Theme Book Report

Here is our example of what a 4 might look like. You'll notice that each of the 9 pieces of evidence is very specific and explains how that part of the story supports the theme. 

If you're not sure what theme is...read the anchor chart in this picture! :)

These cards list additional themes and describe the kinds of characters traits to look for in each. We LOVE to reference these cards and pull them out often! (click on the photo to enlarge the image...then you can read the text under each of the large titles)

Parent challenge: can you identify the theme of the last novel you read? 

Summarizing (book report) Models

Wow! I have missed my regular blogging so much this year, as I shared with several parents at conferences. Thank you so much for your patience with that as I'm sinking the vast majority of my time into developing Common Core based curriculum activities and transitioning to 4th grade. As promised, here are the photographs of the summary models that we created together last week. You'll notice that these are scored with a "2" and a "4," which is the same grading system I introduced on the report card during conferences. During class we have had several conversations on what does a "4" really look like, and what level of work do I need to strive toward to increase my level of understanding to match. I believe students need to understand what a "4" really is in order to achieve that level of understanding. 

So...how does that translate to our book report? Here is the form...you'll notice that the top portion (graphic organizer) is identical on both, because the information in the story doesn't change and this is where we organize our basic details. The difference in the "2" and "4" is in how in depth you go with that information. Keep in mind, the goal is to write only the most important information about the characters and story while being in-depth, but not rambling. We decided that if we wrote around 3 sentences for each section of the organizer, that a 15 sentence summary would be just about right to allow us deep thinking and quality writing. 

Hope these examples help! This book report is due next Tuesday, December 3rd!

Mind Mapping

Ok, so I just have to brag a little. Today we started "mind mapping" two characters from Because of Winn - Dixie, and OH MY GOODNESS am I having a proud teacher moment!!! Mind mapping is considering all of the different thoughts and opinions a character might have running through their head throughout the story, and then illustrating them surrounding a headshot of that character. We brainstormed many ideas for Opal as we considered what her thoughts would be about all the other characters in the story, as well as what she would think about some of the events that have happened so far. After looking at an example, the students eagerly headed straight for their desks, grabbed their supplies, and got right to work. We may have also listened to The Blenders while working... :)

European Americans

Jacob J., Chase, Owen, and I studied European Americans. We worked on the collage for the 26th-1st of October. We learned: They brought denim, pizza, cars, skies, spaghetti, and the word kindergarden. I hope eveyone is encouraged by us to study different types of Americans.

By: Alexis

Reading Habits Survey

"Teacher as Learner" is definitely an accurate description of my teaching style. I am constantly reading professional practice books, taking courses, searching online for strategies, resources, programs, projects, etc. to improve my teaching and, ultimately, the learning that takes place in my classroom. This year as a "new teacher" to Fargo, I'm living that to the fullest!

Currently, one of the book study classes that I'm taking is on the text Notice and Note, by Kylene Beers & Robert E. Probst. The book discusses "close reading," which is clearly what we want our students to do. Read closely to fully understand characters, plot development, figurative or non-literal language, etc. The book outlines 6 "Signposts" that all literature has in common. Fabulous, right? What better strategy is there than one that can be applied to every fiction text we pick up!

Earlier in the week I asked students to answer questions about their reading habits, and I thought you might also want to ponder the survey. If you feel so inclined I'd love to have you email me your answers (even just a few questions would be fine), but please don't feel obligated to do so...I know life is busy! As I started this book I also considered these questions, and they are great food for thought...the questions here are the version of the survey that I took (the student survey will be below).

Reading Habits Survey - Adult Version

1. How often do you read each day?
2. Do you usually read printed texts or digital texts? If digital texts, do you use an e-reader?
3. How is reading with an e-reader different from reading printed books?
4. What sort of material do you read online or on an e-reader or mobile device? Is this different from what you choose to read in print?
5. Do you read any blogs or Websites on a regular basis? If your answer is yes, how large a part of your reading life are they?
6. Do you use any social bookmarking sites to communicate with others about what you are reading? How have these sites changed how you think about what you are reading?
7. Have you read anything that includes other types of media (video) as a part of the story?
8. Do you listen to audio books? Do you consider this reading?
9. What do you think are the major challenges of online reading?
10. What are you curious about when it comes to reading today?

Reading Habits Survey - Student (some of these obviously apply more to older students, but it's still interesting to read our kiddos' perspectives)

1. How often do you read each day at school? At home?
2. Do you mostly read books (novels and textbooks)? Do you mostly read on an e-reader such as a Nook, Kindle, or iPad? Mostly on a computer or a smart phone?
3. How is reading with an e-reader different from reading printed books?
4. What sort of material do you read online or on an e-reader or mobile device? Is this different from what you choose to read in print?
5. Do you read any blogs or websites on a regular basis? If your answer is yes, how large a part of your reading life are they?
6. How do you share with others what you are reading about? Through conversations? Comments on Facebook? By texting? By using a site such as Goodreads? Through a blog?
7. When do graphics (pictures, charts, video clips that might be a part of digital texts) help you understand what you are reading? And when are they a distraction?
8. Do you listen to audio books? Do you consider this reading?
9. Do you think that when you are reading something online or on an e-reader you are reading the same way as when you read something in a book?
10. Sometimes you choose what you want to read. Other times you are told what to read. How does choice or the lack of choice make a difference in how you read?

European Americans

You may wonder who is in my group they are: Jacob,Chase,me,and Alexis. We studied European Americans they brought: pianos, raidos ,the theory of relativity,skis,and denim.

Asian Americans

From September 26th to October 1st in Social Studies, my class was split into 5 different groups to work on different contributions. In my group was Cayden and I. We had Asian Americans. We learned a lot of cool things about Asian Americans. We learned that in 1848 a worker discovered gold in California and that attracted the first Chinese immigrants to the United States. We learned that the Asians brought the US the words jungle, shampoo, bamboo, and tattoo. We also learned that Asians made many contributions to American life, and one of them is preparing food.

By Carly

The African Americans

On September through October 1 my class was split into groups.I got Rylee, Jacob C, Brett, and me, Nikita. We are working on African Americans for our social studies collage.What we learned was that the African Americans were the reason for the Civil War which ended in 1865 to fight for no more slavery any more. They brought  jazz, corn, black eyed peas, collard greens, yams, voodoo, tote, banjos, drums, proverbs, ragtime music, spirituals, folktales, and dance styles. The African Americans are famous for gospel. Martin Luther King Jr. is famous because he led the movement for equal rights in the 1960s.The African Americans were most likely to be a slave in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and a little part of Maryland.
                                                                                                by Nikita

Visualizing - by Maya!

Today we learned about visualization. Visualizing is one of the most important skills we will learn. By using the author's descriptive words you can make a movie in your head of what is happening in the text. The movie in your head helps you see, smell, feel, hear, touch, and taste what is in the story. When you visualize you can understand the story better. The more you focus on the details the easier it will be to visualize. Give it a try and see what you think!!!!

Visualizing

Wow! Tomorrow is October 1st! Where did September go?!

Tonight's post will be short and sweet since it's nearly midnight, but I wanted to post this info quickly. Tomorrow morning we will begin working on VISUALIZING in reading workshop. This skill is one of the most important reading skills for your student to master!!! Please click on the photo shown below to enlarge the image...then read!!! As your son or daughter reads at home each night, take a few minutes to have them read aloud for you, then prompt them to share with you what images are created in their mind as they read. Ask them to back up those images with evidence from the text, and while they are locating that evidence challenge them to verify that the image they have created in their mind matches what the author is describing. Many images are influenced by our prior knowledge, and good readers are constantly reading closely to make sure that they are picturing the author's intended message.

Thanks to Jen Jones of the Hello Literacy blog for this great resource. If you ever want to know more about reading strategies and instruction, she is amazing!!!

Little Rock Nine

FPS Staff welcomed Dr. Terrance Roberts, one of the infamous Little Rock Nine (9 African American students who were the first to bravely integrate an all-white high school in a tensely segregated community with the support of Judge Davies, who is from ND and who Fargo's newest high school is named after). What an honor to hear him speak! The quote that currently resonates with me most is, "Teaching is really modeling learning." Even though I am no longer a novice teacher, throughout my 10 years in the classroom I have pursued new strategies, training, and skills to continually improve my effectiveness and increase student engagement. A new curriculum and the implementation of Common Core, however, brings this to an all new level! I already have several professional books on hand to read or reread, including Growing Readers, Mosaic of Thought, The Cafe Book, Igniting a Passion for Reading...and I have these coming from Amazon: Notice and Note and The Common Core Lesson Book. Once the last two arrive I'll have to take a quick pix of my pile so you can see! Apparently I'm sending myself back to college (never mind that I graduate from both under grad and grad with honors)...good thing I like challenges!!!

Water Festival

Would you drink that?

Highlight of the trip? Being in the front row for Steve Stark's (aka: Mr. History) presentation!

Look what we're doing!

Getting up close and personal with macro invertebrates!

"Window" into our Classroom

You may have noticed at Back to School night that many of the walls in our classroom were "not decorated." No, that wasn't because I forgot or ran out of time, but I do consider our walls to be the location where we document and post resources of and for our learning. Anything that goes up is either created by students or with students as the foundation for a lesson, and is usually referenced many more times. Many of these pieces I call "anchor charts" because they do just that, anchor our learning. So, without students, I didn't have any charts to display for BTS Night. The same is not true today!!! Check these out!!!

In the first few days of school we devoted much of our time to building community and establishing our classroom routines, procedures, and expectations. We explored what it means to work collaboratively and even set mission and vision statements for our class. Here are a few snapshots of those:

Classroom Rules:

Mission & Vision

Read to Self Routines & Expectations:

Our goals for 4th grade:

Some of our first anchor charts from class:

(Yes, that really does say "Peopling" of the U.S. --- ask your child what that means!)

Thank you for your patience with the blog as we begin our year. I am absolutely loving working with fourth graders and "pushing them" to work diligently and think at higher levels. In the past I've tried to post 2-3 times each week, but with taking on all new curriculum, figuring out the ins and outs of a new district and school, and missing quite a bit of school due to a sick kiddo and meetings I just haven't been able to prioritize. Rest assured that, once again, I'm not being lazy, I'm simply spending all my time reading materials, researching resources, and planning instruction to engage and challenge my students. Over the next few weeks watch for our online classroom presence to increase pretty significantly. I can't wait to show you more!!!

(continue to ignore "ABCs of Grade 3" and avoid clicking on "email me")

Blog Maintenance

As you've probably noticed the menu bar says "ABCs of Grade 3." I have already loaded our 4TH GRADE handbook here, so even though the title is incorrect the content is not. I hired a designer to create my site and still need to have her adjust the jpeg file to reflect my new grade. Also, please do not click on the "email me" link on the blog. It's still sending email to my West Fargo account, which no longer exists. To contact me via email use: clareyl@fargo.k12.nd.us.

Thanks!!!

First days of 4th Grade!

Here are a few highlights from our first 7 days!

First project was our contour line names. I love how the names really pop when you add color!

Goal Setting - We each set 3 goals: 1 academic, 1 social / behavioral, & 1 of choice. I can't wait to see these come to fruition!

In Unit 1 of Everyday Math we are studying GEOMETRY. We began by reviewing how to name and draw lines, line segments, & rays; then dove into angles, triangles, & quadrilaterals; studied different models of quadrilaterals / quadrangles (quad means 4, so ask your kiddo to elaborate on the literal meaning for each of those terms) and how they are alike or different; and finally landed on polygons. Here we are creating different convex and concave polygons. Yes, we now know what that means...ask your son or daughter to point out which are which in these photos!

More to come!

Mmmmmm...

Good morning Mrs. Clarey!!!

Owl Pellets!

Check out what we are doing today!!! This is easily one of the favorites for the year, and my favorite part of the project is when the "Ewwwwws" turn into "Cool!" 

What are owl pellets? Basically, after an owl swallows its prey (whole), its stomach digests all the parts of the animal that it can. What's left is bones and fur. The owl then regurgitates (or, in kid terms, pukes up) this "pellet." For those of you getting queasy right now, they are sanitized before they are sent to us!!! :)

Our process:

1. make observations about size, shape, texture, and color
2. break it in two
3. partners begin working together to separate bones from fur
4. categorize bones into the different areas of the skeleton & determine if the animal is a rodent, shrew, mole, or bird
5. glue bones onto a copy of a skeleton to reconstruct their animal's body

We should be able to wrap up the project today, so look for some part of a skeleton to come home!