Mayberry-McFarland Weekly News

for the week of September 26, 2016

Due Dates / Upcoming Events:

Monday, October 3- reading logs due (4 different days [habit], 25 minutes or more in each sitting [stamina])

Tuesday, October 4 - Home Link due, PICTURE DAY

Wednesday, October 5 - full day, McFarlands have PE (sneakers)

Thursday, October 6 -  math box pages catch-up due

Friday, October 7 - Teacher Inservice Day - no school for students

Monday, October 10 - Columbus Day - no school

Tuesday, October 11 - Reading logs due

Volunteer Opportunities

If you are interested in volunteering in Art class (Friday 11:15) or Library class (Thursday 11:15), please contact the following teacher:

Lynda Olson (Art) lmccann-olson@msad51.org

Dorothy Hall-Riddle (Library) dhall-riddle@msad51.org

Special Guest

Thank you to Tracy Silverman, who joined our class this morning for a story and a special snack while teaching us about Rosh Hashanah!  

Adventure Based Learning (ABL)

On Thursday, all 4th graders got to participate in their first of twelve ABL sessions. These sessions are led by Donna Murray from Sweetser School and incorporate a plethora of life skills all children and adults need to learn and work on in order to become an effective community member. Students have started to discover that working in a group requires them to communicate effectively, listen to others, and compromise in order to be successful: big ideas and skills to develop for a lifetime! Below are few pictures taken during our first session.

Reading Workshop

This week, I showed several short videos to give students some background information on photography and film cameras.  A character in our new mentor text, Journey, is very much into photography, and some parts of the story will make more sense with some background knowledge.  The book has a Guided Reading Level of S, so something to consider when kids are choosing books at those higher levels is that the author expects a certain level of background knowledge on a whole variety of topics.  Often, that’s the difference between a basic understanding of the plot and a reading experience in which a child truly understands the multiple layers of meaning in a story.  The author in this case has selected two quotes for us as readers to ponder before reading the book:

It is our inward journey that leads us through time -- forward or back, seldom in a straight line, most often spiraling.

~ Eudora Welty, One Writer’s Beginnings

Photography is a tool for dealing with things everybody knows about but isn’t attending to.

~ Emmet Gowin, in On Photography, by Susan Sontag

We spent some time annotating the quotes, defining words we weren’t sure of and then piecing together phrases and whole sentences, eventually leading us to an interpretation of the meaning of each quote.  One student’s annotations are pictured below:

Writing Workshop

This week, we studied the kinds of details writers use; specifically setting, small actions, and TFR (thoughts, feelings, and reactions).  We identified those kinds of details in a wonderful small moment story, Salt Hands.  We color-coded a typed copy of Salt Hands, and then we color-coded our own stories.  This visual allows writers to see what kinds of details they have a lot of and which kinds of details they should add in order to work toward some sort of a balance of details.  Then, we used a number system and Post-its to make revisions.

    We also did a lesson about changing paragraphs and punctuating dialogue.  We studied the work of Judy Blume (Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing) and Louis Sachar (Marvin Redpost: Why Pick on Me?) to notice the shape, literally, of the text, and to notice the different ways writers handle dialogue in their stories.  Then, we practiced with partners by rewriting a short Calvin and Hobbes conversation, using paragraphs, dialogue tags (i.e., he said, Hobbes suggested…), and punctuation.  The next step, of course, was to identify places in our stories where the dialogue needs revision.

    We also used the Narrative Writing Checklist to identify concepts that we’ve worked on and ones we’ll focus on in the coming weeks.  Here, I’m modeling how to use the checklist to help me make decisions about writing.  I’ll do lots of explicit instruction around this, the ultimate goal being to instill more of a sense of ownership and an “I can do it!” feeling around writing in general.

Math

This week students were reintroduced to the concept of perimeter. This concept was covered in third grade, but in fourth grade the students are working with more complex shapes and larger numbers. We did a scoot activity where students rotated from problem to problem calculating the perimeter of a given polygon. This provided them with lots of practice and got them out of their seats for most of the lesson.

We also worked this week on identifying three types of angles and the properties that define each type. Students worked to identify acute, obtuse and right angles. You can support this learning at home by having your child point out angles in your home and explain what type of angle they are showing you.
In checking planner sheets on Monday I noticed an increase in the number of students meeting the fact practice weekly requirement. Yay!

There are a number of ways for students to practice fact fluency and mixing it up can make the task more enjoyable. I have several links on my web page under the math tab that are good resources for fact practice. Good old flash cards can be a great interactive practice method and letting your child also quiz you will make it fun as well. The photo below shows a collection of apps that can be found helpful in practicing facts on a mobile device. Please note that IXL does not have an effective fact practice component. IXL is really a resource for practicing math concepts like perimeter, fractions, measurement, etc…, but not math fact fluency.  

Theme/Content

This week students worked on their maps and most have nearly finished. They look awesome! They have enjoyed painting their maps and their patience and careful work have paid off. Many staff members have commented on the quality of their work as they have seen the maps drying in the hall.