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.