Literacy Month

We had such a fantastic and educational Literacy Month. We learned so much and centered many of our lessons around the enjoyment of reading. We started out with a book sale where students picked out their favorite books and then we went to Grand Army Plaza, where they chose biographies for their state reports. We read many different books from many different genres, but most notable were Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges and Streets of Gold by Rosemary Wells. Although they had very different life experiences, both books are about courageous women who had to fight their way into the classroom; something we all take for granted. Perhaps the most extraordinary thing about these two women is that they both grew up to be published authors! What great books to infuse into Literacy Month. The class ended Literacy Month with two wonderful treats. On Monday, in celebration of his birthday, our class read two Dr. Suess books to the Pre-K class and gave out Dr. Suess inspired treats. They ate in red, they ate in blue, They ate in pickle color too! And today, Mrs. Fortel read a Russian book to our class. It was hard to let her go. The students were so engrossed in her story. Special thanks to Mrs. Fortel.

Our State reports are due shortly. I can't wait to see their projects. We sent letters to our pen pals and are patiently waiting for their responses.

I would like to take this opportunity to Wish everyone a happy and healthy Pesach. Keep those children reading!!!!

Sandwich Day was a Success!

The kids did such a great job with their sandwich book reports. They were so creative and really showed how well they understood the deeper textual meanings in their books. Be sure to stop by our bulletin board to see your children's work.

Outside our door, you will also see the acrostic poems your children have been working on. We learned all about the history of the Statue of Liberty. We then used acrostic poetry with the words liberty and freedom to creatively interpret Lady Liberty's journey to America.
Our next big project will be combining Language Arts and Social Studies. The students were each assigned a different state to study. The project has many different parts that stretch across our curriculum. They will be sending letters to pen pals in their state and will also be reading a biography about a famous person born in that state. Please go over the project with your children and let me know if there are any questions.
There are many, many other exciting activities going on in the next few weeks. During literacy week, we will be having a book fair and a visit from author and editor, Dina Rosenfeld. We will also be getting ready for Purim with many fun and exciting activities, and on March 2, we will be celebrating Dr. Seuss's birthday with a really fun Dr. Seuss inspired lunch.

Sandwich Day Coming to Fourth Grade!!

Next Tuesday, our entire class will be enjoying lunch together on our very first Sandwich Day. On Sandwich Day your children should bring their book report sandwiches to discuss during our shared lunch. Your children got a copy of the following assignment.

Book Report Sandwich Recipe

Top Slice of Bread: Name, Title of Book, Author

Lettuce: Plot (Summary)

Mayonnaise: High points of the story

Tomato: Main Characters

Your Choice: Setting(s)*

Your Choice: Personal Opinions*

Your Choice: Animal Appreciation*

Bottom slice of bread: Drawing with caption

* Your Choice is the part of the sandwich that you get to choose. (turkey, salami, tuna, extra dressing, pickles, cheese...)

Directions:

Be Creative!!! You may use any type of materials you would like to put in your sandwich. Make sure though it is nothing perishable. We are going to put these sandwiches on our outside bulletin board.

Extra Credit: How would you bring this sandwich to school? Where would you buy this sandwich? Your job is to come up with a "case" for your sandwich (a lunch box, a refrigerator...)

On Tuesday, during lunch, you will be presenting your sandwiches to the class and a very special guest.

Parents stay tuned for photos of Sandwich Day and a full report of all the highlights. Please also go over the recipe with your kids and help them come up with creative ideas. Looking forward to seeing what your children come up with. I've done this book report with children of all ages and they surprise me every year.

Let's Dance

These last two weeks have certainly been exciting. Our students did such a wonderful job preparing for their Chanukah celebration. Each student from our class played a child from a period in Jewish history. Mattisyahu was from the time that the story of Chanukah first took place, Freida represented a child living during the time of the Spanish Inquisition, Rochel was a new immigrant arriving at Ellis Island, Rivkah was a young girl during the holocaust, and Yakov was a regular kid from today. The menorah they passes represented the light of the Jewish people that we never allowed our enemies to extinguish. No matter how hard it was, or how hated we were, we stayed true to our Jewish values and survived. The inspiration for the poetry that they read was the story Nine Spoons. The story is about a group of Jewish women who secretly made a menorah while in a concentration camp during the holocaust. The book provided a lot of insight and sparked a lot of conversation.
Our class also made beautiful centerpieces for the tables. It really "lit" up our room. They did such a great job. I hope you are enjoying them in your home.

This week we are still enjoying some Chanukah activities, while getting back to our normal routine. We finished our spelling unit on inflected endings and learned that when in doubt on the spelling of a word, we start to DANCE!

Double. When a word ends in one vowel and and one consonant, you double the consonant before adding -ed and -ing.

Add. To make words plural that end in s, sh, ch, or x, you add an es.

Nothing.When adding ing, ed, s, or ing, do nothing to change the spelling of the base words if they do not fall into any of the other "Dance" categories.

Change. When adding es or ed, change y to i in words that end in a consonant, followed by a y.

E-drop. When a word ends in silent e, drop the e before adding ing and ed.

It sounds a bit confusing, but the kids are really getting the hang of it.

Wishing you all a Happy Chanukah. I look forward to seeing you at Parent-Teacher conferences

Happy Thanksgiving!!!
I would like to wish all of you a very happy, and healthy Thanksgiving. Your children all wrote their own little "blogs" about being thankful, and I would love to share them with you.
They all appreciate the small material things in their lives, but have a deep understanding of the sources for all those things. From their words, it is evident that all your children feel secure and loved, which is truly a remarkable bracha for which we can all be thankful.
Rivka is thankful for Hashem for giving her a neshoma, and of course her clothes and delicious food...
Rochel is very thankful for her mom, who always takes care of her, buys her clothes, and calms her down, when she is not so happy. But most of all, she is thankful that her mom loves her...
Matthew is very thankful for his parents, because without them he would not be here. He is also thankful for his pets...
Yakov is very thankful for his mom and dad. He knows that they would do anything for him. He is also thankful for his Lego set, which came with 1,170 pieces...
Freida was not here today to share her ideas with us, but we are all very thankful to have her in our class and is missed when she is not there.
We are also thankful for all the students in our class who bring their unique and special talents with them to school every day.

Comparing and Contrasting Across the Curriculum

It was such a pleasure meeting all of you on open school night. I was so pleased with the turnout. Your children are all so lucky to have you. The kids were so touched by your beautiful letters. Some of your children shared their letters with me and I was touched as well. I only get the privilege of being with your children a few hours a day, so it's wonderful to see how much we get to accomplish when we work as a team. Your children are learning more and more each day. They are constantly surprising me with their inquisitive questions and their wonder about the world. Each one of your children has a special nature that adds to our class and makes it special.

The last few weeks, we were working on the skill of comparing and contrasting, a necessary skill that has been helpful throughout our curriculum.

We started in literature with two stories that I read aloud to the class. We read, "Ain't nobody a Stranger to Me," about a young family escaping slavery in the South, and "The Butterfly," a very beautiful story about a righteous French family who hid a Jewish family in their basement during the Holocaust. Your kids hung on every word as I was reading those stories. We later constructed a Venn diagram which compared and contrasted the two stories. Your kids really dove in and came up with things that really showed their understanding of the stories. This lesson was not only helpful in teaching this one skill, but it also brought out a lot of conversation about our families and their history. The kids were really touched and felt really connected with the lesson. The literature study was also a nice opening to our Eretz Yisroel Curriculum which began last week. Your children brought in wonderful things from Eretz Yisroel and we discussed how the people that escaped the Holocaust eventually found their way to Eretz Yisroel were they were able to start new lives. Please ask your children about these stories.

We were able to also use this skill in our Science lessons. We talked about the many different questions scientists ask when they classify living things. We then compared and contrasted all the groups and talked about what was the same and what was different. The kids were given many different objects and they had to classify those objects according to what they thought made them different and what made them the same. All your children came up with different groups and interesting reasons behind the placement of each item in their group. They got a little insight into the job of a scientist. There might be some future scientists in our group!

We also used this skill in Math when we compared different data in tally charts and bar graphs. We collected data from the class about their families and then compared and contrasted the information in our charts and graphs.

We used this skill again in Social studies when we discussed the many different places where people live. We discussed how all the boroughs of New York City are different and how they are the same. We also talked about some of the major rivers of the United States and how the people that live near them use those rivers in different ways.

And Finally, we use this skill all the time in our writing when the students interact with each other and discuss the many different options they have in constructing an interesting story. Their writing is really coming together. Stay tuned for a published book by each one of your children. Our goal is to have it completed before Chanukah.

Please note the following important fourth grade information:

As you all know, the ELA, Math, and Science tests are all coming up soon. So, beginning this weekend, and every weekend until test time, your children will be bringing home a sample test to practice at home. This will allow me to target the areas your children need the most help, so that they will be fully prepared when the tests arrive. If you have any individual concerns, feel free to contact me with your questions.

Message from Dan: Music Update!

In music class, our focus now is on learning to read rhythmic notation (half notes,quarter notes, eight notes and 16's. We have recently learned the signs for pauses).

Our objective is to be able to read rhythmic phrases and play them in class, first using our bodies(clapping and stomping), and then using different percussion instruments.

I am introducing different percussions to the class every week, from African drums to Cuban percussion to the snair drum. The students hear a demonstration by the teacher and then get to play the instrument. They are asked to play what's written on the board and to repeat phrases played by the teacher.

The emphasis is on developing reading skills, developing coordination and general musical knowledge - styles of music and their geographical origin.

Some of the music played in class included : Jazz standards- Duke Ellington's Caravan, Dizzy Gillespie's- a night in Tunisia. Brazilian music- from traditional samba to jazz samba and Bossa nova.