Grade 4 Language Arts & Social Studies

This week, 4th graders were excited to learn about Dictionary Digs. This is one way we will learn new vocabulary words which are pulled from our class novels. We make it exciting by racing through the dictionary to see who can find the word first.

On Thursday and Friday, students were tasked with crafting a letter to their teacher. Inspired by the picture book we read on Wednesday, students received a letter from me, reviewed the parts of a letter, and wrote to me about themselves. They had already generated a list of ten character traits as a part of their summer work, so we used that to get started.

In addition, we made our way through two pretests, one in geography and the other in morphology, to see what the students already know. Finally, we completed a comprehension check about their summer read, Because of Winn-Dixie.

In Morning Meetings, we enjoyed the butterfly handshake, finding things in common with a partner, and a game of Back-to-bBack. I also read aloud The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Afterwards, my homeroom engaged in big game with Will coming out on top. When we play ‘entourage-style’, kids play Rock, Paper, Scissors against one opponent, and then winners find new opponents. It’s what the other kids do that is so important. They turn into the ‘entourage’ for the person who beat them and cheer them on to victory. That’s exactly the kind of resilience, teamwork, and sportsmanship we want to see in our classroom.

Students were excited to be able to browse our classroom library and check out books today. They also had a little bit of time to read independently.

We took a tour of the servery yesterday before our first lunch. With a new food service company in place, some changes have been made to the set-up.

We also had a good time learning things about Miss Earhart in a game called Take a Guess About Your Teacher!

The 4th graders were excited to come to the classroom today. They found their lockers and desks and busied themselves with a word search while waiting on their classmates to arrive.

In our Morning Meeting today we practiced greeting one another with eye contact and a firm handshake. The students wished one another “Good morning” by name. They all shared about one fun thing they did over the summer, and we played a game of ‘Quiz, Quiz, Trade.” This got everyone up and moving, as well as interacting with one another.

We also went over our schedule, practiced a few procedures and enjoyed a read-aloud. Then the class was off to Mr. Mogle! When 4-M arrived, we learned a bit about the classroom, and then we played the same game and read the same book. A Letter from Your Teacher will lead into a writing assignment later in the week.

All 4th graders enjoyed a brief recess together and a school-wide assembly in Brown. Mr. Stabler introduced new faculty & students and set some expectations for the year. It was a great day – short & sweet!