Thank you to all our wonderful parent volunteers for an amazingly fun-filled Halloween Party! We had the best time making mummy lights and participating in the mummy race! Below is a slideshow of our party. Everyone looked fabulous in their costumes! Often I ask my child how school was and what he/she did today and the reply I receive is “Good. Nothing.” I leave the conversation feeling unsatisfied and shut out. My child just spent 7 hours at school and I have no idea what was done during that time. If this pattern sounds familiar, please let me first assure you that your child is doing something.
I started asking my children more specific questions. I usually start out with, “Who did you sit with at lunch?” or “What did you do at recess?” I find those questions to help relax my child and open up the lines of communication. Some follow up questions that you can always ask your child are:
Hopefully, these questions will return more than “Nothing” as an answer. If not, please reach out and we can work together on opening those lines of communication. Hello! Well, this is one of those posts where I have so much to share! Book A Day As you know, we are reading a picture book each day in our classroom. The students tend to love this intimate time of day, during which the students tune out everything except the book. So far, we have read over 30 books! We have learned about interesting people like Amelia Bloomer, Trombone Shorty, and Sir Ernest Shackleton, and have met characters, like Grace and Charlie McButton, whose determination and perseverance inspired us. We have made inferences about characters and settings, like in Two Bad Ants. And, we have laughed, sometimes we even cackled. So far I think the funniest moments shared have been when listening to Stuck and Arnie the Doughnut. Sometimes our books are sweet and simple, like Life, which after hearing about all the devastating hurricanes, brought us reassurance and hope. Sometimes our books highlight different cultures, as in Suki and Her Kimono. Sometimes our books highlight messages thematic with a growth mindset, such as to never give up, or keep trying, or it is OK to make a mistake or feel frustrated. My hope is that for each child in my classroom, I will have shared a book that resonates with him/her. If you are ever in need of a question to ask your child, a great one is "What did you think of your Book a Day book today?" If you want to follow it up, you can always ask, "Why do you think Mrs. Kirsch chose to share that book?" "Is this a book you would like to check out of the library and share with us?" Above is our Book A Day bulletin board. We are keeping track of our daily reading adventure and also holding Mrs. Kirsch accountable for not forgetting! ;) Catapults As part of our Energy Unit, we have been learning about how energy is transferred. Using a tissue box, pencils, rubber bands, tape, and two plastic spoons, students had to create a catapult that would transfer energy to a ping pong ball. In groups they designed and built a catapult, and put it to the test. The students then reflected how their catapult showed a transfer of energy and what changes they could have made to have made their ping pong ball go a greater distance. Using See Saw, the students recorded these reflections. Below is a slideshow of pics of us testing our catapults and click on this link to see a video of our distance and height contest! See Saw
How did I ever teach without this app? This app is a keeper! We have had so much fun recording ourselves reflecting on our learning. We are now adding a 40 Book Challenge Review Component on See Saw. Our friends and family can listen to what we think of a book. Directions for how to view your child's See Saw posts are coming home. Be on the lookout! This past month we have been focusing on both reading and writing stamina. We have discussed, practiced, and reflected on both our reading and writing stamina in the classroom. But, stamina goes beyond classroom walls. I want students to see that reading stamina is not just something we practice only in school. Therefore, in combination with our 40 Book Challenge, the students are now going to be filling out monthly reading reflections about their book choices, reading stamina, and goals that they have for the upcoming month. Below is what the reflection looks like. I am looking forward to watching the students take ownership of their reading!
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. Like many other teachers and parents, I have been struggling with how can I encourage my students to read more, love reading, and think deeply about their readings. In the past, I have assigned students reading logs where they have to keep track of the minutes read each week. My hope was that by recording reading minutes, reading would become a routine part of a day, students would be diving deep into books, and students would be expanding their vocabulary.
Well, with some students, I did see this. However, I started to recognize that many students were not becoming readers. They were just reading without purpose. Students were equating “good readers” with those who happened to have read the most minutes in a week. When in fact, many of those so called, “good readers”, were reading the same type of book repeatedly without having to think much. Many times I would hear from families that after 20 minutes, students would stop reading regardless of where they were in the story. Even my own son would just close his book mid-sentence simply because his “20 minutes” had passed. The burning desire to discover how a plot unfolds was missing. Students saw reading as a chore. The purpose was lost in the minutes. Though it is vital for aspiring strong readers to read consistently on a daily basis, there needs to be a greater purpose than that of just recording minutes. Last year, a colleague introduced to me Donalyn Miller’s 40 Book Challenge. The philosophy behind the 40 Book Challenge is to promote a reading community, which inspires students to discover different genres and different reading experiences. Donalyn Miller writes, “The 40 Book Challenge is meant to expand students’ reading lives, not limit or define it.” As students explore a multitude of various genres and diverse authors, they begin to question, to search for related readings, and to make inferences. No longer are they caught up in how many minutes they read, but in the content of what they read and what topic or genre they would like to explore next. The challenge promotes a higher order of thinking and thus illuminates the purpose of reading : to learn. The 40 Book Challenge holds students accountable for reading, while allowing them to experience the value of a text. The 40 Book Challenge motivates students to explore their interests and unveil perspectives, topics, and worlds unbeknown to them. The 40 Book Challenge exposes students to an array of writing styles and vocabulary. The 40 Book Challenge creates life long readers. I highly recommend checking out Donalyn Miller's blog (link below). She is a reading guru and an inspiration to me both as a teacher and as a parent. Donalyn Miller's blog We had a great first three days together! In just 3 days we organized our supplies, listened to at least 5 different books, created our class expectations, attended a Pep Rally and band/orchestra information assembly, took a reading inventory about our interest level in reading, attended our first Math class for the year,and of course, found new friends in one another! Our Book a Day books for Thursday and Friday were Shy and I Hope You Dance. Ask us about them! I am so looking forward to what my fabulous 4th graders can accomplish in a full week! Just a heads up.... we will have NWEA on Tuesday, Thursday, and the following Tuesday. IPads will be sent home after testing. So, as you may of guessed, I love books and I love reading. Below is a link to a blog that I follow, "The Nerdy Book Club." This particular post really spoke to me about the benefits of sharing a picture book a day. If you get a chance and are interested, please feel free to take a moment and read the post. Who knows, you may want to subscribe too! :) Nerdy Book Club LInk Below are images of us creating our class expectations. If you scroll through there will also be a picture of our class expectations. We brainstormed ways to be safe, kind, and respectful in Room 314. We then synthesized our ideas into a class contract. The poster will hang in our room for the remainder of the year and serve as a reminder about the type of classroom environment we want.
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Welcome to Room 314!
Have fun following our fabulous 4th grade journey! Important Dates
August 22nd- First Day!
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