Magical Pueo News

I am happy to announce that we have finally decided on a class name.  We are now the "Magical Pueos."  It was a tight race, but the "Magical Pueos" won out in the end.  Here's what we have been up to this week:
 

Many students have begun the next step of the writing process - peer conferencing.  Students pair up and take turns reading their writing pieces to one another.  Each author reads his or her own piece while the peer listens and takes notes.  The peer then offers suggestions for clarity.  After each student has read their writing piece, they then take the suggestions and make further revisions.  Students are now one step closer to publishing a final piece.  During the next few weeks, we will discuss different ways to clarify our writing.  Final published pieces will be due by the beginning of October.

In reading, each student is now given a copy of our mo`olelo book, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.  Now that all students have their own copy of the book, they can follow along with me as I read.  This is a great way for students to learn about reading with expression.  Next week we will begin literature circles with our book.  During literature circles, students are asked to discuss different topics and questions based on our book.

This week students received their first copy of Scholastic News.  Scholastic News is a student-centered periodical that focuses on current events around the world.  This week's issue has a featured story about the Civil Rights Movement.  We discussed the Civil Rights Movement in class and how the world was much different 50 years ago.  Please feel free to look over the Scholastic News with your child and talk to them about the topics that are discussed in the issue.

In math, the fourth graders are finishing up their unit on multiplication and division.  Right now we are concentrating on factors and multiples of 100.  Soon we will look at common factors between two numbers.  After completing the first unit this week, we will begin a new unit on Monday.  We will revisit multiplication and division later on in the school year.

We also had a special treat today.  This morning the Thunderbirds flew over our school.  It was an exciting sight to watch them fly overhead and feel our classroom shake.  After watching them, students came in and jotted down thoughts about our experience.  What did they see?  What did they feel?  What did they hear?  I think I foresee some interesting writing pieces coming from this experience!

For more about our week, here is this week's newsletter from our class reporters:

3_4 News TM & SC 9_13.pdf

Posted on September 13, 2007 10:09 AM | Permalink