This Week in Fourth Grade....

Writing Workshop

Last week we talked about writing parts of our realistic fiction stories step by step.  When authors write step by step, they can slow down the important parts of a story for the reader.  We will continue to work on this throughout this week.  

Math Workshop

A big focus in fourth grade is to explain our thinking clearly in math.  When students answer math questions, they need to answer the question, explain their thinking using math vocabulary, and tell the steps they used to solve the problem.  Last week, the students completed a pre-assessment for explaining their thinking. I took a closer look at what the kids can do for writing in math.  I will now be able to create lessons based on what the kids need.

Last week, the kids also took an Addition and Word Problem assessment.  Your child will come home with the assessment and a scoring rubric that I used to see specific areas where each child had difficulty.  At the bottom of your child's scoring rubric you will also find the specific goal that your child will work on to help lift the level of their math thinking.  

Reader's Workshop


Last week, students learned that characters can be complicated.  This means that they are not always the same way in every situation.  We also learned that there are certain "stop signs" in books that clue us into some very important details.  These stop signs include when a character displays intense emotion, or acts differently than normal, when an author repeats something over and over or when a character realizes something.  When students come across these types of details in books, they signal us to stop and think about what the author may be trying to tell us.

This week, we will continue to read texts closely and grow ideas from the details that beg us to stop.  Students will also be encouraged to consider whether or not their ideas are debatable.  We will also learn more about how to write about our comprehension.