Fall News and Updates

Important Upcoming Dates and Reminders:

October 30- Dress Down day and Sock Hop

November 4 - PTA/PAWS Meeting

November 13 - All Pro Dads

November 20 - Dress Down Day and the Tiger Trot

November 23-27 - No School (Thanksgiving Break)

Reading: 

We have been working with main idea, supporting details/text evidence, inferences, thick/thin questions, restating questions, and text structure  over the past 9 weeks. We are continuing to practice using inferences to draw conclusions (explicit and implicit questions).

RL.4.1 Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences  from the text.

While at home, have a conversation with your child AFTER they have read. Make sure you use open-ended prompts and allow them time to fully answer.Ask, and get your children to answer THICK questions:

Ask, and get your students to ask each other THICK questions

• What if…?
• How did…?
• Why did…?
• What would happen if…?
• What caused…?
• What might…?
• How would you feel…?
• What character traits describe…?
• Why do you think…?
• Why is…?

Open Ended Book Discussion Points 

• Write what you know about this topic ~ the setting, the situations in pictures. . . .
• Make a prediction. What clues helped you? Read the first page. Do you need to revise your prediction?
• Write questions you have about this text.
• Read the first page. Does the author make you want to keep reading?  Why or why not?
• Do you think this story COULD happen in real life? Why or why not?
• Where does the story take place? What makes you think so?
• Do you have any connections ~ is the author, illustrator, or subject matter familiar to you?
• What questions do you have so far? Were previous questions answered?
• Describe in detail what you think the main character or setting looks like. (Visualizing) What adjectives and adverbs in the story helped you visualize?
• Which words are you stuck on? Did you figure out their meanings? What are the meanings?
• If a character is telling the story, who is it? Describe this character.
• Does the main character remind you of yourself? Compare and/or contrast.
• What are some clues of how the main character is feeling?
• What are some reasons that the main character does what he/she is doing?
• How does the story make you feel and why?
• What problem does the main character have? How do you predict will he/she will solve it?
• Is the story what you thought it would be about? If not, what surprised you?
• Summarize what has happened so far. Use detail.
• If you could talk to the main character, what would you say?
• What obstacles does the setting provide that the main character must overcome? Would this story work in another setting?
• Is there an antagonist (someone who provides an obstacle) to the main character? What details lead you to say this? 
• CHARACTER TRAITS: In a word, describe the main character. Support this one word using specific actions of the character from the story.
• Was the author trying to teach a lesson? If so, what was the lesson?
• Would you recommend this book to others and if so to who?
• What unanswered questions do you have?
• Tell what the problem was, and how the character solved his problem.
• If the story happened to you, how would you feel?
• Were you surprised at any parts? Which parts?
• What advice would you have given the main character?
• Which character did you like most and why?
• Which character was most like you? How?
• Describe how the character changed from beginning to end of the story.
• What was the climax of the story?
• Summarize the ending.
• What 5 questions would you ask the author? Pick one, and write how you think the author might answer it.
• What was the author’s message?
• How would the characters’ actions change if there was a different setting or time period?
• Did the characters change during the story (round) or stay the same (flat)?
• Describe 2 events that portray the character’s personality.
• What scene would make a good trailer for a movie? Would this book work well as a movie?
• If you eliminated one of the characters, how would the story change? Why?
• If you were the main character, would you have done things differently? What? How? Why?

AVOID LITERAL QUESTIONS.  WE CALL THESE “THIN” QUESTIONS.  

These do not require much thought.

Writing

We have been working on informational writing.  With out informational writing, we have put a specific focus on creating a thesis with supporting details, using domain specific vocabulary, and writing complex sentences.  Students rough drafts must be completed by tomorrow, and we will be publishing our Native American Tribe writing next week.  Please read over your child's writing with them tonight, and help them in any areas that are lacking meaning or fluency.

W.4.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

W.4.2A Introduce a topic clearly and group related information in paragraphs and sections; include formatting (e.g., headings), illustrations, and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.

W.4.2D Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.

Please email me with any questions you might have, and I look forward to meeting with each of you for our rescheduled conferences.  Happy Thursday!