Just Another Week of Learning

 Wonders:

The children have been reading Delivering Justice, as we kicked off the new genre-Biography.  They are working together, collaborating and learning new vocabulary words for this story.  

Amplify Science:

We are continuing with Electricity and reading about Blackouts.  The children are working together to figure out what makes an electrical system function.  

Social Studies:

The children are continuing work on their Portugal project.  We are getting ready for International Night.  We will have our room ready to represent the country of Portugal.  The children are making posters, writing reports, creating a travel brochure and learning about places to visit.

It is great to watch the children working together and helping each other along.  

Reveal Math:

We are continuing with Chapter 5 and will be taking a test on this unit this week.  They are learning about mutliplication patterns and sequences.  We are also doing some RICAS practice testing in preparation of our state assessments coming up.  

Morning Meetings:

Our morning meetings continue to be very interesting with the lively conversations we have.  We try to focus on a specific topic.  We discuss how certain things make us feel.  Some of our conversations revolve around, growth mindset, friendships, respect and accountability.  We try to remain in the present moment and work out any situations that come up throughout the day.  

Postcard Exchange:

The children and I love receiving postcards from all around the states.  We have been discovering so much about other states and things that they are famous for.  We are meeting lots of other 4th graders.  It is great when we post the cards and letters up by the map.  We are still hoping to get more as the weeks pass.

Star Time:

On Friday, I met with the students to discuss their progress and create new goals for the month of February.  We discussed their Aims Web winter benchmark, their IXL and Lexia usage.  We talked about their RICAS scores from last year and how they can increase it.  The time spent with them is a great way to find out and dig deeper with where they are and where they want to be.  

Other photos of what we did this past week:

Reminders:

The children should be reading their book for the book project due in March.

Progress Reports went home on Friday, please sign and return them on Monday.

Best of Luck to Giusseppe, on the 2nd, as he participates in the Spelling Bee.

Growth, Effort and Achievements

Another great week in 4Z

Our week flew by once again.  We are always working and learning.  Conversations are all around, discoveries continue to be made and learning is taking place.  I cannot believe how fast the days are going.  With each passing day, the children are progressing nicely.  The routines are set in place and for the most part, things go according to schedule.

Reading/ Social Studies:

We are preparing for International night.  Our classroom is studying all about Portugal.  The children are researching it's location, what they eat, famous people from there, and so much more.  Together they plan out what they are going to display, how it will look and what to include.  It is their voice and choice on how it will all come together and what they feel should be displayed as families and children come through on that night.

 

Some of the groups began putting together posters with what their group is researching.  It is great to see the collaboration and team work that they are showing.  Everyone in the group has a part and work to get it done.  

RACE Strategy:

With the upcoming state testing approaching we are using our Intervention block to review many of the strategies that they can use.  One of those is the Race strategy for written responses.  We have been working in groups and developing well constructed responses.  RICAS testing has many written response parts that they are to complete.  In using RACE they are able to restate the question, answer all parts, cite the evidence and elaborate with details.  We are getting the hang of it and practicing it daily. 

Reveal Math

In Math we are working on multiples and factors.  We use Reveal daily and have a digital component that goes along with the curriculum.  Children work together in their groups.  They discover different ways to solve a problem, and use the UPS strategy to solve word problems.  Our Intervention block also will include practicing released items from the RICAS assessment to help them better prepare for the state testing.  

The practice book is set up with an introduction to the lesson, learning the concept, and then doing independent work.  Some times if they do not complete the page in class, it should be going home.  

                                                                Amplify Science

We are continuing to learn about Electricity-  The children are once again, working together, watching videos and discovering the many forms of electricity.  We had a review session using Kahoot.  The children enjoyed it and were reviewing in the process.

Our trait for the month is Growth Mindset.  We are having morning meetings that revolve around this.  We discuss how we can improve on all that we do by trying and not giving up.  If we can't do something we know that eventually, we will get it.  There are challenges that we need to face, and giving up is not an option.  We are always discussing how we need to show effort in order to reach our goals.  We talk about this daily and continue to strive to achieve what our end goal is.  Our STAR time conferences gives us opportunities to discuss our progress and how we can improve on it.  We will be holding our next one on the 27th.  

                        

Our Journey through the Week

 Greetings from Room 4Z we certainly had another productive week and managed to get to see a PC Women's Basketball Game.  

The week was filled with lots of reading, research and collaborating.  Children worked on presentations, multiplication and discovering how electricity makes its way into their homes.  Our weeks seem to be flying by but there is always something going on in our class.  Here's last week's happenings.

Influential Children: Wonders and Social Studies

The children had to find a child who has made an impact on their community and research that child.  There were many various ones and the children created a slide to present to us and discuss what that child has done to impact their community.  

It was great listening to them present and find out that children their age or a bit older really made a difference in the lives of others.

Science:

We are continuing our work on Electricity.  The children are learning about all the different forms of electricity and where it comes from.  This week, they watched a video and took notes on it.  Making discoveriens and wonderful conversations took place.  

Math: 

The children are learning about factor  pairs and multiplication.  They have been using the UPS strategy to work on word problems and we are even doing some work on released RICAS items in preparation for the state testing.  

Providence College Woman's Basketball Game:

On Wednesday we were able to take the children to PC to experience their first field trip and to see the women in action.  The children had a blast.  The women played against Xavier and won.  The looks on the children's faces was all worth it.  They were happy, dancing, and even rooted for the team.  

When the Friar's mascots came around, it was an added bonus.  The children wanted to take pictures with them and even danced.  It was great to see the smiles on their faces.

Thank you to PC for sending us back with gifts for us to remember this experience.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

This week we also watche a video about the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  The children worked on timelines, listening to his speech and learning about the type of person he was and what he believed in.  

All in all, the week went well.  We learned, we danced, we laughed and most importantly, we collaborated and made discoveries throughout the entire week.  Hope everyone is enjoying their 3 day weekend.