Welcome to the 2012-2013 School Year!

Welcome to the 2012-2013, Students and Parents!

 

We've enjoyed a very smooth beginning to your students' fourth grade school year. It has been a lot of fun getting to know each student in the class. I am looking forward to a happy and productive year with all twenty kiddos!

 

 

Reader's and Writer's Workshop

In Reader's Workshop, we've begun setting up our Reading Response Notebooks. We've also discussed expectations for Reader's Workshop. The expectations include things like:

• Read as much as you can, as joyfully as you can.
• Record your thinking.
• Reading is thinking. Try to do nothing that might distract others from reading and thinking. 
• Find books, authors, subjects, themes, genres, etc.... that matter to you and that you enjoy.
 
 

In Writer's Workshop we're currently working on creating a writing sample. This will be the first item placed in the Fourth Grade Writing Portfolio. Students go through the entire writing process beginning with brainstorming and ending with a final draft.

 

Earlier this week, your student completed a Dibels Assessment. I will also be giving a spelling inventory to determine each student's needs for spelling instruction.

 

Math

Your student will be using Everyday Math again this year. In math we've explored the Student Reference Book (SRB) and other tools we will use in math. As part of Unit 1, we have also been learning about polygons, angles, lines, rays, etc.... this week. The students really seemed to enjoy creating shapes with straws and twist ties as we discussed the properties of polygons!

 

Science

Mrs. Compton is working with students on on setting up their notebooks and learning about the process skills that make us great scientists!  They will continue to practice these skills with little labs where they will record all of their  discoveries in their notebooks.

 

Social Studies

In Social Studies we've been learning about Geography and what it means. We've also begun our introduction into our unit study of the six U.S. Geographical Regions. We are learning about the fifty states and how they are divided into regions.