Weekly Update

Reader’s Workshop:

This week we have continued our interactive read-aloud Mr. Popper’s Penguins  by Florence and Richard Atwater. We focused in on identifying character traits for Mr. Popper and finding specific evidence from the text that support our ideas about who Mr. Popper is as a person. Students continued to ask “talk worthy” questions and worked within their individual goal to improve his/her understanding of the text. 

Giving book talks is part of Reader's Workshop in 4th grade. Students practice speaking skills and help others find interesting books to read. 

Students sharing books they love! 

Math: Students took their Topic 1 Multiplication and Division Assessment this week. Scored tests will go home on Monday. We also started our next Unit on generating and analyzing patterns.

Writer's Workshop:
The week students focused in on the planning stage of the writing process. After reviewing our journals for ideas, students choose one small moment to write a true or fictional story about. This week students learned how to use a sequence frame to write out each step of the story. Then students copied each event on a sticky note and placed these events on a Story Mountain Map. They were asked to think carefully about which event would be the top of the mountain, aka the heart of their story. Finally, students practiced using planning boxes to plan out the specific way they will write each event. We know good writers add dialogue, small action, the character's thoughts and feelings, and visual description using the 5 senses. We look forward to drafting these stories next week. 

Science: We took our terrariums down from the window sills this week to take a close look at them. Students observed and wrote about what they saw. All of us were able to see the water cycle in action! 

Dancers of the Week!