We had a great week back from winter break and got right to work!

In writing we continue to work on pulling apart the short story that we will be writing our literary essay on.  This week we focused on the character in the story and found a part where they said or did something.  We recorded this on a page in our notebooks and pretended we were our character and wrote as if we were telling the rest of the story from their view.  The thought prompts have also been helping us write longer about the story, growing our ideas as we go and thinking deeper about the text.

The new unit that we started in reading workshop is an author study.  Each student came up with a list of a few authors they wanted to learn more about.  They were placed into a book club with other students who were also interested in studying the same author.  In our class we have 6 different clubs that have been reading or possibly re-reading books that their author wrote.  There are a few things that have helped us when we are trying to get to know more about an author.  We can stop and jot a part where we felt surprised, excited, sad, or maybe a part that made us laugh out loud. Another way to become an expert on an author is to ask what the characters are like, what the setting is like, and what the themes are in the story.  On Thursday, students created charts about the characters across their books and the similarities and differences among them.

We began topic 11 in math this week, Fraction Equivalence and Ordering.  We revisited learning about factors and multiples, and learned about prime and composite numbers.  We used fraction strips to help support our learning of equivalent fractions.  A number line is another tool that can be used to help name equivalent fractions.

We are wrapping up our floating and sinking unit this week.  We learned that although the weight of different objects does not change, it appears to change when these objects are submerged under water.  We weighed all the objects that we tested in the beginning of the unit when they were suspended in the air, partially submerged, and fully submerged. We also investigated the difference between salt water and tap water, and discussed why objects that sink in tap water will float in salt water...because the salt water is heavier!

On Thursday we met with our buddy class and decorated some really neat hats in honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday and Read Across America Week coming up.

Enjoy your weekend!

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