Writing Examples!!!

We completed an informational piece of writing about the kinds of impacts humans have on animals. Here is a 7 out of 10! 

Here are some notes about this piece of writing: 

Purpose, Focus, Organization- 3

• This writing is focused throughout the entire piece, but lacks a solid, strong, controlling idea
• The introduction and conclusion are sufficient, yet could be stronger

Evidence and Elaboration-3

• This piece could contain more evidence by paraphrasing the evidence from the articles in the introduction and conclusion
• The elaboration can also be stronger by completing thoughts and describing the evidence more thoroughly 

Conventions-1

• The grammar in this piece shows minor errors of the basic conventions. All students can strive for a 2 in conventions by focusing on rereading their work

We completed an opinion piece of writing about whether animals should be in captivity. Here is a 9 out of 10! 

Here are some notes about this piece of writing: 

Purpose, Focus, Organization- 4

• This writing is focused throughout the entire piece, and even has solid pieces of evidence that support the strength of this piece

Evidence and Elaboration- 3

• This piece has the appropriate amount of evidence to support the opinion stated
• The elaboration used is lacking the strength to earn a 4, but does support the evidence in the piece

Conventions- 2

• The grammar used in this piece is focused and controlled

Preparing for FSA Writing Test...March 10th

As the preparations for the FSA Writing Test are underway in the classroom, we could use your help at home, as well. The students will be given prompts to complete at home each week until the test. Use these posters that we made in class to assist as much as possible.

INFORMATIVE OR EXPLANATORY WRITING:

OPINION WRITING: 

This is a quick-start guide to opinion writing. 

This is an example of a plan for an opinion piece. Notice the word "reasons" on the plan. The opinion that is being defended here is "Teens should be free to use technology." 

Recap of Informational Writing Night

Here are the facts about the Writing Test: 

• Who- All 4th grade students
• What- FSA Writing Test
• When- March 10th, first thing in the morning
• Where- Homeroom classrooms
• Why- To assess the informative and opinion writing skills

The students will be given 120 minutes to read the prompt, read the articles, and write either an informative or opinion essay. The highest score each child can earn is a 10. Using the rubrics below, you can see that there are three categories: Purpose, Focus and Organization; Evidence and Elaboration; and Conventions. 

Use the following document to help your child at home.

Here is the rubric used for OPINION WRITING:

Here is the rubric used for INFORMATIVE WRITING:

If you have any questions about these documents or the test itself, feel free to email or stop by and ask. brownj5@duvalschools.org

4th Grade Upcoming Events

4^th Grade Newsletter for Upcoming Events

4^th Grade Writing Informational Night on February 10^th

With the new FSA Writing Test quickly approaching, Mrs. Scott and Mrs. McCann are hosting an informational writing night to help all parents understand the requirements of the test and how you can help at home. Three sessions will be offered: 3:15, 4:30, and 6:00. Please indicate on the label in your child’s planner which of the times you would like to attend.

Zoo Field Trip on February 13^th

We will arrive at The Zoo around 9:45 and walk out of the park at 1:00 to eat lunch in the picnic area before heading back. Please bring your own bag lunch to this field trip. Given this late lunchtime, we are asking for contributions for snack bags that will be provided for the kids during the field trip. If you would like to provide any of the following items for our homemade, peanut-free trail mix, please email Mrs. McCann (brownj5@duvalschools.org) so we don’t get too much of any one item: Bag of Tiny Twist pretzels, Box of Rice Chex Cereal, Carton of Goldfish, Bag of Conversation Hearts, Bag of M&Ms, Box of Kashi Heart-to-Heart Honey Toasted Oat Cereal, Box of Lucky Charms. Please bring in the items by February 11^th.

Valentine’s Day on February 13^th

We will pass out valentines after we return from the zoo around 2:30. If your child would like to bring valentines for the class, please make sure that he/she prepares enough for everyone in his/her homeroom. The names of each student in the classes are provided below if you choose to personalize these grams. We appreciate you helping us make sure that each child gets a valentine.

·      McCann HR Girls: Zoe, Ella, Cassie, Riley, Sara, McKenna, Chloe, Sofia, Maddie

·      McCann HR Boys: Amarion, Chimelu, Gage, Cade, Robby, Desean, Cameron, Cooper, Noah, Blake, Xavier, Kendall, Aiden

·      Gilbert HR Girls: Lolovivi, Grace, Kyleen, Kerowyn, Dominique, Talia, Amelia, Lexie, Kiersten, Lani, Taylor, Isabella, Noelle

·      Gilbert HR Boys: Charlie, Aidan, Tyler, Sean, Christian, Kayden, Sebastian, Ethan, Caden

JSO Field Trip on February 24^th

The City of Jacksonville selects certain schools to attend a performance by the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. This is our lucky year to attend and it is free of charge! Please just sign and return the field trip form. We are not accepting chaperones on this trip due to the short time we will be out of the classroom and our intentions to learn as soon as we return. Lunch will be at a different time, but a bag lunch is not necessary because we will eat as soon as we return to school.

Thanks for all your support,

Ms. Gilbert and Mrs. McCann

Social Studies

Social Studies is one of those subjects that does not have a "FCAT" (now FSA) test correlated to it, but it still remains high on the priority list. Today the students brought home Social Studies work that you are welcome to check over. I know many of you were concerned about this grade. These three assignments will be graded and added to help boost the Social Studies grades.

Here are some expectations that the students should follow in order to complete their assignments:

1. Each section that is based on a heading should have 3-4 bullet points from the section in the text. 
2. Each section that has blank lines at the bottoms asks for a summary. The summary should be based on the entire text of that section. Each summary should be 5-7 sentences and include text-based evidence or details from the bullet points above.
3. Some sections of the text ask specific questions. Please make sure these are completely answered. 

Thanks for your support and all your efforts to help enforce the level of expectations at home and school.

Close Reading

Last week we began a new reading strategy that Duval County is fully supporting. It's called a close (s- as in sight) read. There are three parts to the close read that we started last week. Here is a brief synopsis of these steps:

• Part 1- read the text and review the vocabulary words that are unfamiliar
• Part 2- annotate the text focusing on the main idea of the text
• Part 3- answer text-dependent questions

A close read is a strategy that helps the students better understand the text by reading the text multiple times, using the vocabulary words to increase understanding, and answering questions that can only be answered by diving back into the text.

Here is a chart that explains some of the steps to completing a close read:

Feel free to ask your child about the importance of a close read. What was their favorite part of this process?

Week 4

Swim America! 

Swim America is a "field trip" to the Fletcher High School swimming pool. The kids are given the opportunity to swim and learn about the 4 specific strokes that are used for competitions. This year we unfortunately have only 3 days in the pool. We will be swimming on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday next week (that's the 15, 17, and 19th). Our time is from 8:45-9:45 am. Please send your child with his/her swimsuit on, sunscreen on, a change of clothes, and a towel. If your child is used to goggles, please pack these, as well. Swim America is a great week for all of us!

Here is the basic rundown of our days next week:
Monday- come ready for SA, swim from 8:45-9:45, come back and change, head to lunch, second half of the day will be dedicated to instruction
Tuesday- full day of instruction
Wednesday- come ready for SA, swim from 8:45-9:45, come back and change, head to lunch, second half of the day will be dedicated to instruction
Thursday- full day of instruction
Friday- come ready for SA, swim from 8:45-9:45, come back and change, head to lunch, second half of the day will be dedicated to instruction

With all of this being said, PLEASE RETURN THE SWIM AMERICA PERMISSION SLIP TOMORROW OR ASAP!

Thanks for all your help! Oh, and maybe do a dance to the weather gods for no rain :)

If you would like to volunteer, please fill out the bottom half of the permission slip with the days that you can volunteer. We always enjoy the help and the kids love to see their parents in a bathing suit.