Team 4W had a great first week together! What a fabulously spirited and smart group of fourth graders. As I look ahead, I am excited to watch each student continue to move forward on his/her learning journey toward achievement, success, and an understanding of self! We began the week with three goals: To reach these goals, students participated in a variety of activities. Our week was filled with games, a scavenger hunt, partner discussions, and interest inventories. Interested in more details? Ask your child about: Scattergories Ants and Marshmallows Smart My Way Learning styles (auditory, visual, kinesthetic) Our class motto (Coming Together, Sharing Together, Working Together, Succeeding Together) I began introducing tools and routines this week as well. Students set up their "Notice and Note(Books)" this week. As we learn to really dig into our reading to find meaning, we will be using this notebook to record our thinking during close reading lessons. We will also use this notebook to store student created visual reminders for the fiction signposts. Students will use these signposts to help them analyze text. In the back of the notebook, students will keep track of their independent reading and record their thinking about their independent reading. Our first close reading lesson this week focused on our class motto. Students worked independently and then with partners to analyze the meaning of the text as a whole, and the words within the text. Below is the thinking we recorded after we discussed the text as a whole class. Teamwork will be essential for a successful year, so we will be working hard at learning and practicing the skills for being a positive team member. This week we learned and practiced the art of turning and talking. We will turn and talk all year, across the curriculum. After practicing a good bit, Team 4W decided upon the following guidelines for partner and small group discussions: And of course, there was a good bit of pre-assessment this week! Students took a math pretest, a fluency check, a writing assessment, and a science assessment. I will be using the data from these tools to help guide my instruction for your child. More information gathering will take place next week as well in the areas of spelling and writing. MATH NEWS: The fourth grade team has met to discuss the results of math pretests across the grade level. As in the past, we will be using a flexible grouping model in math. We will use the pretests to determine students' abilities and place students in classrooms that will best fit their needs. On Monday, your child may be placed in a different classroom for math. Please let me know if you have any questions. The One and Only Ivan |
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