” I Remember” Poems, Songs, and State Snacks

This week in grammar, we continued to work on end marks. We examined a passage from a popular children’s book from which all punctuation had been removed. The students were quick to find places they needed to pause and add periods. The next step is applying this skill to their own writing!

This week, I read aloud two poems by author Charles R. Smith, Jr. – one about basketball and the other about baseball. The students picked one of their hobbies – such as knitting, dance, football, lacrosse – and wrote their own “I Remember” poem about learning, trying, failing, and succeeding in this area. Later in the week, they typed and illustrated the poems for display.

You might notice some older students in these photos. On Tuesday, a psychology class from the high school visited Red Gables, and we were lucky to have Andrew, Terrence, and Benton visit with us. All are seniors who aspire to be college athletes. The kids were thrilled to be with them.

In reading, we completed two more chapters in Three Times Lucky and a set of comprehension questions. Students are encouraged to mark in their books when they find similes, vocabulary words, and connections to their lives, other books, or the world.

We also continued learning about songs and songwriting. We identified rhyme schemes, talked about turning true stories into songs, and tried drafting some!

We also reviewed ten morphemes this week for an assessment on Thursday, and played several review games to prepare for today’s Southwest quiz. Kahoot is always the favorite!

In Morning Meeting, we had fun with the Paper Hat game, Reverse Charades, Rock/Paper/Scissors – Entourage style and more. 4M tried a new and challenging game – one partner saw a picture and described it to the other partner who had to try and draw it – a great way to practice communication and teammwork!

We had our first two state snacks this week. Elliot share Krispy Kreme which originated in his state of North Carolina, and Silas brought in homemade gooey butter cake which was invented in his state, Missouri. Both were big hits!

We hosted LOTS of prospective students this week in Grade 4. Each class had an additional three students on Tuesday and on Friday. Thanks to all our great hosts in 4E : Liza, Holden, Campbell, Cooper, Sophia and Samuel.

We were treated to two theatrical performances this week – a 3rd grade class play directed by Mrs. Rodgers and a teaser for the MS musical, Annie Jr. Both were fantastic!

Finally, we started a new read-aloud during homeroom, The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke. It’s set in Venice, and, like most children’s books, it centers on orphans. We are two chapters in and the class is hooked.