Awareness this Week and Every Week

"Awareness Week" came to a close today. Through Read Alouds we learned that kindness can overcome bullying and create friendships. Reading Enemy Pie and The Recess Queen we learned that the best way to get rid of a bully or enemy is by turning them into a friend, otherwise as William stated "We'll have an enemy forever." Students reflected on their own choices by drafting opinion pieces. Finally we made new friends by baking pies for Grade 4. We hope that throughout the rest of their lives students remember that awareness week is every week! Please read on to get a glimpse of what we did this week and all we hope to accomplish next week. Please email me at: joshuajoseph.his@gmail.com if you have any questions or concerns. Until next week please enjoy the slideshow. 

Kindly, 

Mr. Joseph

This Week
Reading: We continued learning about characters. We learned how to become like the characters in our books by changing our voice and using gestures. We continued reading in our guided reading groups. We finished reading Because of Winn-Dixie.

Writing: When we got to the middle of The Recess Queen students shared and drafted their opinions. 

Math: We finished Topic 3: Subtraction Number Sense. Students learned how to subtract by using a hundreds chart, by using mental math, and by estimating differences. Students also learned how to estimate differences in order to check for reasonableness. 

Science: We started reading Dinosaur Detectives by Peter Chrisp. We continued learning about endangered and extinct animals. 

Next Week
Reading: Next week we will begin our new Read Aloud: Frindle by Andrew Clements. In Reading Workshop we will learn how to keep track of what the character is thinking and feeling by jotting down notes. We will also practice making and revising predictions. 

Writing: We will finally publish our narratives and begin realistic fiction. Students will learn how to collect ideas by imagining stories from ordinary moments, and by imagining characters like their friends and family. 

Math: We will review and assess everything we learned in Topic 3: Subtraction Number Sense. We will begin Topic 4: Subtracting Whole Numbers to Solve Problems. 

Science: We will learn that plants and animals grow, reproduce, and die during their life cycle. We will also learn that most living things look similar to their parents because they pass on traits to their offspring.