Last week the students finished transferring the information from their graphic organizers to DRAFT form. Our rules for draft writing include:
- Numbering the pages
- Use only the front side of the paper (this becomes necessary for revising.)
- Skip lines (needed for revising and editing)
- Write legibly enough that he/she can reread it back to the teacher.
Most students have completed the draft at this point. I introduced the 4 steps to revising last week. This week will look at each step a little more closely. The first step, as I mentioned in last week's post, is ADDING. To understand better what can be added to our writing, the students will be bringing home a practice packet that will be due Thursday. It is a very simple way for them to practice identifying prepositional phrases and adverbial phrases. Though it is an easy assignment, I will expect neatness and effort.
Throughout the week, we will dig deeper into the 4 parts of revising (ARMS) and begin editing later this week. It's important for this process to take a lot of time the first time around, so that students gain an understanding of the importance of the writing process. As we learn about new points to the process, pages are being added to writing notebooks and writing folders that will help them apply these skills to writing in all classes.
This week in Social Studies is a focus on National Hispanic Heritage Month. Students will learn about some important Hispanic Americans and their contributions to society. We will focus on Cesar Chavez, Pam Munoz Ryan, Roberto Clemente, Mario Molina, Dr. Ellen Ochoa, and Jaime Escalante. Students will work in small groups to create Bio Poems about these important individuals. You should see some of this work posted in the halls around the time of conferences.
Speaking of conferences, our official conference day is October 12th, Columbus Day. Watch for more information coming soon regarding how and when to sign up. You will have two options. One is more of an open house type of format, where students lead the parents through a typical day in fourth grade while showing expectations and work products from ALL their core classes. Another option is a private 20 minute conference with just me. This is probably the better option for those who can't attend on the 12th or need some attention to a specific concern or need regarding their child.
I have the student and parent conference forms available on this web page. Please go to the top of this page and click on "Conference Forms." I'd like to have all forms in by October 2nd.
Thank you! Have a wonderful week!