Shared Writing

Our school is currently part of a Writing Residency based on the works of Regie Routman.  Though it isn't taking place in Room 4, I have had the chance to check out a lesson and have conversations with the teachers involved. 

We are currently writing poetry in Room 4 and one of the strategies discussed in the residency is the idea that students become better writers by first watching their teacher write.  The next step can involve the students writing together. 

We did this by creating a poem about our class.  We followed the template of an I Am poem, where each lines begins with I ____________.  We decide to take poetic licence and change it to We ____________.  Then the creativity really started to flow. We had a lot of fun (and a lot of laughs) coming up with the ideas.  When we had trouble, we went on the the next verse, got a thesaurus or dictionary to find new words, and used a classroom resource called "Banish Boring Words" that has tons of great adjectives and adverbs you can use to add detail to your writing.

After a lot of revising, editing, reading and re-reading, this is what we came up with.  I've included a picture of our writing, but I have copied it down for you below.  

We are

We are valuable
We wonder what the end of the year will bring
We hear laughter through out our days
We see our friends by our side
We want to stick together
We are a community

We pretend we are in "the cafe"
We feel safe, happy, proud
We touch each others souls
We worry about our future
We are a family

We understand we sometimes get upset
We say sorry when we need to
We dream of what lies ahead
We hope this chapter will never end
We are Room 4

-by the 20 members of Room 4





Next, we did some shared writing. Students brainstormed together and read aloud possible lines they could add to the poem.  The students are currently finishing up their I Am poems and I will be sure to post them when they are ready to be published!

 Happy Reading and Writing!

Who Says Indoor Recess Can't Be Active!

Because of the recent cold snap, we have been spending many of our recesses inside. Rather than doing the usual indoor recess activities quiet games and activities, today we did something different. Check out the pictures and see if you can guess . . .

Flash Mob!

Great Memory!

                                                          



. . . if you said "Danced the Macarena in the Hallway, you'd be right!  Comments I heard included -

This is the best recess ever! - Vika

You looked like a flash mob! - Mrs. Evans

What a great change of pace!  We wonder when then next impromptu dance party will be!?!

Math Puzzles!

Our class is testing Celia Baron's new Math Cross Puzzles.  We have been using her past Cross Puzzles all year as part of our daily math, but we now are lucky enough to try out some samples from her upcoming book!  So far, three students have spend some time completing the self - checking and highly - motivating math puzzles.  Today we are going to do them as a class.  We will reflect on the questions and give Celia feedback as to how we like them.  It's amazing to be part of an author's process.  Thank you, Celia!!

Who's checking us out?

Hello Everyone! 

I am really curious as to how many parents actually check out our blog from time to time.  We try to post at least once a week, and each post almost always include pictures and words/explanations from your son/daughter's daily perspective. 

Please don't hesitiate to leave a comment or questions - we'd love to gain some followers :)

 - Mrs. Steinhoff

Thank You, Crystal!!

Room 4 and Mrs. Steinhoff would like to that our TCI student helper, Crystal, for all of her hard work during her time with us!  Crystal was part of a special program that aloud her to join us in the classroom three times a cycle.  She has been such a great addition to Room 4 and we are all very happy that she has decided to continue volunteering now that her practicum is done.

Thank you, Crystal!!!

Special Messages to Each Other

Sometimes, we all have a bad day. Mrs. Steinhoff got an idea from a colleague to help kids think positively whenever they might need a "put-up". We worked on writing nice things to each other. Then Mrs. Steinhoff organized the ideas and handed them back. We glued them on to a special paper that had our names typed in a special font. She's going to laminate them so the posters can always be a special keepsake. Here's some pictures of us working on them. - Room 4

A Giraffe and a Half . . .

Read Aloud in the Library -

Ms. Solar read our class a book
It was great, deserves a second look
Now we'll search for our own books
And get cozy and read in a nook!

- Room 4

Instruments and Kaleidoscopes

Check out the Grade 4's Designs.

Preparing for our Invention Show!

Science Rules!!

Poetry Paradise!

This morning, Mrs. Steinhoff started by reading us some poems. Some of the poems were "brutal", "not funny" and "boring"! Then, we set out to find some that were actually worth reading and sharing.

Here is a poem we wrote about our experience.

We now think some poems might be ok.
But we still think some should be taken away
Although some were nice, but still pretty weird,
One even had "Pauly" growing a beard

We'll try again some other time
And work together to bust some rhymes - and maybe eat limes!

Room 4

Happy New Year!

Welcome back, Everyone!  I hope you all had a restful break!  I spent most of my time getting together with my family and friends, which is my favourite way to spend the holiday.  I am looking forward to all of the new and exciting things coming up in the next few months.  Tumbling Rally club will be starting this week!  We also have a field trip to the Forks on February 14th!  On Friday, we will be sharing our Inventions with our schoolmates.  It's great to be back in Room 4! 

How did you spend your break?  What are you most looking forward to this term?