Bonus Thursday!
Since we have recently switched reading/writing classes around, I thought it might be helpful to touch base an additional time this week.
Math: Today marked the "official" start of 4th grade math - up until now, the concepts have been relatively easy to pick up on. However, today we took our understanding of "mean" a step further and worked backward with it...imagine the "mean" family members per student in a group of 5 was 4. Considering that typically every person in the group doesn't have an equal number of family members, how could you "redistribute" the number of family members yet maintain the same mean? Well, using chips to represent family members, we each took a different amount from the pile of 20 until all of the chips were gone. Sometimes a person or two didn't have any chips, and other times the chips were somewhat equal but not quite. In the end, it doesn't matter because the TOTAL number of chips doesn't change - nor did the number of people in our group. Thus, the mean is still 4. Confused? Ask your child to show you what we learned with Cheerios or coins...
Homework tonight is a simple line plot worksheet. We do have a quiz tomorrow so you should expect to see it tomorrow night.
Language Arts: We established WORD STUDY journals today and selected words from a class list. The sound is /ee/ but the letter patterns vary greatly. They have 12 words on their personal list and these should be spelled perfectly in their journals (I initialed them). Inside their journal you'll find a schedule and list of activities that should be completed before Friday, September 25th. On this date, they will enter their words correctly in their personal dictionaries and will be expected to spell them correctly in their written work.
Bread and Jam for Frances - Tonight they should finish reading the story and mark places in the story where they can make a MEANINGFUL connection.
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears - Tonight they should identify traits exhibited by the iguana and mark places in text that support/prove why this trait is accurate.
Miss Rumphius - Tonight they should identify traits exhibited by Miss Rumphius and mark places in text that support/prove why this trait is accurate.
Writing: We added some additional topics to our topic lists, chose one, and began webbing details, feelings, and possible sensory details to include when they begin their draft tomorrow.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Does it feel like the first day of school? Yup - but the good news is tomorrow we're a step in the right direction.
Math: This morning we continued analyzing data through mean, mode, median, and range. It is important to recognize that despite knowing how to compute the mean of a given set, the students don't necessarily understand what it all means, though. So, we have been working with manipulatives to help construct our understanding of division and fair shares before incorporating the calculations...be patient because the process is much more important than the product! No homework tonight because we've been taking a bit more time than usual since the entire concept is completely new.
Language Arts: We officially switched our classes today! We reviewed not just how characters change but what caused the particular change in the story. In addition, we began the first of a few "hybrid" lessons that combine reading and writing through the exploration of sensory details. Since we had guidance lessons this afternoon, our guided reading groups will begin tomorrow.
In addition, our first word study list will come home on Thursday, too.
Science: We visited the lab and completed a WebQuest that required students to navigate between websites and a document while locating the appropriate answers to a variety of fingerprinting questions.
Math: This morning we continued analyzing data through mean, mode, median, and range. It is important to recognize that despite knowing how to compute the mean of a given set, the students don't necessarily understand what it all means, though. So, we have been working with manipulatives to help construct our understanding of division and fair shares before incorporating the calculations...be patient because the process is much more important than the product! No homework tonight because we've been taking a bit more time than usual since the entire concept is completely new.
Language Arts: We officially switched our classes today! We reviewed not just how characters change but what caused the particular change in the story. In addition, we began the first of a few "hybrid" lessons that combine reading and writing through the exploration of sensory details. Since we had guidance lessons this afternoon, our guided reading groups will begin tomorrow.
In addition, our first word study list will come home on Thursday, too.
Science: We visited the lab and completed a WebQuest that required students to navigate between websites and a document while locating the appropriate answers to a variety of fingerprinting questions.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Happy Monday! Sorry about that offensive line, Skin's fans...
Math: Hopefully you had a chance to look at the quiz from last week. Typically, you should expect a quiz to come home (graded) on each Friday. Please take some time to look it over and sign it prior to Monday. What many of you likely noticed is that the first 4 problems were simpler and consequently, met the rubric score of a two at the top of the page. The second half of the quiz was more complex - building upon the simpler content. Two observations that were addressed in small groups this morning: word choice ("place" vs. "value") and importance of systematically applying each clue to determine the correct number. My informal assessment showed that most gained some clarity with the mystery number problem. It will be on this week's quiz...
Tonight's homework deals with median and mode. They are only to complete RW24. The other side of the sheet is for classwork tomorrow! Speaking of tomorrow, we will delve into mean which as you know, requires a skill that wasn't necessarily taught last year - division. This is one of the few times where we need to go backwards a bit to construct an understanding of a foundation concept. This will take us a couple of weeks to practice, discuss, and develop a thorough understanding of what "mean" means...remember, it's not the formula we're after - it's the conceptional understanding of what the answer means.
Oh - there's a notes page for data analysis in their binders! Check it out...
Language Arts: It's been a few days but we are restarting reading groups tomorrow. We've made some adjustments to our instruction that have required a short break in the action...we haven't forgotten! However, our whole group lessons have continued...we've dug a little deeper with character traits by examining how dialogue and actions communicate traits to the audience. Next, we'll explore how the character is affected by the other elements in a story.
Writing: I conferenced with 9 students today to not only set an expectation but determine individual needs. Generally speaking - elaboration, word choice, and the inclusion of feelings/emotions.
Social Studies: We're in the early stages of economic resources and geographic characteristics. Today, we worked cooperatively to classify a collection of independent "resources" and developed names for each category. Next time we will determine which are examples of human, capital, and natural resources.
Math: Hopefully you had a chance to look at the quiz from last week. Typically, you should expect a quiz to come home (graded) on each Friday. Please take some time to look it over and sign it prior to Monday. What many of you likely noticed is that the first 4 problems were simpler and consequently, met the rubric score of a two at the top of the page. The second half of the quiz was more complex - building upon the simpler content. Two observations that were addressed in small groups this morning: word choice ("place" vs. "value") and importance of systematically applying each clue to determine the correct number. My informal assessment showed that most gained some clarity with the mystery number problem. It will be on this week's quiz...
Tonight's homework deals with median and mode. They are only to complete RW24. The other side of the sheet is for classwork tomorrow! Speaking of tomorrow, we will delve into mean which as you know, requires a skill that wasn't necessarily taught last year - division. This is one of the few times where we need to go backwards a bit to construct an understanding of a foundation concept. This will take us a couple of weeks to practice, discuss, and develop a thorough understanding of what "mean" means...remember, it's not the formula we're after - it's the conceptional understanding of what the answer means.
Oh - there's a notes page for data analysis in their binders! Check it out...
Language Arts: It's been a few days but we are restarting reading groups tomorrow. We've made some adjustments to our instruction that have required a short break in the action...we haven't forgotten! However, our whole group lessons have continued...we've dug a little deeper with character traits by examining how dialogue and actions communicate traits to the audience. Next, we'll explore how the character is affected by the other elements in a story.
Writing: I conferenced with 9 students today to not only set an expectation but determine individual needs. Generally speaking - elaboration, word choice, and the inclusion of feelings/emotions.
Social Studies: We're in the early stages of economic resources and geographic characteristics. Today, we worked cooperatively to classify a collection of independent "resources" and developed names for each category. Next time we will determine which are examples of human, capital, and natural resources.
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