Math Notes, Narrative Writing, Blurt Blocks, and more!

Yesterday, students made models of the four layers of the earth using Play Doh. I encouraged them to share them with you, and to teach you a bit about what they learned about the earth’s structure. If your fourth grader is stuck and wants to review the notes from our lesson, remind them that I’ve posted on Schoology the slideshow from class and the video we enjoyed. Throughout this unit, students will learn about the earth, how it has changed over thousands upon thousands of years, and what changes are continuing to happen as we speak.

Last week, we took our first unit math assessment of the year! The kids worked really hard, and I admired their focus. We still have a few students who are finishing this assessment, and once they are done, I will have the assessments ready to return to students. We have kicked off our second math unit, which is all about factors, multiples, and problem solving. Looking at the homework with your fourth grader is a terrific way to stay up to date on what we’re working on in class. If there is a concept on the homework with which your child is struggling, please email me to give me a heads-up so I can work with him or her.

In math, we have also been focusing on taking notes. Students have a math notebook that they use to take notes when I introduce a concept. This helps them because they can refer back to these notes when they have questions, and for many kids, the act of taking notes helps to make concepts more concrete for them and also helps them to be more attentive during lessons. That said, the skill of taking notes is just that: a skill, and for most of these fourth graders, it’s a BRAND NEW skill. So their notes are messy and incomplete, which is fine! They’re still learning! We’ll keep working together to build this important life skill.

We are in the final weeks of our first narrative writing unit! Students should be finishing, tonight, their first draft of their stories so that we can work together on revising, editing, and workshopping their conclusions. (This was actually due today, but many students needed one more day to continue drafting.) Mrs. Dowd and I have been enjoying conferencing with students throughout this unit as their writing takes shape. In reading, we are also learning about narrative stories, and we are focusing, in particular, on characters. During conferencing time, I’ve been giving Benchmark Reading Assessments (often called BAS) to students, which helps me to learn about each student’s own reading needs and how I can best support them in class.

In class, we have started using Blurt Blocks to help students to better control when they’re chatting with friends. (I love that our class is so friendly, but we have been working on finding appropriate times to be social.) Here’s how Blurt Blocks work: If a student is talking when they shouldn’t be, I will give them (or have them get) a blurt block, which is a small plastic block. It’s not meant to embarrass them; rather, it is a tangible reminder that they can hold in their hand to remind them that they need to fix their behavior. If they get one blurt block, it’s just a warning. (We all need reminders, sometimes, right?) If they get a second blurt block within one activity/period, they will complete a blurt report for you to review and sign and return. We start fresh at the start of each period/activity, so kids have plenty of opportunities to fix their choices and start fresh. It’s been very helpful this month as we work to be responsible citizens in class who are staying in-control.

Families should have received from me an email on Tuesday confirming your scheduled parent-teacher conference time. If you haven’t received it, please contact me. Some families still need to schedule a conference time, so please reach out to me at your convenience to make arrangements.

As always, please reach out to me if you have any questions! Have a great rest of your week!

Posted in Class Updates|By Jon Moss