On Wednesday we switched classes for the first time. That means my students saw Mrs. Spencer for Math and Science for part of their day. We are establishing routines in our core classes as well.
In Language Arts in week 2 we will be continuing our focus on "Reading is Thinking," in order to really emphasize that regardless of what a student is reading or on what level he or she is reading, we have some basic skills we all need to apply, such as connecting to the text, questioning the author, creating visual images, making inferences, learning to summarize, and making predictions. During our read aloud time, I am modeling all of these skills and asking students to practice one skill at a time. The book I'm reading is Search for the Shadowman by Joan Lowery Nixon. It's a mystery that takes place in present day Texas. Two boys are required to look into their family history, and one of the boys discovers a mystery man. Throughout the book, students will learn some of the beginning lessons of Texas History as well. It's a great first read aloud and very engaging. In addition to our reading skills, we are doing some initial writing in our journals this week so that I can see how your child is as a writer.
One of the things our fourth grade team does is some pretesting during Week 2. Students will do a reading inventory on line that will determine current levels of functioning in Reading and plan lessons accordingly. That information will help me plan more individually for each student. We will also administer a spelling inventory and some basic grammar assessments so we have groundwork from which to plan and soar.
In Social Studies, we are discussing landmarks in the main four regions of Texas. Aside from learning about climate, vegetation, and animals, students will be doing a little research on a landmark from an assigned region. The possibilities for extensions are endless.
I hope you have a great weekend. I told the kiddos to play hard, rest up and come back ready to learn a lot in Week 2.