Here's what we've been up to in fourth grade...

In writing workshop the students have been piecing together different story ideas to use as evidence for their essay.  We cut apart and organized our "mini-stories" in different ways depending on how we wanted our readers to feel.  We have been working so hard on these essays and this week we are learning how to write an introduction and conclusion.  When we get back from vacation we will be ready to put together our first draft!

In reading workshop we continued to study text structures and also did some work with text features. We are beginning to discuss tricky vocabulary in non-fiction reading, and learning some new strategies for how to figure out the meaning of an unknown word.

In math, we finished up topic 7 and have moved onto topic 8.  Topic 8 teaches how to use arrays to help us solve 2-digit times 2-digit numbers.  Keep practicing those math facts, especially over the winter break!

We finished up our social studies unit last week with a unit test on everything we had learned about NYS and its inhabitants.  We did a short science observation today to get us thinking about the floating and sinking unit.  We will do a couple introductory lessons this week and will dive right into more experiments when we come back from vacation.

Thank you to all of you who sent in pasta and sauce for the Caring and Sharing food drive.  It was a big success and over 100 families were helped because of your generosity!

During this holiday season may you find some moments amidst the hustle and bustle to relax, take it all in, and enjoy the little things in life!

Happy Holidays,

Mrs. Riegel,

It's hard to believe that another week has come and gone and we only have one more full week of school until vacation.  With the weather so nice, it doesn't quite feel like winter!  We continue to work hard and keep pushing ourselves to do our best!

In writing workshop we have been working tirelessly to prepare all the materials necessary for drafting our essay.  Hopefully you got to check out your child's boxes and bullets that came home this week on their drafting pad.  We continue to come up with narrative mini-stories to support our reasons, so that we have enough evidence!  We're looking forward to start drafting our essay's next week!

In reading workshop we are still in our non-fiction reading unit.  We have been studying different text structures this week, including time-order, cause/effect, problem/solution, all about, and compare/contrast.  Knowing what structure the author uses in their text can help readers organize the information and hold onto the main idea and important details.

In math we finished Topic 6, multiplying using both the expanded and standard algorithm.  As a whole the students did very well with this topic. We started Topic 7, multiplying by 2-digit numbers. We learned how to draw a model and make an array to help us solve for multiplying a 2-digit by 2-digit number.

In social studies we are learning about the explorers, Henry Hudson, Samuel de Champlain, and Giovanni da Verrazzano.  We have been studying what each explorer was looking for, the country they sailed for, and what they discovered.  We will be coming to the end of our first social studies unit next week and there will be a Unit Exam that will cover geography of New York State, Native Americans - specifically the Iroquois and Algonquin tribes, and the explorers we are studying now.

Here's a sneak peak at my weekly Friday performance!

Have a wonderful weekend! 

Last week was a busy, full week!

In writing workshop we  have been working on coming up with a topic for our essay.  The structure that we are using to draft our essays is called "Boxes and Bullets."  The box being the main idea that you really want people to know, and the bullets being the reasons to help support the idea.  We worked on generating a boxes and bullets to help us come up with the topic we want to write an essay on.  As you are aware, your child brought home their writers notebook last week to "freewrite" about their topic.  Asking them about their writing may even help them come up with new ideas!

In reading workshop we are reading non-fiction books.  We are not only learning about boxes and bullets in writing workshop, but are carrying this learning over to reading workshop.  In our non-fiction reading we are working on determining the main idea (box), and three details (bullets).  Not only have we been doing this work in our selected books, but we have also been working on this in book groups.  Some of the book groups have been reading books on Native Americans, which they really enjoy.

In social studies we worked in groups last week to compare the Iroquois and Algonquin tribes.  Each group completed a Venn Diagram.  We came together, discussed these differences,  and did an interactive venn diagram on the smartboard which was a lot of fun.  This week we are starting to learn about the explorers.

In math we began topic 6, which the students will be tested on this week.  We are learning all about the expanded and standard algorithms, and using the standard algorithm to multiply, 2-, 3-, and 4-digit by 1-digit numbers.  Keep practicing those math facts!

I hope you all had a great weekend and were able to get outdoors to enjoy this beautiful December weather!