It was definitely the highlight of the week, so I'll start with the Fun Run! It was a great way to end a long week of testing and upended routines. The excitement was palpable from the moment the kids arrived in the building, and it culminated in a great event that brought all the elementary students of Oakwood together to hear an inspirational speech by an incredible young woman...Grace Norman. SOCIAL STUDIES We have delved into the prehistoric indians of Ohio. The Paleo, Archaic, Hopewell, and Adena are some of these groups. We've studied how and when they arrived in North America, what their food sources were, and whether they were gardeners or farmers as well as hunter-gatherers. Mound building is an interesting concept to the students, and many of these groups were Mound Builders. Information for the Field Trip Project can now be found on top of the Social Studies page of this blog. ELA Reading Students have finished reading myths in small groups and are now practicing myth reader's theater, either Pandora's Box or King Midas. We are discussing language that comes from these myths that we use today, and will be introduced to a few more myths as a whole group. Your children have heard about "opening Pandora's box", a "hurculean task", a "sisyphean task", arachnids, the "Midas Touch", echo, and narcissist. More to come! Writing The kids could not have been more excited when I told them, "Okay, it's time to WRITE!" We've had to work our way through some important pre-writing lessons to get us ready for writing our fictional narratives, and they were just chomping at the bit to start writing! So, after exploring leads and trying out a few of our own, we got down to it! We will continue to work on writing our rough drafts, then learn about editing and revising before completing this piece of writing. Spelling I wanted to make sure everyone is clear about our spelling procedures in 4th grade. Students are in small groups that meet on a certain day of the week. On the first day, students receive their word sort and sort the words with the teacher. On this day, your child should be bringing his/her sort home. It will look something like this (in terms of format)... Your child should practice sorting AND spelling these words at home. We will practice with various activities throughout the week at school as well. The following week, on your child's group day, a test will be given. We will then spend the next week working on vocabulary activities, which will be a week off in terms of spelling. Saturdays and Teacakes Our mentor text this week, Saturdays and Teacakes, is a beautifully written memoir about a young boy in the early 1960s spending his Saturdays with his mammaw. The language is so incredibly descriptive, and the paintings are so lifelike. The children and I LOVED this book, and I hope it inspires the children to try to write like the author. It would be tons of fun for the kids to try these teacakes. If you'd like to bake them, the recipe can be found at:
http://peachtree-online.com/teacakes.htm
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May 2016
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