Writers' Workshop and More.....

In fourth grade, we learn about several different forms of writing but mainly focus on Narrative and Expository forms. We were really lucky today as we found ourselves with a huge "chunk of writing time"! That doesn't happen often so we took advantage. The kids got their writing folders, their editing bags, dictionaries and got busy.

Analysa has an idea and is on a roll!

Alex is "reading to the wall". This is a step in the "revising and editing process". Sometimes it helps to read the story out loud and hear what we actually wrote and not what we thought we wrote!
Phillip is really concentrating on revising. Great job, Phillip!
Looks like Mikal found a change to make. That's some serious erasing! Cole is re-reading. Does it sound "just right" yet?
Calista and her clipboard...what more does a writer need? She has some great similes in her story!
When in doubt, get the dictionary....great idea, Garet!

Of course, the Reading Counts deadline is almost here so why not squeeze a test in when we can. Smart thinking, Brayden. That has been one busy computer!

And...a couple of our friends were caught up on everything so they challenged themselves with a new math dice game in the hallway. Nicely done, Alexandra and William.

So, what do teachers really do when they are gone?

Do you ever wonder what your teachers do when they are gone? Well, today we were gone to a science training. We actually had our final training for our "Structures of Life" science kit. Yep...that's right....we got to visit the seeds, crayfish and snails one last time! It was so much fun.

This time, we even learned some more. We practiced observing them. We had to draw them from three different views. That was hard! We talked about what we saw them doing and we shared what we learned from our students. That's right....we learn from you, too!

And then, we did something completely new! We explored "Bess Beetles"! We knew they were an option, but we were nervous about them so we chose to work with Land Snails instead this year. Guess what! We liked them!

Do you remember the snail pull?

The beetles pull washers as well.....we have to use dental floss tho! :) I didn't get a video of them but we are thinking they might actually be stronger than the snail but we aren't sure yet.

This video is blurry but I couldn't resist these "snugglin' snails".

You can see that we learn a lot and we do have fun at science workshops, but I do prefer to be in class with you!

New Poll

The Poll has been updated. The correct answer for last weeks question was False. Only six of the seven have beards. Happy, Doc, Grumpy, Sleepy, Sneezey, and Bashful all have beards. Dopey does not have a beard and he is also the only dwarf that can't talk. This week's question looks a little more challenging to me so good luck! Also, if you hold your curser (mouse) over the astrology picture, the name of the will come up. Have fun!

Miss Landeene to the rescue....

I am very happy! Miss Landeene just sent some pictures of the party to me. It looks like you had great fun!! Your cookies look very yummy!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!! I'm so sad that I missed the party yesterday but I am sure you had fun anyway. I stopped by school quickly yesterday. Thanks for all the wonderful valentines! I will see you all on Tuesday!

Buddies Reading

We partnered up for a little while to practice reading. Our assignment was to focus on what our buddy does when he or she gets stuck on a word. What strategies did we notice? What strategies did we offer to help? Ms. Spilker told us we will do something with this but she hasn't told us what yet....hmmm....:)

I have to say...this class loves to read!! If given a choice, they always choose reading! It's a teacher's dream. Today, I let them choose any story they wanted from the book...that was a student's dream!

You might be wondering why they are sitting like they are. At my last science training, I learned that they can hear each other read better when their ears are next to their partner's mouths. You wouldn't believe the change in the noise level in the room. They can actually hear each other so they aren't shouting! Teachers learn something new all the time, too.

Pictographs Are Finally Finished!

After a lot of data gathering, analyzing, and discussing....the pictographs are finished. There was a lot of great math conversation happening. There is a lot of planning that goes into making a pictograph. What symbol do we use? What is the value of that symbol? What are the names of the categories? The most challenging part of all turned out to be how to word the question that our pictographs answer. It was hard! After all the graphs were completed, we had quite a discussion. I think we decided that "How much time does does a class of fourth graders spend doing these activities in a 24 hour period?" I think William gets a "quick clap" for that one! One, two..clap, clap! :)