Weekly Update

This week has included some really neat sharing times. During social studies this week, we have really been delving into our study of the 13 colonies as we move towards the American Revolution. After reading in our History of US books, we watched a 3-part video on the New England, Middle, and Southern colonies. But I digress...sharing time. Oz started us out by bringing in a bag of rice and a can of corn. While this could have been a pretty surface level sharing topic, the class, led by Oz, really ran with it. The discussion covered a wide range of topics, including the food pyramid, eating habits in other cultures, and ultimately back to food in the colonies. The kids made the connection that rice was the first major crop in the colony of South Carolina, and Oz explained how corn was a staple food at the time. Justin followed in sharing a website he had found at home, socialstudiesforkids.com. He navigated the website on the Smartboard, showing us all how you can learn more about each of the 13 original colonies. "Sharing time" isn't a structure that you can find in a typical 4th grade class, but this day alone shows how much pure inquiry takes place through sharing. The kids are taking an active role in the learning of the class and becoming such natural teachers to one another. (Not to mention, they are "covering" many standards through these discussions!) This time is truly one of the most valuable in the day.

Thursday of this week was the NAEP testing. This standardized test is one of a set that is collectively often referred to as "The Nation's Report Card." A small sampling of classes from each state is chosen to take the test which is used to compare across states, as well as measure how our nation is performing in comparison with others. Some kids had math assessments, while others had reading assessments. As a whole, the class was pretty relaxed, though there were the occasional, typical grumblings and groans associated with standardized tests.

Hopefully you have heard about Multiplication Wrestling. We have devoted a lot of time this week to this math game; the kids (and teachers!) are enjoying it. Using number cards, we make "teams" of numbers that "wrestle" one another. If you have cards at home, ask your child to play with you! It's a good-spirited game, and the kids are practicing 2-digit multiplication, as well as preparing for new strategies that we will be learning early next week. We've also been working hard at math puzzles like Sudoku. The more we do, the more strategies we have for solving the puzzles and thinking critically about numbers.

We'll continue moving forward with our inquiry into weather. This week, our readings about the water cycle and basic elements of weather (clouds, types of precipitation, storms, etc.) have given us a solid foundation. We'll be building upon these as we dig deeper in the coming weeks.

Our reading of The Jacket finished this Friday, but discussion will continue next week. The conversations around the book were a great scaffolding into smaller group literature studies that will continue throughout the kids' school career. The discussion was quite impressive--the kids were quoting page numbers and certain points in the book, making thoughtful connections to other books we have read like Calpurnia Tate and Maniac Magee, analyzing how they would react differently if they were the main character, and talking in a sophisticated manner about the "overall idea of the book: prejudice," as Maile said. Many adults could learn how to talk about books from these kids. You would be proud. We sure were.