Letters from Language Arts
What's Happening In ELAR, Issue 5
Welcome Back and Happy New Year!!
We hope everyone had a wonderful and restful holiday break! Can you believe we are half way through the year? We are so happy to see all of the kids again. They came in sharing their stories of awesome family vacations, visiting family and their favorite presents.
This semester we will be buckling down to prepare for the upcoming STAAR tests. However, before we take the test, we have many exciting events coming up! We are looking forward to an awesome semester.
With Sharpened Pencils and Journals Ready,
Caitlin Mozisek and Anne Smalling
Looking for a great read? Check these out!
Writers In The Schools (WITS) - Continues January 10, 2019
The kids have done amazing work with Mrs. Summer. We cannot wait to show you the results of this terrific program for our students. A HUGE shout out to the PTA for making this possible.
Book Club
Last semester students participated in a book tasting. They were able to skim several books and choose books that peaked their interest. Students were given the books and told to just read them for enjoyment. We will be rereading and tackle these books with other students in our book clubs. Research shows us that when kids read the same books multiple times, they are able to dive deeper into the text and take away more from the story.
Extra Help
If your child ever needs help understanding a topic in class, or they bring home a grade below a 70, they are always welcome to bring it back to class and get help to improve and bring their grade up to a 75. We are available every morning at 7:30am, unless we have morning duty.
Subjectively Speaking: What To Expect When You're A 4th Grade Parent
Reader's Workshop
We have ventured into the world of drama. We will be looking at the parts of drama such as, scripts, scenes/acts, stage directions, and dialogue. We will also be acting out several plays in class.
Writer's Workshop
We are continuing our work on expository essays. These essays have 5 paragraphs including an introduction, 3 paragraphs of reasons and a conclusion. These paragraphs should include transitions that help the reader follow the author's train of thought. Below is a copy of the rubric we will use to grade the essays.
Texas History
Last semester, we learned about the Spanish missions that were built in Texas. We now know that most missions were not able to convert the Native Americans to Christianity and that very few Indians adopted the Spanish way of life. With Spain losing control of Texas, they very willingly granted permission for Stephen F. Austin to bring 300 families to settle in Texas...but things are never simple.
Expository Essay Rubric
Spelling: Words Their Way
TBD
Grammar Rules!
With the Writing STAAR test coming up April 9, we are focusing on passages about famous Texas with revising and editing errors.
Flocabulary
Students should continue to access this resource at home and practice the new words they learn in the vocabulary section of Flocabulary.
UpComing Events
1/11: Report Cards Go Home
1/14: Writing PSA
1/15: Reading PSA
1/17: WITS
1/18: 4th Grade Teacher Planning Day
1/18: Social Studies Test Weeks 14-15
1/21: MLK- Student Holiday
1/24: WITS
1/31: WITS
About Us
We are overjoyed at being your language arts and social studies teachers. It is our goal to not only create good readers and writers but lifelong readers and writers. Thank you for making this journey with us.
Email: Anne-Louise.Smalling@springbranchisd.com
Location: https://maps.google.com/?cid=7155001544484722155
Phone: 713 251 6300
Twitter: @MDESmalling