"Making a mark" on International Dot Day

Today our scholars celebrated International Dot Day, named for Peter H. Reynolds' storybook, The Dot. They reflected on how they will "make their mark" in fourth grade, and they showed off their "Explosion of Dots" oil pastel artwork and personal goals when connecting with other elementary classrooms, including Silver Lake Elementary and Colleyville Elementary via Skype! Thank you to Ms. Highfill for providing a wonderful art project for our students and to Ms. Berumen for connecting our class for Dot Day!

Learning Objectives - Week 4

Reading:

I can confer and participate in accountable talk about what I read.
I can summarize and share my thinking about text that I read. 

 
Writing:

I can support important ideas with relevant detail.

I can use mentor texts as models for my writing.

Social Studies:

I can identify, locate, and compare the geographic regions of Texas.

• Keywords: climate, data, economic regions, economy, geographic factors, landforms, natural resources, population, political, resources, vegetation

This week:  

• IStation Reading assessment - Monday/Tuesday
• International Dot Day - Tuesday
• Reading log - Read 20 minutes each night (checked on Monday)
• Cursive practice homework - Due on Friday
• Spelling words - Practice on SpellingCity App or Spelling City - Test on Friday
• 4th Grade 1NW Sight Words

Indoor Recess

Today during indoor recess, scholars had a great time working together to construct structures, obstacle course models, and imaginative Lego creations! Several students opted to enjoy a good book. :) Thank you to Mrs. Berumen, our Cannon librarian, for having these awesome activities available in the library!

Learning Objectives - Week 3

Reading:

I can preview to get ready to think about my reading.
I can summarize and share my thinking about text that I read. 

 
Writing:

I can use mentor texts as models for my writing.

Social Studies:

I can identify, locate, and compare the geographic regions of Texas.

• Keywords: climate, data, economic regions, economy, geographic factors, landforms, natural resources, population, political, resources, vegetation

This week:  

• Reading log - Read 20 minutes each night (checked on Monday)
• Cursive practice homework - Due on Friday
• Spelling words - Practice on SpellingCity App or Spelling City - Test on Friday
• 3rd Grade Sight Words Review

Outdoor maps

This week our scholars took on the role of cartographers as they created maps of our outdoor area. Later, they discussed their maps' similarities and differences, how they could improve their maps to make them easier to read, and how to improve the process of creating a map. 

Writing Update

Our scholars have worked to create heart maps to share their hobbies, interests, favorite places, important people in their lives, and words that they'd use to describe themselves. They created their writing folders and recently received creative writing journals! This week, scholars analyzed end-of-year third grade writing to determine which writing skills that they should have secured. 

Classroom Library Update

If I've learned one thing about our fourth grade scholars this year, it's that they love to read! That's great news because, as a study by the NEA recently found, "reading transforms the lives of individuals- whatever their social circumstances." I love this study because its findings suggest that readers are not only are more involved in the the arts, but also in volunteering and even sports and exercise! In class, our scholars have worked to organize our classroom library, and in the process, many of our scholars already have compiled a list of books that they are planning to enjoy reading this year!