It's hard to believe that the summer is over and we are back to school! I am so excited to begin this school year and meet all of our new fourth graders. This first blog post will be all about you. Just introduce yourself and tell a fun fact about you. (Hint: You can tell something interesting that you did this summer, your favorite activity, your favorite book/movie/tv show, or something unique about you!
After you write your post, check out the posts of other students on this site. Comment on two other student posts by making a connection, complement or ask a question. (Don't just say "That's cool!")
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Congratulations! You learned all the reading skills you need to move on to Fifth Grade. You are a stronger reader than ever before! We are so proud of all of your accomplishments this year.
We would like you to reflect on how you've grown as a reader this year. Answer the following questions to share with others all that you've accomplished.
You are nearing the end of your Historical Fiction Book Club Unit. We would like to hear some things you've come to realize after finishing/coming towards the end of your book.
You have been reading and writing Historical Fiction. These are units you've never experienced before. We'd love to hear your thoughts as readers and writers of Historical Fiction:
If you read someone's comment about a difficulty they are having, offer tips or strategies they can use to come out of the units successfully! Another fun project is coming to an end! We are so proud of your accomplishments as we look over your shoulders as you publish your informational books. This week, reflect upon what you learned about research, writing informational text and becoming experts on your topics. What advice would you give someone who is just starting a research project? What did you learn how to do better? What was tricky for you? Share your insights and remember to comment on your classmates' posts.
Week of 3/12/18Over the past couple of weeks, you have been researching your Nonfiction Research Project topic. By now, you're close to becoming an expert on your topic! We'd like to hear your thinking about your topic.
For this week's post: Name your topic. Then name 1 interesting fact you learned about your topic. After that, write your thinking about that fact. What did it make you realize? How did it change your thinking? Structure your writing to have a topic sentence, all of your thinking about the fact, and then a closing sentence. This week, we are embarking on our learning journey. What topic did you decide to research? What motivated you to learn about this topic? What are some things you hope to learn? In other words, what questions do you have about the subject? We cannot wait to learn all about your research topics!!
We are coming to a close on our Poetry Unit in Reading. We would love for you to reflect on all you've learned and how you've changed as a reader because of this unit.
Use the following questions as a guideline for your post:
Poetry is fun and helps us create pictures in our minds as we read. This week, look for poetic imagery in your prose (regular book) reading. Select the words or phrases and explain how it sets a mood or paints a picture in your mind.
I will give you an example from the book I am reading this week, called A Wrinkle in Time: "In her attic bedroom, Margaret Murray, wrapped in an old patchwork quilt, sat on the foot of her bed and watched the trees tossing in the frenzied lashing of the wind. Every few minutes the moon ripped through them, creating shadows that raced along the ground." I can see Meg shivering in her cold bedroom in the middle of the night and I can hear the wind howling outside. The storm sounds angry (frenzied lashing of the wind) and the mood seems spooky, like something bad is going to happen. I notice the author is using personification with the moon and the shadows (using the words ripped and raced.) Share a few words from your book and explain how the author is using imagery or figurative language to paint a picture. Some examples of figurative language are: Personification (giving life like qualities to something that is not alive) Alliteration (repeating the beginning sounds of words) Simile (comparison using the words "like" or "as." Metaphor (saying something IS something else) We know this is a tough blog question but we also know you all can do this! Give it some thought and be on the look out when you are reading. This week you will be writing your speech for our biography project, "A Night at the Museum." One of the most important parts of the speech will be telling your audience why your person matters. Why do we know and respect this person? How has your person made the world a better place? Tell us more about your topic, then read over your classmates' posts and respond to their ideas. Try to connect your biography person in some way to those of your classmates. Do they believe in the same ideas? Did one person influence another?
We can't wait to read all about your biographical subjects! |
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