Hola everybody!
Here's what we'll be doing this week in grade 4 at Discovery School:
MATH
In math lessons this week we will be working on understanding and using formulas to calculate perimeter, area, and volume. We will apply our understanding of these concepts to word based problems, and use manipulatives and drawings to help us solve these problems visually. We will also spend time comparing and contrasting these three geometric concepts and their formulas. It should be fun!!
READING
Our next reading skill that we will focus on is 'main idea and supporting details'. We will be taking a look at different text structures and practice identifying the main idea in different paragraphs. We will also look at how supporting details are used to create well-written and interesting paragraphs, and then apply them to our own writing next week.
WRITING
This week we will be working on writing our conclusion to our persuasive writing piece, and then spend a class proofreading our first drafts with fellow students. Our final copies will be completed for homework mid-week. We will also work on writing a short, anecdotal story about an incident of integrity. Integrity is our current 'character studies' trait.
SOCIAL STUDIES
In social studies this week we will be learning about how the slave trade that brought slaves to the Americas. We will also be learning about some of the lingering effects that slavery has had on American society and culture in a talk with our middle school teacher Vincent Taylor and in reading our new class novel, 'Sounder'.
I hope that everyone has a great week! Thanks as always for reading,
Jordan Rose
Monday, February 28, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Activities for the week of February 22nd-25th
Hello everybody!! I hope everyone had a great long weekend. Congratulations again to all grade 4 students and families as all of our students presented interesting and well prepared science projects!! As was very proud of the work that the students did, and the judges assured me that each student gave a strong oral presentation. Thanks again to parents and family members for helping to make this such a success.
Classroom Activities This Week
Math: In math this week we will be learning about perimeter, area, and volume of shapes, and how to calculate these measurements. These are fun and practical lessons that the students will need throughout their mathematics education and in the real world.
Reading: In reading we will continue to look at the reading skill of identifying and understanding the author's purpose for writing. Our four main 'purposes' for writing are: to explain, to entertain, to persuade, and to inform. We will also begin reading our new class novel, "Sounder".
Writing: In our writing periods this week we will be working on writing to persuade. Each student will choose an opinion they hold strongly and try to persuade the reader to agree with them. In this written piece we will experiment with the 'hamburger' essay writing structure.
Social Studies: We have begun a new unit on American Slavery in social studies. This week we will look at how slavery began in America, as well as begin to think about some of the affects it has had on American society throughout it's history.
Grammar: Our grammar quiz had to be postponed last week due to science fair preparation. As a result this week we will be having our proofreading quiz.
Here's to a great, short week! All the best,
Jordan Rose
Classroom Activities This Week
Math: In math this week we will be learning about perimeter, area, and volume of shapes, and how to calculate these measurements. These are fun and practical lessons that the students will need throughout their mathematics education and in the real world.
Reading: In reading we will continue to look at the reading skill of identifying and understanding the author's purpose for writing. Our four main 'purposes' for writing are: to explain, to entertain, to persuade, and to inform. We will also begin reading our new class novel, "Sounder".
Writing: In our writing periods this week we will be working on writing to persuade. Each student will choose an opinion they hold strongly and try to persuade the reader to agree with them. In this written piece we will experiment with the 'hamburger' essay writing structure.
Social Studies: We have begun a new unit on American Slavery in social studies. This week we will look at how slavery began in America, as well as begin to think about some of the affects it has had on American society throughout it's history.
Grammar: Our grammar quiz had to be postponed last week due to science fair preparation. As a result this week we will be having our proofreading quiz.
Here's to a great, short week! All the best,
Jordan Rose
Monday, February 14, 2011
Classroom Activities for Feb. 14th-17th
Hello and happy Valentine's Day to everyone!!!
IMPORTANT REMINDERS THIS WEEK
Science Fair: Yes, the Science Fair is finally upon us. The fair will be this Thursday, from 10:15 to 12:25. The fair is going to be for students and teachers only this year. Each student will have 10-15 minutes to present their Science Project to our two judges. Each judging duo will be made up of one elementary and one high school teacher. The students will need to answer questions from the judges to display their understanding of their process and what the scientific knowledge they've gained from the experience. Good luck to all of our students....I can't wait to see your hard work!!!
Short Week: There will be no school this Friday and the following Monday. Hooray!! Have a great long weekend!!
The Chronicles of Discovery: The Chronicles of Discovery, a literary and art magazine for Discovery School high school students will be coming soon.
Submissions for both art and literature are being accepted now until March 11.
The official award ceremony will take place in April.
I'm sure this will give our students a chance to show of their are and literary skills to the whole school!
Progress Reports: Progress reports will be going home this Thursday. Included in the reports will be a breakdown of each students' MAP test scores from December. For any questions or further info about the MAP tests please contact me via email at: jrose@discoveryschool.edu.hn
Classroom Activities This Week
Reading: We will finish reading our class novel, "The Million Dollar Shot", and discuss what we think of the author's climax and resolution within the story. We will also be learning about an 'author's purpose' for writing. Our four main purposes are: to entertain, to explain, to inform or tell, and to persuade.
Writing: To connect our reading and writing lessons we will be writing a persuasive essay. Each student will choose an opinion they hold strongly and then write with the purpose of convincing the reader to share their opinion. This should be fun!! We'll also be creating the final copies of our very own booklets of poetry.
Math: This week in math we're learning about the movements that shapes make, specifically: slides, rotations, and transformations/flips. We'll also be learning about lines of symmetry within shapes, and the concept of perimeter and how to calculate it.
Social Studies: This is the first week of our new social studies unit on American slavery. This week we'll be creating a KWL chart to assess our students' prior knowledge of slavery in America and reading a short story about the underground railroad.
Grammar: We'll be having a grammar quiz this week to assess each students' ability to find and correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar mistakes in a piece of text.
I hope everyone has a wonderful week, and thanks to Mrs. Ivy Chen for reading this blog each week. All the best,
Jordan Rose
IMPORTANT REMINDERS THIS WEEK
Science Fair: Yes, the Science Fair is finally upon us. The fair will be this Thursday, from 10:15 to 12:25. The fair is going to be for students and teachers only this year. Each student will have 10-15 minutes to present their Science Project to our two judges. Each judging duo will be made up of one elementary and one high school teacher. The students will need to answer questions from the judges to display their understanding of their process and what the scientific knowledge they've gained from the experience. Good luck to all of our students....I can't wait to see your hard work!!!
Short Week: There will be no school this Friday and the following Monday. Hooray!! Have a great long weekend!!
The Chronicles of Discovery: The Chronicles of Discovery, a literary and art magazine for Discovery School high school students will be coming soon.
Submissions for both art and literature are being accepted now until March 11.
The official award ceremony will take place in April.
I'm sure this will give our students a chance to show of their are and literary skills to the whole school!
Progress Reports: Progress reports will be going home this Thursday. Included in the reports will be a breakdown of each students' MAP test scores from December. For any questions or further info about the MAP tests please contact me via email at: jrose@discoveryschool.edu.hn
Classroom Activities This Week
Reading: We will finish reading our class novel, "The Million Dollar Shot", and discuss what we think of the author's climax and resolution within the story. We will also be learning about an 'author's purpose' for writing. Our four main purposes are: to entertain, to explain, to inform or tell, and to persuade.
Writing: To connect our reading and writing lessons we will be writing a persuasive essay. Each student will choose an opinion they hold strongly and then write with the purpose of convincing the reader to share their opinion. This should be fun!! We'll also be creating the final copies of our very own booklets of poetry.
Math: This week in math we're learning about the movements that shapes make, specifically: slides, rotations, and transformations/flips. We'll also be learning about lines of symmetry within shapes, and the concept of perimeter and how to calculate it.
Social Studies: This is the first week of our new social studies unit on American slavery. This week we'll be creating a KWL chart to assess our students' prior knowledge of slavery in America and reading a short story about the underground railroad.
Grammar: We'll be having a grammar quiz this week to assess each students' ability to find and correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar mistakes in a piece of text.
I hope everyone has a wonderful week, and thanks to Mrs. Ivy Chen for reading this blog each week. All the best,
Jordan Rose
Monday, February 7, 2011
Activities for the Week of February 7th-11th
Hello parents and students,
I hope everyone had a great weekend. Here at Discovery School we had a busy weekend as we held the National Spelling Bee on Saturday morning. The event was a big success, and all the spellers did a great job and showed off their spelling abilities.
Important Reminders
This is the last full week before our Science Fair on Feb. 17th. Most students should have completed their experiments by now, and should now be putting all of their work into their final poster-board. I can't wait to see all the hard work that the students have done with their experiments.
Classroom Activities This Week
Math: We're getting into our second week in our Geometry unit. The students will be learning about lines and angles, how to classify triangles and quadrilaterals, and about the basic geometry facts and terms regarding circles. We will also be learning about the motion of 2-D shapes, such as sliding, rotating, and reflecting, and learning about the lines on symmetry in shapes. It should be a fun week, as we have lots of hands-on math activities and working with shapes in the classroom.
Reading: Our reading skill this week will be focusing on is: 'author's purpose', which teaches the students to think about why the author writes what he does. This critical thinking about what we read is an important skill that will make our students stronger readers. We will also continue to read our class-novel, 'The Million Dollar Shot' together and analyze the plot structure of the story, and have a short quiz that will assess the student's comprehension of the story, and their understanding of our previous week's reading skill of 'cause and effect relationships'.
Writing: We will be wrapping up our poetry unit this week in writing lessons. The student's will finish writing their rhyming poetry examples, and experiment with different rhyming patterns and subject matter. The students will then work on putting together their very own book of poetry, with the edited copies of their favourite examples of their poetry.
Science: This is the final week of our 'Motion and Design' unit in Science. The students will have the choice of 3 distinct design challenges, and need to work together to meet them, record them, and then report on their findings to the class. The challenge will be to build a vehicle that can travel quickly using the kinetic force of rubber bands, a vehicle that can securely carry a heavy weight, or a vehicle that can travel using the force from the wind.
Here's to a great week in grade 4! On a side note, if you've read this blog could you please post a brief comment at the bottom of the blog or shoot me a quick email. I'm trying to find out who in our grade 4 community checks up on us. Thanks and all the best,
Jordan Rose
I hope everyone had a great weekend. Here at Discovery School we had a busy weekend as we held the National Spelling Bee on Saturday morning. The event was a big success, and all the spellers did a great job and showed off their spelling abilities.
Important Reminders
This is the last full week before our Science Fair on Feb. 17th. Most students should have completed their experiments by now, and should now be putting all of their work into their final poster-board. I can't wait to see all the hard work that the students have done with their experiments.
Classroom Activities This Week
Math: We're getting into our second week in our Geometry unit. The students will be learning about lines and angles, how to classify triangles and quadrilaterals, and about the basic geometry facts and terms regarding circles. We will also be learning about the motion of 2-D shapes, such as sliding, rotating, and reflecting, and learning about the lines on symmetry in shapes. It should be a fun week, as we have lots of hands-on math activities and working with shapes in the classroom.
Reading: Our reading skill this week will be focusing on is: 'author's purpose', which teaches the students to think about why the author writes what he does. This critical thinking about what we read is an important skill that will make our students stronger readers. We will also continue to read our class-novel, 'The Million Dollar Shot' together and analyze the plot structure of the story, and have a short quiz that will assess the student's comprehension of the story, and their understanding of our previous week's reading skill of 'cause and effect relationships'.
Writing: We will be wrapping up our poetry unit this week in writing lessons. The student's will finish writing their rhyming poetry examples, and experiment with different rhyming patterns and subject matter. The students will then work on putting together their very own book of poetry, with the edited copies of their favourite examples of their poetry.
Science: This is the final week of our 'Motion and Design' unit in Science. The students will have the choice of 3 distinct design challenges, and need to work together to meet them, record them, and then report on their findings to the class. The challenge will be to build a vehicle that can travel quickly using the kinetic force of rubber bands, a vehicle that can securely carry a heavy weight, or a vehicle that can travel using the force from the wind.
Here's to a great week in grade 4! On a side note, if you've read this blog could you please post a brief comment at the bottom of the blog or shoot me a quick email. I'm trying to find out who in our grade 4 community checks up on us. Thanks and all the best,
Jordan Rose
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