Our final week of September!

Can you believe that this is the last week of September?  It has gone by so quickly.  We began the month with incredible heat and are waking up this morning to quite a "chill".  With that said, this is just a reminder to send in your children with sweatshirts or jackets each day as we never know what the weather will be like for recess or even as we send them home.

In 4B, we have been building a strong classroom community.   We have started our Open Circle meetings where we are learning about what we have in common, how to listen to one another and how to share our own thoughts and ideas in a safe and welcoming group.  It is in building this foundation that our classroom becomes a place where children feel safe to ask questions and take risks with their learning.

In math we have been reviewing different concepts; place value, addition and subtraction of multi-digit numbers (with and without regrouping),  as well as area and perimeter.  Math time includes math stations, ipad integration, small group work as well as "Flipped Friday's" where students are working on Khan Academy.  

Our writing workshop is developing nicely.  We are learning how to develop our paragraphs through "Paragraph of the Week."  We are focusing on brainstorming, developing 3 ideas with explanations, as well as creating topic and concluding sentences.  In addition, we are looking at transition and concluding words and phrases to strengthen our work.

Reading workshop routines are also getting developed.  We meet each day for a mini-lesson on a skill or to discuss a reading habit and then we go off to practice; independently or in small groups.  This workshop concludes with all of us meeting back together to debrief, discuss and review the lesson.  Our current read aloud is Wonder, by Patricia Palacio.  It is a fabulous book with a wonderful theme.  Ask your children about it.

In addition to our reading workshop, your children are also participating in our first "book challenge." All of us pick a number of books we believe we can read during the first quarter.  We post this number for all to see and then we document each book along the way.  The number selected should challenge each reader but not be unreasonable.  Those students who chose a low number most likely will surprise themselves by surpassing it!  That always feels good!

Science - Continuing with weather and then we will move on to photosynthesis and our Part 1 of

plants.  Students have completed their first group projects on "wild weather."  This is the first of many projects this year.

Social studies - focus on the history of New Hampshire and prepare for our trip to Strawbery Banke.

As you can see, we are certainly busy in 4B!  Take care and enjoy this beautiful fall week!

~Lisa

Fantastic First Week!

What a wonderful week we had as we participated in STEM Camp.  So many great conversations as well as a lot of fun, hands-on learning opportunities.  I think the groundwork has been set for a great year of science, technology, engineering and math!

I wanted to remind everyone that tonight is back to school night for 4th grade.  We will all be meeting in the gym at 6 pm and will begin with an introduction by Mr. Kew, our principal.  We will then head down to our classrooms where I will share with you an overview of the year.

Finally, I wanted to share a link with you.  I have been using Khan Academy in my classroom for four years now.  I feel that it is a wonderful tool that allows for differentiation and independent learning.  Students are able to access learning at their own pace and progress through lessons at their readiness level.  We will be using Khan this year on Fridays.  I am calling it "Flipped Friday!"  because we flip our day around as well as flip the way instruction is given during math.  The video link I am including is only 3 minutes long and is part of a program that is called TEACH which will air this Friday on CBS at 8pm.  This will give you a little insight as to what your child will be working with on Fridays as well as have the ability to access from home.

Khan Academy video link

I look forward to seeing you all tonight.

~ Lisa