Literacy News
During Reader’s Workshop the students did a lot to prepare themselves for a successful year! We learned how to set goals for ourselves as readers. We also learned how to take books out of our classroom library and how to use a fourth grade reading log. The students were assigned their reading buddies and practiced retelling and synthesizingtheirstories to one another. Finally, we began our class read aloud, The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo. We practiced making a movie in our minds as we listened to some of Rob’s adventures.
In Writer’s Workshop we began the school year reviewing personal narratives. We learned that we can get ideas for our stories from thinking about special people in our lives or strong emotions we have felt. We learned how to write long and strong by eliminating our distractions, setting a personal goal and making a movie in our minds before we begin to write. Lastly, we learned that strong personal narratives zoom into the most important part of the story and include lots of details such as actions, dialogue, thoughts, feelings and images.
Science
We have begun our study of weather. Students worked with their classmates to prove that air exists. They learned that air cannot be seen, but we can observe the effect that air has on the objects around us. Students trapped air in a plastic bag and blew paper across the table. They read the book Nothing But Air to confirm their hypothesis that air DOESexist!
Mathematics
In Math weare learning about place value and estimation. The students practiced reading and writing numbers in standard, expanded and word form. We discussed how to find the value of a digit depending on which place it is in a number. The students learned how to use rounding and front end estimation to check their addition and subtraction problems to determine if their answers were reasonable.
Throughout the year the students will work to master their multiplication and division facts for accuracy and speed of recall. Please remind your child to sign into Xtramath.org each night to practice these skills as part of their nightly homework routine.
Responsive Classroom/Other
Our morning meetings are off to a successful start. The children began sharing and came very well prepared. We have learned several new games and have become quite adept at greeting our neighbors with a friendly handshake and good eye contact.
We had the opportunity to read several picture books the first few weeks of school. The class enjoyedFirst Day Jitters, How Full is Your Bucket?.Thank you Mr. Falker and The Man Who Walked Between the Towers.
Thank you to those of you who were able to join me at Back to School Night. It was a pleasure meeting you all. If you ever have any questions, please feel free to email, call or write me a note!The children have all worked hard! I am veryproud of their efforts! Have a great weekend!