We are thankful.
Hello, 4A families!
It’s been another rich week of learning! Students are bringing home their “Multiplying by 3s” quizzes today. Please note that questions with an asterisk (*) were “bonus” questions for extra challenge. We have reviewed how to solve each question in class.
This week in Language Arts, our grade 4 writers explored how to carefully read a text and then write a great “reading response”. We learned that a strong response directly answers the question, begins with a clear topic sentence, and develops its ideas with specific details and evidence from the text.
Students practiced using sentence stems like “As the author writes on page…” or “In the fifth paragraph, the text says…” to support their writing while referencing the source material accurately. We also talked about using vivid vocabulary, smooth transition words, and finishing with a thoughtful conclusion—all while keeping an eye on spelling, capitalization, and punctuation.
After the direct lesson, students put on their “teacher hats.” Working in small groups, they analyzed five sample responses and scored them using our proficiency scale—Emerging, Developing, Proficient, or Extending. They discussed the merits and challenges of each piece. This activity helped students recognize what works well in writing and reflect on the strategies they want to apply in their own.
Our focal text for this activity was a piece on the history of cheese. Along the way, we discovered some of the science behind how cheese is made. (Judging by the cheesy enthusiasm in the room, a future science lesson on cheese-making may be on the horizon!)
In Language Arts, we have also been learning about forming contractions and continuing to build our vocabularies with our “Word Study” program.
In Arts Education, we have completed the Minecraft self-portraits and are working on watercolour painting techniques with our Thanksgiving art project.
In Math, we have wrapped up our unit on telling time and have been working with data and graphing. Students are learning to use tally charts and make accurate bar graphs.
In our Bible classes this term, one of our goals is to study key stories from the Old Testament which will be a foundation for our upcoming focus on the birth of Jesus during the Christmas season.
Students are invited to work on their own, with a partner, or in a small group to choose one Bible story to retell or dramatize for our class. The goal is for students to creatively but faithfully retell their chosen story and share what key lessons it offers us.
Students are welcome to use props, puppets, or costumes, and we’re having many thoughtful conversations about how to make creative choices that bring a story to life while also honouring its message. This is nuanced, meaningful work that helps students think deeply about questions such as:
Which props and costumes would be effective and engaging without being distracting? How can we portray characters in ways that feel authentic and respectful?
It’s been exciting to see how enthusiastic students are! We’ll continue to work together in class to develop their projects, but families are encouraged to talk at home about the stories their children have chosen.
Students may present their work as a live performance or storytelling session, or, if they prefer, they can create a short movie at home.
To inspire them with some ideas, I’m posting two examples:
A short video of my son Ben’s dramatic retelling of David and Goliath (we recorded this as a family when he was in Grade 1). His retelling came from memory and was in his own words—we value both faithful storytelling and age-appropriate personal understanding.
As well, you can see my own finger puppet dramatization of Jonah.
Tiffany Poirier 