Curriculum Updates August 17- 21

We are off to a great start in 4th grade this year!  We spent the first few days getting to know each other, doing some team building activities, creating ground rules, writing a mission statement, and reviewing the Student Discipline Code of Conduct as well as our English Landing SOAR rules.  One of the 4th graders' favorites was the straw activity.  Groups of 3 or 4 were given 40 straws and a yard of tape.  Their challenge was to build the tallest tower in 15 minutes without doing any talking!  The towers the kids built were pretty impressive, and they managed to do it without speaking to one another.  The kids did get creative in ways to communicate and really worked as teams to build.

Reading - We launched Reading Workshop by having many good discussions on how to make reading the best it can be.  First students created a timeline of themselves as a reader; thinking about when reading was great for them and when it has been the pits.  Students created reading resolutions to focus on for the year.  We also discussed when it is ok to abandon a book.  Some classes also
took the STAR Reading assessment.

Math - During math time we were busy discussing how Math Workshop will look.  We also began Topic 1; Multiplication and Division:  Meanings and Facts.  So far, fourth graders have learned several multiplication properties; Commutative, Identity Property, Zero Property, and Distributive Property.  We are using these properties to help solve multiplication facts.  Next week, we'll look at patterns in multiplication as our problem solving skill.  We'll also study how multiplication and division are related.  Fourth graders will also take their STAR Math Assessment on the computer.

Science - Our first unit this year is about ecosystems. We studied characteristics of various ecosystems, and how producers and consumers play a part in an ecosystem.  Next week we'll begin to look at plant adaptations.