All of these April 'showers' surely better bring lots of May flowers! After a rainy week where our games cupboard saw lots of action during numerous indoor recesses in Room 117, we have survived! During a couple of our classes, we all even stopped just to listen to the rain pounding the school roof, and counted seconds between lightning and thunder (which actually led one student to do a "Gold Star Research" extra report on this practice!).
We began our Book Clubs this week! First we discussed the expectations for respectful group talk. Each of our four clubs has a list of questions to guide their discussion, encouraging deep conversation about the characters and events. The clubs must make their own agreements on how much to read for their next meeting. Every student has a supply of sticky notes to mark spots in their reading which they want to bring up in their meetings. As I join each group to listen in, I can see that there is as much to learn about group dynamics, compromise, the art of respectful listening and speaking, and the ability to stay focused on the topic at hand as there is about deep comprehension. I am pleased to see how enthusiastic the students are about reading their club book - and that's in addition to their independent reading book! Next week we will be doing some written reflections about parts of their stories as well.
We are completing our Memoir writing in Writer's Workshop. Next week we begin a unit on Informational Writing. We will be analyzing the techniques used to make nonfiction books and articles clear and appealing to the reader who wants to learn and research about a topic of interest. This will lead to our students creating their own informational booklet.
In Social Studies, we have begun our study of the regions of the United States, beginning first with the most familiar for us - the Midwest Region. We will be doing some mapping for each region, and much 'armchair' traveling as we uncover what makes each region special and important - landforms and natural resources, people, industry, sights to see...
We have completed our spelling work with both the 4th and the 5th grade high frequency spelling lists. Our students did quite well with handling the responsibility to be prepared for assignments and tests. A new list of words (and vocabulary) comes to them on Monday - this time the words are coming right from their own Book Club books!
Fourth grade math students will begin their new unit on Monday, which uses their knowledge of fractions and decimals to convert these values to percents. Unit 8 final tests came home Friday, and we would like parents to sign these tests after they have been shared, and students should bring them back to school for saving in our yellow folders. Thank you.
Upcoming events include the final CRT Day of the year on Tuesday, April 23, when buses will come at 11:00 am. Also, Earth Day is April 22, and Arbor Day is April 26 - in honor of these days, every 4th grader will receive a small tree seedling from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources that week. It will come with instructions for planting, so maybe your family would like to do a little planning for where in your yard you might have room for an evergreen to grow! My now-grown up daughters had each brought home a tree when they were in elementary school, and we took pictures of them in front of their trees as both they and the trees grew! Even through a move from Fond du Lac to Middleton in 2000, we attempted to transplant them here at our new home, and two of the three of them survived! These trees have now reached our second story windows in height! Good luck with yours! :)
Till next note - Sincerely, Melanie Hannam
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