Getting Ready for a Busy Week

     It was great to see all of the hard work that the kids put into their Character Costume Book Report rough drafts.  It will be so much fun to see them "in character" on Thursday!  We have talked about and will continue to talk about how important it is to practice their speeches.  They can have their report in front of them when presenting to the class, but they shouldn't be reading it word for word.  If they practice a few times between today and Wednesday night, they will become familiar with their report.  I have also explained to the kids that they can practice in front of stuffed animals, a pet, or even the mirror!  :)
     Last week, we took a trip to Hershey, Pennsylvania.  The kids got to see what an assembly line is by being part of one.  We talked about the pros and cons about having machines do the work of making Hershey Chocolate over having people doing it.  The kids loved being part of an assembly line and having one special job, however, when we started talking about how this would be their job 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, the excitement seemed to go away quickly!  They also got to see how Hershey chocolate is made.  There are many steps to making delicious chocolate, but it is so worth it!
     In writing we continued to work on our seed stories.  We are close to finishing our first published piece.  A lot of hard work has gone into their personal narratives!
     Have a great week!
~Mrs. Lewis

Read with Me Workshop

      It was great to see so many parents at our 1st Read with Me Workshop! We had a great turnout.  When we were talking about the workshop in class the last few days, the kids were very excited to "teach" you what they have learned as readers in fourth grade.  Below I have posted a handout that went home during this mornings workshop (it didn't go out on Monday night).  I will be sending this home with the kids tomorrow as well.

SAVE THE DATE....NOVEMBER 14th will be our 2nd Read with Me Workshop.  We hope to see you there!

 

 

Asking Questions

Let’s get talking….TOGETHER!

Asking questions while reading is an important strategy to use to help us better understand what we are reading.  When we read we want to ask lots of different types of questions, but it’s the thick or talk-worthy questions that get us to think more DEEPLY about a story.  These types of questions will allow us to have a conversation with another reader about our books.

 

When talking with your child about books, here are some ways to start a “talk-worthy” question….

    What if….?

    Why did…?

    What caused….?

    How would you feel if you….?

    Why do you think….?

    How did….?

    What would happen if….?

    What might….?

    What word could you use to describe ____ character?

    Why is….?

 

 

 

 

Talk-worthy questions also get us talking about:

ü Theme/lesson

·       What can you learn from this story?  Then ask…. “What makes you think that?”

ü Author

·       Why did the author write this book?    Then ask… “What makes you think that?”

ü Title

·       Why is this book called…..?  Then ask…. “What makes you think that?”

ü  Symbol

·       Why is __________ so important to the story?  Then ask… “What makes you think that?”

ü  Character

·       How could you describe the character? Then ask…. “What makes you think that?”

ü  Setting

·       Why is the setting important to this story?  Then ask…. “What makes you think that?”

·       Could this story have taken place in a different setting?  Then ask…. “What makes you think that?”

 

Character Costume Book Report Sample Presentation

     Last week Mrs. Leger presented her Character Costume Book Report to our class.  We talked about how she spoke loud and clear, tried to make eye contact, and had a few props to add to her presentation.  If you or your child have any questions, please let me know!


https://www.dropbox.com/s/weo0fsrvzsoduy7/2013-10-18%2014.16.37.mov

Character Costume Book Report RUBRIC

I have attached the rubric that we will be using to assess the students.  We talked about how we are looking for kids to look at the "meeting expectations" column.  This is what we are looking for the kids to be able to do in October of 4th grade!

 

Standards Addressed

·         Summarizes the main ideas of a book using supporting details.

·         Determines and describes story elements.

 

Costume Book Report Rubric

Beginning of a Story	Insufficient Progress   Student does not attempt to identify the beginning of the story.	Progressing with Support Student attempts to identify how the story began, but is incorrect.	Progressing Independently Student can give 1-2 details from the beginning of the story, but does not state the key point, or what the problem is.	Meeting Expectations Student can give 3-4 key elements of the beginning of the story, including the problem or situation.	Exceeding Expectations Student correctly expresses 5-6 key elements from the beginning of the story, including the problem, and describes how it introduces the story.
Middle of a Story	Insufficient Progress   Student does not attempt to identify events from the middle of the story.	Progressing with Support Student attempts to identify events from the middle of story, but is unable to correctly do so.	Progressing Independently Student can give 1-2 events from the middle of story, but leaves out the key point(s), or what the character is doing to solve the problem.	Meeting Expectations Student can give 3-4 key elements from the middle of the story, which tell what the character is doing to solve the problem.	Exceeding Expectations Student correctly identifies 5-6 key elements of the story and can express why it is important to the story.
End of a Story	Insufficient Progress   Student does not attempt to identify events from the end of the story.	Progressing with Support Student attempts to identify events from the end of story, but is unable to do so.	Progressing Independently Student can give 1-2 events from the end of story, but leave out key point.	Meeting Expectations Student can give 3-4 identifies key elements from the end of the story.	Exceeding Expectations Student correctly expresses 5-6 key elements from the ending of the story and describes how it concludes the action.
Character	Insufficient Progress   Student does not attempt to describe what type of person the character is.	Progressing with Support Student tries but is unable to describe what type of person the character is.	Progressing Independently Student provided one detail to describe what type of person the character is.	Meeting Expectations Student provided two details to describe what type of person the character is.	Exceeding Expectations Student provided three details to describe what type of person the character is.

Let Your Child DAZZLE You!

Don't forget your child would like to DAZZLE you

with all that they have learned in

 Reading Workshop so far this year! 

 

 

Our first

READ WITH ME Workshop

will be held this Monday night (6:00-6:45 p.m.) and Wednesday morning (7:45-8:30 a.m.)

in the Library!

 

We would love to see you and your fourth grader there!!!

Northeast Travelers...

     Even though it was only a 4 day week, we fit a lot into our short week!  On Tuesday, we "climbed" the Empire State Building.  We spent 5 minutes climbing the stairs of this massive skyscraper.  After 5 minutes of climbing we made it to the 22nd floor!  It felt like quite an accomplishment!  We also got to see the view from the top of the Empire State Building as we continue our journey across the Northeast region of the U.S.A. 
     In Reading Workshop, we having been reading a lot of Chris VanAllsburg books as we study him as an author.  We have read several of his books and are starting to see a pattern in his writing.  We have learned that he likes to add mystery to his books.  He leaves us thinking even after we finish the last page of the story!  This helps us to be able to ask some very talk-worthy questions that help us to have some deep, thoughtful conversations!
     The kids are very excited about the Character Costume Book Report that is coming up.  I have been reminding them to follow the calendar that was handed out with the report.  They should be finishing up their book by the end of the weekend.  This will give them enough time to work on their rough draft, which is due on Thursday, October 24th. 
     Today, they got to see Mrs. Leger as "Peter Hatcher" from The Tales of the Fourth Grade Nothing.  She demonstrated what the Character Costume Book Report presentation might look like.  We got to videotape her "performance" on our iPad.  Next week you should be able to see the video on the Farley School website to use as your child puts together his/her performance.  (I will try to post it here too!) 
     As your child starts to work on the rough draft, if you have any questions, please feel free to email me.
     I hope you enjoy the beautiful weather this weekend!  Go Red Sox!

~Mrs. Lewis

Newspaper Dance Party!

It was great to meet with so many parents over the last few days!  It's helpful to be able to sit down at the beginning of the school year and set goals for your child.  When we are all on the same page it really shows the students that we truly want them to succeed in fourth grade!

We earned our second Paw Print Reward today.  Since it was so beautiful outside this afternoon, we went outside to have our Newspaper Dance Party!  The dancers were only able to move and groove on a piece of newspaper.  After a little while, they had to fold their newspaper in half and dance on half of the paper.  We continued folding the paper and dancing, until there was a lot of hopping on one foot!  It was a great end to a busy week!

I am sure you child shared the exciting news with you yesterday.....we received an iPad donation from anonymous donor.  Mrs. Leger's class and our class will get to share in this amazing donation!  The kids were so excited to find out about our gift.  It was clear from their conversations that the possibilities with an iPad in our classroom would be endless! 

Our class and Mrs. Leger's class have a project posted on www.donorschoose.org asking for 2 additional iPads for use in the classroom.  We have a few donations to our project, but are still in need of more donations to fund our project.  We want to be able to incorporate this technology into the classroom and use it throughout the curriculum!

I hope everyone enjoys the long weekend! 

~Mrs. Lewis

Character Costume Book Report Calendar

Calendar that was handed out for the Character Costume Book Report

MONTH of OCTOBER
Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
		1	2	3	4 Book Report Assigned!	5
6	7	8 Choose your book by today!	9 Start reading your book in school and at home.	10	11	12
13	14 Continue to read your book at school and at home.	15	16	17	18	19
20 Finish your book by today!	21 Work on the rough draft of your report.	22	23	24 Rough draft DUE TODAY!	25 Start your final copy and start rehearsing your speech	26 Continue to work on your final copy and rehearsing.
27	28	29	30 Get everything ready for tomorrow! Practice one more time in front of an audience!	31 Character Costume Book Report Due TODAY!