Starting Academics, Remembering September 11th
September 11, 2013 | Posted in: Class Updates
Welcome to week 3, families! This week, we are easing into academics as we finish up some of the “getting to know you” activities that we focused on in the previous weeks. Although we started math today (which I will write about in a separate post), we started our writing and reading lessons even earlier. In Readers’ Workshop, we have focused on fundamental reading habits, including how to read independently and how to use the class library. Tomorrow, we will discuss how to choose books for ourselves (making use of the beloved books that the kids brought to school today), and we will quickly shift into reading skills instead of procedural habits.
I wish this is what my summer vacation looked like! Sadly, it’s just a stock photo I found online.
Our first writing project is the “Summer Snapshot” project. Students will choose one moment from the summer that they will describe in a paragraph. (This is where their summer items come in.) My lessons yesterday and today focused on how to choose one specific topic. So often, students pick a broad topic to write about – such as “My vacation to Cape Cod” – that has so many elements to include that it would inevitably be either too lengthy (for a typical fourth grade activity) or (more likely) would lack in detail and would seem more like a list of activities. By choosing a single moment on which students can “laser-focus” (quoting Apple’s Tim Cook), students can dedicate themselves to throughly describing the experience with detail and eloquence.
Today, we recognized the 12th anniversary of the September 11th attacks in our writing lesson. I described my vivid memories of the specific moment when I first learned of the attacks. Please know that our class discussion only generally covered the events of the day: merely that there were sad events that caused many people to lose their friends and loved ones in New York City. I prefer to allow families to choose the depth of conversation they want to have about the events of September 11th. Our conversation instead focused on being THANKFUL for those we have around us and on not “sweating the small stuff” in our daily lives.
Our year continues to a productive and enjoyable one, and I am eager to see what tomorrow will bring. Families, your kids are TERRIFIC! I am really having a great time with this class of kids! 🙂
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