Hi,
We had a wonderful time at writing camp! The kids worked so hard on their writing and did a great job. Thank you to everyone who donated time and/or items to help make our camp a success. The students loved receiving camp mail from you and thought our classroom looked awesome.
Each morning we started our day with camp songs with the entire fourth grade in the cafeteria. We had a guest reader on Tuesday. (Ask your child about Oraha Mae) Mrs. Lunkin and Mrs. Lehnick both talked to us about writing as well.
On Tuesday we did prewriting to gather our ideas, made a plan, and drafted a composition about a time when we were brave. We watched some Brainpop and Barry Lane videos about writing strategies and read some books with great writing to use as mentor texts. We also did a science demonstration with stream tables in the science lab with Mrs. Harper's class. We learned more about weathering, erosion, and deposition.
On Wednesday, we did prewriting to gather our ideas, made a plan, and drafted a composition about a time when we had an adventure. We wrote and practiced strategies like Show, not Tell, Explode the Moment, Use Strong Words, Use Thoughtshots and Feelings to engage the reader, etc... We also watched a movie about erosion and landforms.
Then on Thursday we read over both of our drafts and chose one of them to publish. We continued to revise and used our toolbox of writing strategies to be sure we were using our strategies and tools in our drafts. I conferenced with most of the children everyday (at least once a day) and we talked about all the wonderful things in their writing drafts and ideas for improvement. We also began editing for correct capitalization, punctuation, usage, and spelling. Some students began their final copies and/or created a cover for their story while they were waiting for a conference. Mrs. Brandt's kindergarten class came to visit our camp and brought us bat notes. They let us read our drafts for them and asked us questions about our writing.
Then on Friday, we continued to revise and edit our drafts, work on our final copies, and on our covers. We had a wonderful assembly about Africa and then came back and wrote some more. We had a visit from our first grade reading buddies in Mrs. Garcia's class. They also wrote us notes and we read our writing to them. After specials we were ready for our Writing Camp Celebration! Thank you all of the parents and grandparents who were able to attend. We all sat around our campfire while many of the children shared their creative, detailed, focused writing and everyone, at least, told us about their topic. We ended camp with some smores! I am so proud of the children and their hard work. They wrote some of their best pieces this week. They wrote with focus so they stayed on topic. They added thoughts, feelings, and details that helped the reader connect with the writer and feel like he/she was there. They made sure to tell the setting (when and where the story was taking place) and added some reflection at the end. (what did I learn from this experience, what did I notice or realize, what will I always remember) I was very impressed with the way they pulled together all of the strategies that we have been practicing this year and I am excited for them to be able to show off all their hard work on the Writing TAKS on Tuesday, March 1.
This week we will be continuing to practice writing skills and strategies. We will begin researching as a class on topics dealing with Civil Rights and Discrimination. We will be learning about 3D solids in math and weathering, erosion, and deposition in science. There will be a science study guide coming home tomorrow and a test on Thursday. We also will be having the ICAN students from University of Texas coming in to work with us tomorrow.
Dates to Remember:
Return TAKS writing form ASAP
ICAN activity=Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Writing Club afterschool=Thursday, February 24, 2011=2:45-4:00pm (Pick up at back car rider line)
FCE Service Club meeting=Monday, February 28= 2:45-4:00 pm
Writing TAKS for fourth graders=Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Cook-out for lunch and Hoe Down for K-2=Friday, March 11, 2011 (12:05-12:35 lunch)
Spring Break=March 14-18, 2011
Pen Pals to Forest Creek on Friday, March 25 to glaze our bowls
Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you for sharing your child with me.
Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew
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