Routines are Underway

 It looks like we are finally underway with our routines and curriculum.  The children have been introduced to all the content areas, they know what my expections are and they seem to know the routines of the classroom.  We have begun all of the curriculum both new and ones that were already in place.  Fall is in the air and that means that many activties and events are taking place.  

Reveal Math is one of our new curricula.  The children have begun the review of Place Value.  They were given the volume 1 and have already been doing work from the workbook.  

There will be many more topics in Math: Rounding, adding and subtracting, multiplications and division, fractions and geometry.

In Social Studies/History we have begun our research of RI.  The children will learn about its history, symbols, location and more.  They will begin work on finding out what the state bird, motto, population and much more.  This will lead to a RI Scavenger Hunt and ABC's of RI.

We also are doing a postcard exchange with the other 49 states.  On Friday we received our first postcard from Pennsylvania.  The students were so excited to read the postcard and find out about the state.  

Amplify Science

With science underway, we are stating to learn about electrical systems and what causes blackouts.  The children are working from their science notebooks and slides provided by the new science program.  There are some great discussions taking place.  The children seem very excited about learning how systems operate and keep the power on.

Wonders

In Reading we have started reading and talking about Natural Disasters. Our first one is about Earthquakes.  The children are also going to be doing research on a natural disaster of their choice and create a google slide presentation.  We are also discussing types of sentences and summarizing what we read.

Morning Meetings

I truly enjoy this part of the day.  The children do some writing first then come up to the rug and we watch a video, usually with Kid President and then we discuss the meaning of the video.  This is a great time to talk about any situations that have come up and they need solutions to.

                                                                   Station Rotations

We have begun our station rotations and it has gone very well.  The children know what to do in each station and what the norms are.  Transitioning from one to the other is also going smoothly.  

In mid October we will get a visit from a famous author.  We are currently reading one of his books.  At dismissal, when everyone is ready to go, we find a spot in the room and  I am reading aloud Finding Gobi.  The children are very much attentive.  

Upcoming Events:

I hope to see all of you at our Open House happening on Thursday night.

The Scholastic Book Fair is also taking place this week.  Our class is set for Thursday at 11:10

Making our Mark

 It was another fantastic week in 4th grade.  The children are still reviewing procedures and routines.  I am getting to know each student and we are all very engaged in learning and discovery.

Our first in person assembly took place, after a few years of being virtual, it was wonderful to see everyone gathered together.  Mr. Pacitto talked about STAR qualities and what we need to do to be safe, trustworthy, accountable and responsible in all areas of the school.

Learning continues in all content areas.  The children are working cooperatively and collaboratively in groups.  Wonderful discussions are taking place, questions of inquiry are being asked and the social emotional piece is also being represented.  I love reading books to the children and hearing their thoughts and what qualities the characters represent.  This leads to our morning meeting discussions and conversations about themes of books.

Dot Day is one of my favorite days.  It took place on September 15th.  First I read the book, The Dot by Peter Reynolds.  Then stations were set up where each one had a different activity to be completed.  The story is about a girl who thinks that she cannot draw.  Her teacher gives her a piece of paper, tells her to draw a dot and sign it.  The girl, Vashti, sees it hanging up the next day and this begins her days of making pictures with dots.  The lesson of the story is to make your mark and see where it will take you.

We have some very imaginative and inspiring students in class.  They built structures, created pictures with dots and designed their own dots.  This was such a great day to see their creativity and use their imaginations.

The children were engaged and coming up with plans on what to build.  The discussions were impressive and watching them made me content.  

In Math we are reviewing place value and our Postcard Exchange project is coming along nicely.  We are going to be sending 49 postcards to states all around the US.  We are also gong to be receiving postcards also.  I  can't wait to start getting them and displaying them on our map.  

It was a very successful and productive week of learning.  The children are acclamating themselves to what the expectations are and I am feeling very pleased with my class.  It looks like we are on the right path.  Can't wait to see how much they grow and learn with one another.

We are also learning about Hispanic Heritage.  We started watching vidoes and slides about variious places in the world and how they are celebrating.  So far we have learned about Belize, Mexico and Chile.

Getting to Know Each Other

Our second week of school (even though they haven't been full weeks), went very well.  We are still learning about one another and getting our routines and procedures down. Each morning the children come in and start with a morning bin for their table.  This settles them and gets them ready to go for the day.

Our morning meetings are also part of our beginning of the day routine.  The children listen to a video by Kid President, take a poll, are read some reminders and a quote is there for us to reflect on.  

I am enjoying getting to know each student.  Pick a stick was something that we did this week, as well as, creating a self portrait of themselves.

One day this week, we had indoor recess.  It was great to see the children playing games and cooperating with one another.

One book we read was Invisible Boy and the children worked together to answer questions about the book.

We also read The Important Book and the children had to choose something that was important to them.

Friday we read The Best Part of Me and will be working on this a bit more throughout the week.

The children enjoy being in our reading area.  They choose a book and get comfortable either on one of our chairs or on the rug.  It is wonderful to see them with a book in hand and reading.

    

Lastly, we have begun to find facts about RI so that we can send out our postcards to the other 49 states for our Postcard Exchange Project.  The students seem very excited and our poster of all the states is ready so that we can pin the postcards as they start to arrive.

This upcoming week we will be following our normal schedule which includes all the subjects.  Children will get a spelling list, work on grammar, math, read more about RI and start Amplify Science.  In Wonders we will start our first story and station rotations will start up.  Stay tuned for lots more coming up within the week.