With our study of freedom in social studies and developing strategies to read historical fiction, the timing of David Greenburg's visit could not have been better! David's knowledge of civil rights and personal connection with Martin Luther King, helped consolidate our understanding of this important event in history. His presentation helped us reflect upon our essential questions which are:
1. What does freedom look like?
2. How is freedom gained?
3. How is freedom and responsibility connected?
David's writing sessions focused on these points which would help us develop as a writer:
- A writer notices things (sounds,smells,voices)
- A writer is an athlete of the brain.
- A writer writes about topics that people don't want to write about to catch their attention
- A writer writes about their own lives
- A writer needs to practice and keep trying
- A writer needs to revise, revise, revise
- A writer needs to read - "swim in the water of words"
- A writer cares about their work
Even though we are presently writing personal essays, we can still apply these skills across all genres. In our essay writing, students make a statement they strongly believe in and then use an essay format to support their thinking.
Here is a little example of one of his sessions with grade four.
Learning from the master!
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In math we are wrapping up our unit on fractions where we have looked at the following:
- equivalent fractions
- fractions as sets
- ordering fractions
- deciding if fractions are < or >
- finding the least common multiple
- understanding mixed numbers
- word problems involving fractions
- adding and subtracting fractions with common denominators
Encourage students to spend time on the IXL site to review these concepts(the grade 3 section more closely matches the grade 4 benchmarks for this unit).
Enjoy your long weekend and Gong Xi Fa Cai!
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