December 15th, 2023

Dear families,
I apologize for the long pause in this newsletter update. I hope your children have been keeping you updated on our classroom learning and activities. Just in case they are not, here are a few highlights:
In Math we have continued learning about two-digit by two-digit multiplication and properties, creating tiled arrays, drawing quick sketches and solving by adding partial products. The students have also been working on a daily review that contains many of the topics that we have already practiced, so that we keep them fresh in our minds.
During Daily 5, our students have been learning to find evidence in the text to refer to those details when answering to open response questions. Students have followed a scaffolded method of answering questions where they Restate the question, Answer with their own words, Cite the evidence by quoting or paraphrasing, and Explain the quote or expand on the answer. Students have learned how to highlight the evidence in the text and link it to the number of the question. They have also learned to "reread" for close reading, by reading one first time and summarizing each paragraph with a short sentence, and reading a second time the specific paragraphs that the question refers to.  We have also worked hard on determining the theme of a story, by finding the topics or general ideas of the story, like friendship, family relations, courage, and then asking the question "what is the story or author trying to tell us about ...?". The students have found important themes in the stories that we have shared, and are getting used to find the themes in small groups as well. While working independently, students have continued practicing new vocabulary and reading their own personal choices of chapter books. It is such a joy to share these literary moments with my students and learn about their insights and deeper thinking about a story, finding the theme of stories as universal human experiences tells me a lot about the capacity of my students to use higher order thinking skills. 
For writing, I am in the process of finalizing the editing of my students' personal narratives. Some of my students have finished their stories, but others are still working on them... I think they are enjoying writing so much that they want to keep on going!
Also, during the magical time of our read aloud, we are so taken by the story of "The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart, that literally yesterday's chapter got a few of us teary eyed. It is such a heartwarming story, with important themes on the power of friendship to support each other during difficult times, and how family bonds can push us to do what is hard.
Finally in Science, our students are investigating the link between fossils of ancient rhinoceros and volcano eruptions, and how the majority of volcanoes are found in the Ring of Fire. 
As you can see, this fourth grade group has been doing a lot of thinking and learning!  
Have a great weekend!