Classroom News
Classroom News
1/9
My goodness, time has flown so much that I just realized I missed December's update! In December, we worked so hard on our Christmas gifts to each other (our book of letters), as well as comparing different holiday books, learning about story elements, and finally writing our own Christmas story. In Social Studies we had moved on to the Midwest, and learned about Great Plains states. Students made new flags for these states, and started writing a pretend letter to the governor asking him or her to change the flag to the newly created one. We are finishing up these letters this week.
11/16
November has been a wonderful month, and we have much to be thankful for! In Language Arts, we've worked on finding story elements such as setting, character, and plot. We also worked on distinguishing between fact and opinion. Before Veterans Day, students wrote letters to veterans to thank them for their service. If a student had a vet in their family, they were able to give that particular person the letter; otherwise I took their letter to the American Legion to be distributed to veterans. I must say, the students did an AWESOME job with this: they took the assignment to heart, and it showed in what they produced. In Social Studies, we finished up the Mid Atlantic states, which ended our work with the Northeast. Last week, students created a new state quarter for their assigned Southeastern state; they have received SO MANY compliments on their work. We are going to compare the Northeast and Southeast regions, then get to work on our Great Lakes states! We have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving; I hope you and yours have a blessed break!
10/10
What a month we've had! 4th grade has been busy here at school. In Language Arts, we've focused on character traits for some time. We've learned what character traits are, some great descriptive words we can use for them, and how to prove that a character's thoughts, words, and actions can show their traits (text based evidence). We've also written some stories based on character traits as well. Next we are going to look at story elements and write explanatory pieces (ask your kids how to tie shoes - that was our introduction to explanatory writing!). In Social Studies, we learned all about our New England states, made posters of them, and today did a scavenger hunt to find info on the posters. We will use that information tomorrow to begin to compare and contrast the states, and find out what characteristics define the New England region. As you can see, they've been working hard!
9/15
What a beginning to the school year! I have had the pleasure of getting to know all of the fourth graders, and seeing what bright, kind, creative, and confident young ladies and gentlemen I get to work with this year. I'm looking forward to a great year! So far in Language Arts, we have read a mystery, discussed the different components of that genre, worked with vocabulary from that story in several ways, both using context clues and a glossary to discover meanings, as well as worked with our spelling words. We also are writing an all about me informational paragraph while going through the entire writing process. Next week, when we were able to schedule computer lab time, we will type our final copies! In Social Studies, we have worked with various types of maps, learned how to read and use an atlas, and are working on latitude and longitude. We will soon begin learning about the different types of landforms and bodies of water, so we know what they are as we discover them in different regions of the country. I hope to see you all at Back to School night this evening to discuss other things your children will learn this year!
1/9
My goodness, time has flown so much that I just realized I missed December's update! In December, we worked so hard on our Christmas gifts to each other (our book of letters), as well as comparing different holiday books, learning about story elements, and finally writing our own Christmas story. In Social Studies we had moved on to the Midwest, and learned about Great Plains states. Students made new flags for these states, and started writing a pretend letter to the governor asking him or her to change the flag to the newly created one. We are finishing up these letters this week.
11/16
November has been a wonderful month, and we have much to be thankful for! In Language Arts, we've worked on finding story elements such as setting, character, and plot. We also worked on distinguishing between fact and opinion. Before Veterans Day, students wrote letters to veterans to thank them for their service. If a student had a vet in their family, they were able to give that particular person the letter; otherwise I took their letter to the American Legion to be distributed to veterans. I must say, the students did an AWESOME job with this: they took the assignment to heart, and it showed in what they produced. In Social Studies, we finished up the Mid Atlantic states, which ended our work with the Northeast. Last week, students created a new state quarter for their assigned Southeastern state; they have received SO MANY compliments on their work. We are going to compare the Northeast and Southeast regions, then get to work on our Great Lakes states! We have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving; I hope you and yours have a blessed break!
10/10
What a month we've had! 4th grade has been busy here at school. In Language Arts, we've focused on character traits for some time. We've learned what character traits are, some great descriptive words we can use for them, and how to prove that a character's thoughts, words, and actions can show their traits (text based evidence). We've also written some stories based on character traits as well. Next we are going to look at story elements and write explanatory pieces (ask your kids how to tie shoes - that was our introduction to explanatory writing!). In Social Studies, we learned all about our New England states, made posters of them, and today did a scavenger hunt to find info on the posters. We will use that information tomorrow to begin to compare and contrast the states, and find out what characteristics define the New England region. As you can see, they've been working hard!
9/15
What a beginning to the school year! I have had the pleasure of getting to know all of the fourth graders, and seeing what bright, kind, creative, and confident young ladies and gentlemen I get to work with this year. I'm looking forward to a great year! So far in Language Arts, we have read a mystery, discussed the different components of that genre, worked with vocabulary from that story in several ways, both using context clues and a glossary to discover meanings, as well as worked with our spelling words. We also are writing an all about me informational paragraph while going through the entire writing process. Next week, when we were able to schedule computer lab time, we will type our final copies! In Social Studies, we have worked with various types of maps, learned how to read and use an atlas, and are working on latitude and longitude. We will soon begin learning about the different types of landforms and bodies of water, so we know what they are as we discover them in different regions of the country. I hope to see you all at Back to School night this evening to discuss other things your children will learn this year!