Reading Workshop at its Finest

I couldn't resist this quick post. Check these guys out! All sitting in a circle, quiet as mice, and reading, I mean really READING those great books. I am so proud of these boys!

Avoid the summer "slide." It's important for kids to read over the summer so they gain ground, not lose it. Occasional reading aloud keeps fluency fresh, and a great, previously unread series can keep your child occupied with reading material all summer long! I'd love to hear from your son or daughter as to what's keeping him/her motivated to read this summer. Drop me an email anytime.

He Picked Me!

Children's author, Mr. Jon Scieszka, entertained and inspired all District 204's
fourth grade students at this morning's presentation at Waubonsie Valley High School. I was happy to hear Mr. Scieszka tell the kids that most of his ideas come from his personal experiences of "growing up Scieszka" in a family of six boys (and undoubtedly, a very patient mother)! How can kids take something away from this morning's presentation? Encourage them to keep a writer's journal at home. We do have some writing journal time built into our school weeks, but honestly, I wish it could be more. These noticings, memories, and everyday occurances of what we see and hear in the world around us may be a great novel just waiting to be written!

Some of your kids brought in questions this morning for Mr. Scieszka to possibly answer, and guess what? One lucky student in 4B had hers chosen. It read something like this: "My motto that I live by is, 'Whatever you are, be a good one.' Do you have a personal motto that you live by?" This was the only submitted question Mr. Scieszka answered. Luck? I think not. That's a great "hook" that invited her reader to read on! (There's always a teachable moment to be found.) I'm glad we were able to capture a photo at the end of his presentation. Look at those smiling faces!
Oh, and Mr. Scieszka's answer? His motto is, and I quote: "Semper ubi, sub ubi." See if your kids remember the literal translation from Latin to English!

RAFTs in Action

Today, students began presenting their RAFT projects during Social Studies. A RAFT assigns a particular Role for the presenter to assume, presenting to a specific Audience, utilizing a particular Format, and with research presented on a given Topic. So far, we've been transported to New York with our tour guides presenting some of the state's top tourist spots, two immigrants, one from Ireland and one from Germany, recounting their perilous travels to their new homes in the United States, and a local historian who taught us about the whaling industry in Nantucket. In addition to more tour guides, immigrants, and historians, we'll be hearing from George Washington himself on some of his historic and significant battles during the American Revolutionary War. Students are enjoying the various presentations as we wrap up our studies of the Northeast region of the U.S.A.

Out of this World!

Students enjoyed our recent field trip to District 204's very own planetarium, located at Waubonsie Valley High School. As usual, Mrs. Rybka, along with her projector "Big Blue," did a fabulous job in giving fourth grade a better appreciation of the vastness of our solar system and the ongoing science that helps us to learn more about it day after day. I snapped a couple of pictures from the trip, which are shown above.

Back at school, students researched a planet (inlcuding that poor now-dwarf planet Pluto) to demonstrate their learning. Research culminated in the production of a poster including key facts about the planet assigned and its relationship to Earth and the sun. These were presented "carousel" style so that even smaller groups of students could present and view other presenters. The posters were so creative...I was impressed with the drawings and facts. Some were even embellished with glitter glue for stars, puffy fiberfill to simulate clouds, "pop-up" fact stars and inset drawings to show the inner layers of planets. All were very colorful and creative. Awesome job, kids--I gave you a project and you all ran with it!

P.S. Sorry the planets aren't in order. I'm still working through this technology thing !

Here We Go!

Hello 4B families, and welcome to The Berendt Buzz. Ask anyone in 4B, and I'll bet they'll be able to tell you the literary device I used in the blog's title. We all seem to be drawn to alliteration, especially in our weekly poem, and the kids point it out all the time!

I can't believe that we are nearly at the halfway point of the school year. I don't know if it just goes faster for me each year as I get older, or if it's going this fast for the kids too. Remembering back to how long I used to think it took between birthdays when I was nine or ten, I'm guessing it's just me!

Blogs are a great way to provide ongoing communication in an easy-to-access format. It is my goal to keep you updated on important dates for our classroom, what we have been studying and why, and what we have coming up in the future. I hope to update this blog every couple of weeks, or anytime I have something important that I'd like to share. Be sure to check back frequently.

I hope you enjoyed reviewing your son's or daughter's portfolio of work in our nonfiction unit. I put a lot of emphasis on the "how-to's" of reading nonfiction because we do so much of it in our adult lives. Moving ahead, we'll be applying our recently learned knowledge of text structure and features as we navigate nonfiction texts to perform research for our solar system unit, and in preparation for our trip to Waubonsee's Planetarium next week. We also have our new Social Studies textbooks and materials to learn from by using these strategies as well. We'll be focusing first on the geography of the Northeast and then moving to some key historical ties to the region in the next couple of weeks.

We spent a lot of time in December filling up our minds with what makes for a well-written biographical sketch. This is called "immersion" and is essential for kids to successfully cross the bridge that connects reading and writing. We've also dabbled with a small autobiographical piece called a "Jewelled Moment" and now we are ready to draft our biographical sketches on the famous subject of each student's choice. I hope to wrap these up within the next couple of weeks and plans include publishing them through the Cool Cat Press. Encourage your kids to write at home, too. I'd love to see every student publish a self-chosen piece of writing this year through Cool Cat.

I hope you see the overall "literary" tone this blog takes. I love children's literature and hope to pass that on to your child through what we do every single day in 4B. Please keep your kids reading on a regular basis. If you ever need help with book ideas, I'd love to help!

Oh, and one more thing...there's a fun "poll" on the blog that kids can answer before 1/11/11. Stay warm and thanks for reading!