Week of September 15

Wow! We survived our first full week! The students have been working hard and wowing me with what they are capable of.

This week in Reading Workshop we have continued to work on finding books that are “Just Right,” reading intensely, finding the flow of the book and putting ourselves in the main characters shoes. Reading the story as if we are the main character and visualizing what is happening by making movies in our minds. Children took turns acting out the ‘bus’ scene from our class read aloud, “The Tiger Rising.” Ask your child about that scene.

In Math we have just finished our first topic. In Topic 1 students worked with numbers through millions. We compared numbers, rounded numbers, wrote numbers using expanded and word form and worked with place value. Students took their Topic 1 test on Friday. In 4th grade we have a 3 day test cycle, on day 1 students take an online practice test (if they score 85% or higher they are excused from the “real” test). On the 2nd day, we review each type of problem on the test as a whole class, then students receive review pages (paper) to work on to review the skills that are tested. Students are also pulled into small groups to reteach skills that they struggled with. On the third day we take the ‘real’ test. Those that are not taking the real test do math enrichment activities.

In Writing Workshop this week we thought up ideas for realistic fiction stories that we could write. Students spent 2 sessions generating ideas for stories that they could write. Then students selected one idea that they wanted to write about. Students needed to make sure that their story had a problem in it. Students then spent time developing their main character by thinking about what the character looks like, acts like, how other people treat/see the character and thinking about what internal traits fit the character (shy, funny, loyal). Last, we started to write our ‘problem scene.’ Students focused on “showing not telling” the problem. Next week we will be using a story arc to write our stories scene by scene. Our child also began writing his/her own weekly blog! You can read your child’s blog weekly at Kid Blog

 

In Science we have continued to learn about what makes day and night (the rotation of the earth), and what causes the phases of the moon (the moon orbiting the earth). We also created a Venn diagram to compare similarities and differences between the earth, moon and sun. Next week we will be using our Venn to write a paragraph comparing the earth moon and sun.

Enjoy this last fabulous weekend of summer! Maybe I will see you at the Irish Music Fest!

Also, if your child participates in a sport, I would love to have you send me a game schedule so that I can come watch a game or two. Thank you!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *