Hello again!  We had another busy week here in Room 11!  In ELA this week we started to work on our final persuasive essays.  We started by brainstorming lots of persuasive topics by thinking of our favorite things, things we want and changes we think should be made.  Students then chose a topic that they were passionate about to use for their essay.  After that, students chose three strong reasons that they could use to back up their claim.  We made sure to choose reasons that we could support with lots of strong details!  Then, students worked on planning their body paragraphs by coming up with explanations, examples and details for each of their reasons.  After that, we started writing our body paragraphs.  Students reviewed how to write strong topic and concluding sentences, and how to use transition words in their writing.  Next week we will add introduction and concluding paragraphs to our pieces.

In Social Studies this week students finished creating slides about life during Colonial Times.  Then, we learned about the French and Indian War.  Students colored maps showing where different countries claimed land before and after the war and used that to draw conclusions about what happened in the war.  Then we watched a video about the war and identified causes and effects.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend!  Please reach out to me with any questions.

A few reminders:

• Field trip permission slips and payment for the Bronx Zoo are due May 5th.
• Our NYS Math test will be on Wednesday, May 3rd and Thursday, May 4th.  Once again, we start our test first thing in the morning, so please be sure kiddos arrive to school on time.
• Walkabout is coming up on Thursday, May 11th at 6:30.  We look forward to sharing some of our fabulous work with you!

Here are some photos of our writers hard at work!

 Hello again! We had a very busy week here in Room 11!  We were very busy getting ready for and crushing our New York State ELA test.  We spent some time practicing how to use the new computer system and reviewed all the types of questions that we have been practicing all year.  I am so impressed with how hard the kiddos worked on their tests and the positive attitudes they had toward them.

In Social Studies this week we learned about the 13 colonies and students read about different aspects of life for people during this time period.  They used what they read to create slides outlining the main ideas and details of different sections of the text.

Since we finished reading our first Harry Potter book, we rewarded ourselves for our hard work by watching the movie after our tests to end the week!

I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend!  Once May hits things get crazy around here, so be on the lookout for notes and e-mails from me about upcoming events!

A few reminders:

• Permission slips came home for our field trip to the Bronx Zoo on June 6th.  Slips and payment are due back to me by May 5th.  If there are any issues with payment please let me know!
• Thursday, April 27th is a half day for students.  They will be dismissed at noon.
• Our New York State Math test will be on May 3rd and 4th.
• Thank you so much for donating for our spring project!  If anyone would still like to donate, here is the link to our Amazon Wishlist.  You can have the item shipped to you and send it into school with your child.  

Spring Break!

 Hello again!  We had a short, but busy, week here in Room 11!  In ELA this week we finished up reading Save Me a Seat together as a class.  We really enjoyed the funny ending to this awesome novel!  After finishing the book, we discussed different themes of this book and worked on providing evidence for those themes with details from throughout the story.  We also discussed character change and how the author showed these changes slowly throughout the book.  Then, students chose one of the main characters (Joe, Ravi or Dillon) and started to write a diary entry from the perspective of that character.  I love seeing how the kiddos get into the minds of the characters they have learned so much about as we read this book.

In Social Studies this week students completed a webquest where they learned more about what life was like in New Netherland, including what jobs people did, what school was like and what their homes were like.  We also learned about how New Netherland became New York.  We read about how the King of England gave his brother, the Duke of York, all the land between the Connecticut and Delaware Rivers, which included New Netherland.  We also read about how the Dutch colonists decided to surrender to him, but were allowed to stay in what was now called New York.  We learned about the lasting influence the Dutch had on our state and saw lots of examples including Tulip Fest!  Students then worked to identify cause and effect relationships from what we read.

We ended the week by competing in the Peep Mobile House Challenge!  Students worked in their houses to create a vehicle that could carry a Peep and be powered by puffs of air.  They were only able to use cardboard, straws, paper and lifesavers to make their vehicle.  They earned points for each inch that their vehicle was able to travel on 3 puffs of air.  I always love seeing the creativity and engineering skills these kiddos use during these challenges!  There are some photos from this challenge below!

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Spring Break!! As always, please feel free to reach out to me with any questions!

A few reminders:

• Our New York State ELA test is on Thursday, April 20th and Friday April 21st.  4th grade starts the test right at 9:00 so please be sure that all students are on time to school on those days.
• Thursday, April 27th is a half day for students.