Hodgetown is really coming along! The students are working really hard on creating our new colony. They are applying what they have learned about the start of Jamestown, what they know about how about colonists live, and adding their own personal opinions about what would best make a colony successful. I will post pictures as we continue through this colony creation.
We are beginning test prep in order to practice for the ERB tests that students will take the first week in May. As I have explained to the students, we need to practice test-taking because it is different than our everyday learning. We will take practice tests, discuss test-taking strategies, skills that will be covered, and sitting in our desks for over 30 minutes without getting up. The last thing may not seem like a necessary thing to practice, but I don't regularly teach where students may not get out of their seat for 30-45 minutes, and also cannot talk through work. Last, I told students that I am not stressed about this testing, and therefore, they should not be either.
Dads, we really enjoyed having your here today! Your child loved being able to show off their laptop/tinkering skills and I hope you had fun playing too. Pictures will be coming soon!
This is a short week for the students, and a busy one at that! We have a spring arts class today in the Upper School on screenwriting. Wednesday is the spring arts fest. It will be 12:30-1:30 for 4th grade. A t-shirt will come home with your child tomorrow and they need to wear this shirt on Wednesday. This day is also a NUD.
Math:
Unit 11 begins this week. This unit focuses on shapes, weight, volume, and capacity. I will let the students know of a test day as the week progresses and we see how far we get.
Writer's Workshop:
Today, students wrote 2-3 different introductions after my lesson. Then, they tested these introductions out on a partner. Students begin formally editing their piece tonight. I want them to edit for one thing at a time on the rubric. Tomorrow, I will teach about conclusions in an opinion piece and then students will do the same procedure as was done with introductions. Wednesday, will be a review of how to include the right mix of evidence and thinking/explanation. Students will spend the rest of the Writing time on Wednesday peer editing. Students will be typing by Wednesday and final edits will be made Thursday before publishing. This piece will be turned in and celebrated on Thursday, before the long weekend!
Word Study:
Sort 13 was assessed today. Sort 14 will be handed out tomorrow and the test will be next week. Sort 14 focuses on the Prefixes: Re-, Un-, Dis-, Mis-, & Pre.
Social Studies:
Last week, students were assessed on The Middle Colonies. This week, we will begin to study the Southern Colonies. Students have been working on a comparison chart of the three colonial regions. In addition, we will focus on map skills during this unit.
Reader's Workshop:
We will be working on a mix of social issues and test prep this week and next. As we conclude this unit, the students will focus on:
- understanding the issues that exist in our world in our lives by looking at character's reactions to the issues they face
- thinking deeply about social issues in our books by paying attention to crucial scenes in our books.
- understanding the issues in our books by asking which groups are around us and which groups do we belong to
- challenge the text by imagining what could have happened differently for the character if they had belonged to a different group.
We are beginning test prep in order to practice for the ERB tests that students will take the first week in May. As I have explained to the students, we need to practice test-taking because it is different than our everyday learning. We will take practice tests, discuss test-taking strategies, skills that will be covered, and sitting in our desks for over 30 minutes without getting up. The last thing may not seem like a necessary thing to practice, but I don't regularly teach where students may not get out of their seat for 30-45 minutes, and also cannot talk through work. Last, I told students that I am not stressed about this testing, and therefore, they should not be either.
Dads, we really enjoyed having your here today! Your child loved being able to show off their laptop/tinkering skills and I hope you had fun playing too. Pictures will be coming soon!
This is a short week for the students, and a busy one at that! We have a spring arts class today in the Upper School on screenwriting. Wednesday is the spring arts fest. It will be 12:30-1:30 for 4th grade. A t-shirt will come home with your child tomorrow and they need to wear this shirt on Wednesday. This day is also a NUD.
Math:
Unit 11 begins this week. This unit focuses on shapes, weight, volume, and capacity. I will let the students know of a test day as the week progresses and we see how far we get.
Writer's Workshop:
Today, students wrote 2-3 different introductions after my lesson. Then, they tested these introductions out on a partner. Students begin formally editing their piece tonight. I want them to edit for one thing at a time on the rubric. Tomorrow, I will teach about conclusions in an opinion piece and then students will do the same procedure as was done with introductions. Wednesday, will be a review of how to include the right mix of evidence and thinking/explanation. Students will spend the rest of the Writing time on Wednesday peer editing. Students will be typing by Wednesday and final edits will be made Thursday before publishing. This piece will be turned in and celebrated on Thursday, before the long weekend!
Word Study:
Sort 13 was assessed today. Sort 14 will be handed out tomorrow and the test will be next week. Sort 14 focuses on the Prefixes: Re-, Un-, Dis-, Mis-, & Pre.
Social Studies:
Last week, students were assessed on The Middle Colonies. This week, we will begin to study the Southern Colonies. Students have been working on a comparison chart of the three colonial regions. In addition, we will focus on map skills during this unit.
Reader's Workshop:
We will be working on a mix of social issues and test prep this week and next. As we conclude this unit, the students will focus on:
- understanding the issues that exist in our world in our lives by looking at character's reactions to the issues they face
- thinking deeply about social issues in our books by paying attention to crucial scenes in our books.
- understanding the issues in our books by asking which groups are around us and which groups do we belong to
- challenge the text by imagining what could have happened differently for the character if they had belonged to a different group.