This has been a busy week in the life of 4th grade! On Monday, we learned how to summarize a chapter, a book, or a movie. Using the SWBS method, students can identify the Somebody, what they Wanted, what the But is (or the problem), and the resolution, or the So.
In their Reader’s Notebook, students wrote 1-2 sentence summaries for each chapter of Charlotte’s Web that we have read thus far. We will use these summaries in our upcoming Diary project.
I read aloud Diary of a Worm, and the students noted the format of the book – dated entries and short accounts of daily events. This will be the style of their Diary of a Pig or Diary of a Spider project. We also learned some more vocabulary from the novel, as well.
To kick off the Diary project we wrote our About the Author page. First, I read aloud to them some examples from picture book jackets. They made a list of things they noticed: written in third person, included family details, mentioned other books they’d written, told about hobbies, etc. Then the students were off to write their own. They wrote rough drafts in their Reader’s Notebooks and then final drafts on special paper.
In morphology, we did a mix of new and familiar morphemes with un-, in-, and en-. Our focus in grammar this week was on pronouns. We learned about singular and plural pronouns, practiced identifying them, and wrote sentences with them. Then we completed our task cards activity on Thursday and an assessment today.
In social studies, we continued to practice navigating maps with directions. We also reviewed our continents and oceans in preparation for a quiz next week. 4th graders learned about the equator and the Earth’s hemispheres as well. The students had lots of fun reviewing the continents with flashcards. They also received a map skills workbook which we will use throughout the semester.
Today we were excited to see Wilson participate in the Spirit Day assembly. Our new captains were leading the games, and the Black Team won the Spirit Stick today for winning the most points.
In Morning Meeting, the students enjoyed the selfie greeting, the butterfly handshake and the closed-eye greeting. They also had fun playing Follow the Leader, Sparkle and more!
Another special event to look forward to is the Hispanic Heritage Assembly. 4E was selected to participate, and Senorita Tobaldo visited our class to explain. Each student was matched with one of the Spanish-speaking counries of the world. Then, they researched three fun facts about that country. They will be sharing one of their facts at the assembly in mid-Sept.
Can’t wait to see how our school pictures come out!
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