Room 122
November 2015
Volume 1, Issue 2
Mrs. Brown’s Red
Reading News
Carpet News
Writing News
We continue to work hard in Reader’s
Workshop. We spent a good bit of time working to
identify the theme of stories we have read, and
many of the students did very well with this new
skill. We will continue to revisit this skill as the year
continues. Please encourage your child to think
about the theme of the books they are reading
independently. We also worked on analyzing
characters while reading. We used their actions,
description, and things they said to help us decide
what kind of character they were. This is also a skill
we will revisit throughout the year.
Currently we are working on story structure,
with a focus on how the plot of a story is organized.
We worked on this skill in our whole group lesson
with a story called Invasion from Mars, and we are
also working on it during our small guided reading
lessons. Our upcoming comprehension skills will be
identifying and discerning facts from opinions in an
informational piece about movie making, and
drawing conclusions and generalizations. We will
also work on author’s purpose again in the coming
weeks.
Reading At Home
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Please remember to read EACH night.
Research shows that independent reading is
the BEST way for you to grow as a reader!
Think about the theme of the book you are
reading. What is the message the author
wants you to take away? What is your
evidence?
We are learning so much during
Writer’s Workshop! We have worked on
correctly punctuating dialogue and using
dialogue in our stories. We have also
worked on writing interesting introductions
to our stories. We call them “catchy hooks”.
We had a great time trying each different
type of hook in our writer’s notebook. We
will work on “Show Don’t Tell” when we
return from Thanksgiving break. We will
use strong action verbs and rich describing
words to “show” characters’ emotions and
story events.
We are currently planning our
creative winter stories. Ask your child to
tell you what they are planning! Every year
this is a favorite writing piece for all of my
fourth graders. They are able to use their
imagination, as well as all of their new
writing skills to create a very adventurous
winter tale!

Writing At Home
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Write a list of all of the people and
things you are thankful for. Pick a
person from your list and write them
a note to tell them how thankful you
are for them!
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Practice writing stories with
dialogue.
(OVER)
Red Carpet News
GRAMMAR AND WORD WORK
NEWS
We have reviewed complete and
incomplete sentences during grammar.
We reviewed that all complete sentences
must have a subject and predicate, as
well as begin with a capital letter and end
with punctuation. As your child completes
homework in ANY subject area, have
them double check to be sure they are
writing in complete and correct
sentences. We have also taken a close
look at run-on sentences and sentence
fragments. While conferencing with
students to revise their writing, it was
evident that many of my fourth graders
are using run-on sentences. We will
continue to identify and correct them in
our writing pieces.
We continue to work on rich
vocabulary with each new shared story
we read. We have tried a variety of things
to learn these new words. Currently we
are using context clues to help us define
new vocabulary. We then apply the words
in new sentences. During independent
work the students have the opportunity to
write mini-stories using the new
vocabulary. We will continue to vary the
way we learn new vocabulary!
Page 2
How’s 4th Grade Going?
How is fourth grade going for your child? How has
homework been? Are directions and assignments
clear? Does your child seem to be enjoying school?
What is going well? What could improve?
As a teacher who believes in working together with
parents to make the most of education, I am hoping
to receive some feedback from you as to how you
feel the year is going so far. I would appreciate any
feedback, positive or negative, through an email or
even anonymous note, if you prefer. This feedback
helps me to continue to grow as an educator and
improve the learning for all of my students. I value
your thoughts and insight!
Upcoming Events
November 24th- $1hat day to benefit United
Way
November 25th-27th- NO SCHOOL
Thanksgiving Break
December 4th- Secret Shop and Ice Cream
Social 6:30pm
Spotlight on the Stars
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Thank you to Jinataye and Celeste for the
beautiful poster and thoughtful mug you made
me. You made me feel like such a special
teacher!
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Great job to Kriya and Leila Eid who are
working hard on the “Thirty Book Challenge”.
You are reading a great variety of books!
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Thank you to Simrin, Danielle, and Ariel for
excellent participation during Language Arts!
You help make each lesson so much fun to
teach because you are so interested in
learning!
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Excellent effort from Alex, Lauren, Lance and
Kylie during Writer’s Workshop. I loved hearing
your catchy hooks!
Reminders to Students
- Check your homework book each
night! Check off assignments as
you complete them and return
them to your binder.
- Bring jackets for recess, the
weather is getting chilly!
- MAKE SURE YOU ARE READING
EVERY NIGHT!!!