News and Notes 9/5

News and Notes

From Fourth Grade

If You Find a Rock

The fourth graders have become scavengers.  Scavengers of rocks that is.  We wandered around the school and the grounds looking for rocks and minerals.  From the brick building to the pebbles at the bottom of the fish tank, we observed rocks being used in a variety of ways.  This was a fun way to build awareness of rocks and introduce students to our first unit of study in science.  It is a treat to see just how excited these fourth graders are getting with the study of geology.  As we began talking about the different types of rocks, our room was full of engaged scientists who eagerly learned the vocabulary "igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic."  What a great moment of scientific learning!

Turn to Your Partner

There is a certain type of beauty and fullness in being able to share thoughts and experiences with others.  Fourth graders simply love to be able to talk about themselves with each other.  There is a completeness of enjoyment that comes in the sharing.  As we seek to develop our social skills in the academic setting, this week we worked on the simple strategy "turn to your partner."  During reading workshop this year the fourth graders will practice a variety of reading comprehension strategies as a full class.  This week we began work with sharing ideas with a partner.  It is such a simple strategy, but being able to pause in a full group dialogue and share thoughts with one other person is an extremely important skill.  The fourth graders did a great job thinking about how to share and listen to their partners.  They discussed concepts like body language, eye contact, and clarifying questions.  If in the first week of reading workshop we are able to make such great strides, it seems like the rest of the year will be a great experience of learning and growing together as a community of readers.

Say What?

Specialized vocabulary can be very difficult for children to understand.  When we dig deeply into the maths and sciences particularly there are times when the fourth graders lose comprehension because of vocabulary.  This week we looked at some of the mathematical practices required in fourth grade.  We tackled the complicated math vocabulary together and rewrote some of these standards in "kid-friendly" language.  We don't want to shy away from unknown words, but instead we want to learn what to do when we run into them.  The fourth grade problem solvers did an excellent job of persevering through this challenge.  In the end, we had eight mathematical practices written in easy to understand language.  Now we are excited for the opportunity to apply these skills and strategies to the exciting world of fourth grade mathematics!