This week is busy with our field trips and wildlife summit.
Have a great week!
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A few upcoming notes/reminders:
In addition to our wildlife projects we are also working on our civil engineering projects. The wave lab at OSU was a very neat opportunity to think about what real civil engineers do. Students are finishing up their blueprints for this project and starting lay the foundation for their models! Reading During reading we continue to study the Movement Westward in the United States. This week we focus on Missionaries who came west and founded some early communities in Oregon. Writing During writing this week we are working on drafting our country books. This week we will focus on drafting engaging introductions and strong conclusions. Dictado This week's dictado is shorter and focuses on homophones: The guest made a cake for his host. He used flour, eggs, sugar and salt. He guessed about the amounts he needed. He decorated its top with flowers. It’s a beautiful cake he thought. The spring is a busy time with lots of important information coming home and lots of exciting events!
(See what I mean about busy! We'll try to fit in some regular old classroom learning, around all this great stuff!) Science In addition to our wildlife projects we are also working on our civil engineering projects. The wave lab at OSU was a very neat opportunity to think about what real civil engineers do. Students are finishing up their blueprints for this project and starting lay the foundation for their models! Reading During reading we continue to study the Movement Westward in the United States. This week we focus on explorers who made discoveries that drew people to the West like John Colter who "discovered" the Yellowstone National Park region. Writing During writing this week we are working on drafting our country books. We are using all the notes we have collected to write in an informational styles about different country subtopics. Dictado Introduction Kenya is a fascinating country. You might have heard about Kenya’s vast savannahs, the Masai tribe or the Great Rift Valley; but there is so much more to learn! Have you ever wanted to go on a safari to see zebra and giraffe? If the answer is yes, than journey with me through the pages of this book. Teaching points: -Questions -vast : vocab word -zebra and giraffe plural -capitalize a geographical feature -semi colon -possessive s -than/then Remember that Dictado homework on Tuesday and Thursday is to copy the passage. You can always give your student the added challenge of listening to you read the passage and having them dictate it. It is pretty hard to believe that it is April and spring break is behind us. The Lafontaines had a fun, but mostly cold, trip to Massachusetts. I hope your break was fun and relaxing and that everyone at your house is ready for what is sure to be a busy spring of sports, recitals, science projects, field trips, Oregon Trail, testing, and I'm sure much more. Important reminders about this week and into the next:
A letter about testing went home during conferences, (or right after if you missed conferences). This week we will begin PRACTICING for testing (click on the word practicing to access practice tests at home). We will practice in the lab from 8:20-9:00 AM on Wednesday for the ELA CAT. Even though it is important that we practice the format of the tests and mentally prepare ourselves to focus and do our bests, I always tell students that we have been practicing for these tests all year simply by coming to school and learning what 4th graders are supposed to learn. The following is our testing schedule over the next two months:
Reading For the next 4 weeks we will continue our "Westward Movement" Pockets. These pockets are historical information about Westward expansion in the United States. Students practice reading nonfiction text, answering text based questions, noticing different structures of nonfiction text and summarizing text. This weeks pocket is "The New Frontier". This week we focus on the reading skills of visualizing what you read and determining the main idea of a nonfiction article. Book Study This week we continue our new book study, Among the Hidden, by Margaret Haddix. Writing In writing this week we continue to work on our expository nonfiction country reports. This week students will finish collecting research notes and move towards drafting. Science This week in science we are working on two different projects: -Students will finalize their project questions for their wildlife summit projects. -Students will create their blueprints for our civil engineering project on Earthquake Safe Design. Dictado (formerly spelling) Dictado is a new strategy we will be using to practice spelling (and punctuation, capitalization and sentence fluency). This week's dictado is as followed. How did Kenya become a country? Kenya was not always an independent country. In 1895, the British began their rule in Kenya. The British were cruel rulers and passed laws that prohibited Africans from owning land. In the 1940s, a group called the Kikuyu formed. Their purpose was to stand up to the British government. Teaching Points:
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