I hope you all are easing into our schedules and routines in fourth grade. Your kiddos are doing a great job learning and applying all the new information they've been given already. Classes are happy, cooperative, and ready to learn. Please be sure your children are getting plenty of rest water, and vitamins. The new year tends to bring new germs. Our immune systems have been on rest mode for so long, now, it's easy to catch a bug. If your child is sick, please be sure to email Joanna Willard and me so we are aware. Just a friendly reminder about leaving for trips. Trips, unfortunately, are not excused absences, and make-up work is not required to be given by the teacher in these circumstances. This could mean unwanted zeros averaged in your child's classes. By fourth grade it gets harder to make up missed work without falling behind.
This week in writing, we learned about taking a mental "snapshot" of specific moments in time, special people in our lives, and specific places that we like to be, through the use of "mentor texts." This means we analyze a piece of writing that sets a good example of strong writing attributes. The students brainstormed for ideas in each category. We will be choosing a moment in time next week to develop into our first narrative pieces to be taken all the way through the writing process. If you are able, talk with your child over the 3-day weekend, and help develop details about these moments. Your child will be able to incorporate those ideas into his/her writing.
In addition to these types of writing mini-lessons, we are also focusing on complete subjects and complete predicates, simple subjects (nouns) and simple predicates (verbs), capitalization, and adjectives. During mini-lessons, students are instructed to write a small amount or glue in an anchor chart of information that will help them throughout the year with their writing. We will continue to review, learn, and practice grammatical skills as well as spelling skills throughout the year.
Each student has a personal word wall in the brads of his/her writing folder. The folder goes with them to all classes to help them spell hundreds of words. All teachers and parents can add words to this word wall.
Finally, I gave out the first homework assignment last week. It was a simple sheet that reviewed what we learned about subjects and predicates. I had quite a few students who didn't turn it in or lost it. When homework is given, it is written in the students' agendas, highlighted, and put in homework folders. Please remind your child of his/her responsibility in doing assigned work at home. Sometimes it's possible that a student will miss a portion of recess to complete an assignment that is late.
I hope you all enjoy the long weekend with your families. We'll see you back here on Tuesday!