Coming up this Week...

Published iMovies

We finally have a website ready with (almost) all of the Literary Essay iMovies on it.  I am going to be sharing the website with the class tomorrow.  They are going to be able to go on and watch the iMovies that their classmates made (and their own!) and then comment/compliment the different book trailers.  

I will send out the directions to get on the website tomorrow with the students.  We are hoping that you will be able to go on and watch and comment on the videos as well.  They are very proud and excited for their final products!

Eve Bunting Author Study

Over the past few weeks we have been reading picture books by the author Eve Bunting.  She writes some really thought provoking books that the kids have really enjoyed reading and listening to.  We have also been thinking about the patterns that we notice in the themes and characters in her books.

While listening to and reading her picture books in small groups, they were taking notes so that they could have a discussion about what they were thinking while reading her books. Over the next few days I am hoping that they will be able to use their notes to have some fun and thoughtful discussion about her books!

Eve Bunting has published many books.  We have just read a small amount when you look at just how many picture books she has written. These would be great books to check out of the Hudson Public Library and read with your child.  

Read In!

On Wednesday we will have a "Read In" during the morning.  We will spend the morning reading and being read to by some Mystery Readers!  The kids will be able to get comfy by wearing their Pajamas if they would like to on Wednesday.  


I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and a restful vacation!  

Jen

Coming Up This Week....

Publishing Our iMovies...

     The kids worked very hard last week trying to complete their rough draft of their literary essay.  Almost all of the kids were able to record their iMovie.  My plan is to post these iMovies on a website that I am going to create and allow parents, classmates, and other students to watch the book trailers and comment/compliment the author!  I will let you know the details once I have them all posted!

Taking Pride in Our Work...

     We talked a lot about what it means to take pride in our work last week in class.  I am starting to notice that many students are making silly mistakes and are forgetting to really show off what they know.  We talked about when you take pride in your work you make sure it is your very best work.  Some of the ways that you can take pride is to show off the strategies that you have learned, pay extra close attention to capitals and punctuation, and double check the work before turning it in.  

     This week many students will be getting classwork and/or homework papers returned that need to be fixed to meet the fourth grade expectations.  Be on the lookout for a paper with a colored slip attached.  Your child needs to fix the mistake/problem on a separate piece of paper OR with a different colored writing utensil (for example:  a colored pencil).  I will be explaining all of this to the students tomorrow morning!  Then I am asking for a parent to sign stating that they have seen the paper.  (This is similar to what was sent out earlier in the year.)

Here is an example of a slip:

Reading/Writing

Work Expectations

Your child is bringing home classwork/homework that hasn’t been completed according to fourth grade expectations (YET).  Your child needs to fix the work and return to school tomorrow.  Please sign the paper stating that you have seen your child’s work.

This paper is not meeting the following expectation(s): 

-      Correct capitalization

-      Correct punctuation

-      Complete sentences

-      It doesn’t match what you are capable of in the classroom

-      Other:  ______________________________________

Calling all MYSTERY READERS…

On Wednesday, December 23^rd we have a full day of school.  To kick start our winter vacation, we are going to be participating in a fun reading activity called, “Booked In.”   We are going to spend a large part of that day reading some great books.  To add to the fun, I thought it would be great if we could host some MYSTERY READERS. 

What is a MYSTERY Reader?

We are looking for parents, grandparents, or siblings to volunteer to read a favorite picture book or poem to our class on the morning of Tuesday, December 23^rd.  The mystery will be that the students will not know who is coming in to read to our class.  It will be a great surprise for all of the kids. 

Here is what you can do….

J  Volunteer as a mystery reader…let me know via email or a sealed envelope if you are available to read a picture book or poem on the morning of Tuesday, December 23^rd. 

J  Shhh….keep this a secret from the students!  J

If you can’t volunteer to read that day, it is completely fine.  I know that this is a very busy time of year.  Please let me know if you are available to be a Mystery Reader by Friday, December 18^th so that I can put together a schedule.

I hope everyone has a great week!  

~Jen

Coming Up This Week....

I hope everyone enjoyed the extra warm weather this weekend!

Reading Workshop

Last week in Reading Workshop we talked a lot about the theme or message of the story.  We talked a lot about how the theme is the big message that the author wants the reader to understand.  After determining the theme we can ask what does the author want me to learn about this big message. This is the lesson of the story.  We had many opportunities to think about and discuss the theme of some stories.

Below is an example of a "Tabletop Twitter" discussion that we had last week.  The kids were divided into several groups to "tweet" about what they thought the theme was for a fable called The Young Rooster.  After writing down their initial thought, they were able to respond to the responses of their peers.  This made for a great (quiet)  discussion and it was really neat to see the kids back up their thinking about the theme using ideas from the text.  Some of the students also changed their thinking as they started to read the other "tweets."

Writing Workshop

We are finishing up our second literary essay of the year.  Since the kids have learned many strategies for writing a literary essay and they are becoming experts in literary essay, they will have the chance to create an iMovie around their favorite picture book.  We have talked a lot about audience and the purpose of writing this second literary essay.  They will create the iMovie for an audience of other 4th graders, teachers, and parents who might be thinking about what picture book they would like to read next.  

I am hoping that many of the kids will start creating the iMovies this week.  We will have them published for you very soon! Be on the lookout!!

Erosion

We have continued our work with Erosion in Science.  The kids watched a few videos around erosion. One video was a flyover of the Grand Canyon and the other was a video that watched the erosion of coastal land.  After watching these videos they came up with a question that they wanted to find answers to.  We then watched an informational video on Erosion to find out some of the answers to our questions. We will continue with some experiments this week!

We are in need of more play-dough for the continuation of our Statue project from a couple of weeks ago.  If you can donate a few canisters of play-dough that would be very helpful!  Thank you!

Just a reminder that Wednesday there is a half day!  Have a great week!

Jen

Coming Up This Week....

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving break!  It is a great little break for the kids and gets them ready for the month of December!

Immigration Re-Enactment

      Last Wednesday, we had our Immigration Re-Enactment.  It was so neat to see the kids all dressed up in their "fancy" clothes!  They were very excited to travel back to 1901 as they arrived at school.  On Wednesday morning they put a few finishing touches onto their immigrant character including answering an Inspection Questionnaire that was common for immigrants arriving at Ellis Island to complete.  They also decided on their immigrant name and the country that they came from.

      After preparing for the journey, they walked to the boat called The Fox that would take them to America!  Then each immigrant went through the 8 different "stops" at Ellis Island. Some got to experience being a first class citizen, while most were third class citizens and faced many obstacles.

      It was a great experience and I am hoping that the students learned a lot and enjoyed it as much as I did!

     Here are some pictures of the passengers of The Fox!

Reading Workshop
     We have spent a lot of time in reading workshop talking about character change as well as describing characters in more depth by thinking about their motivations and struggles.  This week we will be starting to learn about inferring the theme of a book.  One way that we talk about theme is by using the following visual,,,  THE  MEssage.  We will spend a while reading many short stories, picture books, and fables to practice this skill.

Math Workshop

      We will be starting division this week in math.  In fourth grade the students will not learn the standard algorithm for division as it is not one of our standards.  They will learn a few strategies for solving division problems however, and will be able to choose the strategy that works best for them. I will remind the kids this week, but if your child has trouble completing the homework this week, please remind him/her to use the Homework Helper packet which was handed out at the beginning of the unit.

I hope everyone has a great week!  

~Jen

A Fun Day!

A Great Day at the Acton Discovery Museum!!

I 

What a Week in LL38.....

The Challenge Was Accepted!

The kids were designing sculptures that represent children.

They got right to work with lots of creative ideas....

The sculptures were left outside overnight, and Ooooops it rained!

Since it poured overnight, they were able to make some great observations about what happened to their sculptures when left out in the "elements."

      I am going to try something new this week.  I am going to be choosing a "Feature Blogger" for our blog.  On Friday, during our Digital Portfolio time that we have in the computer lab, students are going to reflect on one activity from the week.  I will choose a Feature Blogger based on details that draw the reader in, applying a writing skill that they have learned, and proper spelling, capitals, and punctuation.  

      I hope you are able to learn something from Ti-Ti, this week's "Feature Blogger" about our Sculpture Project!

Splat!  My soft play dough fell on my desk.  My palm went squish into it.  Our class was making a sculpture for the town of Hudson.  We were told to make a sculpture of something that we think is important to kids.   I did a book with a pencil.  I enjoy doing that because it feels good against my palm.  Also because we were making a sculpture!  What I didn’t like was we only could use half a cup.

                                                 By:  Ti-Ti Nguyen

 Ellis Island Re-enactment

On Friday you should have received a notice about our upcoming project about Ellis Island.  The kids have spent a lot of time researching and learning about Ellis Island as well as the journey that an immigrant would make from their homeland.  

Last week they took a closer look at their original notes and decided on people during this time that would be important to Ellis Island.  For example, a health inspector was an important person in Ellis Island.  

The  kids were so motivated by this project that they started to talk about props besides what they could make in school.  So, conversations started around bringing in old-looking clothes or stuffed animals that looked worn.  The kids asked if we could declare Wednesday Immigration Day and come to school dressed up as an immigrant or Ellis Island worker.  This is completely optional of course, but I did want to give kid the opportunity to participate to make our re-enactment as real and authentic as possible!  :)  I can't wait to see what they come up with!  

I am looking forward to a great week!  Just a reminder, we have our field trip to the Acton Discovery Museum on Tuesday.  We will be eating lunch back at the school, however, I would send in a snack with your child.  I will have them bring a snack since it will be a long way to lunch.  

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday.  I hope you are able to spend the day with friends and family.  

~Jen