May Update!!!

May Update!

The weather is finally warm and we are winding down the school year and gearing up for summer!

Reading-  You may have heard from your child that we are reading the book, "There is a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom"  It is a story about a boy who is a bully, but changes his ways throughout the story.  The message is powerful and while the story has elements of humor, the kids are really learning to think about why the character acts the way he does.
We have also began looking at different text structures and author's focus.  Students are examining a variety of firsthand and secondhand accounts otherwise known as primary and secondary sources.  We have been looking at some primary sources from Ellis Island and Lewis and Clark.  The kids have been very interested in learning the history of these important times.

Writing- We are working on expository or informational writing.  Students completed their biographies and presentations and did an excellent job.  We are now researching a tidal pool creature to prepare for our upcoming field trip.  Learning to write expository pieces includes how to use colorful language in descriptions of animals and places, using transitional phrases, and writing appropriate introductions and conclusions for non fiction writing.

Math- After a long winter of really difficult concepts such as fractions and decimals, we have moved on to Geometry.  The students have learned how to measure and estimate angles, and identify and classify shapes.  We are also working on measurement and are spending a significant amount of time on area and perimeter, which can be difficult for students to distinguish.

Social Studies- After taking a break from S.S. to prepare for Science NECAP, we are back and beginning our study of the Midwest and then moving on to the West.  There will be a states and capitals test on both regions.  I will give the students ample time to prepare and plenty of practice maps. Students are working on making a slideshow of a Midwestern state of their choice using Google Slides.  They are creating word clouds and picture collages as part of their presentations.

 Science- We are just wrapping up Science NECAP testing and the students have worked incredibly hard.  We are very proud of them!  We will continue studying animals and plants, their adaptations, features, ecosystems, etc., and gear it more towards our tidal pool habitats, which we will be visiting soon!  Permissions slips are going home.  Please sign all paperwork and return as soon as possible so we don't have to worry as it gets closer.  Chaperones will need to have completed volunteer training and have a current BCI in order to participate in the trip.




 Upcoming Important Dates:

Philharmonic: Monday May 22nd
4th Grade Field Trip:  Friday June 2nd
Field Day: Thursday June 8th
Last Day of School: Friday, June 16th

March Update!

Just when you thought spring was around the corner...

Here's what we've been up to in 4C!


Reading-We have been focusing on Folk Tales and Tall Tales.  Students have been learning about the elements of Folk Tales.  We have read several different tales and have been practicing how to compare and contrast the two using signal words.  We have also been reviewing theme throughout these readings as usually there is a lesson to be learned.
Another skill we worked on this past month was first and third person point of view.  We have looked for clue words to let us know which point of view the author is writing from and discussed how a story can change depending on whose point of view the story is told from.
We have been working in our guided reading groups on various types of texts.  When we meet we work on developing thick questions, finding new and interesting vocabulary words and discussing our thoughts as we read.  We have four different reading groups going on with four different chapter books.  When I am not meeting with the children to read their chapter books, they continue to read the Reading Street leveled readers, most being non-fiction texts.  As they read these texts, they work on various reading skills such as generalizing information, summarizing, comparing and contrasting and note-taking.


Writing This trimester we worked on writing opinion pieces.  Our most recent writing project involved the idea of students having to wear uniforms to school.  The students read an article on the pros and cons of school uniforms and then determined which position they wanted to take.  We then split into groups and students developed an oral presentation on the reasons why we should or should not wear uniforms to school in order to persuade their peers.  They worked on trying not to read directly from their paper, making eye contact with the audience and speaking loudly and clearly.  The audience developed constructive criticism and compliments to give their classmates.  Mrs. O'Hara and I graded them separately on their presentations, which is why you will see two rubrics attached to that piece of writing.  The third trimester involves expository writing, where the students will be doing quite a bit of research in class.

Math The other day one of the kids said "Wow we've come a long way in math."  Yes we really have!  Fourth grade is a remarkable year for the amount of math the students are required to learn.  I remember starting the first week of long division with the groans and looks of bewilderment from the class and now it is a piece of cake for them (so they've declared)! We have completed two separate chapters on fractions, including equivalent fractions, simplifying, adding, subtracting and multiplying fractions, mixed numbers and improper fractions.  While fractions is difficult and there are many concepts to try to keep straight, the students have a good foundation and can usually figure out the right function to perform.  We are now completing a unit on decimals and as we move into the final part of the year, will study geometry, measurement, angles and patterns.  Although we are constantly using our multiplication facts for fractions, please continue to have students practice their facts at home using flash cards.  It is so important that their facts come automatically to them without much thinking time.

S.S. We completed our unit on the South and will be moving on to the Midwest soon.  Many times, our S.S. readings are completed during guided reading groups.  The students use their knowledge of non-fiction text features to help them understand the text as they read.  The students also created brochures for a southern state, which are hanging up in our classroom.  We also just recently finished our presentations of our Northeast state websites.  If students log in to their Google Accounts at home they can show you the website they created for their Northeast state.  During their presentations, their classmates gave them "Two Stars and a Wish" on a post it note.  They wrote down two things they liked about the website and one thing that needed improvement and then anonymously stuck it to the presenters desk.  The kids really enjoyed reading all of the comments from their classmates.

Science We are just about finished with our FOSS Energy Kit.  Students have created parallel and series circuits.  We have tested materials that are conductors and insulators.  We have also looked at the inner workings of a light bulb and read a bit about Thomas Edison.  The students then explored magnetic force, conducted tests to determine which kinds of materials are magnetic and learned a little bit about attraction and repelling.  Then we moved on to force and motion, where students tested how friction, incline, speed and weight can affect a moving object using cars and ramps, balls and ramps and pushing each other on scooters (it was a crazy day).
  

December/January Update

Welcome to 2017!  I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday season!  

We are back in action in 4th grade.  Here is what we have been up to and what we are up to next.

Reading  We have been reading all types of different texts in 4th grade.  We finished our read aloud A Series of Unfortunate Events and watched the movie as well.  The students were surprised at how different the book and the movie were.  During guided reading groups, all students had the opportunity to read a novel on tape for their level. Students read Shiloh, Because of Winn Dixie and Stone Fox and we just finished those novels last week.  We will be choosing new ones soon.  During our meeting times in guided reading, we are reading and discussing leveled readers of mostly non-fiction content.  Students have read about therapy animals, civil rights, the government, weather and much more!  We usually focus on a skill like main idea and details, or fact and opinion as well as practice new vocabulary.

Writing   Our first trimester consisted of narrative writing and we did a lot of story telling, both real and made up.  Our second trimester will focus on opinion writing.  Students are learning how to present their opinion, while backing it up with facts and examples.  Students are learning how to appropriately write an introduction and conclusion for this type of writing.  Opinion writing is highly organized and students will have lots of practice with graphic organizers to keep their ideas in order.

Math-  We have tackled double digit multiplication and long division since our last blog update.  It has been tough, but the students really stepped up to the challenge.  Now, the even more difficult task of fractions begins.  Students still need constant practice with their multiplication facts in order to be successful with fractions.  Fractions rely heavily on the knowledge of factors and multiples, as students begin to find common denominators and fraction equivalents.  It is going to be difficult in the beginning, but eventually they will start to understand fractions as a bigger picture.  It will be followed by decimal notation, which then relies heavily on their fraction knowledge.

S.S.- We have spent the past month and half studying the land and climate, the plants and animals, and the people and products of the Northeast.  Students are learning how to create a website using Google Sites to showcase their research about a particular Northeast state.  They will then present their website to the class.

Science- We finished our land forms and erosion unit quite a while ago and took a little bit of time to review matter.  The students learned about properties of matter, observed how temperature affects molecule movement, learned how to measure mass and volume and observed matter changing from one state to another.  We are currently ready to begin our unit on energy and will explore electricity, magnetism and force and motion.




Reminders: 
1.) No School Monday January 16th- Martin Luther King Jr. Day
2.) No School Monday and Tuesday February 20 & 21 - Winter Break