Book groups

Hello,

Students chose one of four books today and will be part of a book group for the next couple of weeks.  The choices were Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Ace A Very Important Pig by Dick King-Smith, Stuart Little by E.B. White, and Bunnicula by James Howe and Deborah Howe.  I tried to pick different books of interest, and books of varying reading abilities.  I felt like each student chose a book that they could handle. 

Students also received new reading logs and they will now be responsible for reading a chapter a day from their books.  Each chapter will require a three sentence summary in their logs, along with an opinion about that chapter.  Silent reading time at school can be utilized at school to help with the reading load.  You may read ahead, but the summaries must keep pace with the reading.

We read some more editorials over the last few days and had some dynamic discussions.  One article regarding a new U.S. Navy base being built off the coast of South Korea sparked some real debate.  A letter to the editor regarding an unarmed young man being shot in a gated community down south drew even more reaction.  These varied discussions are exactly why the Opinion/Editorial section of the paper is my favorite.  I learn and am introduced to multiple points of view on a ridiculously wide variety of topics. 

I got really mad today.  Some students were putting on a mini-skit to teach a lesson and others were talking to and at them during the performance.  I told them how rude and inappropriate it was for an audience to distract or try to become part of a play.  As I was wondering if I was a little too harsh on them, another performance started and I witnessed the same behavior.  I was irate.  I stopped the show.  I ranted.  Loudly. 

At the end of the day I apologized for the yelling.  I explained to them that I don't like to get that mad and that it is never my intention.  My intention is always to teach.  I also explained what I was thinking during the whole event.  I was just thinking that I had come down too hard on the first offenses and that I should have been able to teach that lesson in a calmer manner.  That is when more offenses started occurring.  AUUUGH!  I think I sounded like that.

Getting late.  Thanks for reading.

Mr. Shea 

Hello

We've been working on summaries.  Tonight's homework is to write an easy one sentence summary of their reading.  They just need to write the title and pages of the book that they are reading.  We've been practicing by summarizing fairy tales that I've been reading from a 100+ year old book.  Today they tried summarizing The Elves and the Shoemaker.  Yesterday we tried Rumpelstiltskin and The Musicians of Bremen.  Ask your kid for a summary of one of those.

The Hunger Games movie was pretty good.  They changed a bit of the plot and left out some characters, but they got most of the major stuff right.  I wrote a bit about the book yesterday, and I wanted to give an added warning that while the first book is violent, the second book has some heavier relationship stuff.  I'm not saying that it is a "hands off" book, but it is one that you may want to talk about with your child if you are going to have them read it.  That said, they are well written and entertaining.  My wife read the whole trilogy over the past two days. 

Students arriving early are going outside in the morning.  Please make sure that they are prepared for the weather.  It amazes me how many don't wear raincoats, and then say, "Well, we never go out when it rains."  It is true.  It is one of the reasons why I started a rainy day club at Jordan Acres with the sole purpose of traipsing about in the woods and in puddles on rainy days.  I like to teach that rain will not make you sick.  Being unprepared and getting wet and cold, that tends to lead to sickness.

Thanks for reading,

Mr. Shea   

Odd day

Hello,

I missed the first hour of the day due to a meeting that ran way over.  A reading specialist came in and played some word games with them.  This afternoon we went to the gym for a forty minute presentation on Harriet Beecher Stowe put on by Mrs. Smith's class.  It was well done and taught me a few things about HBS that I didn't know.  That happened at the very end of the day so I didn't get to talk to the kids about it. 

It is because of these unexpected events that we didn't get to spelling or research today.  We will tomorrow. 

I'm running off to see Hunger Games, the movie,  with my wife.  While not fourth grade appropriate, I will say that it is well written and if your children are playing violent video games, they probably wouldn't bat an eye at the violence in the books.  I would say that they are sixth grade appropriate, although if I were teaching fifth grade, I would make them available to kids with parent approval.

I know some of your kids are clamoring for the books, and I like to see that kind of energy regarding literature.  Drop me a line if you want to get my take on whether your child, specifically, is ready for it.

Have a good night.

Mr. Shea 

I'm out of here.

Hello,

We're not going to see these temperatures for another three months.  I'm leaving.  I've got a stack of animal rough drafts to read, but that will happen tonight. 

Thanks,

Mr. Shea

No big news today

Hello,

We discussed four different editorials that students brought in on four very different subjects.  I didn't read a Rush Limbaugh one because that was way too hot to touch.  We also read the obituary of one of our classmate's grandmother.  It is another example of a summary.  I told them that they may think summarizing a story is difficult, but summarizing a life in just a few sentences is heartbreakingly difficult. 

We played a little verb charades.  Some of the words that were acted out: skateboarding, booing, boxing, flapping and quiver.  Tomorrow we will try our hand at acting out adjectives. 

Research continued. 

My math class is making fraction strips for the hall way out of streamers. 

It was hot.

That's all the news that I have.

Thanks for reading,

Mr. Shea

Research is coming to an end.

Hello,

The research portion of the animal research project should be mercifully coming to an end tomorrow.  I think we only have a couple people still hitting the books, encyclopedias and online sources.  Rough drafts, for the most part have started.  I realize everyone works at different rates, but I can't have some working on final copies while others are still researching.  Ask your child where they are in the process.

CREA will be coming in to visit our classroom to discuss foodwebs and the predator / prey relationship.  They are devoting one hour to each fourth grade classroom.  This presentation fits well into our Maine studies and biome studies. 

The main character of our latest read aloud, Cara Landry of The Landry News by Andrew Clements, loves newspapers.  Her favorite section is the editorials.  She also loves to write scathing but truthful editorials in her own school newspaper.  We'll find out how well her method works as she runs up against freedom of speech issues, freedom of the press issues, and a disagreeable school administration. 

Our work on summarizing will continue for the next couple of weeks.  It is a skill that they already use, but will need to get better at year after year. 

Have a good night.

Mr. Shea 

Spring fever?

Hello,

It is late enough to be dark outside so I'm going to make this quick.  Homework is to summarize a story in exactly five sentences.  We discussed one, three and five sentence summaries. 

We put our dinosaur plant in water this afternoon.  A dinosaur plant can be kept out of water for 50 years and then spring to life.  I couldn't believe it, but it did in just a few hours.

Students were put in groups and began reading some giant books on different biomes.  It is obvious that the rainforest is the biome of choice at the moment. 

The weather outside has made teaching a little more difficult.  Spring fever is in the air.  The temps on the horizon are just ridiculous.  Thank you for reminding your little one that we still have a good three months to focus on. 

Have a good night.

Mr. Shea