We had a great day back in class. Mrs. Davis was out sick today so the classes did slightly different lessons. In Seley, the 4th grade math kids continued to work on long division. We solved long division problems with remainders and a few division word problems. Math tests are graded and will be handed back tomorrow.
In reading, we began to explore action stories. Kids selected exciting books from the library and chose the sentence they thought was most excited. We wrote them in our notebooks and discussed what made them exciting. Here are some of the sentences kids chose:
1. Already, my lungs began to tighten.
2. Breathing was becoming more difficult as our air supply dwindled.
3. The red fox jumped at her and grabbed her by the arm.
4. "Pull up, Navin!"
5. He spun on his heels, grabbed his suitcase, and marched out to the next chapter of his life.
The kids had a rich discussion about what made these sentences exciting and interesting. They concluded that strong verbs (action words), short bursts of dialogue, and emergency situations make writing more exciting.
In writing, we discussed Pixar's formula for storytelling. It is as follows...
Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.
We discussed this formula and noted how many popular movies follow it. We encouraged kids to use this formula in their own writing.
By the end of the week, both classes will be working on action stories to share in magazine form. The kids are working in pairs or individually on this project. For publishing purposes, we are asking the kids to limit each story to 1000 words.
Throughout the next three weeks, we will work on writing, revising, editing, typing and publishing these stories. The kids are very excited to work on this together.
Sincerely,
Mr. Seley and Mrs. Davis
Homework:
Read 20/30 minutes
Tell your parents about your ideas so far for your
adventure story
4th Grade: 3.2 SAB and HAR
Math Facts
Spelling completed by 12/11
