Phew! We survived Friday the 13th with a full moon! I’m not sure what I expected to happen, but it didn’t, and everyone went home happy today!
This week we started our first novel, Shiloh by Phyllis Naylor Reynolds. This is a required 4th grade novel and a wonderful (and sometimes sad) story about a boy and a dog. Students read, took notes about assigned discussion questions and met with their book groups to discuss and share their thoughts. The discussions were so animated and insightful! Everyone had something to share and they all did a wonderful job contributing to the conversation. For these discussions, I try to just be an observer and take notes about their thinking skills and social skills in a group conversation. For their first official book meeting, they demonstrated good listening skills, piggy-backed on each others’ ideas and (mostly) stayed on topic. They also learned about point of view and retold a scene from the story from a different character’s point of view. They incorporated the dialect of the Appalachian region and invented thoughts and feeling those characters might have. We will continue to read this book over the next few weeks.
In writing, the students started a new narrative piece. We reviewed the parts of the narrative and then they brainstormed ideas about having an adventure on a magical sled. After planning their story on a graphic organizer, they are going to type their first draft and revise and edit on the Chromebooks. This will give them an opportunity to practice producing a whole story on the computer, as they will be expected to do for state testing in the spring.
In math, everyone now has two methods of multiplying in their “backpocket.” They have practiced partitioning rectangles and the partial-product algorithm. We will continue to practice the partial-products method and I will introduce the traditional method (the one parents all know!) later in the year. After being introduced to a few different approaches, they will be able to select one and master it. Everyone should be practicing or reviewing their multiplication facts through the 12’s. Thank you to Adrianna’s mom and Abigail’s mom for helping with math games today!
In social studies, we will continue to study the southeast region next week and then will move on to a study of energy in science.
Ask a Fourth Grader
* What is Marty’s big problem in the book, Shiloh?
* How did you do in your book group discussion?
* How many grams are equal to 3.5 kilograms?
* What adventure on a magical sled are you going to write about?
* Who are a few of your new Clock Buddies that you will work with in the classroom?
This week we started our first novel, Shiloh by Phyllis Naylor Reynolds. This is a required 4th grade novel and a wonderful (and sometimes sad) story about a boy and a dog. Students read, took notes about assigned discussion questions and met with their book groups to discuss and share their thoughts. The discussions were so animated and insightful! Everyone had something to share and they all did a wonderful job contributing to the conversation. For these discussions, I try to just be an observer and take notes about their thinking skills and social skills in a group conversation. For their first official book meeting, they demonstrated good listening skills, piggy-backed on each others’ ideas and (mostly) stayed on topic. They also learned about point of view and retold a scene from the story from a different character’s point of view. They incorporated the dialect of the Appalachian region and invented thoughts and feeling those characters might have. We will continue to read this book over the next few weeks.
In writing, the students started a new narrative piece. We reviewed the parts of the narrative and then they brainstormed ideas about having an adventure on a magical sled. After planning their story on a graphic organizer, they are going to type their first draft and revise and edit on the Chromebooks. This will give them an opportunity to practice producing a whole story on the computer, as they will be expected to do for state testing in the spring.
In math, everyone now has two methods of multiplying in their “backpocket.” They have practiced partitioning rectangles and the partial-product algorithm. We will continue to practice the partial-products method and I will introduce the traditional method (the one parents all know!) later in the year. After being introduced to a few different approaches, they will be able to select one and master it. Everyone should be practicing or reviewing their multiplication facts through the 12’s. Thank you to Adrianna’s mom and Abigail’s mom for helping with math games today!
In social studies, we will continue to study the southeast region next week and then will move on to a study of energy in science.
Ask a Fourth Grader
* What is Marty’s big problem in the book, Shiloh?
* How did you do in your book group discussion?
* How many grams are equal to 3.5 kilograms?
* What adventure on a magical sled are you going to write about?
* Who are a few of your new Clock Buddies that you will work with in the classroom?