Our Week in Review

We all enjoyed a day off this week! Happy Rosh Hashanah to those who celebrated yesterday!

In Reading, we were fully able to follow the Reader's Workshop structure this week. The children are really becoming quite independent in following all of the steps. After the housekeeping portion of our Reading time, a student gives a "Book Talk" where he/she talks about a book that they LOVED and they suggest it to their classmates. Below is Charlotte giving a book talk on The Meanest Doll in the World. This is a very popular series of books.

Today we began our first Technology and Engineering project . Mr. Adams (Mrs. Adams' husband) came to school to talk about the Engineering Process (he is an electrical engineer). We learned about the steps need to design something, and then we broke into groups to try to design a "PUFF MOBILE". This is a vehicle that is powered by breath or "puffs" and is blown across the gym floor in a race. We will work on creating our puff mobiles over the next few weeks, in groups, and we will race them in the gym with the other fourth grade classes.

In other news.....Shane and his family went to the Cape. While they were there, they met the GREAT HOCKEY LEGEND ~ Bobby Orr!!!!! and they also got to see the Stanley Cup. I thought it would be timely to share this, considering what happened with the Red Sox this week.

From the Teacher's Desk
If your family or your child does something special or exciting, and you would like me to share it on our blog, I'd be happy to do so. Just send in the information and a picture if you have it, and I'll be happy to include it in our weekly post!

Grading Information

From the Teacher's Desk
As the year progresses, you will find more and more papers sent home that have been graded. I wanted to share my thoughts and feelings about this. I believe that grades are just one way that I can communicate with you about how your child is doing. Occasionally, I will ask for a parent signature on an assignment. If this is written on your child's paper, please sign it and return it to school with your child. This signature is to show that you are aware that your child had difficulty with the particular assignment or task. Sometimes I find that this opens up a dialogue with your child, and gives you insight as to why the assignment is a struggle. For example, the Daily Geography and Daily Language assignments are independently done as the children arrive in the morning. In addition to demonstrating proofreading skills and map skills, the children are learning to manage time as they arrive. Often this is as difficult as the actual question.

As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.

Our Week In Review

What a week! We began a lot of new things this week. In Writing, we began participating in Writer's Workshop. We started by "quick writing" small moments about important people in our lives. We also wrote about small moments that happened in a particular place. Some things we learned this week are ~

• writing in the air
• how to work with our writing buddies
• sharing "knee to knee(this allows for eye contact when sharing)

It is a challenge to write for so long (20-30 minutes) about the same topic, but we are working hard to do this. Below are some pictures of us "Writing in the Air" with our writing buddies.

We also had our first MATH test yesterday! It was hard, but we did well. Mrs. Merten will send home the tests for parents to see next week. Before our test, we had math centers to review the skills from our Geometry Unit. We played two math games and reviewed many skills.

We also have been working really hard in Reading. Some topics of discussion this week were~

• Distractions during "Reading Zone"
• Reasons to leave your "zone" spot
• Narrative Elements (main characters, setting, plot) ~ we will continue this discussion next week.
• Journal Entries (we will review this discussion, too)

From the teacher's desk
The children have really adjusted to our routine and rules in the classroom. I am happy with their progress. I am working with the children to fill their book bags with "just right" books, so that they have a good set of books to begin with. After I've helped with this first round, it will be the children's responsibility to fill their book bag with a book each time one is finished. This is another step toward independence.

There is often an adjustment period when fourth graders begin the year, particularly with homework. Many of the children have used their "freebie" homework assignment already. While this may be due to the beginning of school and the newly found responsibility, I wanted to let everyone know. Your child will know if he/she has used up the "freebie".

Our Week in Review

This week was awesome! We all really got to know each other by sharing our Mystery Bags. We learned that many of the students love LEGOS! Mrs. Merten thinks that we will have an easier time making new friends when we know some interesting things about each other. We finally finished sharing today ! Mrs. Merten took many pictures of us sharing our mystery bags, though some children didn't want to be photographed. Below are some pictures of us sitting in Mrs. Merten's tall chair.

In writing this week, we began to learn about Writer's Workshop. Mrs. Merten assigned us writing partners and we learned about "mentor texts" and how to "Talk in the Air". We are starting by writing biopoems (poems about ourselves). Next week we'll start to learn about writing "small moments".

In Math we continued to learn about Geometry. Today we started using compasses to draw circles. Our first test is scheduled for THURSDAY next week. We wrote it in our assignment books today.

From the Teacher's Desk

It was nice to see so many people on Wednesday at our Parent Orientation. If you weren't able to make it, please don't worry! You should have received a packet of information from your child. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call.

I have announced the first math test for next Thursday, 9/22. Typically, I don't mention tests in blog posts, but I didn't give the full week's notice for this test. I wanted to be sure everyone knew about the test.

In reading this week, we discussed choosing "Just Right" books. The children are learning to independently choose books that are "just right" for them. I have asked them to take the following steps when choosing a book~
1. Look at the cover ~ notice things that are familiar, authors they love, or titles they've been hoping to read.
2. Read the back ~ this is so important! Check to see if the book is interesting to you!
3. Do the 5 finger rule (I'm sure your child can explain this well!)
4. Look for clunks

You may notice that the books your child reads are shorter and may look easier than you are used to. It is important that the children are able to finish a book in 2 weeks in order for me to cover important skills and strategies in reading.

I hope your child has adjusted to the beginnings of fourth grade. I have really enjoyed getting to know them, and I'm looking forward to a great year.