Literacy - We finished our read aloud story, Loser, and detailed the six literary elements of the novel. Students worked together in small reading groups to read and put together presentations on various novels. Students will present their Reader's Workshop skits about each novel in the coming weeks.
Writing - We began our informational writing unit, with a short piece on the Australian Wallaby. After understanding format, students were tasked with choosing their own informational research topic to write about for their next piece. Student's have been using the computer lab and other books as resources to build a longer informational writing piece about their topic. They are also creating a google slide presentation to present their topic to the class. Math - We continued our next unit and have only a few more standards left in the school year! We are still focusing on fractions, including multiplying fractions by other fractions, as well as whole numbers. We discussed angles and rotations and have been prepping for our Math SBAC exam in May. Science - We continued working through our Electricity and Magnetism unit and ran a few experiments in class (check our photos page!). We also have been spending some time getting 4th graders used to the type of questions that will appear on the NECAP science test in coming weeks. MicroSociety - New representatives and senators have been voted in and Marketplace continues to buzz with new projects and products for customers to enjoy!
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Literacy - 4th graders spent the last few weeks working on their individual biography reports. There were a few components to this project, which culminated in an oral presentation of a slideshow detailing their person. 4th graders are working on pulling information from the text and this was a great way to show progress in that skill. Speaking and listening skills were also on display during presentations. Finally, each student prepared a slideshow using Google Slides and their technical skills are progressing nicely. Students are now able to insert photos, videos, and transitions to their slides, furthering their development of 21st century skills.
Writing - We finished our opinion unit, with a final writing piece demonstrating 4th graders' ability to organize writing into 5 coherent paragraphs, including a proper introduction, 3 paragraphs with details and examples, and a conclusion. Our final writing unit has an emphasis on informational writing, beginning with a short research project about wallaby's, and ending with a research project of their choice. Math - We began our next Unit in math, and have been studying fractions of a whole. We continue to do fact fluency tests, and students have made tremendous progress since the beginning of the year. We will be moving onto creating line plots with fractions, continue work on 2x2 multiplication, quotients with remainders, and further develop our word problem decoding strategies. Science - We introduced our next unit in Physical Science, Electricity! This unit will be broken into two pieces as we have state-wide Science testing (NECAP) beginning on Monday, April 17th. We will review common problems found on the standardized test and will practice doing some experiments from previous NECAP years. This class has a strong interest in Science and I am excited to see how they do! MicroSociety - Marketplace is off this week, enabling ventures to catch up on some paperwork and to plan for the upcoming Micro Day! This exciting event invites parents to come into MACS and explore Marketplace for the day. Real money can be exchanged for Micro dollars and parents can buy produced goods from students, catch a movie in Kindergarten, or try one of the STEM experiments! Literacy - We continued our new novel unit study, Maniac Magee. We also finished middle of the year reading assessments and many students are making positive gains. We continue to supplement our daily independent reading with comprehension strategies practice. We learned about figurative language (similes and metaphors) and will continue through idioms this week.
Writing - We continue to work on weekly spelling. We finished our letters to Mrs. Bottomley and had them printed and signed. We watched a student debate take place and set up our 2nd in-class debate. During our second debate, students were able to choose from 12 available opinion prompts and everyone got to pick a side. They were then paired up and got to work gathering information to help them win their argument. Student's began debating last week and have been doing a tremendous job. The focus has been to offer a strong introduction to outline your reasons, explain your reasons with examples, and to finish strong! More debates to come this week. This is an excellent exercise in gathering information, organizing a writing piece, and taking a shot at public speaking! Math - We continue through Unit 4 and have been focusing on 2x2 multiplication, area and perimeter of irregular shapes, and we introduced long division! Many students are finding division not nearly as scary as they expected. All of our work to strengthen our multiplication skills has really paid off during our division work. We created a 4TH GRADE ROCKS 'N' ROLLS sign with each student assigned a letter to draw on a graph paper, figure out the area and perimeter, and we will hang up the finished piece during the upcoming week. Stay tuned! Science - Our continued our next Unit, Earth Movements! We had a scavenger hunt, set up fortune tellers, and even had a snowball fight! (Check out the photo's tab for more). We designed new ways to save our houses from landslides and will look to finish this unit within the next 1-2 weeks. We will then move on to Magnetism (while sneaking in some prep work for upcoming NECAP testing). We continue to learn about the rock cycle and will focus on classifying and identifying the three types of rocks in the upcoming weeks. MicroSociety - Students are hard at work during Micro and are enjoying their free time during Marketplace. Ask your child what they like best during Micro? Are they happy in their job? How do they think they could improve their workday? Mr. Clermont's class welcomed two new students, Music DeBow and Aiden St. Laurent! Welcome to MicroSociety!
Literacy - We began our new novel unit study, Maniac Magee. We also began middle of the year reading assessments. This data will help inform decisions as to which group students will attend during our WIN (What I Need) time. Students were introduced to daily reading trackers that focus on applying comprehension strategies (Summarize, Predict, Evaluate, Question, Connect, and Visualize) to their independent reading block during literacy. Writing - We continue to work on weekly spelling. We kicked off our Opinion Writing unit with our first class debate! The first debate focused around this central issue: "Should children be allowed to eat candy?" Students were split into two teams and each created convincing arguments. They were then tasked with caucusing and choosing a representative to offer final statements. We started writing our letters to Mrs. Bottomley stating how students deserve more recess time! Will their arguments be convincing enough? We will continue to work on formatting opinions and practicing debate skills throughout the unit. Math - We finished Unit 3 and began Unit 4 upon returning from break. We are focusing on 2x2 multiplication and students are making great progress. We are practicing different multiplication strategies to find what works best for each student. We practiced converting metric units and turned old favorite card games into math games! Science - Our continued our next Unit, Earth Movements! We started a new extension curriculum program called Mystery Science and began learning about volcano's, different lava types, and natural disasters. We continue to learn about the rock cycle and will focus on classifying and identifying the three types of rocks in the upcoming weeks. MicroSociety - Students are hard at work during Micro and are enjoying their free time during Marketplace. Ask your child what they like best during Micro? Are they happy in their job? How do they think they could improve their workday? Please note class newsletters will now be posted bi-weekly
Literacy - We finished our read aloud book, The Lemonade War, and discussed how to identify story elements (plot, characters, theme, setting). Students were tasked with using Google Drawing to illustrate a pivotal scene from the novel that had an impact on the overall plot. We began studying figurative language, discussing idioms, similes, metaphors, and how to appropriately use this language to spruce up our writing. Students made personal simile posters in which they developed their own simile to fit their personality. Check out photos page soon for completed posters...! Writing - We continue to work on weekly spelling. We began our next unit on opinion writing, with each student tasked with writing a convincing 5 paragraph essay on why their favorite holiday is the best. We are practicing using exciting hooks for introductions, outlining at least 3 reasons for their choice, and using details to validate their reasons. Knowing when to start a new paragraph has been a challenge in writing, but we are making progress! Math - We continued doing our daily math fact fluency drills and move through the 3rd unit in our math book. We have been focused on equivalent fractions, placing fractions on a number line, comparing fractions, converting base-ten fractions into decimals, decimal place value, and more! We are really hitting a stride in math class and continue to challenge each other with higher level skills. Science - Our continued our next Unit, Earth Movements! We presented our landform slideshows and moved onto our Unit 2 vocabulary terms. We have been learning about plate tectonics and the constant state of change in the Earth. Students loved to see how the continents fit together like puzzle pieces and how the inner workings of the Earth move plates around the earth, smashing together to make mountains or deep ocean trenches. We will get into the rock cycle and different types of rocks (igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic) as the unit continues. MicroSociety - Businesses are booming! Marketplace has been open for all students to spend their hard-earned MicroBucks. We had a new election cycle for President and Vice President of MicroCity. The primaries are over, and the general election will happen Friday, Dec 16th. Check back soon to find out who was voted our new President and Vice President 4th grade hopes all families had a nice and relaxing Thanksgiving break! The Clermont family had an exciting break, as our new son, Jett, came into the world on November 26th!
Literacy - We began a new read aloud book, The Lemonade War. We continue to discuss important elements of literacy and making connections throughout the novel. Students each were assigned individual book reports on chapter books either at or above their grade level. We practiced identifying common themes in short stories and had our first Reader's Theater workshop! Book reports will be finished by Dec 2nd (grades close!) and we did some comprehension and fluency work in our literacy binders. Writing - We continue to work on weekly spelling. We are trying to ditch boring words in our writing and developed an "other ways to say 'said'" to help spruce up our dialogue. We also established rules for using dialogue to help 4th graders use correct punctuation while writing. We will continue to work on writing mechanics, including using a variety of transition words and powerful word choices. We are finishing up our Narrative Unit with one final writing piece before we move onto opinion writing! Math - We continued doing our daily math fact fluency drills. We began Unit 3 in which we introduced identifying equivalent fractions. We prepared a fractions card game to help practice. We also devised ways to label fractions on a number line, add and subtract fractions with like denominators, and compare fractions with like and unlike denominators. As you can see, Unit 3 is all about fractions! We will spend a significant amount of time practicing this important, but sometimes difficult, math skill. Science - Our continued our next Unit, Earth Movements! We finished our collaborative Google Slides presentations about landforms of the Earth. Students worked simultaneously (in groups of 3) to prepare a Google Slides presentation about their landforms. We will be moving on to cover plate tectonics, natural disasters, and more! MicroSociety - We had our first marketplace on November 29th! What a success! Micro Citizens reported to work, or if it was their day off, they were free to roam the marketplace and spend their hard-earned Micro Bucks at all the various ventures! Literacy - We completed a book vs movie comparison of our novel unit study title, The Indian in the Cupboard. We began our individual Chapter Book Reports and a new read aloud book, titled, The Lemonade War. We started work on identifying themes in stories, and began a Reader's Theater workshop!
Writing - We continue to work on weekly spelling. We are finishing up our timeline pieces and practicing some new writing strategies. Students have been tasked with adding dialogue to stories as well as using new leads to introduce their stories. There are several strategies we focused on to help "Hook the Reader" like adding a question, a quote, or jumping right into the action! Math - We continued doing our daily math fact fluency drills. We finished Unit 2 and I was happy to see outstanding progress for many 4th graders! We began Unit 3 with a focus on creating equivalent fractions and putting fractions on a number line. We prepared a fractions match game which we will try out next week. Science - Our continued our next Unit, Earth Movements! We finished our Google Drawings of the inner layers of the Earth and introduced the next chapter about landmarks. Students were then assigned a landmark (mountain, plateaus, etc) and worked in groups of 3 on a collaborative Google Slides presentation to "teach" the rest of the students about their landmark. Technology and collaboration - huge 21st century skills! MicroSociety - Business licenses and bank loans have been handed in. Ventures and agencies have been meeting to prepare for our first Marketplace on November 29th Literacy - We finished our group novel study of The Indian in the Cupboard. The students loved our novel unit study! We will finish the study with a novel and movie comparison on Monday, when our hard work will be rewarded with a showing of The Indian in the Cupboard movie! Students will compare and contrast the settings, characters, and plot between the movie and novel. We will begin reading groups shortly. We continue our daily independent reading.
Writing - We continue to work on weekly spelling. We completed our "Which Witch is Which?" descriptive writing project. The students loved the guessing game we played on Halloween. We then created timelines of our lives from which we chose a topic to be the basis of our next narrative piece. Now that students have individualized writing goals, I will look to see how they incorporate these goals into their timeline writing piece. Math - We continued doing our daily math fact fluency drills. We discussed classifying angles by their properties into right, acute, and obtuse categories. We then expanded that knowledge by moving into classifying quadrilateral shapes. We played a few classification games to help reinforce knowledge of the various properties. Finally, we ended the week moving into line and shape symmetry. Science - Our began our next Unit, Earth Movements! We began by discussing what know about the planet, and what are some curiosities we had about planet Earth. We discussed how Earth used to be one large land mass and plate tectonics moved the continents around. We started to dissect Earth's layers and began using a new tool in our Google kit, called Google Drawings, to make an illustration of the layers of the Earth. MicroSociety - Report to work! All ventures are staffed and began meeting during MicroSociety time to create schedules for employees, develop mission statements, and begin to list materials needed for a successful venture. Employees will meet with their ventures for about 2 more weeks to prepare before marketplace opens! Literacy - We continued our group novel study of The Indian in the Cupboard. This activity will wrap up next week. Along the way we have been learning and discussing several elements of a story, as well as making predictions and connections throughout the text. We have been learning proper ways to "turn the question around" in order to write in complete sentences. After this novel study, we will look to set up centers during literacy for a more focused practice of individual skills. We continue our daily independent reading.
Writing - We continue to work on weekly spelling. We began our "Which Witch is Which?" descriptive writing project. Students were to privately color in a drawing of a witch, and then write a short descriptive piece detailing their witch. All 22 witches will be displayed anonymously on the board on Halloween, and each student will read their description while the remaining students try and guess which witch is which! Math - We continued doing our daily math fact fluency drills. We discussed conversions of time from seconds to minutes to hours and focused on difficult word problems involving time. This is a tough skill! We will continue to work on it as not every 4th grader has shown mastery. We also began multiplicative comparisons and students loved creating word problems involving themselves and others. Science - Our first Unit was finished, and we spent the week reviewing some key ideas and terms in order to have a successful assessment on Friday. We worked individually, in pairs, and in small groups to prepare. Assessments were completed on Friday, and we will look to begin our next unit on rocks and minerals next week! MicroSociety - Job fair! All MicroCity students attended and interviewed for available positions. All students are required to work, and many were able to land jobs at their preferred ventures. Ventures will meet with their employees next week to set up for our Marketplace opening! Literacy - We continued our group novel study of The Indian in the Cupboard. We did some character work discussing the evolution of our main character, Omri. We discussed what events triggered the character changes and why author's include conflicts and resolutions in stories. This helps 4th graders decipher story elements and gives them some helpful clues into their own writing. We continue our daily independent reading.
Writing - We continue to work on weekly spelling. We had 1 on 1 conferences to review our first narrative writing piece, "One Day This Summer..." I used this first writing piece to help get an understanding of their skill level at the beginning of 4th. I was able to use this piece to set 3 goals for each individual student for them to work on for the remainder of the writing unit. Most goals had a focus of breaking writing into paragraphs, trying to add dialogue to stories, and using powerful words to craft introductions and conclusions. We will look to practice these skills to help further their writing progress. Math - We continued doing our daily math fact fluency drills. We had our monthly fact fluency test in which students are given 1 minute to solve 20 multiplication problems. We last did this on 9/19 and the students wrote down how many they were able to solve correctly in one minute. One month later, after daily practice, we re-tested. WOW! Such amazing progress from so many students! They were so excited to show off how many more correct they were able to get, which reinforced the concept that practice makes...better! We moved onto differentiating between factors and multiples, we practiced some time conversations, and had a few small math assessment check-ins to get an understanding of their mastery of these standards. Science - We continued our lesson on microorganisms with a focus on the "Tardigrade." This amazing microorganism is the only known species on Earth that can survive the vacuum of space. This sparked conversation about where they came from? It is speculated that, because they have no biological link to other species, tardigrades may have come from an asteroid! A true alien on Earth! We will look to peer into some microscopes next week and have an assessment to finish up the Unit. MicroSociety - Students who passed the Management 101 assessment were able to apply for positions at available ventures. These mangers met with facilitators at the end of the week to set up a job fair "help wanted" board for next week. At the job fair next week, unemployed students will have an opportunity to apply to work at any of the available ventures. We will then start job training. Marketplace will be opening soon! ** We had a bit of a harder 7th week of school. Some behavior issues interrupted our flow. We had to regroup, reset, and start over. Talk to your child about what they think could affect our ability to focus as a group. Is there anything they could do to try and help? |
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April 2018
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