Photo Caption: My cat, Gulliver, likes to supervise the writing process (or hinder it) as he lays on the students' papers while I try to correct them!
I, Mrs. Birmingham, am responsible for teaching writing to your child this year. As a whole school, we follow the Lucy Calkins writing program, but we all add our own unique teaching touches. I work closely with the other 4th grade writing teacher in our school, Mrs. Whitehouse, to ensure students on either team have a similar writing experience. Our writing includes a mini lesson each day and then writing time. This is a workshop model and it gives me a chance to conference with students. This model allows me to differentiate for students as well students have different strengths and I will be meeting with them to discuss their strengths and where they need to focus. At the end of units we will have writing celebrations. The parent celebration is in January. The actual date will be announced soon so you can plan ahead.
The Writing Units are as follows however the order is subject to change:
Personal Narrative
Realistic Fiction
Opinion
Information (Expert Topic)
Information (Research Topic)
Literary Essay
In grammar, we teach mostly about parts of speech, commas and dialogue. Students will take a pre-assessment and then I will provide lessons, guided practice and independent practice for them. They will also show what they know with the IXL computer program for Language Arts. To log on, your child does it differently than the IXL math program. They simply go to the IXL site (not through the Weatherbee School site) and log in with their user name and password that will be assigned to them and placed in the front cover of their assignment books for easy access. The website is also linked below.
The Writing Units are as follows however the order is subject to change:
Personal Narrative
Realistic Fiction
Opinion
Information (Expert Topic)
Information (Research Topic)
Literary Essay
In grammar, we teach mostly about parts of speech, commas and dialogue. Students will take a pre-assessment and then I will provide lessons, guided practice and independent practice for them. They will also show what they know with the IXL computer program for Language Arts. To log on, your child does it differently than the IXL math program. They simply go to the IXL site (not through the Weatherbee School site) and log in with their user name and password that will be assigned to them and placed in the front cover of their assignment books for easy access. The website is also linked below.