Writing
We focus on learning how to write strong sentences and paragraphs throughout the year in 4th grade. I use the 4-Square Writing Method to help students organize their writing and to teach them the importance of having a different start word for each sentence. We begin the year by learning how to write one paragraph and we work our way up to learning how to write a three paragraph essay. Throughout the year, students are introduced to revising strategies to help them improve their writing. This year we made an "Amazing Word" Wall where certain words were retired (fun, mad, sad, etc.) and replaced by synonyms. We held a funeral for the retired words symbolizing that they were dead to us and we could no longer use them.
As an end of the year writing project, students interviewed first graders and wrote a biography about their life. They illustrated all of the pictures and published their writing on the computer. We finalized the project with a ceremony to present the books to the first graders.
I also coordinated a pen pal program with a 4th grade class at Reid Elementary School in Middletown, Pennsylvania. Students wrote letters back and forth to their pen pal throughout the spring semester. We scanned and emailed each letter to make the delivery much quicker since the mail system in Honduras is not all that reliable. We ended the pen pal unit with a skype session. Students were able to meet their pen pal face to face via skype and ask them a few questions. It was a very surreal experience for many of them.