Reading During Readers Workshop fourth graders have been diving into nonfiction. They’re collaborative work includes using Close Reading Strategies; examining structure and text evidence, analyzing word choice, and synthesizing information across texts. Writing In writing our 4th graders enjoyed an Ice Cream Publishing Party to celebrate their personal opinion publications. They used an app called Buncee on IPADS to create presentations of their five paragraph essays. They were super proud to share their hard work with their classmates as they enjoyed ice cream sundaes. We will now move on to “Literary Essays” in opinion writing. The focus on this opinion unit will shift from personal opinions to the opinions the students have about literary characters. They will continue to develop their elaboration and craft as they provide evidence from the text. They will also continue to use their “Revision” glasses as they become expert editors! Science & Social Studies This month, we started our study of the regions of the United States. We learned all about the Northeast states. In science, every student organized and conducted an experiment for their classmates. We had a great time watching all of the cool demonstrations! Math Fourth graders have been exploring place value strategies to multiply and divide with larger numbers. Their collaborative work has given them opportunities to view partial products in several ways. Conversations about our ability to be flexible thinkers has helped us find models that make sense to us as individuals and notice that there is always more than one way to examine a situation! We continue to use our Close Reading Strategies to interpret story problems.
OCTOBER 2017
Students have begun Writers Workshop once again and they sure are experts at the workshop model! September was a busy month as we reviewed expectations and routines. We began by having an author ceremony as students received their 4th grade writing journals. They began writing personal narratives from their summer experiences. We are currently working on “The Arc of the Story”, as they have begun drafting a realistic fiction piece. Students have enjoyed creating new characters and story arcs as they have planned their story. They are excitedly waiting to begin the publishing process of their writing using the computers and google classroom. This month we focused on a map skills review during social studies. Current events lead our discussion about natural disasters in science. We learned all about hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and volcanoes. We completed two engineering challenges too. During the first days of school, we designed and tested rollercoasters. We ended the month creating earthquake proof buildings. As Fourth Grade Mathematicians, students have been developing their place value skills. Addition and subtraction with regrouping, relationships between operations have been the major area of focus. They are collaborating; thinking, talking, and modeling their strategies. Students are engaged, reflecting on their Mathematical Practices. Students can be seen self-selecting and using tools, and solving problems without giving up. Fourth graders are loving reading and discussing characters in their books. Our first unit includes developing theories about characters and supporting our ideas with specific, relevant text evidence. WOW! Our students are enthusiastic learners!
September 2017
Students have begun Writers Workshop once again and they sure are experts at the workshop model! September was a busy month as we reviewed expectations and routines. We began by having an author ceremony as students received their 4th grade writing journals. They began writing personal narratives from their summer experiences. We are currently working on “The Arc of the Story”, as they have begun drafting a realistic fiction piece. Students have enjoyed creating new characters and story arcs as they have planned their story. They are excitedly waiting to begin the publishing process of their writing using the computers and google classroom. This month we focused on a map skills review during social studies. Current events lead our discussion about natural disasters in science. We learned all about hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and volcanoes. We completed two engineering challenges too. During the first days of school, we designed and tested rollercoasters. We ended the month creating earthquake proof buildings. As Fourth Grade Mathematicians, students have been developing their place value skills. Addition and subtraction with regrouping, relationships between operations have been the major area of focus. They are collaborating; thinking, talking, and modeling their strategies. Students are engaged, reflecting on their Mathematical Practices. Students can be seen self-selecting and using tools, and solving problems without giving up. Fourth graders are loving reading and discussing characters in their books. Our first unit includes developing theories about characters and supporting our ideas with specific, relevant text evidence. WOW! Our students are enthusiastic learners!