Student Planner—Lesson 3 - Oak Meadow

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1 Language Arts Social Studies Science Math Art D A Y 1 D A Y 2 D A Y 3 D A Y 4 Student PlannerLesson 3 D A Y 5 D A Y 6 D A Y 7 Date__________ STUDENT PLANNER 4 Grade Lesson

2 Student PlannerLesson 3 STUDENT PLANNER Date__________ ASSIGNMENT SUMMARY Materials Still Needed Language Arts Finish reading Stuart Little. Complete a final project about Stuart Little. Write several journal entries. Alphabetize spelling words and take a spelling quiz. Identify and use adjectives. Practice using adverbs. Play In the Manner of the Adverb. Social Studies Complete the landscape model. Notes Preserve and identify leaf samples. Begin layering and sculpting the soil Write a reflection on the land- Grade Lesson 4 scape model project. Science Observe and draw patterns in nature. Write down analogies related to natural shapes and patterns. Art Use tonal technique to create five- and six-sided figures. Draw a circle using negative space. Music Continue practicing music. Work on posture and performance skills.

3 Lesson Grade 4 3 Lesson Language Arts MATERIALS Social Studies: Leaf Pressing Reviewing Adjectives Wax paper This week, well focus on adjectives and adverbs. Adjectives are sometimes Iron called picture words because they describe the appearance of people and Science: Nature Observations things. For instance, we might use adjectives to describe the sea as light Jewelers loupes (2) or blue and calm, or dark blue and windy, or purple and wild, or black and magnifying glass stormy. Here are some activities you can do to review adjectives: Choose a general category of nouns, such as animals. Once you have your category, get more specific and choose an item in that category, such as a bear. Now find a word to describe the bear (such as big or brown). Put the two noun and adjective together and use them in a sentence. For instance, We saw a big, brown bear at the zoo. This is how you can bring simple sentences to life with adjectives. Do this several times with different nouns so that you feel confident using adjectives. Just as you colored nouns blue and verbs red to identify them, you should now color the adjectives green. Color-coding these words is another way of helping you remember themyou wont have to do it forever, but its worth doing it for a while. Reviewing Adverbs Adverbs might be called how words. A simple way to see how adverbs work is to act them out. Here is a game you can play. Start by asking a parent to write out some sentences similar to these: I smile happily. I walk quickly. 35

4 Lesson 3 Grade 4 Language Arts I sigh sadly. (continued) I clap softly. I run slowly. The last word in each sentence is an adverb and it answers the question, How? Once your parent has written them out, go through them and take turns acting them out. Next, write out a simple sentence such as: The wind blew. Then add an adverb that answers the question, How? The wind blew fiercely. See if you can add another adverb: The wind blew fiercely and wildly. In the above examples about the blowing wind, which of the three sentences gives a better description? In the first sentence, we dont know anything about the wind except that it blew. How is it blowing? When we added the adverb fiercely, we suddenly knew something important about the wind. The sentence had more meaning. When we added the second adverb, wildly, we knew even more, and could have a real understanding of what this wind was really like. How could we completely change the meaning of this sentence by changing the adverbs? What if instead of fiercely and wildly we used other adverbs? The wind blew gently. The wind blew steadily. The wind blew quietly. The wind blew loudly. Our choice of adverb completely changes the meaning! You have learned about four kinds of words: nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Each sentence must have a noun and a verb, or it isnt a complete sentence. (Without a noun and verb, its just a piece of a sentence, called a fragment or phrase.) By adding adjectives and adverbs, you can make your sentences much more interesting for others to read. 36 Oak Meadow

5 Grade 4 Lesson 3 Adjectives and adverbs also convey important meaning. What if somebody Language Arts yelled, Theres a dog! and you just happen to love dogs? You might rush (continued) up to greet it. But what if they yelled, Theres a big, mean dog!? Thats important information! Or what if a friend said, I sang in a concert last night, and you said, Congratulations! Then, your friend clarifies, I sang horribly in a concert last night. Now, perhaps youll want to sympathize instead. You can see why adverbs make a big difference! Reading Finish reading Stuart Little this week. Assignments 1.For a final project on Stuart Little, choose one of the projects from the list below. Do your best work. a) Write a book report on Stuart Little. Book reports often follow a predictable format. We will add to this format as the year progresses. If you choose this project, heres what you will do this week: Paragraph 1: Describe the main characters in the book. Explain how they are connected to each other and to the story. You should include some information on their personalities and on their importance to the story. Paragraph 2: Describe the setting of the story. The setting is where the story happens. There may be more than one setting, but focus on the main ones. Use as much detail (adjectives!) as you can. Paragraph 3: Describe the plot of the story. You should describe the plot chronologically (in the order the events happen) and as clearly as possible, so that someone reading the book report would know what to expect if he or she decided to read the book. b) Write a scene in which Stuart finds Margalo. Spend some time thinking about the scene before you begin writing. Where will Stuart find Margalo? Will Margalo be happy to see Stuart? What season will it be? What time of day? Will Margalo want to go home with Stuart? Make sure to describe the setting, and try to Oak Meadow 37

6 Lesson 3 Grade 4 Language Arts use some dialogue. Think about how Stuart speaks. Can you imitate his way of speech in your own writing? (continued) c) Pretend that you are Stuart Little and write a series of postcards home to your family. Draw pictures on one side of each card, and write short messages on the other. Include brief descriptions of your trip or summaries of your adventures. Write four to six postcards. d) Recreate Stuarts canoe. Find some birch bark and other natural materials and make a replica of the canoe in the story. Use the illustrations and written descriptions in the book to help you figure out what the canoe should look like. 2.Write in your journal several times each week. If you are having difficulty coming up with topics to write about, consider one of the following: Describe your favorite part of your house and explain why you like it. Include visual details (what it looks like). What would be the worst thing about being tiny like Stuart Little? 3.Ask a parent to help you come up with a list of spelling words to learn this week. Learn both the spelling and the meaning of each. Carefully write out the alphabet at the top of a page in your main lesson book or spelling notebook. Below the alphabet, put your spelling words in alphabetical order. Use the letters of the alphabet to help you put the words in the correct order. Practice the words throughout the week. At the end of the week, take a spelling quiz. 4.Ask a parent to write 510 short sentences with one or two blank spaces where an adjective could go. You can fill in the blanks with adjectives that describe the noun in the sentence. Write your adjectives with a green colored pencil. Here are some examples to help you and your parent get started: The _______ soup bubbled on the stove. The ______ giant roared. 38 Oak Meadow

7 Grade 4 Lesson 3 The ________, ______ flower bloomed. Language Arts The ________ leaves fell from the ________ tree. (continued) 5.Write the following sentences and fill in the blanks with adverbs (use an orange colored pencil for the adverbs): The dog barked ________________. The baby cried ________________. Once you are done, rewrite the sentences again, this time changing the feeling of each sentence by adding a different adverb. For another adverb activity, read the sentences you created in assign- ment #4, and add an adverb to each one. You can do this aloud or by writing it down, whichever you prefer. 6.Here is a fun game you can play with friends, siblings or parents. Its called In the Manner of the Adverb and it can be played with two or more people. Have all the players put together a list of eight to twelve adverbs in a place where everyone can see them. You can start with simple words like slowly, happily, loudly, and gently. Select a player to be Player #1. Have Player #1 leave the room. The group should select one adverb from the list. Make sure everyone understands the word and that everyone knows which word has been selected. Invite Player #1 to come back into the room, but dont tell which adverb was chosen. Player #1 then asks members of the group to perform certain actions in the manner of the adverb. For instance, Player #1 could ask one member of the group to turn in a circle. That player would then get up and turn in a circle making sure to emphasize the adverb that the group chose at the beginning. For instance, if the group chose slowly from the list, then that player would turn in a circle slowly. Player #1 then asks two or three more members of the group to perform different actions in the manner of the adverb. Perhaps Oak Meadow 39

8 Lesson 3 Grade 4 Language Arts they are asked to skip or sing. In the example given above, those actions should be performed slowly. (continued) Player #1 has to guess which adverb the group chose. If correct, a new player becomes Player #1 and the game starts over. If incorrect, Player #1 continues to ask people to perform actions until he or she figures out which adverb is being used. Here are more ideas for different actions: Turn in a circle; clap your hands; jump up and down; open a door and close it; walk around your chair; shake hands with someone; do a little dance. Social Studies You will complete your landscape model of the local topography this week. Adding Vegetation to Complete the Landscape Model Once the topsoil is in place, your model is almost complete. Only the finishing touches remain to be done. At this point, your landscape model could look like almost anywhere in the world. What will distinguish this model and identify its location will be its plants, or vegetation. Is it a grassland with cattails and reeds growing along the creek? Are there cottonwoods, willows, or sycamores along the creek? Is the hill covered with a stand of pine trees? Is it a mixed forest of evergreens and deciduous trees? Is it a Mediterranean scrub or chaparral? Is it semi-desert? You must also decide what season it is in your model. Your job is to find out the names of the major native species of trees and vegetation. Take another trip outside to observe how different trees and plants are shaped and how and where they grow. Collect twigs or cut- tings to create the vegetation for the model. Straw or moss can serve as grass, or you might like to plant real wheat or rye grass right on the model. As it grows, it can be trimmed to size with scissors, or allowed to die and become straw. Use a twig or tree cutting to create a miniature version of your very old tree (the one you created in lesson 1). Refer to your drawing as a guide for what the tree should look like. Find a place in your model for your tree. Finish it off with pebbles, fallen trees, or whatever else is needed 40 Oak Meadow

9 Grade 4 Lesson 3 to make it authentic. Pay attention to the details that make this model Social Studies unique and accurate. (continued) Assignments 1. Complete your landscape model this week. In your main lesson book, write a list of the native plants you used in your model. Take a photograph of the model and add that to your main lesson book. Keep the model in a dry, protected placeyou will need it in later lessons. 2.Press samples of leaves from some of the native trees and plants you discovered in your area by placing them between the pages of a thick book, or between two heavy books. The pressed leaves can be put between waxed paper, lightly pressed with an iron to seal the wax, and added to the main lesson book. Be sure to identify what type of plant each leaf came from. 3.Take some time to reflect on how the project went for you. Ask yourself the following questions and write your answers in your main lesson book. What part of the project was the most fun? What was the most difficult? What would you do differently next time? How did you and your parent do as a team? Are there any changes you would like to make to how your team works for future projects? Science Discovering Patterns in Nature Modern design may be observed not just from the point of view of manmade objects, such as those you examined last week, but from the viewpoint of natural structural shapes and decoration. For example, pliers or tweezers can be compared to the pincers of a crab. Geodesic domes use the form of the honeycomb. Screws are similar in form to Oak Meadow 41

10 Lesson 3 Grade 4 the spiral shapes on some seeds or seashells. Woven cloth or thread Science can be compared to the cocoons and threads of spiders and caterpillars, (continued) the fibers of plants, or the nests of birds. In this lesson, you will observe and record what you see in the world around you. Discovering patterns in nature helps you to express yourself in art, crafts, music, creative writing, poetry, and photography. It deepens your understanding of science, architecture, ecology, and ancient cultures. It opens your heart to the many wonders of the natural world. Use your jewelers loupes or magnifying glass to look for the geometry and patterns of worlds hidden to the naked eye. If you have access to a microscope, use it as well. This week, look for and study the following geometric patterns in nature. Record your findings in your science main lesson book. Lines: Lines can be seen in the bark of trees, the wings of a butterfly, the pattern and movement of a snake, the designs on fish or animals, the stalks of many plants, human skin, etc. Look for vertical, horizon- tal, and zigzag lines. Squares and Rectangles: These are most often found in the mineral kingdom: crystals, stones, and the cracks in dry mud. The bark of some trees, the veins of some leaves, and the lines in the transparent wings of dragonflies are other sources. Circles: These are abundant in nature. Eyes, the pat- terns on animal fur, the leaf of a water lily, cross-sec- tion of a branch, flowers. Spirals: Many seashells, snails, the unfolding of a young fern, fingerprints, and some dried seedpods will reveal spiral shapes. 42 Oak Meadow

11 Grade 4 Lesson 3 Triangles: Look for triangles in spider webs, the Science designs in certain seashells, the center of some (continued) flowers, leaves, etc. Stars: These shapes are found in flowers, and in the cross-sections of the fruits or seedpods. Pentagons (five-sided shapes): Pentagons can be seen in certain flowers, such as morning glories, squash blossoms, the blossoms and fruit of okra, various lilies, passion flowers, etc. They are also found in many crystalline shapes in minerals, and sometimes in the wings of dragonflies. Hexagons (six-sided shapes): The nests of wasps and snowflakes are two sources of hexagon shapes. If there is ever an opportunity to catch snowflakes, put a black cloth or paper on a windowsill, and look at the flakes with a magnifying glass. Each eye lens of a flys compound eye is a hexagon. Often the lines of leaf veins make hexagon shapes. At this point, the goal is to observe how things are in natureboth patterns and relationships. At this time we are not concerned with why things are, so try not to analyze things too much. Just enjoy discovering things you may never have seen before. During your nature walks and explorations you may want to collect specimens and objects that are pretty. Remember at all times that nature is a home for many living things. Be careful not to destroy a natural home. If you lift a stone and see that there is a home or nest underneath, carefully replace the stone. If you discover a birds nest, make sure it is empty before you approach it. You will find nuts and seedpods. Leave some of the seeds so that they grow into new plants. Remember that these are also food for wild animals in the winter. A good rule to follow is to be conservative in your collecting (conserving or saving resources as much as possible), and take only essential samples. Oak Meadow 43

12 Lesson 3 Grade 4 Science Assignments (continued) 1.Observe geometric patterns in nature and record your finding in your science main lesson book. Take paper and pencils with you on your adventures, and make drawings of the shapes you see under magnification. Look through your jewelers loupes and then draw a bit; look again to observe more details, and then draw some more. Keep going back and forth like this. After you are done with your drawing, look again carefully and see if there are any more details you wish to add. It is important to do the drawings because it helps you to really slow down and focus on what you are seeing. Stop passing by all these wonders of nature, and take the time to really look at them! 2.After you are comfortable with this new way of looking at the natural world around you, ask yourself an important question about each pattern and design you discover. Ask yourself what this pattern reminds you of. Have you seen this design somewhere before? Does it bring up some other image in your mind? It may not even look like anything youve seen before, and yet it may somehow make you think of something else. Make a list of these analogies, or similarities, even if they seem totally irrelevant to you. Try to come up with five to ten of them. This will help you delve deeper into the mysteries you are viewing, and may help you see tiny details more clearly. Here are some examples: The shape of a honeycomb might remind you of a stop sign. A snail shell might remind you of a seashell. The shape of a leaf might look like a paw print or a hand. Keep your analogies and other written comments, as you may want to use them later. Art You will continue working with no-outline shapes this week, learning to create more difficult geometric patterns such as stars, pentagons, and hexagons. 44 Oak Meadow

13 Grade 4 Lesson 3 Assignments Art 1.Begin by drawing a star. One way to draw a no-outline star is to (continued) first draw the skeleton of the star (its inner structure). Then take your pencil and shade in the skeleton. Draw a second star in the same way, and then transform the star into a pentagon by shading in the areas between the bones of the star. 2.Now try to draw a star without making the skeleton first. How about a pentagon without making the star first? This is a hard one! A hexagon is relatively easy if you start with a no-outline circle and flatten the top, sides and bottom. It may help to mentally divide the circle into halves as you draw. 3.Once you feel comfortable with the above tones, try a simple negative space image of a circle. A negative space drawing is one in which you draw the shapes around the object rather than the object itselfthis makes the object stand out. To accomplish this, darken the four corners of your paper and get lighter as you come into the center, keeping the center of your circle clear of shading. In this way, you will draw what may be a brilliant full moon in a night sky. You create this full moon by not drawing the moon at all, but drawing the space around the moon! What other negative image shapes would you like to try? Oak Meadow 45

14 Lesson 3 Grade 4 Music Assignment Continue practicing recorder at your own pace this week. As you play, re- member to work on your posture and your performance skills. Working on how you present and express the music is part of developing yourself as a musician. Throughout the year, you will be encouraged to perform small recit- als, either as a soloist or together with a partner, performing duets. These recitals are optional, but are encouraged because they will give you the opportunity to learn performance skills. In the beginning, you may want to perform only for a parent or a family pet. But as you get better, you may be more comfortable performing for larger groups of friends or neighbors. For Enrolled Students At the end of the next lesson, you will be submitting work to your Oak Meadow teacher for the first time. You are welcome to contact you teacher in between work submissions, or anytime questions arise. Learning Assessment These assessment rubrics are intended to help track student progress throughout the year. Please remember that these skills continue to develop over time. Parents and teachers can use this space to make notes about the learning the student demonstrates or skills that need work. 46 Oak Meadow

15 Grade 4 Lesson 3 Learning Assessment Not Yet LANGUAGE ARTS Developing Consistent Notes Evident Demonstrates reading comprehension through related project Reads independently Reads aloud with confidence and expression Writes legibly in cursive Prints legibly Identifies nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs Correctly uses nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in writing Corrects errors in capitalization and punctuation Alphabetizes a list of words Memorizes spelling words Read aloud Read by child, Read by child, LITERATURE Notes by adult in progress completed Stuart Little Free choice book: Free choice book: Free choice book: Score SPELLING TEST Notes #correct/total # 3 Oak Meadow 47

16 Lesson 3 Grade 4 Learning Assessment Not Yet SOCIAL STUDIES Developing Consistent Notes Evident Demonstrates knowledge of past events Describes local geography in writing Describes local geography in three- dimensional form Identifies local tree species Demonstrates knowledge of different types of soil Identifies evidence of erosion Not Yet SCIENCE Developing Consistent Notes Evident Demonstrates focused observational skills Describes observations in writing Records observations in detailed illustrations Shows ability to draw from varying perspectives Identifies geometric forms in nature Creates analogies related to natural shapes and patterns Identifies similarities between historical artifacts and patterns in nature 48 Oak Meadow

17 Language Arts Social Studies Science Math Art D A Y 1 D A Y 2 D A Y 3 D A Y 4 Student PlannerLesson 4 D A Y 5 D A Y 6 D A Y 7 Date__________ STUDENT PLANNER 4 k Lesson Grade

18 Student PlannerLesson 4 STUDENT PLANNER Date__________ ASSIGNMENT SUMMARY Materials Still Needed Language Arts Begin reading The Search for Delicious. Alphabetize and memorize spelling words. Create sentences using adjectives and adverbs. Play a sentence-building game. Compose three journal entries. Social Studies Identify local non-migrating animals. Identify local migrating animals. Research and list native animals Notes from 200 years ago. Science List similarities between natural shapes and other objects. Grade Lesson 4 Record any accidental discoveries. Art Draw a picture from the viewpoint of an insect. Music Continue practicing music.

19 Lesson Grade 4 4 Lesson Language Arts MATERIALS Science: Nature Observations Reading Jewelers loupe or Begin reading The Search for Delicious. You will be writing about this book in magnifying glass Microscope and/or lesson 6. telescope (optional) If you are able to read this book independently, you should do so. If not, read the book with a parent, taking turns reading paragraphs. If this book is too difficult overall, consider choosing a different book. Discuss your options with a parent. Assignments 1. Ask a parent to help you come up with five to ten spelling words to learn. Explore new ways to practice spelling words! Remember to keep adding words you missed on the previous spelling quiz. Repeat the activity from last week where you wrote out the alphabet at the top of the page and alphabetized your spelling words beneath it. (If you dont need the alphabet written above to put the words in the correct order, there is no need to write it out each time.) 2.Review adjectives and adverbs. Make a list of five of the animals from your social studies lesson and come up with an adjective to describe each one. For example, if the muskrat is one of the animals native to your area, come up with an appropriate adjective to describe it, such as brown, furry, or stocky. Create a sentence for each animal. The sentence must have a noun, verb, adjective, and adverb (color the adjectives and adverbs using a different colored pencil when writing, or by shading or circling the words with the appropriate color). Heres an example: 51

20 Lesson 4 Grade 4 Language Arts The brown muskrat ran quickly across my lawn. (continued) Do this for each of the animals on your list. 3.Create words cards like you did in lesson 2, this times using adjectives and adverbs (you can use the ones from your sentences in assignment #3 or different ones). Use construction paper or colored index cards to mark the adjective cards green and the adverb cards orange. You can create more noun and verb cards too if youd like. By now, you should have plenty of cards with which to create sentences. Choose one card of each color and turn your words into a sentence. As before, your sentences might be very silly! Make many different sentences and read them aloud to a parent, identifying the different parts of speech as you go. 4.Write in your journal three (or more) times this week. Remember to keep track of the date of each entry. In your journal, you might want to start a story that you work on for several days, writing a little each time. It might be a story about something that happened to you when you were younger, or it could be a made up a story. Use interesting adjectives and adverbs to make your writing more descriptive and more interesting. Social Studies Animal Research During the next two weeks you will learn about the local animal life. You will be looking at animals that live in your area now, as well as ones that once inhabited the area, before the arrival of European settlers. In order to find out more about the native animals or wildlife, consult the following resources: Your closest national or state park, forest service ranger station, or visitors center A museum of natural history Local zoo Books on animals in your region 52 Oak Meadow

21 Grade 4 Lesson 4 Books on Native Americans and early settlers of your area Social Studies Your local library (continued) Undoubtedly, many species that used to roam in the region that you now inhabit no longer live there except perhaps in protected wilderness areas. In many areas, however, there used to be deer, antelope, elk, bears, cougars, and many smaller animals. How and why these animals disappeared, and what the effects have been on the ecology of your area, will be studied later as you learn about the arrival of European settlers into the environment. Assignments 1. After researching local animals, draw and label the permanent (non- migrating) native mammals, reptiles, birds, and fish that live in your area today. These are ones you are likely to see frequently when you are hiking or exploring in the woods and fields. (Instead of drawing, you can also choose to cut out photos of your animals from old magazines and create a collage, or you can provide a colorfully designed written list of your animal selection.) 2.Next, draw and label the major seasonal mammals, fish, and birds of your area. These are the animals and birds that migrate to a different summer or winter home. You may not be as familiar with these animals as the ones that live in your area all year long. 3.Finally, make a list of the native animals that were common in your area before the arrival of European settlers. Find out what they looked like and draw them. Some of these animals may still live in your area, but some have probably vanished. It may take additional research to find animals that used to live in your area but no longer do. Have a parent or the librarian at your local library help you. Science Continue to explore the world both within and beyond the range of normal vision. Can our basic geometric shapes be found there? Use your loupe. Use a microscope or telescope. Visit an observatory. Find books about outer space, microphotography, the world beneath the sea, crystals, cells, microbes, and so forth, which contain abundant pictures. Oak Meadow 53

22 Lesson 4 Grade 4 Science During the course of these observations, remember to keep the main ob- jectives in mind. Try to focus attention upon the beauty of form, pattern, (continued) and color. With and without the magnification, look at flowers, seeds and seed pods, shells, leaves and bark of all sorts, pinecones, flowers and buds, snow and ice, sugar, salt, herbs and spices, mushrooms, your dinner, hair, human skin (and if possible, animal skin), fingernails, feathers, insects, dirt, someones tongue, eyes, rocks, slugs and snailsall kinds of natural items! Accidental Discoveries Many of humankinds most important discoveries were made by scientists looking for one thing and finding another by accident. Perhaps while look- ing for different shapes you will discover butterfly eggs on the underside of a leaf. When examining the underside of a rock, many insect and animal homes may be observed. There may be chances to observe how different animals or insects work, find food, or how they adapt to the changing sea- sons or weather conditions. Perhaps an abandoned skin of a lizard will be found, or the footprints of an animal. As you look for geometric shapes in nature, keep asking yourself what it reminds you of. This kind of close observation and comparison is at the heart of the scientific method. Observation and recording of observations are the first steps every scientist takes when studying anything. Learning to see takes practice. Its not as simple as it sounds, especially when were looking at things we have been accustomed to seeing often. We tend to slide into a kind of seeing that notices very little. Through these weeks of study, you have many opportunities to see the world around you in a much deeper, more alert fashion. It is also good practice, during each observation trip, to notice the weather conditions: was it damp and dewy, dry and frosty, windy, or sunny? How do weather conditions affect the colors, or change the textures? Keen observation can help us tune into the life cycle of nature. Assignments 1. Continue to explore the world both within and beyond the range of normal vision using your loupe, microscope, or telescope. As you look at things with 5x and 10x magnification, continue to ask 54 Oak Meadow

23 Grade 4 Lesson 4 yourself, What does this look like? What does it remind me of? Science List the things you are reminded of. Perhaps something makes you (continued) think of an onion sliced sideways, a crown, an egg carton, pieces of foam, pieces of spaghetti, or a star. Are you starting to see any of the same kinds of patterns appearing? 2.Notice and record any accidental discoveries. Did you find evidence of animal life when you were looking at rocks or shells? Did the wind blowing the branches of a tree help you discover a birds nest? Any new discovery or thing of interest can be included in the science main lesson book. If you use it frequently, the science main lesson book will read like the journal of a young naturalist, poet, or nature artist. Art Now that you have some experience in creating tonal shapes, lets put them together and create pictures! But before you begin, lets learn about how to place objects on the page and how to use color to create a certain mood. Remember the seven laws of drawing perspective described at the beginning of this coursebook? This week youll begin working with the first law, the surface law of perspective. The surface law states that objects drawn near the bottom of the page look closer than objects drawn near the top of the page. Look closely at the placement of objects in this picture: The two small rocks look closest to us, and the spider and the big rock look closer to us than the pink and yellow grass. This due in part to where they are placed on the page. This week, youll be drawing a picture based on the one above. To get started, think small. Imagine you are a snail or a ladybug, or how about an ant or spider? How does the world look to you? You may have to lie in the grass or sit in the tall weeds by a pond to get the feel of being a tiny insect. Oak Meadow 55

24 Lesson 4 Grade 4 Art As you think about the picture youd like to create, keep in mind the idea of using color to create a mood. Color does not always have to be (continued) realistic. If you find that you get stuck on using real colors, think of the colors seen at dawn or twilight. Remember how the pinks reflect off surfaces, and the colors are subdueda bright green plant may look forest green or even dark purple. Think of how things look in a fog, all misty and mysterious. Think of the many colors of the seasometimes it is blue, but just as often it may be gray, green, black, or foamy white. A bright blue sea and sky has a very different feel than a gray sky and dark, foamy waves. Think about how the colors you use in your picture will feel to the viewer. Assignment Create a picture using tonal shapes, the surface law of perspective, and color. You can use the picture above as your guide, or draw one of your own choosing that has a similar nature theme and shows the viewpoint of a small creature or insect. Here are some tips that can help you, based on the picture above: Begin about one-third from the bottom of the page and start drawing the spider. See how the spider is in front of the big rock and the grass? That means we need to draw the spider first. Draw a no-outline circle for the body, first lightly, and then gradually darker. Do the same for the head. Pull the legs out from the body. Draw the rocks in the same strokes used for the tonal shapes. Beginning at a point above the spider, pull graceful grassy lines upwards. Add a series of lines for around the spider and rocks for grass. An easy way to make flowers is to use the star shape. The flowers above the spider can be made by making the skeleton of the star and filling in each space with a no-outline circle. Add stems to the flowers, and some more grasses, drawing from the bottom up. Finally, draw in the back- ground tone (the ground and sky). You could use various shades of greens 56 Oak Meadow

25 Grade 4 Lesson 4 with golds and pinks streaked throughor whatever suits your fancy. Beeswax block crayons work especially well for laying down smooth areas of color. Music Assignment Begin working on a new duet when you are feeling confident with previous songs. For Enrolled Students At the end of this lesson, you will be sending the first batch of work to your Oak Meadow teacher along with your first monthly activity sheet. The notes youve kept on your weekly planner and the learning assessment forms will help you remember details as your fill out the monthly activity sheet. If you have any questions about what to send or how to send it, please refer to your parent handbook and your teachers welcome letter. If you are unsure about what constitutes a representative sample of your childs work, please contact your teacher. Your teacher will respond to your submission of student work with detailed comments and individualized guidance. In the meantime, proceed to lesson 5 and continue your work. Learning Assessment Use these assessment rubrics to track student progress throughout the year. Please remember that these skills continue to develop over time. Par- ents and teachers can use this space to make notes about the learning the student demonstrates or skills that need work. Oak Meadow 57

26 Lesson 4 Grade 4 Learning Assessment Not Yet LANGUAGE ARTS Developing Consistent Notes Evident Demonstrates reading comprehension through related project Reads independently Reads aloud with confidence and expression Writes legibly in cursive Prints legibly Identifies nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs Correctly uses nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in writing Corrects errors in capitalization and punctuation Alphabetizes a list of words Memorizes spelling words Read aloud Read by child, Read by child, LITERATURE Notes by adult in progress completed The Search for Delicious Free choice book: Free choice book: Free choice book: Score SPELLING TEST Notes #correct/total # 4 58 Oak Meadow

27 Grade 4 Lesson 4 Learning Assessment Not Yet SOCIAL STUDIES Developing Consistent Notes Evident Identifies local animal species Differentiates between permanent and migratory animals Research skills: seeks information from multiple sources Research skills: extracts pertinent information from sources Describes local geography in three- dimensional form Identifies local tree species Not Yet SCIENCE Developing Consistent Notes Evident Demonstrates focused observational skills Describes observations in writing Records observations in detailed illustrations Shows ability to draw from varying perspectives Identifies geometric forms in nature Creates analogies related to natural shapes and patterns Identifies similarities between historical artifacts and patterns in nature Oak Meadow 59

28 Lesson 4 Grade 4 Notes 60 Oak Meadow

29 Language Arts Social Studies Science Math Art D A Y 1 D A Y 2 D A Y 3 D A Y 4 Student PlannerLesson 5 D A Y 5 D A Y 6 D A Y 7 Date__________ STUDENT PLANNER 4 Lesson Grade

30 Student PlannerLesson 5 STUDENT PLANNER Date__________ ASSIGNMENT SUMMARY Materials Still Needed Language Arts Continue reading The Search for Delicious. Alphabetize and memorize spelling words. Write several journal entries. List examples of different types of adverbs. Write sentences using different types of adverbs. Social Studies Research animals in the local area. Write and organize research Notes notes. Science Brainstorm connections between form and function. Grade Lesson Express interrelatedness of form 4 and function in writing or art. Choose a project to complete related to forms in nature. Art Identify examples of surface law in art. Complete a drawing demon- strating the surface law of per- spective. Music Review familiar pieces and learn new material.

31 Lesson Grade 4 5 Lesson Language Arts MATERIALS Art: Surface Law of Perspective More Adverb Review Magazines In past lessons we have described how adverbs answer the question, How? This week we are going to look at adverbs that answer different questions, such as When? and Where? Here are some examples: Peter ran fast. (How did Peter run?) David is leaving tomorrow. (When is David leaving?) Nick went upstairs. (Where did Nick go?) The excited boy arrived first. (When did he arrive?) The exhausted boy walked slowly. (How did he walk?) The third boy wandered far. (Where did he wander?) Reading Continue reading The Search for Delicious each day. If you are reading the book independently, make sure you find some time to discuss what you have read with a parent. You will get a lot more out of your reading if you have conversations about the book with someone else. Assignments 1. Ask a parent to help you choose spelling words to alphabetize and learn. Take words from your own writing or from the list at the back of the syllabus. 2.Write in your journal this week. If you began a story last week, con- tinue working on that. Otherwise, consider writing about The Search 63

32 Lesson 5 Grade 4 Language Arts for Delicious. Why do you think the people in the different villages care so much about the definition of delicious? (continued) 3. Continue your work with adverbs by making a list in your main lesson book of words that answer the questions, How? When? and Where? Here are some examples to get you started: How When Where quicklylate near slowlyearly far softly firstin bravelylast out foolishly laterbehind harshly sometimehere silentlythen there 4.On another day, write sentences using each of the three kinds of adverbs, sometimes moving their positions in the sentence. Try to keep your sentences as short as possible. Here are some examples: The tiny rabbit hopped slowly. Slowly, the tiny rabbit hopped. Sandy is here. Here is Sandy! When you are done, shade the nouns blue, the verbs red, the adjectives green, and the adverbs orange. Write at least three sentences for each of the types of adverbs. Social Studies Assignments 1.This week, you will focus on animal species that are most common in your area. Using the lists you made last week, choose twelve animals you would like to learn more about. Do additional research on each of those animals to find out the following information: 64 Oak Meadow

33 Grade 4 Lesson 5 Diet: Find out what each animal eats. Does it have a varied diet Social Studies or mainly eat one thing? How does the animal find food? Does it (continued) store food for later? Predators: Your animal may face dangers each day. What other animals consider it prey (try to eat it)? Are there other dangers the animal needs to avoid in order to survive? Habitat: The habitat is the environment in which the animal lives. Describe the types of home or nest each animal builds. What materials are used? How does the animal construct it? What does the structure look like? Explain where each animal is likely to locate its home. Feel free to add to the topics provided above (diet, predators, and habitat) with topics that interest you. Here are some additional topics you might like to include: appearance behavior rearing of young life span migratory patterns 2. Keep track of the information you learn by taking notes in your main lesson book. Keep your notes organized by topic and by animal. You might want to create a chart to help you keep all the information organized, or you can label pages by topic. For instance, you might label one page Diet and then divide it into 12 boxes, one for each animal. However you want to organize your information is fine, as long as it makes sense to you. It can also be helpful to draw sketches of pictures you see in your research. These are all skills you will need to use when your begin writing research reports in future lessons. Oak Meadow 65

34 Lesson 5 Grade 4 Science Form and Function in Nature This week, spend some time considering the relationship between the form and the function of some of the items you have observed. The form of an object is its outward appearance. The function of an object is what it does. For example, a snail shell has the form of a spiral object that sits on the snails back. Its function is to protect the soft body of the snail from harm. Albert Einstein believed that, in nature, things are made as simply as they can possibly be and still do the things they need to do. This suggests that every form is made to function in the best and simplest way it possibly can. When making your observations this week, try to be as creative as you can be when considering the relationship between form and function. Dont be critical of your answers, or discard an idea because it seems far-fetched. This is exactly the way scientists make connections between things they know and things theyre trying to figure outthey start by making guesses based on what they observe. There are no right or wrong answers. Assignments 1. Select a group of items you have already observed to examine more closely. Look at your lists of what some of these items made you think of. As you re-examine the items, jot down any further images that come to mind. Think creatively as you consider your comparisons. If you see even one resemblance to a particular thing, look for more similarities. Be open to what you see. Next, brainstorm (alone or with a parent or friend) to generate some ideas about what might be the reason and purpose of the particular forms you are seeing. Why would this particular pattern be important? Why might this exact design be best for the needs of this plant or in- sect? Why might this really be the best structure for a spider web? Jot down all the thoughts you come up with, no matter how silly or unrealistic they might seem. Dont toss out any ideas as too wildjust write everything down. 2.Once you have done some brainstorming, find a way to express the re- lationships you found between form and function. You might want to 66 Oak Meadow

35 Grade 4 Lesson 5 explain your thinking in paragraph form, or in a series of lists, or in an Science artistic way. Depending on how many ideas you wrote down when you (continued) were brainstorming, you may want to use all of them or just a few. Another useful way to present connections between different objects is by using a visual organizer such as a web (see the example). Write the name of an object in the central circle and then add a new circle for every connection you make. You can continue to add circles off of the new cir- cles as you come up with new connections. This is a great way to illustrate how certain forms and functions are repeated frequently throughout nature. 3.Choose one of the following projects to complete this week: a.Observe a flower bud with the loupe at 5x and 10x, over a period of several days. Draw it as a bud; draw it again several times as it progresses through its full bloom stage, and finally as it fades. Notice its subtle differences. b.Examine your own fingerprints. Draw one or two of them. Compare one of your prints with someone elses. Make a copy of your fingerprint by shading a small area of paper heavily with a pencil, rubbing your finger over the penciled area, and then putting clear tape over your finger. The fingerprint should adhere to the tape, and you can then stick the tape onto your paper. Use this as a model for enlarging your fingerprint. Draw it in several degrees of size, and then make a large painting, using lots of different colors. Your fingerprint is a unique creationthere is no other one like it! c.Complete a new series of fruit drawings, examining each cross section with the 5x and 10x magnification. Your new pictures will probably look a lot different from your earlier ones! d.Look at a flower with the loupe, and imagine that you are sliding down inside it. Or look at a patch of grass and imagine that you have become very small, and are in the middle of this lush grass jungle. What does it look like in there? What kinds of adventures might you have in this tiny world? Compose a short story and illustrate it. Oak Meadow 67

36 Lesson 5 Grade 4 Art Assignments 1. This week, look for examples of the surface law in works by professional artists books from your local library or online. Discuss with your parent ways in which the placement of objects in a painting or drawing affects how they appear to the viewerthings at the bottom of the page look closer. Look in magazines for examples of surface, and paste them into your sketchbook on a page labeled Surface Law. You will add examples of each surface law throughout the year, but feel free to add any examples of artwork that you particularly like. By adding to your book consistently, you can make yourself a valuable reference book, and at the same time, create familiarity with the laws of perspective and different artistic styles and techniques. 2.Make at least one more drawing using the surface law this week. Music Assignment Continue to review familiar pieces each week before working on new ma- terial. For Enrolled Students You will be sending the next batch of work to your Oak Meadow teacher at the end of lesson 8. Continue to use the weekly planner, assignment checklist, and learning assessment form to help you organize your lessons and track your students progress. Learning Assessment Use these assessment rubrics to track student progress throughout the year. Please remember that these skills continue to develop over time. Par- ents and teachers can use this space to make notes about the learning the student demonstrates or skills that need work. 68 Oak Meadow

37 Grade 4 Lesson 5 Learning Assessment Not Yet LANGUAGE ARTS Developing Consistent Notes Evident Demonstrates reading comprehension through related project Reads independently Reads aloud with confidence and expression Writes legibly in cursive Prints legibly Identifies nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs Differentiates between different types of adverbs Correctly uses nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in writing Corrects errors in capitalization and punctuation Alphabetizes a list of words Memorizes spelling words Read aloud Read by child, Read by child, LITERATURE Notes by adult in progress completed The Search for Delicious Free choice book: Free choice book: Free choice book: Score SPELLING TEST Notes #correct/total # 5 Oak Meadow 69

38 Lesson 5 Grade 4 Learning Assessment Not Yet SOCIAL STUDIES Developing Consistent Notes Evident Research skills: seeks information from multiple sources Research skills: extracts pertinent information from sources Research skills: demonstrates good note taking skills Research skills: records notes using organized system Identifies local animal species Identifies local tree species Not Yet SCIENCE Developing Consistent Notes Evident Identifies connection between form and function Demonstrates focused observational skills Describes observations in writing Records observations in detailed illustrations Shows ability to draw from varying perspectives Identifies geometric forms in nature Creates analogies related to natural shapes and patterns 70 Oak Meadow

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