Time is flying by here in fourth grade! The kids have been working hard and having a lot of fun at the same time! I hope they've been sharing all the neat things we've been learning.
In October we'll be reading Habit 2 from The Seven Habits of Happy Kids book by Sean Covey. This habit is “Begin with the End in Mind- Have a Plan”. The great thing about the seven habits is that it can be applied in school and at home. If you don't remember, the first habit was “Be Proactive- You're in Charge.” The kids and I have talked a lot this month about who is in charge of them. I explained that I am the teacher, but ultimately, they make their own choices and I am only here to guide them along the way. Their homework this weekend is to practice Habit 1 someway and be ready to report to school on Monday what they did.
We finished Unit 1 in EveryDay Math and have started Unit 2. The Unit 1 math assessment will be going home on Monday. Please let me know if you have any questions at all. I also want to remind you again, that homework is meant to reinforce the lesson, but it isn't meant to be frustrating or cause tears. If the homework seems difficult for your child, please write a note to me and I will go over it with them the following day.
We are still studying the first trait, “Ideas”. We are using a teaching model that can be described as, “I do it, We do it, You do it”. In other words, I model the skill, the kids and I do it together and then they do it in small groups, with the end goal of the kids doing it independently. The important part to understand is that it isn't simply going through the steps in order, but going back and modeling, going back and doing it together, as many times as it takes. Like writing, this model is a process.
The kids have been doing a great job writing letters to me about the books they're reading. I have enjoyed reading about their books and their thinking. We have focused on background knowledge to help us comprehend what we're learning through Chris VanAllsberg read alouds. The kids have really enjoyed his books and will be working on actively thinking about their prior knowledge while reading their own books. We'll be studying how to determine the main idea and identifying the supporting details in reading class next.
We'll be finishing up our first science unit, Force & Motion next week and moving on to our Space/Day & Night unit. The goals of this unit are the following:
Students will see the pattern of the phases of the moon.
Students will know the relationship of the earth, moon and sun.
Students will understand the force of the moon to affect tides.
Students will understand the sun affects the weather and life on earth.
Students will understand that earth is part of a system in our galaxy.
I'm sure you heard about our trip to Morse Mountain! It was awesome! It was so great to see the kids playing games and getting along beautifully! They all stayed determined during the long hike in and out. It was an amazing team building trip!
Our field trip on Wednesday to see the Red Tail/Rise Above traveling exhibit was wonderful as well. The kids learned who the Tuskegee Airmen were and how they overcame so many obstacles to be allowed to train and fight as the first black U.S. Army Air Corps. The movie was on a 180 degree screen with great sound effects that really kept the kids' attention. Look on Facebook for pictures of the kids with different planes.
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns at any time! I am best reached by email at jbenn@rsu1.org or by calling the school. Our class blog is also a great resource for you. Please check it out at http://fourthgradepes.blogspot.com/.
Enjoy the weekend!
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