Fall is here!

Fall is finally here, and it sure is starting to feel like it.  I hope you all enjoyed the beautiful weekend we had!

Here is a look at what we were up to this week:

In Writing workshop we began plotting our story arcs.  You all should have received an email from me about joining Seesaw.  As I mentioned at open house, this is a digital portfolio that allows you to see your child's work when we add something at school.  You are more than welcome to comment on your child's work, ask them about it at home, or even share the link with other family members who might like to see their work (grandma/grandpa, etc).  You, your child and myself are the only ones who can see their portfolio.  If you have any questions, let me know! Each post-it on our story arc is a different scene. We spent time thinking of a strong beginning, making the problem get worse, the heart of the story, showing the character changing, and a strong ending.  Asking your child to retell their story arc will help them prepare for drafting this week! 

In reading, we looked at a few short answer questions and rated our work on a self-rubric.  Out first unit focuses on interpreting characters. The students rated their reading responses, and then worked to make them stronger.  We have talked a lot about reading "just right" books.  As I finish up reading assessments, the students know what level books they should be choosing from.  

In math we are nearing the end of topic 1, meanings of multiplication and division.  Much of this topic is review from last year.  We will do a review on Tuesday and then take the test on Wednesday of this week.  Most students have been able to login to XtraMath.  This is assigned each night for homework (Monday-Thursday, but certainly would be great to do on other days as well).  Please make sure your child is going on each night.

In science we observed our rocks from home.  We talked about different characteristics that can be used to describe rocks; color, shape, luster, and streak. This week we will study different types of rocks more closely.   

We made some really neat sunflowers with our buddies this week to hang in our classroom!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Mrs. Riegel 

Happy first full week of 4th grade!

What a great first week and a half!  We were busy getting our classroom ready for Open House and dove right into some new units of study!

I enjoyed getting to meet most of you at Open House on Thursday.  It was great showing you our classroom and talking about all the exciting things we have to come this year!

In social studies, we have been learning about New York State, specifically focusing on where NYS is in relation to the rest of our world.  We have also learned some important NYS symbols that are portrayed on our beautiful stamps around the room.  This week we will begin learning about different landforms around New York

In science, we started a list of all the things we know about rocks and also came up with some questions we have about rocks.  Don't forget to bring in a rock from home for this week!

We began our narrative writing unit, realistic fiction.  As writer's of realistic fiction, we often find story ideas from things that have happened in our lives.  The students started this unit by thinking of small moments that have happened in their life.  This may be a memory of a special person, place, or event that happened to them.  We wrote lots of small moment stories to help us brainstorm story ideas.  It has been fun listening to all the stories that the children have to share!

In Math we began topic one, which teaches all about the meanings of multiplication and division. We reviewed arrays and also discussed factors, products, and multiples.  Commutative Property, Identity Property, and Zero Property are all terms that are review from last year.  We took a couple days to learn about the Distributive Property, which tells us that you can break apart a problem into two simpler problems and get the same product.  This is not an easy concept, but after day two I think the students had a better understanding! 

We spent time meeting and getting to know our buddies last week and this week we showed off our classroom and enjoyed the beautiful weather out on the playground together. We will meet once a week with our buddies and are looking forward to many fun activities with them throughout the school year!

I hope you all had a terrific weekend!

Mrs. Riegel