I really dislike being absent. But obviously it happens, and I was out on Friday for the first time this school year. I'm looking forward to seeing the kids on Monday so they can let me know how the day went. I wasn't there to pick the Bucket Fillers of the week, so it looks like we'll have twice as many names in our Bucket Filler jar next Friday!

We started our fiction unit during reading block this week. We began with the features of fiction texts and focused on vocabulary like characters, setting, and plot. I introduced the typical plot structure of stories: introduction to characters and setting, conflict, climax, resolution. We ended up applying this pattern to comic strips, with the kids working in groups of three or four to label their assigned comic. These ranged from Peanuts to Denice the Menace to Calvin and Hobbes. This was definitely a challenging task, but many groups did a really nice job making sense of their strip and implementing what they learned. Students ended up using that information to write a brief summary. Summarizing is an important skill that can be tough for kids. I often tell them to pretend a friend asked them what happened in their book-- what would they say in response? This helps pick out the most important events in the story. In addition, remembering the elements and typical plot structure of fiction texts can be helpful in terms of selecting what information to include in the summary. 

On Wednesday this week, we worked on our communication skills while working in small groups through a team building task. Students had to work in groups of three or four to stack cups into a pyramid. The catch? They couldn't touch the cups; they could only touch a string attached to a rubber band to move them. In addition...they couldn't speak to each other! They could only use nonverbal communication to problem solve and exchange ideas. We ended up doing a second round in which they could speak. Mrs. O'Keefe and I have noticed that we need to work on kindness and compromise during small group work. We were on the lookout for positivity and encouragement between classmates, and in my room, Seriyah, Mason, and Brennan exemplified both teamwork and a growth mindset. 

This past week was the last one in our first three-week cycle of the school year for intervention block and the afternoons. Next week, we'll switch homerooms for those two timeframes, so I'll spend more time with Mrs. O'Keefe's homeroom. For writing we began our focus on personal narratives, which syncs up quite nicely with our fiction unit in that strong narratives are stories with those same elements of fiction texts mentioned earlier. We also set up our 1:1 chrome books, which we're fortunate enough to have access to this year. We set up our bookmarks, downloaded some educational apps and extensions, and organized our Google Drive. Now we just have to start filling those folders with documents and projects galore! 

 

 

 

 

With yesterday as the first day of fall, summer is now officially behind us. I'm trying to avoid thinking about what season comes after fall, and all the snow and frigid temperatures that come with it...Speaking of temperatures, the temperature in our classroom is a fluctuating mystery. Some days it's quite chilly, while other days it feels like a sauna in there. Every morning is a guessing game: Will I need to bundle up today, or will I again be resorting to sticking my head in front of the fan by desk? Oh well, it could definitely be worse!

In reading this week, we concluded our launch unit. We discussed closely reading and annotating certain texts, and how the purpose of annotation is to slow us down and monitor our thinking as we read. We used a few activities to simulate this idea, from "digging deeper" into images to "digging deeper" into taste. On day one, I showed the kids the cartoon to the left, and at first glance they labeled it as someone drawing a dog. But when they took a closer look, they started noticing details like the sign on the door and the injuries on the cat. It was pretty funny when some of them had that Aha! moment and realized that the victim (the cat) was describing its attacker (the dog) to a police sketch artist. The next day, I gave each student an Oreo cookie and told them that it was a reward for their hard work and good behavior recently. I stressed that they had to eat it fast, as we had a lot to do and needed to get right back to work. Afterwards, we went to the rug, and I asked them what they ate. They looked at me like I was slightly insane, and simply said an Oreo. Then I told them they'd be getting another one, but this time, they had to savor it. They had to touch it, smell it, and let the taste linger in their mouths. As they ate, I encouraged them to pay attention to their thoughts. Afterwards, we reflected on the texture, ingredients, their favorite part, what they were thinking as they ate, etc. While we simply ate our first Oreo and moved on, our second Oreo experience resulted in a long list of reflections. In the same way, when there are complex texts we want to really dig into, we annotate. We read it once for the gist, then again to circle and infer the definitions of words we're unsure about, underline important parts, and note our thinking. By doing so, we read it closely and extract more meaning. Next week we'll kick off our fiction unit. I'm pumped!

In the afternoon this week, we talked about the different features of the three categories of writing we'll be exploring this year: narrative, expository, and opinion. The kids also shared their "Where I'm From" poems, which they finished typing and adding pictures to on Monday. They look awesome hanging up outside our classroom! We also did a pretest for our first social studies unit on map skills. This gives me an idea of what kids already know in relation to the topic, and what I'll need to focus on during this unit. In addition, we had our second week of yoga. I even participated on Friday (naturally deeming this my mode of exercise for the day...), and we had our best yoga class yet.

Our Bucket Fillers this week were Owen and Ava. Owen was an absolute star on Friday, raising his hand to participate just about every single time I posed a question. This showed me that he was really paying attention and engaged in our activity and discussion. Ava is also awesome. There were a few times this week when her focus and productivity stood out in an impressive way. It was ironic that Ava got Bucket Filler though, because she had gotten dismissed before I pulled her name. So Ava, if you're reading this, congrats-- you won!

Our first full week of the school year is behind us! The kids are doing a nice job getting settled into the routines and expectations of fourth grade, and it was great meeting many families this week at our back-to-school Open House. In reading, we're almost done with our launch unit. This brief unit gets the kids acclimated to the reader's workshop model of instruction. We went over what is expected of students during interactive read-alouds, classroom discussions, and independent reading time. I also got to show off my classroom library to the kiddos. I'm so proud of all my books and the way the library is organized. I have colored bins according to genre, with each book labeled to match the bin it belongs in. All of the fiction chapter books are also leveled by Guided Reading Level, which is an alphabetized system based on complexity. I loved hearing the kids react to and jot down books that they are interested in checking out this year. During intervention, I've gotten started assessing students' Guided Reading Level. While doing so, students have been working independently or in small groups on challenging tasks that encourage them to use growth mindset self talk. These tasks include brain teasers, Sudoku, and tongue twisters. I'm really trying to emphasize the importance of positivity and perseverance in the classroom, and we'll be exploring and reinforcing the idea of having a growth mindset throughout the school year. 

Right now, I have my homeroom in the afternoons. This week we learned the steps of the writing process (brainstorming, drafting, revising, editing, publishing) and put these steps into action by writing our own "Where I'm From" poems. Usually, carrying out the full writing process takes a lot longer than one week, but we used this hybrid version to get kids familiar with the five steps needed to produce a strong published piece of writing. They're almost done typing their poems, so we'll get to finish and print those out this upcoming week! Both homerooms also started yoga with our instructor Jess, who happens to be a former teacher. Mrs O'Keefe's homeroom had 40 minutes of yoga at the end of the day on Monday and Thursday, while my homeroom participated on Tuesday and Friday. We get to take part in this program for four weeks, and it's a really nice way to teach students how to access their inner calm and peace amidst the noise, and even stress, of the school day. For more information, check out their website at https://www.yogaforgood.net. 

Our Bucket Fillers this week were Shay and Miqueais. I was fortunate enough to spend time with Shay this summer as her reading tutor. She's wonderful, and I've been really impressed with her participation and attention in class. Miqueais has also been participating a lot, which is fabulous. Not only that, but he has almost always been the very first fourth grader to line up when we come grab the kids from the cafeteria after lunch. Now, if only we could start lassoing the rest of the herd just a tad quicker...

Coming back to school in the midst of a heat wave is not ideal, but we prevailed! This week consisted of more opportunities to get to know each other, self reflection, and goal setting. Everyone brought in their Brown Bag Autobiography on Tuesday, which was wonderful. This is the first year I've done this activity, and I definitely plan on making it a yearly tradition. It's such a nice way for students to share a little about themselves by bringing in five items from home that represent interests, hobbies, people, and memories special to them. Not only that, but it allows for students to practice speaking in front of each other, listening to each other, and asking/answering questions related to the items shared. I did a bag too, and I may or may not have bent the rules a little and brought in six items instead of five...whoops...

We had a student questionnaire and self reflection homework assignment that required students to think about their strengths in school and areas they hope to improve in this year. These also gave me insight into what they value in teachers, the types of assignments they prefer, how they learn best, when and where they feel most confident, and the important people in their lives. I asked parents/guardians to fill out similar questionnaires, and I'm so grateful that so many people put time into filling those out. All of these have been highly valuable in getting to know my new students so that I can be the best teacher I can be for each one of them. Using the in-class questionnaire and self evaluation homework assignment, students set goals for themselves for the 4th grade school year. I could help provide each of them with ideas based on what I noticed in their self reflections as well as their parents' responses. We worked hard to make the goals SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely. And I don't use the word hard lightly...because this was a challenging assignment! We also created action steps in achieving this goal, and we eventually created colorful banners to hang up and display our goals for the school year. They look great.

We picked our first Bucket Fillers of the school year this week! I love seeing the kids' reactions when they win Bucket Filler of the week. I use this method of positive reinforcement every year with my students. On the first day of school, we read the book “How Full Is Your Bucket? For Kids”, which introduces the idea that we all have invisible buckets over our heads that fill up and empty throughout the day depending on our feelings and interactions with others. Over the course of the week, I write down the names of students who stood out to me for working hard, being kind, helping out, etc. and put these names in a jar. On Friday, I randomly pick a name from each homeroom and they are the Bucket Fillers of the week. They get the option of picking out of a prize bin, doing show and tell, or having lunch with a friend and me the following week. Our first Bucket Fillers were Ryker and Mason. Ryker has stood out to me for continually following directions. I've noticed that I can count on him when it comes to appropriate classroom transitions and participation without shouting out. Mason comes in each day with enthusiasm and energy that is contagious. He has also been participating, which is always appreciated! I can't wait to get to know all of my new students as we get more comfortable with each other and kick off our first reading, writing, and social studies units next week.

It's our first post of the 2018-2019 school year! We've been back to school for a day and a half, and so far, so good. Despite the stifling heat, the kids have been really well-behaved and engaged. The beginning of the school year always has to include classroom rules, routines, and expectations, which can get a bit dry at times. But we tried to integrate some fun get-to-know-you and team-building activities to keep the kids up and moving. We even dove into some school work with our first Quick Write of fourth grade.

I sent home a notice with some important information about our upcoming year together. One of the included items is our daily schedule, which looks a little bit different than third grade due to the departmentalized structure of our grade level. Friday Folders were also introduced in this letter. The kids were provided a daily homework folder, but have a separate folder for Fridays. Their Friday Folders will contain any school forms and handouts given that week, as well as corrected schoolwork. Part of their weekend homework will be to bring their Friday Folders back to school on Monday empty. We encourage parents/guardians to go over the feedback on any corrected work with their child, and of course to look over any notices sent home from the school/classroom. This system makes things a little more organized in the classroom, and makes it a routine to sort through any materials sent home once a week, rather than every night. That being said, if there is a notice that needs to be sent home urgently, it will be put in their daily homework folders the day we get it. To get us started with this weekly routine, students took home their Friday Folders prior to the long weekend with a few handouts from the school. Next week I'll be sending home a letter discussing some of my classroom routines and expectations.

On this weekly blog, I generally include photos from throughout the week. Well, my summer brain is clearly still alive and kicking, because I only took one picture over our first two days together. Below is my homeroom participating in a team-building activity that had them accomplishing a task without speaking. It was fun to watch them figure out ways to communicate outside of their voice! 

I'm looking forward to getting to know my new students, and I'm excited to work with them to foster their strengths as well as gain confidence and success when it comes to their areas of need. What's so nice about each new school year is that with a new year comes a fresh start. I'm super optimistic that we'll have a wonderful year together filled with not only academic learning gains, but also social and emotional growth.