Hi 4S, here's what we're currently working on and whats up ahead!!!
Reading:
This week the children read Non
Fiction books for our “Wow Week!” The
titles are brand new this year and included, “Extreme Places,” “Exploring
Volcanoes,” “Amazing Sharks,” and “The Sticky Secret of Gecko Toes.” To conclude the week, the children worked in
groups to work on a creative comprehension activity called “ABC Graffiti.” They had to come up with phrases that start
with each letter of the alphabet that describe their article. For example, if the article was on bats, they
could write for the letter U: Uses
echolocation to help navigate. It really
requires the children to work together, summarize, comprehend and write phrases
that pertain to their Non-Fiction book.
They shared their ABC Graffiti poster with the class and I’m putting
them up for display in our 4th grade hallway.
Next week we will begin our reading
flexible grouping. We will each focus on
three skills: QAR questioning (we did
this in 4S throughout our Extreme Sports Unit so they are familiar with this!),
keeping track of your thinking (interacting with the text---questioning,
connecting, predicting, reactions etc…the children will receive a guide to help
them organize their thoughts) and vocabulary.
I’m excited for our children to experience learning from Mr. Jewell and
Mrs. Fraser (if they don’t stay with me) and I know they are excited as
well. We’re looking forward to a great
first “switch!”
Math:
We are finishing up subtraction with
“ungrouping” this week. This is
basically the same as “regrouping.” The concept is the same; we just spend more
time explaining why we need to “ungroup” and what it means to write a 10 or a 9
above the top rows of numbers. Next week
we will focus on relating addition and subtraction, subtracting greater
numbers, and problem solving with greater numbers. We will have two days of
review before the Unit 1 test. We plan
on testing the week of 9/30. See your child’s
assignment notebook for the exact date as it gets closer. Unit 2 focuses on multiplication. We also started Fasttmath twice a week in the
computer lab. The other two days we will
be focusing on typing skills. We will
start this next week.
Science:
We are learning about the
similarities and differences between plant and animal cells. Next week we will each make a cell using a
Ziploc Bag, hair gel, and beans! Chapter 1 focuses on the classification of
living things.
Social Studies:
We are currently learning about
locating places on the map using latitude and longitude. Next week we will review landforms and make
our dough island. This is one of the children’s favorite activities of 4th
grade! A recipe will be sent home this Friday so your child can bring in dough
the following Thursday 9/26 for their group’s island. Please refer to the
letter on Friday for details.
We are also reading books and
watching United Streaming Videos about the Revolutionary War for background
knowledge. In a little over a week we
will start our very first research project about the Revolutionary War. Each student will be responsible for
researching a “famous” Revolutionary War man or woman. They will create a power
point presentation, write a speech which they will give to our class, and from
that speech write an expository paper about their person. It will be a big project, but one that we are
excited about starting. I know the kids
are excited about learning about the Revolutionary War just from the read
alouds and short videos, and they are definitely excited about putting together
a power point presentation!
Writing:
The children came up with interview
questions and have interviewed another student in our classroom. This week they will work on developing a main
idea for their paper and three general categories which fit their person (based
off of their interview answers.) We will
be putting our main ideas and details into a graphic organizer and using that
graphic organizer to help develop a five paragraph paper including an
introduction paragraph, three body paragraphs and a conclusion paragraph. Writing ahead will include persuasive,
narrative and poetry.
Thank you for your Run-A-Thon
donations! The children did a wonderful
job today! Tons of effort!J
Please send in your $9.00 (cash only)
for the subscription to National Geographic and for your child’s assignment
notebook if you haven’t already. The due
date isn’t until 9/30.
Thank you,
Mrs. Schroeder
