This Week in Fourth Grade....

Math Workshop

We are moving onto Geometry this week in math.  During this unit the kids will learn about the different types of lines, angles, and how to measure angles.  The kids will get to practice with a variety of projects.

Last week we finished up our work with division.  We will continue to revisit division as we go through the rest of the year.

Math Homework

This week's math homework is a continuation of last week's homework.  Students needed to answer the Which One Doesn't Belong problem last week and then lift the level of their answer based on my feedback.  This week they will need to reply to 2 classmates on Flipgrid (or paper if there isn't internet access.)  

This is due on Wednesday!

Writing Workshop

Last week the kids worked on fixing run on sentences in their first fiction story.  This week they will complete a mid-unit check in.  They will be writing a second story independently that we will be able to use to assess and guide our lessons for the next few weeks.  

Science

Both teams have been learning about Light in science.  The kids started the Light Unit with a question to think about.  They needed to determine what materials would make a good shadow puppet.  Through some experiments the kids learned about transparent, translucent, and opaque materials.  Based on the results of their experiments they needed to decide what materials would work best to make a shadow puppet.  Soon the kids will be putting on their shadow puppet theaters.  There have been many creative ideas!



Reader's Workshop

Students continue learning about how to infer theme this past week.  We have wrapped up watching short films as a way to encounter different themes and now have a library of themes on our bulletin board out in the hallway.  Students have also been participating in mini book clubs where they read picture books independently, employed different strategies to infer the theme, and took notes throughout the text to help them infer the theme.  Students then met and discussed their thinking with an emphasis on providing evidence to support their thinking.  This week we will continue with book clubs and work on writing about theme.  Below are pictures of students discussing the themes of their books during book club meetings and our bulletin board out in the hallway.

Social Studies


We have wrapped up our unit on immigration.  Students wrote a diary entry from the perspective of an immigrant traveling to Ellis Island.  We will "antique" these entries and hang them in the hallway this week.  Next students will begin learning about vocabulary that will support our upcoming learning about the regions of the United States.  During this unit students will be able to integrate their learning about reading non-fiction that will be taking place during Reader's Workshop in the near future.  They will also integrate technology in numerous project-based learning activities that will help them learn how to become better researchers.