Thank you for your support as I delve deeper into the possibilities that technology offers for me as an educator and your children in the classroom. I was ready to abandon this goal a few times this week, realizing that this could be the thing that drains my patience, but after a few deep breaths and a check on the excitement level in 4M, I was back on board! So, thank you for your patience because I know mine was tested by Kidblog, xtramath, my new desktop computer, and a few iPads this week. ** Question below
Last week I brought piles and piles of high-interest non-fiction books up to our room from the library. We spent Friday morning spread out on the floor and at tables, surrounded by books, on a hunt for all the ways that publishers arrange information on a page to grab the reader's attention. We found text boxes, diagrams, close-ups, maps, headings, photos, captions and more. It's amazing how these features can let a reader know, "This is important!" This week, students used the iPads and the app, Book Creator, to design a page with at least three text and image features about themselves. They made decisions about how to bring attention to important information, using images, text, color and fonts.
I also introduced the beginning of our biography research project. Each student selected a biography to read and then used our "Read, Stop, Think" strategy to read a section and then think about what it was mostly about. Students wrote these "big ideas" on post-it notes and then transferred them to a note-taking sheet. We will continue to read and take notes in school next week and then will write a 5-paragraph essay in the following weeks. Because this is their first research project and it is early in the school year, students will complete the written part of this project entirely in school. The project culminates in a "Living History Museum" when the students will dress up as the person they researched, prepare questions and answers for an audience and make a poster. These last components will be homework that will be assigned in November. More details will follow as we move forward with the note-taking and writing.
Unit 3 in Everyday Math is about multiplication. Students cut out new multiplication triangles with the 2- 12 facts. They should use xtramath twice a week and these triangles to practice. I am looking for accuracy and automaticity (recalling the fact quickly). It is important for all students to know these facts as we learn multi-digit multiplication and long division.
We spent time each day this week discussing plans for the Island Project. This is their first long-term project and it can't be completed in a day. I hope that they have come to you to discuss each part of the project and how they are scheduling their time.
The Wisconsin Fast Plants are pollinated and there have been some changes in how they look... Curious? Ask your 4th grader!
Ask your 4th grader!
**Are you able to access the Googledoc using the button at the top of this page to sign up for math games? Is it complicated to use? Please leave a comment below.
Hope to see you at the Foster Fall Fair on Saturday!
Last week I brought piles and piles of high-interest non-fiction books up to our room from the library. We spent Friday morning spread out on the floor and at tables, surrounded by books, on a hunt for all the ways that publishers arrange information on a page to grab the reader's attention. We found text boxes, diagrams, close-ups, maps, headings, photos, captions and more. It's amazing how these features can let a reader know, "This is important!" This week, students used the iPads and the app, Book Creator, to design a page with at least three text and image features about themselves. They made decisions about how to bring attention to important information, using images, text, color and fonts.
I also introduced the beginning of our biography research project. Each student selected a biography to read and then used our "Read, Stop, Think" strategy to read a section and then think about what it was mostly about. Students wrote these "big ideas" on post-it notes and then transferred them to a note-taking sheet. We will continue to read and take notes in school next week and then will write a 5-paragraph essay in the following weeks. Because this is their first research project and it is early in the school year, students will complete the written part of this project entirely in school. The project culminates in a "Living History Museum" when the students will dress up as the person they researched, prepare questions and answers for an audience and make a poster. These last components will be homework that will be assigned in November. More details will follow as we move forward with the note-taking and writing.
Unit 3 in Everyday Math is about multiplication. Students cut out new multiplication triangles with the 2- 12 facts. They should use xtramath twice a week and these triangles to practice. I am looking for accuracy and automaticity (recalling the fact quickly). It is important for all students to know these facts as we learn multi-digit multiplication and long division.
We spent time each day this week discussing plans for the Island Project. This is their first long-term project and it can't be completed in a day. I hope that they have come to you to discuss each part of the project and how they are scheduling their time.
The Wisconsin Fast Plants are pollinated and there have been some changes in how they look... Curious? Ask your 4th grader!
Ask your 4th grader!
- Who are you researching for the biography project?
- What happens after a plant is pollinated?
- What do you still need to complete for the Island Project?
- What is the difference between a factor and a multiple?
**Are you able to access the Googledoc using the button at the top of this page to sign up for math games? Is it complicated to use? Please leave a comment below.
Hope to see you at the Foster Fall Fair on Saturday!