Despite snow days and February Break, Grades 3 and 4 accomplished a tremendous amount of learning this month!
Students have completed quite a few writing pieces from beginning to end. Starting with research and note taking, into the drafting process, through editing, revising, and typing up their final copies, (using correct fingering on the keyboard!) This includes their reports on a weather topic of their choice, and an opinion piece. The organization and style of their writing is so much stronger than it was in September, and I’m thrilled that they are starting to reflect more critically on their own work, paraphrasing, and applying proper grammar and punctuation. Please feel free to come read their work in their portfolios, and to check out our bulletin board displays.
Early in the month, students celebrated the Patriot’s Superbowl Win by writing acrostic poems in honor of the game. They displayed their poems creatively on 3d football fields they designed. We continue to read for meaning, and to examine subtext and symbolism in literature. Students have written letters to the main character in our class read aloud, analyzed various points of view, and wrote and performed mini-plays based on two Aesop’s Fables, working to both retell a story and convey plot/moral through dialogue.
In Math, we are deep into factoring numbers, identifying prime and composite numbers, and learning to represent and solve division problems with up to three-digit dividends. Take a look at photos of our Factor Factory, and some hands on long division using playing cards and number cubes! The latter helped students internalize the meaning behind each step in the algorithm, so that long division isn’t a mindless process. It even makes if fun! :) We are also continuing our work with Fractions, and made "Equivalent Fraction Taco’s" to help us reason about their size, as we lead into work with mixed fractions. Students have learned to use protractors to measure angles and divide a circle into equal parts.
In Science, we finished up our unit on weather with practice interpreting and creating various data graphs, and learning to plot points on the x and y axes. We read a lot of nonfiction scientific text to help us with our critical reading and test taking skills, (using evidence to support answers). Students are also working to restate the question when writing long form answers.
Students are participating in the South Boston Evacuation Day Poster Contest. They are designing posters to represent the Boston Tea Party, and are taking care to include historyically accurate elements based on our studies of the event and the revolutionary war. We’ve completed our studies through the end of the War and the early growth and purpose of the U.S. Government. Students are finishing up their biographies, and will be summarizing their person’s life and achievements. Each student is excited about their book, and has found ways to connect to it personally.
In miscellaneous news- students are enjoying watching clips from Planet Earth 2 during their snack time. As the weather improves, we will hopefully be taking more of our learning out into nature.
Please keep up with iready as much as possible at home.
Students have completed quite a few writing pieces from beginning to end. Starting with research and note taking, into the drafting process, through editing, revising, and typing up their final copies, (using correct fingering on the keyboard!) This includes their reports on a weather topic of their choice, and an opinion piece. The organization and style of their writing is so much stronger than it was in September, and I’m thrilled that they are starting to reflect more critically on their own work, paraphrasing, and applying proper grammar and punctuation. Please feel free to come read their work in their portfolios, and to check out our bulletin board displays.
Early in the month, students celebrated the Patriot’s Superbowl Win by writing acrostic poems in honor of the game. They displayed their poems creatively on 3d football fields they designed. We continue to read for meaning, and to examine subtext and symbolism in literature. Students have written letters to the main character in our class read aloud, analyzed various points of view, and wrote and performed mini-plays based on two Aesop’s Fables, working to both retell a story and convey plot/moral through dialogue.
In Math, we are deep into factoring numbers, identifying prime and composite numbers, and learning to represent and solve division problems with up to three-digit dividends. Take a look at photos of our Factor Factory, and some hands on long division using playing cards and number cubes! The latter helped students internalize the meaning behind each step in the algorithm, so that long division isn’t a mindless process. It even makes if fun! :) We are also continuing our work with Fractions, and made "Equivalent Fraction Taco’s" to help us reason about their size, as we lead into work with mixed fractions. Students have learned to use protractors to measure angles and divide a circle into equal parts.
In Science, we finished up our unit on weather with practice interpreting and creating various data graphs, and learning to plot points on the x and y axes. We read a lot of nonfiction scientific text to help us with our critical reading and test taking skills, (using evidence to support answers). Students are also working to restate the question when writing long form answers.
Students are participating in the South Boston Evacuation Day Poster Contest. They are designing posters to represent the Boston Tea Party, and are taking care to include historyically accurate elements based on our studies of the event and the revolutionary war. We’ve completed our studies through the end of the War and the early growth and purpose of the U.S. Government. Students are finishing up their biographies, and will be summarizing their person’s life and achievements. Each student is excited about their book, and has found ways to connect to it personally.
In miscellaneous news- students are enjoying watching clips from Planet Earth 2 during their snack time. As the weather improves, we will hopefully be taking more of our learning out into nature.
Please keep up with iready as much as possible at home.