What a day! We started literacy with our 100th book, The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors by Adam Rex. I think everyone loved this choice as the roars of laughter could be heard a mile away. Then, began the much anticipated Bookie Awards! The 2018 Bookies brought screams of excitement, laughter, applause, and a love of books! The students randomly were given books to represent and gave thank you speeches if his/her book won the nomination. One book took home 4 awards! Below is a list of winners, which also can be found on the door of our classroom, as well as some fun red carpet photos! I have enabled the comment thread. I ask that comments left are only positive. Enjoy a glimpse of our afternoon! The 2018 Bookies
The Book With the Most Inspiring Character.... Ish by Peter Reynolds The Book Which Inspired You to Be a Better Person... We're All Wonders by R.J. Palacio The Book With the Strongest Theme of Friendship...Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers The Best "Feel Good" Book... The Dot by Peter Reynolds The Best Fantasy Book... You Don't Want a Unicorn by Ame Dyckman The Strangest Book... Tuesday by David Wiesner The Book With the Best Science Theme... Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty The Best Illustrated Book... Flood by Alvaro F. Villa The Book With the Most Thoughtful Characters... Freedom Summer by Deborah Wiles The Most Creative Book... Tuesday by David Wiesner The Book With the Best Theme of Building and Invention... If I Built A Car by Chris Van Dusen The Book You Would Want to Read Again... Tuesday by David Wiesner The Book With the Strangest Illustrations... Flotsam by David Wiesner The Book With the Strongest Theme of Freedom... Freedom Summer by Deborah Wiles The Best Book Without Words... Tuesday by David Wiesner The Saddest Book... Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting The Best Biography... Nelson Mandela by Kadir Nelson & ...Stand Straight Ella Kate by Kate Klise & M. Sarah Klise The Funniest Book...Stuck by Oliver Jeffers
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Believe it or not, tomorrow is our 100th day of school! So why is it all the rave? Because we have read 100 picture books!!!! Now that is an accomplishment to be honored! Classroom Book A Day is not just about listening to another book. It is about:
It is award season, after all. This past week, the students came up with categories such as : The Funniest Book,; The Book with the Best Theme of Freedom; The Book With the Best Science/Invention Theme; The Book with the Most Inspirational Character; The Book That Made You Feel Good; etc. When determining these categories, the students also told me what books they thought should be nominated in these categories. Then, a google form was created and the students voted! Tomorrow on our 100th Day after reading our 100th Picture Book, the red carpet will be rolled out and The Bookies will take place! I love the suspense and I cannot wait to announce the awards!!! The Awards Above Are Ready!
Did you open your child's backpack today to find a bright colored blob in a plastic bag? If so, you found our igneous rock! As part of our study of Earth's systems, we are learning to identify different types of rocks and what they can tell us about the Earth. To help us visualize three types of rocks, sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous, we used Starburst candies! First, we cut our Starbursts into pieces (sediments) and put them together to make sedimentary rocks. Then we put pressure on our rocks with books and our hands and made metamorphic rocks. Last, we heated our rocks up to boiling point and let them cool and harden to make igneous rocks. Ask us about the different types of rocks and see if you can see any evidence of boiling in our igneous rocks. All in all, science in Room 314 ROCKED today!
I have a confession. Today during literacy, we did not follow the mini-lesson I had originally planned or have guided reading groups or work on our Academic Vocabulary or practice our Words Their Way spelling words. So, what did we do?… A mini-inquiry study! As you may know, last night a meteor entered our atmosphere and landed in Michigan. The meteor was observed in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Canada It is also believed to have caused an earthquake last night in Michigan measuring 2.0 on the Richter Scale! This was WAY too cool to overlook (Yes, I have a fascination with all things related to space!) A meteor had practically fallen into our backyards! We had no choice but to seize this opportunity to practice inquiry! For two hours this afternoon, we watched footage of the meteor and read about it from the National Weather Service. All the while we were practicing our questioning skills. Throughout each slide, caption, article, and video watched, the students wrote down questions. They then grouped their questions into categories. Then together we found common categories as a class and determined which of our questions best fit in the categories. The categories the students came up with were Causes, During, Effects/Impact, Description, and Compare/Contrast. I could not believe the high levels of critical thinking that I witnessed. Every student was engaged and having meaningful conversations. I cannot wait to dive into our disaster research project next week. These kiddos are inquiry pros! Below are some photos of my fabulous 4th graders thinking! We tend to start tasks set before us with goals or resolutions. Some task-oriented goals we might set are: How many books will I read this month?; How many times will I make my bed this month?; How many times will I make dinner during a week?; How many steps will I take in a day?; and so forth. We also think about goals to achieve that are bigger in concept, ones that focus on our character; How can I be kinder?; How can I be more patient?;How can I be more accepting of others?, and so on. With the combination of both of these type of goals we begin to see bigger trends or themes by which to live. In class, we have been talking about themes in literature; messages the author wants us to take away from the story. These messages often steer us in our actions. They are the themes to which we adhere. To kick off 2018, the students came up with task-oriented and character-oriented resolutions. They then thought about what is the over-arching theme that they want to live by. We wrote our themes down on a party hat and have them displayed in our classroom to remind us of the person that we want to continue to be. My theme for 2018 is: Find beauty in life’s small moments. Have fun asking your child about his/her theme for 2018. Maybe even ask yourself, what theme do you want to live by? Have a very happy and healthy 2018! Below are some possible themes for 2018. *Always try your best
*Be true to yourself *Find your talent and share it with others *Appreciate what you have *If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again *Help others in their time of need *Be patient *Respect other’s opinions, even if you don’t agree *Treat others with kindness and respect *Perseverance is key when facing challenges *Accept the differences of those around you *Challenges can be overcome with hard work & patience *Help those in need *When people work together, great things can be accomplished *Be honest with yourself and others *Be happy with yourself *Look for the golden lining *Believe in yourself *Act kindly without seeking a reward *Face your fears *When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on *Actions speak louder than words *Have the courage to stand up for others *Knowledge is power *Find beauty in life's small moments In District 34, we often refer to teaching the whole child. What this means is that aside from teaching academics, we help promote social and emotional skills to prepare children to problem-solve as they navigate the world around them. In other words, a huge part of my day is helping my students be aware of the choices they make, become independent thinkers, and ultimately choose kindness. Yes, kindness does have to be taught. Remember those Fred Flinstone cartoons with the "Angel" Fred and "Devil" Fred sitting on either shoulder, as he struggled with a choice? Well, we have those internal conflicts everyday. In Room 314, we often discuss how characters in a novel have those self conflicts as well. Sometimes, it is easier to choose the less kind route. Kindness doesn't always come naturally. We have to learn to put ourselves in "another's shoes" and think about the effects beyond our actions. With practice, choosing kind becomes habit. A good habit. To practice choosing kindness, the fourth grade and P.R. has embarked on embracing the Season of Giving and Random Acts of Kindness. We have packaged meals for starving children around the world, decorated folders, snack containers, and frames for an animal shelter, given compliments to one another, purposely sat with a different peer at lunch, picked up around the classroom, wrote thank you notes to our Math teachers, encouraged each other in PE and showed good sportsmanship, and practiced saying our pleases and thank yous. As you can see, kindness comes in all sizes. The smallest act can sometimes create the biggest impact. To me, kindness is the most important subject I teach. Yes, I hope that my students enjoy the company of a good book, read with comprehension, write with clarity, solve math problems accurately, create & develop new technology, and explore the world around them. But, what I really hope is that one day I bump into someone who knows one of my former students and says to me, " (Insert Name) is one of the kindest people I have ever met." Below are some pics of my fabulous 4th Graders practicing kindness. Hope they make you smile! I wanted to take a moment to share some of the things I am most thankful for this year.
* I am thankful to work with children whose curiosity is limitless. *I am thankful to work with children whose smiles are contagious. *I am thankful to work with children who demonstrate great determination. *I am thankful to work with a community of parents that supports their children both academically & emotionally. *I am thankful to work with a community of parents that welcomes teachers into their lives. *I am thankful to work in a school district that encourages me to strive for greatness. *I am thankful to work with a dedicated staff that collaborates and supports one another. *I am thankful for my health and for the good health of family & friends. *I am thankful for my beautiful children and loving husband. *I am thankful for my freedom. *I am thankful. May you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoy the comfort and peace of being with friends and family. Reading nonfiction text is very different than reading fiction text. Reading nonfiction text is its own skill. Yes, we still make inferences, we still question, we still react. However, we pick up clues to help us differently.
This past week we dived into reading nonfiction articles. I created a metaphor for the students to help them tackle this skill. The metaphor is the dinner table discussion. The Dinner Table Discussion Topic When we sit down at the table, we usually talk about a topic. Well, the same goes in an article. A topic is 1-2 words that tells what the article is about. Usually the topic is repeated throughout an article. It is also found in the title usually, and many times pictures and captions lead us to identify the topic. In our class we have practiced circling or underlining the topic in red. Main Idea So what? Usually, when we have a dinner table conversation, we do not just shout out topics. We say something about them. What we say is our main idea. Just as in conversations, authors have a main idea about a topic. In an article, we can find clues about the main idea in the subtitle, the first and last paragraph, and the captions. It also helps to find the main idea of each paragraph and add them up to figure out what is the author's overall point. In our class we have been underlining the main idea in green. Supporting Key Details I don't know about your families, but in my family if you are a younger sibling and state a main idea at the dinner table without proof, watch out! Just kidding, I promise my own children are sweet darlings. Anyway, what would happen to a table without legs? It wouldn't be a table, just a top on the floor. The same goes with a main idea. It needs to rest on legs, or in this case, proof aka text evidence aka supporting key details. With orange highlighters in hand, our detective work begins and we scan for any evidence that proves our main idea. Sometimes the clues are in the text. Sometimes they are in maps, captions, charts, diagrams, photos, captions, and drawings. Our eyes need to be wide open as clues are everywhere! So, the next time you sit down for a family dinner, feel free to preface the discussion with some of the language we use in class. Ask what is the topic you want to talk about? So what about it? What's the main idea? Can you prove it? What are your supporting details that tell me more about the main idea? Below are pics of an example and of a nonfiction text feature chart to help with nonfiction reading. Hope your next dinner table conversation is lively and full o f details! I have a secret to share. My family calls me “Amanda the Brave”, and it is not because I am brave. I was the little girl who was afraid to speak up, afraid to climb to the top of the slide, afraid to tell my friends how I felt, afraid to jump off the diving board, afraid to ride my bicycle down a hill, afraid to go on a roller coaster… I think you get the picture. I was afraid. Today, I am still afraid, but I am getting braver and a huge part of it is because of my students. They are always showing me how they speak up when they are unsure or how they tackle a book that they thought was beyond their comprehension or how they persevere when trying to solve a problem or how they express their feelings to their peers with confidence. They really are brave. Well, this past week, I strolled on down to PE as I heard great things were happening in the gym. Let’s go with AMAZING THINGS! I saw my students with grit take on a rope pull to increase their cardiovascular endurance, stay on a balance ball with determination to improve their core strength and stability, and without hesitation climb a rope ladder to a very high platform and, like Spider-Man, pull themselves across a dangling net (all with a safety harness of course!) . Above all, I saw my students being BRAVE! They didn’t back down, they tried. I was inspired. I was going to try too. (Did I mention how scared I am of heights? How I do not even go on some escalators?!) The next day, I showed up in the gym before school in my yoga pants and with my bike helmet. I eyed the rope ladder with determination. My students were counting on me! Mrs. Grubba, Mr. Hoeft, and Mr. Cutler encouraged me to take one step at a time. Their positive reinforcement definitely kept me going! Needless to say, at some point my fear of heights did get the best of me. I did not make it to the top, but I did try. Thanks to my students and colleagues, I became a little braver. I realized that it is OK to have fears and I have accepted that I might not be as brave as some. But, I have also learned that every now and then I have to face my fears and be BRAVE! Below are some pics for your enjoyment! (Even one of me....Feel free to laugh!) As a culminating event for our biography genre study, we visited the Glenview Senior Center and interviewed various senior members of the community. We then wrote biographies about our volunteers. These biographies will be on display at the Senior Center and are in a book bin in our classroom. We are officially authors! I have to say that this trip is one of my favorite. The children are able to practice their speaking and listening skills and really begin to connect with a different generation. Through their questioning, students learned about the hardships many faced, their work ethic and determination, their joy in the simple things, and their kindness and love for life. It is very different to read about someone's life, then to hear it first hand. The students also shared how school is now and how they utilize technology on a daily basis. One thing did not change, as students they all enjoyed recess and playing with their peers! I hope this is a memory that the students will hold onto and cherish. Below are photos from the day. |
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Have fun following our fabulous 4th grade journey! Important Dates
August 22nd- First Day!
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