Adli, Volume 20: January 19, 2015

It has been a wonderful first week back. We have been exceptionally busy with three guest speakers Ms. Gisela, Ms. Magda, and Ms. Natalya who shared their human migration stories. Also, our field trip to the US Embassy was a huge success and very fun. Soon, we will have a link to the school's Facebook webpage and possibly, the US Embassy in Tashkent's Facebook page showcasing our visit.

Ms. Magda shares her story about her family.

Ms. Gisela shares her grandparents story.

Ms. Natalya shares her grandparents story. 

This coming week we will be making a Comic Life book called "Are you an Average 4th Grader?" in which students have now completed collecting, organizing, and analyzing their data.

Students from Ms. Tina and Mr. Mike's class collecting data by interviewing others.

In our unit of inquiry, students will work on script writing to add to their Puppet Pals video that retells the migrant story of a book they've read. This week, students learned and practiced using the program with Mr. Seth in Tech.

 In the 4 pictures above, we are working on our tri-folds, which is a quick-representation of the migration stories we heard from our guest speakers. Students choose one speaker's story to share. They added why, how, and what were the consequences of the speaker's migration story. 

We are weaving in an end to our book club books with a focus on asking deeper meaning questions. We are practicing this by crafting "Thick" and "Thin" questions. The former deeper meaning, and the latter surface-level and easy remembering questions. Some "Thick" question examples we have so far are "How would you solve ________ using what you learned from ________ in the story? What conclusions can you make... ? What is the relationship between ______ and ________? How would you prove...? Explain the importance of... "How would you adapt ______ to create a different ending?" You can use these questions when you read with your child at home!

We have also been practicing using our "fix-up" strategies while reading. If you get confused, STOP, then ask yourself, "Where am I confused?" Choose a strategy: read on, re-read, context clues (pictures, text/words, prior experiences) to find an answer to what you're confused about. Finally, ask yourself, "Am I crystal clear?" or "Am I not confused anymore?" This is a process good readers use to monitor and then clarify their understanding of text while they read. Try it and encourage your child to use it when they read at home.

Owl of the Week
Adli

Homework
Remember to read 20 minutes each night. It is vital to your child's continued success!
Monday: Math Activity: Finding Averages
Tuesday: Typing Ace (20-30 minutes) Technology link
Wednesday: IXL Math (grade 4)  B.7 Choose numbers with a particular sum; C.5 Choose numbers with a particular difference
Thursday:
Friday: Read

Upcoming Events
Jan 21              Money due for Dance and Lock-in Night
Jan 23 STUCO sponsored Lock-in and Dance Night Fri, Jan 23 7:30pm-Sat, Jan 24 8:00am; students who do not wish to stay the night must be collected by 9:00pm, Fri night

Jan 28 Half day PD

Morning Assembly