Weeks like this are always a little hairy, but we managed to get a ton done! Read on to find out!
In Lanugage Arts this week we focused on summary writing. I first asked the kids (without any teaching of summaries) to write a summary of Chapter 8 from Frindle. We briefly defined summary - what happened in the chapter. The next day I taught a lesson on summary writing. We read an article and then read a summary of the article. We picked out all of the important parts of a summary. Then we created a rubric together of all of those important parts. I then asked the kids to take out the summaries that they had written the day before. The kids were asked to use the rubric to evaluate their summaries. If they felt changes needed to be made, they were to make a new copy and staple it to the old one. I was SO proud of the kids' decisions! They did a super job. I collected those and then graded them using the rubric we made together. We will continue to write summaries all year and will gradually increase the complexity of their writing. Right now my focus is on the important parts of a summary!
I'm excited to say that this week we had TWO students participate in the AUTHOR'S CHAIR during Writer's Workshop. This means that two of the kids in our classroom have taken a piece of writing through all of the steps of the writing process and published a piece! We have lots of other students ready to begin the publishing step, too, so the AUTHOR'S CHAIR will get lots of use in the weeks to come!
The kids took a cursive writing pretest this week. As with all subjects, we have quite a wide range when it comes to what cursive instruction/mastery the kids have. I will be working to teach those who need instruction, and work on perfecting with those kids who already know how to form the letters.
In Social Studies this week we are continuing to finish brochures, but we also did some research on Frederick County landmarks. The kids used print resources as well as on line resources to gather information about five different landmarks in Frederick County. Each group was assigned one landmark and will teach the rest of us about the landmark sometime next week.
We begin a Science unit next week titled, Aquariums. This is a unit the kids will love! They will get to experience all of the steps in the scientific process while participating in this unit. More to come as we get into it!
We were busy in Math this week. The kids wrote subtraction story problems and then we did a gallery walk around the room solving each other's problems...it was a lot of fun and great practice! The kids also took a "Moving with Math" test on the computer that scored them on the third grade level. This test will help me ensure there are not gaps as we continue to go through the fourth grade math curriculum.
One of the questions asked at Back to School Night was about the Science Fair. I just received notice that the Countywide Science Fair will be May 19th at Oakdale High School. This usually means our science fair will be the week prior. More details to come...just an FYI.
We participated in a Tornado Drill this week. The kids had outstanding behavior and followed directions really well. Ask them about it, they can tell you where our class goes for a tornado drill.
And last, but not least...your kids earned their Soaring With Pride goal of 28 stickers...we celebrated with a PJ party...you'll have to try to imagine, because I forgot to take pictures! All of the desks were pushed to the perimeter of the room...sleeping bags, blankets, and pillows were strewn EVERYWHERE...kids in pjs, laying around, hugging stuffed animals and...wait for it...WORKING!! It was a busy work day and they got a lot accomplished! I continue to enjoy this wonderful group of kids and was very happy to celebrate their accomplishments!!
REMINDER: Pictures are Thursday, October 6th!!
Have a great weekend!!
