It's about time to get this thing going since the Eaton site isn't ready yet. I'm chomping at the bit to get news of what's happening in our classroom out to you and also posting homework so we're all on the same page (homework, however, will have to be posted tomorrow!).
So...what's happening in the CotiSweets classroom? Lots of stuff! Our Literacy Block of time in the morning has us reading about Alaska and reading folktales depending on the flexible groups. We're studying setting, plot, characters and getting into the meat and bones of what makes a story interesting. We're also sharing lots of questions and ideas that come from your children. We're going to switch up in the next week or so to study the book Walk Two Moons as a class endeavor and then get organized into literature circles to read and study other great books in small groups. We'll also get into informational text through our science studies of the human body and plugging into a site created by a DC teacher who has many articles about what's happening in our world for our students to explore and digest.
We've welcomed Cara Houston to our school as a classroom assistant for both fourth grades. Cara comes from Vermont where she obtained her degree in Elementary Education, She supports both classrooms in reading and math and is a godsend to our classroom community. She already has a handle on how to manage a classroom with firmness and kindness, and the students love her. Go Cara! We've also welcomed Ms. Adam, a student intern from Howard University who will be with us until December. She arrived today and got into the mix immediately with a math group who were exploring place value. I know she'll love her stay at Eaton. My motto is: "throw 'em into the mix and let them learn by experience." I think she gets it! Welcome Semina!
In math, we're reviewing a lot of concepts that will be tested in early October. At least the test is aligned now, and the students should absolutely Ace It! We also bring more sophisticated topics into the mix where your children can expand their knowledge. For example, I've introduced the game, Rodringo, where algebraic equations are picked out of a bag, and the students have to discern their meanings and place rods onto rod mats. We also use the laptops to practice concepts. Feedback is immediate which helps the students to rethink problems and try again. www.ixlmath.com is a wonderful website. Check it out at home! I am going to write a small grant in order to get a classroom account. Wish me luck! The students need work on word problems. They need to know what question the problem poses and work out a plan to solve it. We've been working on a four-step plan for problem solving that includes: read the problem, work out a plan, solve the problem and then look back to see if the solution makes sense. The last step is critical because many times, a student rushes through a problem and doesn't check to make sure the answer is correct. Please work with your child to go back to the problem to make sure they've covered every step when homework includes word problems and actually any problem! I've seen children shake their heads over thoughtless mistakes. They NEED TO CHECK BACK!
In social studies, we're connecting the early people of North America with South America since Argentina is our country of study in 4th grade. Thanks to Benji's mother, Laura, we were fortunate to have a guest speaker from Argentina come to our school to give a presentation on the country. Marina is Under-Secretary for Intervention and Risk Control in the Ministry of Health of Argentina. She gave us a beautiful montage of images of Argentina with her savvy commentary, left us with many beautiful photos with captions that the students can fit together, flags, chocolates, mate, and wonderful brochures that provide us with a pile of information about the country. Thank you Laura and Marina for taking the time to provide us with a rich introduction to Argentina!
Science has us studying the human body through nutrition and exercise. We've used a great internet site that gets kids excited about healthy foods and exercise, the nutrients that good foods contain and the steps to greater health. We've also just recently started our bone studies. We've jumped rope to observe which parts of the body moving, counted our bones and then looked at pictures of bones in order to determine how many bones are in the human skeleton. We worked in groups on a certain area of the body and then came back together to share our results. I have to tell you that your very observant and careful students counted 206! This is exact number of bones in the typical human skeleton after infancy. Today, we dissected owl pellets in order to find the similarities and differences between our bones and the bones of a vole. I have uploaded some pictures from our math and science classes today.
Tomorrow we are going to harvest all the remaining basil in our school garden and make pesto to celebrate School Gardens Week. We plan to share our dish with the other fourth grade.
Be on the lookout next month for exciting news about the DC School Recycling Initiative!
All is well in the CotiSweets classroom. Please check on homework and PLEASE get those Thursday report cover sheets returned to school on Friday. I take a lot of time to get them out to you with classwork, homework return rates and behaviour feedback. I want to know you've seen this report, and the only way I can is the signed copy that comes back on Friday. This way, I know the home/school connection is complete for the week. Also, if you haven't sent in the $15 for the cursive and vocabulary books, I'd be happy to receive it. If it's a hardship, send what you can. Thanks!
Thank you, parents, for being such supportive champions of your child's progress through fourth grade. Let's give a cheer for a GREAT BEGINNING!
