Classroom Connection
4th Grade
Event Information
RW and WW Unit Planning for 3rd Quarter
Room 223
When?
Monday, Dec 2, 2013, 04:00 PM
Where?
Park Hill School District, Northwest Barry Road, Kansas City, MO, United States
Event Information
December Resource Sharing
TIffany Ridge, Room 226
Evening Session: 4-5 PM
When?
Tuesday, Dec 10, 2013, 07:00 AM
Where?
Tiffany Ridge Elementary School, Northwest Old Tiffany Springs Road, Kansas City, MO, United States
December Calendar View
Below you will see screen shots of my calendar for December. If you wish to plan time with me this will more effectively allow you to do so.
December 2-6
Calendar view for December Week 1
December 9-13
Calendar view for December Week 2
December 16-20
Calendar view for December Week 3
Curriculum Corner
ELA
Reader's Workshop and Writer's Workshop:
- As you work through your nonfiction unit with reading and writing, make sure your mentor text list covers a single content area or topic. This will make the learning and work more powerful in Bend 3 when students are doing the work of comparing and contrasting as well as synthesizing. In Bend 1 you should be using expository nonfiction texts, in Bend 2 narrative nonfiction, and in Bend 3 hybrid nonfiction. If You need help obtaining resources please let me know.
- Make sure you are doing all you can to connect the reading and writing lessons together. This does not mean you have to teach them together, but it does mean you should be making a connection between the learning and work done as a reader and author. This will show students how to look at a text in more than one way, while also showing them the direct connection between reading and writing. For example, when we are looking at text structure as a reader we are noticing different wording used and analyzing the content to determine why the author chose that particular structure to give the content in. This same work can be done with writing, as students think about the content they're writing about and how best to structure it. The mentor texts used in reading can then be brought in, for students to examine what those authors did and try to emulate it in their own writing.
Math
- As of today you should be starting Topic 8 and complete that December 11th. If you are in Topics 6-7, you should be fine. If you are any further back we need to meet to discuss a plan in getting you caught up.
- You are in the midst of your Numbers and Operations Base Ten domain covering the multiplication of whole numbers. There are many strategies to teach students in these four topics that cover estimating, rounding, and multiplication in general. While I know all the strategies can be overwhelming from day-to-day, this is a moment where we need to look at the big picture. The rounding and estimating strategies help students look at the multiplication problem from a mental standpoint, where they can solve it in their head and get a general range for where the actual number will fall. The strategies surrounding multiplying the actual problem are essentially showing students why the algorithm works. So, even if your students decide to do the algorithm that is fine. However, being a part of the conversation as to why these other strategies work too helps them make meaning out of the steps in the algorithm and see how it works in composing and decomposing those numbers.
- Additionally, on the post test it will ask students to use a certain strategy to solve the problem. My personal philosophy is that as long as they have mastered one strategy that makes sense to them and they can explain, I am not worried about them knowing all of them. So, feel free to modify those test questions if you wish and instead of making them do a dictated strategy, allow them to do any one that they choose and explain their thinking/reasoning.
Science and Social Studies
Science: Matter and Energy
- This content could easily tie into your nonfiction reading and writing unit in order to allow you more time to cover all areas.
- Additionally, we want to think about how to foster inquiry through science. I have several experiments on this topic that incorporate literature, and would be happy to meet with you to share these.
Social Studies: Government, Democracy and Citizenship
- This content could easily tie into your nonfiction reading and writing unit in order to allow you more time to cover all areas.
- Thinking about reading standards, primary source documents are key and ensuring students are not only exposed to them but doing meaningful work around them. Social Studies is a great place to expose students to those documents and the Library of Congress website has many of them archived. You can find their site at the following link: www.loc.gov