Friday September 23rd

Greetings from Studio 223!  

What a great week it’s been. Students have been working hard.  We have been watching for what we call sign posts in our reading and tracking when characters act in an unexpected way.  We have  then been discussing how this effects the story.  In writing we have been reviewing the characteristics of narrative, opinion and expository/ informational writing.  They worked hard to identify supporting details for a main idea of a paragraph.  In math we have been working on rounding numbers with a vertical number line, and multiplying ten times as many, a tough concept to understand, when it's the understanding we are after more than just add a zero.  Using ten marks.com has been great for me, I've really been able to use homework to give individual attention to those who need it.  I hope it has been working well for you.

In the pictures below you will see the students working on their first S.T.E.M. project.  We started by discussing the design process, and then trying it out.  These pictures are taken when they went back to redesign.  I wish I had thought to take pictures the first time they made the paper airplanes, they were all working individually at their desks.  It was a dramatic change when they redesigned how they collaborated with each other.  If there are any parents who use the design process or have any real life experiences with it and and would like to share those experiences with the class please contact me.  We'd love to have you!

Looking forward to another great week!!!

First S.T.E.M. Project

Great First Week!!

Hello,  I hope your child came home enjoying the first week as much as I did.  It is so fun getting to know 20 students.  We are beginning to build our new community of learners and as I see it we are off to a great start!  We read some books that stressed the theme of the month, which is "Living Together Differently"  I hope we all come to appreciate and support each others differences so we all have the best 4th grade experience possible.