It has been my pleasure to work with your kids this year. I've learned just as much from them as they have from me. I love watching their "wheels turn" as they learn new concepts and question things. Many students make extraordinary connections to our world, and I'm constantly in awe. This group of fourth graders was so kind, so creative, and so patient with one another. It is a joy to teach such hard-working kids. Thank you for your support this year as well. You have shared great ideas, pictures, volunteer time, treats, surprises, food for thought...the list goes on. I'm thankful for you all.
As I sign off for the year, I want to reflect just a bit from where we've come....
Texas History was a blast! The kids learned about how the land was settled and which countries owned it. They know the true 6 flags over Texas, and realize now it is not just an amusement park. :) They learned about explorers and what they were looking for in Texas, as well as what they brought with them. They understand and had compassion for the Native Americans in this area as foreigners basically took their land. Cause and effect was a VERY common theme in history. After all, we have to learn from our past to avoid the same problems in the future. These kiddos ARE our future. I know this group has some future politicians, lawyers, scholars, athletes, leaders, teachers, doctors...all of whom will have the ability to make positive change and helpful contributions! The fourth graders are proud of their Texas heritage (either from being born here or moving here) Texas had strong people who fought to make it the state it is today.
We wrote and wrote and WROTE some more! We focused on capitalization, punctuation, parts of speech,, spelling, sentence fluency, and Latin roots as we wrote. We incorporated figurative language in our writing, especially with our weekly study of idioms and how they make our writing more interesting. I've seen tremendous growth in these writers. By the end of the year, most students are now capitalizing and punctuating without reminders, writing neatly, and using paragraphs!!! In order to continue on the path to excellence in writing, your children should continue to write over the summer. Try journaling with your kiddo or setting him/her up with a pen pal. Even email is fine. We just want kids to continue practicing writing skills so they don't lose ground. Even though there is not another writing STAAR until 7th grade, written expression is expected in every subject