4th grade humanities
Writing: After practicing the fundamentals and writing structure for the previous two weeks, learners will begin their rough drafts for their opinion writing pieces this week!
Each day we will focus on a different aspect of their writing piece. We will break the days into introduction (attention catchers, thesis, main points), body paragraphs (topic sentences, main points and supporting details) and conclusion (review of main points and clinching statement). We will review the rubric at the beginning of the week that will be used for this opinion writing piece, and which they will eventually use to peer edit as well. As a reminder, this project is a collaborative interdisciplinary project with science and math. Learners will be writing about the benefits (or drawbacks) of worm bins, and their writing's objective will be to persuade their families to begin worm composting at home (sorry parents!). Finally, learners will also be reviewing persuasive techniques used in advertising, and incorporating them into a visual project. This will culminate with a presentation by a professional in the field on Friday! Reading: Alas, last week we were unable to complete Morning Girl. However this week, it is a sure thing! Learners will be responding in writing to comprehension questions at the end of each chapter and participating in discussion while we read. We will have a final response to the book as a whole, where learners will utilize their background knowledge of Native Americans and consider how the arrival of Christopher Columbus/European explorers (at the end of the book) could impact the Taíno people and culture.
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Writing: This week, learners will be continuing to work on their foundational skills for opinion/persuasive writing. Some of the topics we will be discussing are how to argue both sides of an argument and how to outline persuasive essays using their introductory paragraph.
We will then be breaking down some of the most common types of persuasion techniques including bandwagon, testimonial, repetition, emotional appeal and promotional. Exploring these techniques through a dissection of commercial advertising (just in time for the holidays!). Finally we will be beginning our collaborative interdisciplinary project with science and math. 4th grade will be researching the benefits of worm bins and their paper's objective will be to persuade their families to begin worm composting at home (sorry parents!). Reading: This week we will finish reading Morning Girl as a whole class. Learners will be responding in writing to comprehension questions at the end of each chapter and participating in discussion while we read. Writing: This week, learners will have a writing party to celebrate the completion of their original narrative stories! Learners will have the opportunity to share their story, read their peers' stories, and provide feedback.
We will begin our opinion writing unit this week. Learners will apply their knowledge of narrative writing structure (introduction, body paragraphs, conclusion) to opinion writing and begin exploring how they can craft opinion/persuasive writing pieces that catch the reader's attention, clearly state their thesis/position, and effectively address their main topic. Learners will look at the structure of opinion/persuasive writing examples and reflect on how each writer conveys their thesis/position, addresses their main topic, and provides supporting reasons and evidence. This will prepare learners for writing a persuasive piece for their Trimester 1 Interdisciplinary Project on composting. Learners will also have their first benchmark, which will assess their understanding of narrative writing concepts covered in class thus far. Reading: We will continue reading Morning Girl as a whole class, with learners responding in writing to a comprehension question at the end of the chapter and participating in discussion while we read. Writing: This week, learners will begin their original narrative writing stories! Over the past few weeks, learners have been focusing on the individual aspects of a story and will now be harnessing this collective knowledge into a final piece. Since this is their first writing, we will be taking a step-by-step approach, focusing on a different part of their story each day. We will be breaking it down into attention catchers and introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, and finally resolution. There will also be mini-lessons on each concept before beginning writing each day.
Learners will also continue to review the narrative writing rubric to become familiar with specific expectations for their writing and understand how their narrative writing with be graded. The rubric is posted under "Useful Information". Reading: We will continue reading Morning Girl as a class. Learners will respond to comprehension questions through verbal discussion while we are reading, and answer one comprehension question in writing at the end of each chapter. |
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May 2018
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