Week 27 Update

I am so proud of our scholars' hard work this school year and their recent preparation for the STAAR Writing. They've reviewed grammar skills through small group instruction, Education Galaxy, and card games; completed revising and editing multiple choice practices; and they've planned, written, revised, and shared narrative and expository compositions! 

Below is a writing strategy that reminds scholars to reread every fifth line as they write their compositions. This helps students to check that every sentence is clear and important in their writing. 

Learning Objectives - Week 27

Reading: 

I can use inferences to summarize a passage.

Writing:  

I can use my theme/central idea to determine what I include and exclude from my writing.

I can identify and write simple, compound, and complex sentences.

Social Studies:
I can understand the importance of the Texas Revolution, The Republic of Texas, and the annexation of Texas to the United States. 

This week:

• Reading log - Read 20 minutes each night
• Revising Sentences HW due Friday
• Spelling words - Practice on SpellingCity App 
• Fourth Nine Weeks Sight Words

Mind Mission: Barb Building

I was so impressed with our scholars' designs in today's design challenge! They created their designs as we listened to old cowboy songs, including "Home on the Range" and "Back in the Saddle Again." Here are details of the mission and pictures!

Background

"Barbed wire permanently changed land uses and land values in Texas."

With the western expansion in the United States, people needed to keep cattle and crops separated. Fences were required, but there were few materials available in the Great Plains. People tried digging ditches, stacking mud, and creating thorny hedges, but these were not enough. In the 1870s, Joseph F. Glidden patented the first barbed wire design, known as “Winner” wire. Soon, what was once the open range in Texas was no more, and both the agricultural and the beef cattle industries in Texas grew.

Source: https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/aob01

Mission

The most difficult thing about installing a fence in the West is installing fence posts to support the barbed wire. There are few trees and little lumber to build the posts. Can your team make two posts joined by wire pipe cleaners? Make it tall. The more note cards the teacher can hang on the pipe cleaners, the better!

Materials

12 inches of tape, 6 note cards, 4 paper clips, 4 paper cups, 4 pipe cleaners, 6 rubber bands, 8 straws

Learning Objectives - Week 26

Reading: 

I can compare the use of rhyme, meter, line breaks, etc. in different forms of poetry.

I can use inferences to summarize a passage.

Writing:  

I can use my theme/central idea to determine what I include and exclude from my writing.

I can identify and write simple, compound, and complex sentences.

Social Studies:
I can understand the importance of the Texas Revolution, The Republic of Texas, and the annexation of Texas to the United States. 

This week:

• Reading log - Read 20 minutes each night
• Revising Sentences HW due Friday
• Spelling words - Practice on SpellingCity App 
• Silent Letter Words

Connecting with Dr. Fred Sharpe - Distance Learning

Our fourth grade scholars were so excited for the opportunity to video conference with Dr. Fred Sharpe, an expert on humpback whales. What a wonderful global connection for our students made possible by the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History!

Learning Objectives - Week 25

Reading: 

I can compare the use of rhyme, meter, line breaks, etc. in different forms of poetry.

Writing:  

I can use my theme/central idea to determine what I include and exclude from my writing.

Social Studies:
I can understand the importance of the Texas Revolution, The Republic of Texas, and the annexation of Texas to the United States. 

This week:

• Reading log - Read 20 minutes each night
• Revising Sentences HW due Friday
• Spelling words - Practice on SpellingCity App 
• Doubling/e-drop verbs to add -ing