Second Step: Our social/ emotional program, Second Step, resumed with lots of enthusiasm this week. In our first lesson we learned about empathy. The kids have homework to do with you, due next Wednesday 9/13. They should share page. 20 in their booklets, discuss the lyrics of a song we listened to, and record your thoughts. Have fun, the kids love doing their homework with you!
Reading: We talked about strategies that good readers use: making connections, asking questions, rereading, using pictures to help understand, etc. I also began leveling assessments this week. I listen to them read, then based on their accuracy and comprehension, match them with a reading level/ range. When they are searching for good-fit books, they can use their level to help them. Next week we will begin our first class novel, Shiloh. Ask your kids what they checked out from the library this week. Ask them about what character emotions they've seen in their characters.
Writing: This week we spent a lot of time building ideas to write about. We began our first whole-class writing unit: realistic fiction narratives. This week we began collecting small-moment ideas inspired by real life. The kids had a hard time with it, so any talk over the weekend would help! Talk to your kids about favorite realistic stories that stem from small moments, like someone helping someone else on the playground, two friends resolving a conflict, a first sleepover, an injury, or a success.
4th Grade Math: We had a fantastic week learning the relationships in place value. We learned about the value of each place holder (thousands, ten-thousands, etc) and how 1,000 is the same as 10 hundreds. We wrote, said, and compared large numbers, and continued practicing ten times as many (20 tens is 10 times as many as 2 tens; 40,000 is ten times as many as 40 hundreds). Ask your student to read and compare two large numbers, like 22,456 and 24,005.
Social Studies: Our first unit will be civics/ government. We are looking forward to using books, videos, kids' news sites, and other fun artifacts to learn about how this topic. We've used this time to set up and learn how to use iPads thus far.
Science: Our first trimester, your scientists will be working with us to study Soils, Rocks, & Landforms and how our Earth takes shape. We will work on skills of understanding the scientific process, working collaboratively in groups, recording accurate data, and explaining a process verbally and in writing.
Miscellaneous:
- A Message from our Librarian, Laurie Conley: This year, we will be using the databases and ebooks from the Oak Park Public Library. In order to do this, your student will need to have a library card number and PIN. The PIN is typically the last 4 digits of your phone number, but it might be something different - you can check this by logging into "My Account" at oppl.org. Please send your card number and PIN to me or to our school librarian, Laurie Conley, (lconley@op97.org) and we'll have it on hand for when we access the library's resources later in the year. Thank you!
