Newsletter for the Week of October 20th

McFarland-Mayberry-Begley Bulletin

for the week of October 13, 2014

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Reading Workshop

This week we continued to read our way through a few more chapters of The Fourteenth Goldfish.  Through some lively class discussions, I am seeing thoughtful insights into the development of the two main characters.  We are continuing to find examples of Memory Moments and things mentioned Again and Again.  We also started looking at Aha! Moments, when a character realizes something or figures something out.  In this story, the author shows this subtly, and as readers we don’t even know yet what it is the character has figured out!  This is a mark of a book that is for more experienced readers.  Our fourth graders are following the plot — but had most of them been reading the book on their own, they would miss many of these signposts.  It’s hard to understand the concept that we often don’t get that we don’t get it.  Looking for these signposts will help readers understand more sophisticated books.

     One thing that has made this book much more accessible to our readers is the teaching that Mrs. Begley is doing in Theme.  Her part in our Global Read Aloud participation has been to teach about all of the scientists who are referred to in the book — and there are many!  It has been so fun to come upon the name of a scientist as we read and pause, waiting to see the wide eyes of a reader who is researching that scientist!

Writing Workshop

Writing is hard, don’t you think?  Many experts say that it is the hardest thing we ask kids to do.  This week our writers have literally groaned when I’ve told them it’s time to stop writing!  I love that.  

     We have been studying a sample essay and identifying the parts of the essay and the craft moves the author made in order to be convincing.  Also, we’ve been keeping a running list of possible essay ideas.  So, after we’ve added a few ideas to our list each day this week, the kids chose a new one about which to write.  We have chosen a few craft moves to try to work into our writing: using a convincing tone (ask your child what “bus talk” is), trying to organize reasons into their own paragraphs, and anticipating counter-arguments.  Yes, counter-arguments!  They get this!  Toward the end of the week, I showed them the criteria for a strong thesis statement (also known as a claim or a big idea), and on Friday they worked with their partners to revise some weak thesis statement so that they now meet this criteria.  

     Next week, we will pull out all the stops and write a flash-draft of an essay, which means we will write-like-crazy a whole essay across one (maybe two) writing workshop sessions.

Math

This week we spent time reviewing skills taught in unit 2 and students took the unit assessment on Thursday. Your child’s individual profile of progress for this unit will be ready by the end of next week. On Friday students got to work in their IXL account. We have two students who have completed three hours of IXL work so far this year. Congratulations! 

     Next week we will start the third unit which will have a heavy emphasis on learning basic multiplication facts through 10. You can help at home by providing lots of practice opportunities. 

Spelling

This week we focused on the /ow/ sound which can be spelled ou and ow.  Student also practiced applying suffix rules to add the suffixes -ful, -s/es, -er, -est, -ing, and -ed.

Theme

This week students finished their famous scientist project.  Rubrics for the project are in take home folders today.  As an experiment, I graded some of the projects with the students.  This was met with a lot of positive feedback.  Students appreciated having input into their grade and said that they understood their grade much better.  In the future, I plan to do this for all projects.  If students have questions about their grades, please encourage them to ask me questions.  I am a strong believer that feedback helps students become more accountable for their work and effort.  Our projects are being displayed in the glass cases outside our classrooms.  We hope you can take a look as you come in for conferences.

     We also started our new unit, “Survivor: The New World.”  We began by having a whole class conversation about why people might have left their homes for the New World and what they would need in order to survive.  We also learned about the Lost Colony of Roanoke,  analyzing the decisions made by the colonists that might have lead to the failure of the colony.  Next week we will learn about Jamestown.

Due Dates / Upcoming Events:

Monday, October 27th - Reading logs due / Swimming (please remember your gear*)

Tuesday, October 28th - Study link due

Wednesday, October 29th - Early Release  / Greely Gear orders due

Thursday, October 30th - Spelling due

Friday, October 31st - Study link due - Happy Halloween!

*For swimming, students will need  a plastic bag (for wet items), bathing suit, bathing cap (if hair is 3" or longer), and towel.  They might also want a comb for wet hair.  Students will be bused from GMS to GHS for this activity.  If you have any questions, please contact Becki Belmore, PE teacher.

Conferences start this week!  Please check your time.  We look forward to meeting with you to discuss your child’s progress.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Dena