Coming Up this Week...

      We ended our week with a SMILE!  It was a beautiful day for outdoor pictures  The kids were all smiles on Friday afternoon.  

Battle of the Books...

       In reading workshop this week the class will be introduced to the "Battle of the Picture Books." Battle of the Books has become a tradition in fourth grade over the past few years.  For this project, the kids read or listen to 16 picture books.  Through independent reading and whole class discussion, the students will keep track of their thinking around these 16 books.  Many of these books have characters who possess very strong character traits or have meaningful themes.  
        Over the next few weeks we will read these picture books.  After gathering our notes and thoughts about the books, the students will begin to "vote" for their favorite picture book.  The 16 books will be narrowed down (using a bracket system) until there is ONE book left standing!

Sharing our Opinions...

     We will be finishing up our Personal Narrative mini unit to help us launch Writer's Workshop in 4th grade.  It has been fun getting to know the students through their writing!
      In addition to the reading that is occurring for the Battle of the Books, the kids will also be learning how to write Literary Essays.  They will learn how to develop an opinion around a book and find evidence in the book to help back up their opinion.  These opinions will be able to be used to persuade classmates to vote for a particular book in the Battle of the Books.

It is my hope that the students will see the value of reading books

and then sharing their opinion about the books with others, hopefully 

encouraging others to read a book that is meaningful to them!

Math Workshop

     We continued with our work around Place Value.  Late in the week, the students took a short assessment on the learning that had taken place so far for this module.  Each student has a "focus" area that I am going to work with them on in small groups this week.  This "focus" area was an area that needed to be reviewed.  After small group review, the students will be reassessed on the "focus" area.  I will send home all of this information by the end of the week.  I am hoping additional practice and review will help each student to show improvement. 

Just a reminder....Wednesday is a half day and dismissal is at 11:40.  I hope everyone has a great week!

~Jen