help research their favorite explorer.

Monday, January 7, 2013

The 11th Kindle! Thanks Delilah.

Delilah donated the 11th Kindle to the classroom.  We will put it to good use.  Thanks Delilah and Dad.

Math Topic 6 Test Tomorrow!

Today we reviewed the topic by re-taking the topic pretest.  This tool will help you study for tomorrow's online test.  The test questions are VERY similar (only the numbers and word problems get changed).  Use the pretest as a study guide tonight.




Friday, January 4, 2013

Marco Polo Talk Show


Marco Polo Talk Show Time...

Today we studied the journeys of the famous explorer Marco Polo.  He put on his trunks, stepped into a time machine and joined us on our own newly-created talk shows.


Thursday, January 3, 2013

New Year's Resolutions


New Year's Resolution


Goal Setting for the New Year

Today we spent some time reflecting upon our successes and failures from the year 2012.  We then focused our attention to setting goals designed to address our weaknesses in the coming year.

Keeping an Eye on the New Year


We have implemented a new system for selecting "victimteers" in the fourth grade.  Hopefully, proper sanitary practices will lead to a lower incidence of pink eye.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013