This past week our theme has been the power of words. Words are the essence of language, of how we communicate our needs, our concerns, our questions, and our passions. Throughout the week, we kept coming back to this idea that words can be powerful, purposeful, and meaningful. Believe it or not, I distinctly remember sitting in school for many years listening to teachers use words that I did not know. It was assumed that I did, but I didn't. So, I stayed quiet. My parents were told that I was so well mannered and listened so nicely. But deep down, I knew that it was really that I felt afraid and powerless. I did not want others to know that I lacked their comprehension. I did not have any tools to help me grasp the language around me. From the moment I started teaching, I took a vow to myself that I want each child to feel safe in my classroom. I want to give my students the tools needed express their thoughts, and ultimately the power to take ownership of their learning . As you read below, you will find many ways that we look at words and apply them to our studies and our lives.
During our book a day time, we listened to Noah Webster and His Words. It is about how Noah Webster created the first American dictionary. We also listened to Max's Words and Miss Mary Reporting: The True Story of Sportswriter Mary Garber. In all of these books, words are what give the characters a sense of purpose an a freedom to communicate and explore the world around them. Memorizing words can be difficult. We all have different strengths and sometimes rote memorization can be taxing. With that in mind, my colleagues and I felt it was necessary to start teaching students how to break down words as a means for understanding a word's meaning. So, we started "Word Part of the Week". Word Part of the Week is the study of one prefix, root, or suffix. We isolate one and recognize how by knowing the meaning of this word part, we can probably figure out the meaning of the word. For instance, the prefix "in-" means not. So if we know this then we know that "incorrect" means "not correct" and "incapable" means "not capable". By knowing just one part of the word, we have the power to figure out the meaning of the entire word. And once we do that, we have the power to apply that word! We also began our study of academic words. Every two weeks, the students will receive a new academic vocabulary list. The 12 words on the list are words that we are using everyday and that are embedded in the curriculum. By pulling out these words from our studies and highlighting them, students will start to use them regularly in their discussions with one another. Their understanding of the curriculum will heighten and they will see the purpose in understanding the meaning of these words. In addition to our academic vocabulary, the 4th grade team is honing in on 11 critical vocabulary verbs and nouns that are aligned with the Common Core State Standards. We are using common definitions from the book, Teaching the Critical Vocabulary of the Common Core. These 11 words are words that I am constantly using in our learning targets and in oral and written instructions. I want students to understand what they are being asked to do and to take that obstacle out of the task itself. Knowing the meaning of a word gives us the power to use it and apply it. Through jingles, cheers, and dialogue, the students are learning the meaning of these words and applying them in their work. Each week this trimester, the students will be practicing a new critical vocab word. I have a video of the students singing the "Summarize" jingle. We have been learning about different types of energy. Through experiments and demonstrations, we have explored the relationship between energy and the speed of an object and how energy is transferred. Below are some pics in a slideshow format. (I did not include the pic of me cracking an egg open on our rug. Oops! ) Inferences & Character Traits As mentioned in a previous post, good readers have their head in the game. They are not only thinking about the words on the page, but they are making inferences about the setting, characters, and plot in a text. An inference is a new idea not stated by the author or a way to figure out something not explicitly stated in the text. In class we use this formula to help us make inferences as we read: Clues From the Text = Text Evidence Schema = Background Knowledge Inference=New Idea Lately, we have really been zoning in on what is a character trait and how do we infer a character's personality. The students pulled information from their personal experiences and came to the realization that we judge another by what that person says and does. As we have all heard, sometimes actions speak louder than words, right?! Well, in literature, the reader is also privy to a character's thoughts. So we are able to judge a character in a text also by what he/she thinks. For instance, we have been listening to the read aloud, Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. The main character Ally thinks, "The rest of the class is getting tired of me again. Even I am tired of me." Using this piece of evidence plus their background knowledge, the students inferred that Ally is an unhappy character. Having practiced making inferences about ourselves, each other, and characters in our read aloud and shared readings, we are now onto making inferences about characters in our independent novels and about the people in the biographies we have chosen to read. Summarizing As we dive deep into a variety of fiction text, we have been examining the difference between retelling and summarizing. Basically, when we retell a story, we tell the story again and spare no details. When we summarize, we tell only the most important elements from the story. We have been using the following organizer to help us summarize some of the text we have read: Yesterday, we listened to the story, Suki's Kimono by Chieri Uegaki for our book a day. Today we looked at it through another lens. As we listened to the story, we used the above organizer to help us summarize the story. We then went back to our power spots and started reading and summarizing our own independent reading. We will continue practicing using this organizer when summarizing fiction text throughout the year. So, the next time you ask your fabulous 4th grader what the book is about, maybe prompt him/her into stating the "Somebody Wanted But So Then"!
I like to think of reading as a sport. It requires endurance, staying power, tirelessness, perseverance, grit, and great mental strength. I have learned over the years that good readers have good reading stamina. They are able to recognize books that are too easy, just right, or too difficult. They are able to pick a power reading spot and remain in that spot for a chunk of time. Good readers know what to do when they get distracted and how to jump into their text again. They stop and think what was the last thing they remembered happening in the book. They go back and reread in order to move forward. Good readers think while reading. They make connections, laugh, cry, wonder, question, infer, predict, and note words and phrases that are new or interesting to them.
During the past week, the students and I have been conditioning to be good readers. First , we practiced choosing "Just Right" books by using the five finger rule and the "IPICK" strategy (I-I choose a book, P-purpose: Why do I want to read it?, I-interest: Does it interest me?, C-comprehend: Do I understand it?, and K-know, Do I know most of the words?). Many times students put back books even after reading a chapter. That is OK. The more you practice, the better you get at recognizing good text for you. Then, we practiced finding a perfect power reading spot away from our friends and neighbors. We thought about the physical position we like to be in while reading. Some like sitting at desks, some like being sprawled out, some like being curled up against a wall. I know I prefer to read lying down on a couch. The point is that good readers know their bodies. They create a safe and calming atmosphere for themselves that will allow for minimal distraction. Our third mini-lesson this week was on what do you do when your mind wanders off. Sometimes our thoughts go spinning away from the text. It is natural and normal. Any athlete can tell you, that sometimes your head is just not in the game. The trick is to have a strategy so that you as a reader can get back in the game. The students and I used Jennifer Serravallo's (another reading guru) strategy for this. First, stop and recognize, "Hey, my head is not in the text. " Then, think about what you last remember and go back to that point or a little before it. Last, reread! Don't worry, reading is not a race! Our last mini-lesson this week was on thinking while reading. I introduced thinkmarks to students. Think marks are marks that students make on post its (stickies) to show their thinking as they read. For instance, they might write down LOL on a sticky and attach it to a page in their book if something is funny. They could write down a ? and a question they have about what is going on or about a character, etc. Like any sport, good athletes don't just go through the motions, they always have their head in the game. Think marking helps students keep their head in the game. It conditions them to be good life long readers. Below are some pics of the students working on their reading stamina. Sorry if I missed your child, but don't worry, more photos will always be popping up. I also have included a pic of the think mark book mark I use with the children. Feel free to reference this and any of our reading conditioning strategies. |
Welcome to Room 314!
Have fun following our fabulous 4th grade journey! Important Dates
August 22nd- First Day!
Archives
September 2018
Categories
|