Happy first week of school! All 4th graders got to play some "get to know you" games to help create an inviting atmosphere in the class. New friendships are already budding! I will post a weekly newsletter every Friday/Saturday to let you know what happened that week in 4th grade.
Literacy - We began the school year by setting up our Literacy binders and reading logs. We discussed what types of books we like to read, what makes some books harder to read than others, and have been working on our independent reading stamina. We began our class read aloud book, The Tiger Rising. Students have used their Reader's notebook (the same one they take home for homework) to begin making predictions about where they think the story is headed. We also began to go through the many, many donated books in our classroom library to help organize our "just right for 4th grade" books. Writing - We began our Writer's workshop by discussing why we write. We set up our Writer's notebooks and created a graffiti wall full of pictures and ideas to help begin the writing process when we are feeling stuck. We completed "letters to Mr. Clermont" to help identify certain seats, people, or strategies that help the students do their best work. Math - We began doing our daily math fact fluency drills. Fact fluency is a big part of 4th grade and I have been so impressed by their skills already! We set up our Math Interactive Notebooks, complete with Table of Contents and page numbers for various math skills we will be practicing throughout the year. We started doing quick review of end of 3rd grade skills (1 digit multiplication, place value, etc) Science - (As an FYI, our 4th grade curriculum leans heavier on Science than Social Studies, so we will be doing more Science work throughout the school year. Many Social Studies standards are covered during the MicroSociety time as well). We started with a Q&A session about what the 4th graders were most interested in learning about in Science. Our first Unit is on Living Things and Energy, and already students are learning a lot of plants. Did you know that plants can think? Talk to your child about it! MicroSociety - We reviewed and signed our MACS Social Contract. We discussed types of government and why we chose a democratic government for MACS. We discussed the MACS constitution, and the preamble to the U.S. Constitution. New students to MACS got to ask older students questions about how MicroSociety time works. Who can start a business? When do you get paid? Do we have to pay taxes? Finally, each student got to fill our their voter registration card, enabling them to vote in upcoming elections. ** We had a great first week of school. We are learning new schedules and routines, and there may be bumps along the way. If there is any pressing issue, please do not hesitate to reach out to me**.
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April 2018
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