I was really impressed with how well students worked together this week! Students reflect on their own collaboration skill set regularly and set goals for themselves on how to improve. It is wonderful to see each of these fourth graders make a concerted effort to improve how they work with and interact with others to solve problems and reach goals. Check out the highlights of our week below and ask your child to share about his/her personal experience!
The Place Project...our second visit!We had a wonderful second visit to Elizabeth Gardens! We quickly noticed that so much had changed. Some of us had a difficult time locating our special spots! Students returned to their Field Journals for journaling and recording their qualitative and quantitative observations. Upon returning to the classroom, students reflected in small groups and then independently planned and wrote short reflective paragraphs about the similarities and differences among their first two visits. Below are some images from our trip!
BLOGGING, BLOGGING, BLOGGING...Students are now on their own (sort of) with their blogs! Each student has a Blogging Choice Board from which to choose post topics. There is quite a variety of topics and writing forms. All are tied to the curriculum standards for fourth graders. Please ask your child to share the choice board with you. Explaining the assignment to you will help them remember what is expected and will bring to light any confusion so students can ask questions. Thanks for your help with this!
2 Comments
Our first full week was jam packed! I am really enjoying the gifts and talents among this group of young people. It is a pleasure getting to know them all! Our opening math unit is a review of geometry concepts. We are working hard on vocabulary, exploring properties of polygons, and revisiting extended facts and measurement. In Science, we are learning how scientists answer questions. Students have used a variety of media to explore this topic. Ask your child about "Exhibit A" and how one could cook with a pizza box! Next week, we will continue our lab,"How high does a golf ball bounce?" We will also practice making claims and supporting our claims with evidence through some fun demonstrations. I introduced several new tools this week that will help us connect our language arts skills to the rest of our curriculum. I am in the modeling phase of incorporating these tools so that students will be able to use them independently and successfully. The details of Daybooks and Reader's Response can be explored by clicking the links below: DAYBOOKS! READER'S RESPONSE! Kidblog has already been a big hit with students and they are catching on quickly to the world of blogging and social media. I will gradually be allowing different parts of Kidblog to be utilized. Last week began with a focus on digital citizenship. Your child brought home a small poster reminder. Additionally, students practiced commenting on blog posts of mine. We discussed how to interact with each other appropriately and for what purposes Kidblog will, and will not, be used. Students were also encouraged to upload a personal avatar and adjust the screen to a theme of their choosing. I encourage you to pop in to our little blogosphere and read our posts and comments. You may use your child's password for doing this! As students get busier composing and publishing blog posts, you are always welcome to comment on your own child's writing. I have learned that this forum provides a great deal of motivation for young writers as there is an authentic audience! Please know that any critical feedback I give your child in regards to writing conventions or topics will be given as a private comment so that only the author may see it. Hopefully your child has told you about Energy Island. We have spent a great deal of time working with this book and using it for building background for our upcoming inquiry, as well as exploring how to connect our claims and inferences to a text. Please check the Science Page if you are interested in seeing a short video about the island of Samso. Hope everyone has enjoyed a wonderful long Labor Day weekend! Happy September! |
AuthorS
|