Dear Fourth Grade Families,

I hope you are all enjoying a great start to your winter recess!  We had a great week last week and I'm looking forward to all the new learning that we have coming our way when we return.  

I was lucky to attend a training last week with my grade level colleagues on reading workshop.  The district has purchased all classroom teachers new reading kits from Columbia Teachers College Reading and Writing Project.  Some teachers began piloting these units in September and we are fortunate that every teacher will be given the opportunity to use them.  For the most part, reading workshop will look the same as it does now, however we will delve into different units of study in reading that align closely with our current writing units. 

In writing workshop we just started a new unit called literary essay.  The students were just coming off of learning about opinion and persuasive essays, and this new unit ties in closely with what we learned in the previous one. This unit starts with writers partaking in multiple close readings.  In order to write well about reading, we have to really study the reading, and investigate what the author is really trying to say.  We did a close reading of the book Fox by Margaret Wild and Ron Brooks together as a class.  Then the students each read seven short passages in which they chose one that they really understood.  That story that they chose is what they will be studying throughout this unit.  Stay tuned for what's coming next!

In math, this past unit proved to be much better than topic 9!  The students as a whole did very well on their last test, which will be sent home when we return from break.  I know the long division strategies can be challenging, especially when many of you were taught different ways of completing long division.  Thank you for your patience, and all the assistance you give your children! Our next topic is fractions.  Keep practicing your facts!

We are still learning about floating and sinking in our science unit.  Last week we learned about displacement, the amount of water that is pushed away by an object that is placed in it.  We learned that two objects that are the same shape but different weights do not have a different affect on displacement.  We did learn, however, that if two objects that are the same size are placed in water and one sinks and one floats, this will affect displacement.  

In reading workshop we compiled a list of favorite authors before we left for vacation.  We will begin our author study unit when we return from vacation.  Be on the lookout for an email later in the week regarding books at home.  If your child as any books by the authors we are studying, I've asked them to bring in any they would be willing to share!  

Thanks for your continued support.  Enjoy your week!

Mrs. Riegel