Next Stop:  Judy Blume Blvd!

By Mrs. Wagner and Mr. Onativia

The year is in full swing and the fourth graders in both Mrs. Wagner and Mr. Onativia’s classes continue to be very productive across the curriculum.

The Wee-Deliver Program is in full stride.  When students aren’t reading just-right books independently, sharing a picture book in partnerships, or designing a message for a Wampum Belt, they might be writing a friendly letter to a classmate, school friend, or teacher.  Students have been writing letters about their learning experience in every subject.

What type of reader are you? Are you a racing rabbit, confused turtle, strategic fox or a wise owl? We, in rooms 306 and 307, are trying our hardest to become strategic foxes and wise owls.  What is a strategic fox or a wise owl, you ask?  Well, a strategic fox is always thinking about their reading before, during, and after.  These types of readers tackle texts, have a conversation with the story, question, predict, share their feelings and emotions, visualize, read between the lines, and make connections. We have been practicing these strategies with short texts and our “just right books”. 

So, what’s the big idea?  We have been marinating ourselves in picture books and thinking about the authors’ messages, lessons learned, and text to world connections. This is another area of study that our team has been working diligently on during our readers’ workshop. Thinking critically is our focus of study and we are building our reading muscles when we think this way.

During our writers’ workshop, we continue to learn how to write short and extended responses to literature.  Recently, we did a study on character change and how change helps readers identify the theme of a story.  We will continue to exercise our writing skills and strategies through responding to literature.

We are mighty mathematicians in rooms 306 and 307.  We recently finished an algebra unit.  Exploring equations with a hands-on approach was a blast. “Are we doing Hands on Equations today?”  This was a question that was often asked by all teammates.  They couldn’t get enough algebra in one day! 

Science has been very electrifying!  Be careful walking past room 306. Our little scientists have been using their critical thinking skills to discover all the wonderful facts about the light bulb and how it works.  We researched the life of Thomas Alva Edison and discovered he didn’t actually invent the light bulb but perfected it.  Recently we have begun a unit on the study of Animals in different ecosystems across the world.  Students will be learning about food chains, food webs, and animal adaptations.

Pack your bags because we’re going on a vacation! During Social Studies we traveled from Long Island to Niagara Falls learning about the different landform regions. We learned about all the natural wonders that make New York State such a wonderful place to live.

During our Native American Unit, we created wampum belts with hidden messages and exchanged them with members of the other class.  Students had to uncover the meaning of each symbol.  Feeling under the weather?   The False Face Society will turn your frown upside down. Students will be recreating celebratory masks to keep away evil spirits who brought illnesses.   These hands on crafts helped us travel back in time. We also learned how to think about the main idea and its supporting details when reading nonfiction. Working on extended written responses was also exercised during this unit.  We are writing across the curriculum all the time. 

Our classes wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season!