LEADing the Way in Grade 4!

Grade 4 Takes the LEAD in Writer's Workshop

Last week, Grade 4 was introduced to using leads (or beginnings) in their narrative story writing. We learned that strong emotion, dialogue and creating a sense of tension or anticipation in the beginning of their story would help their readers know who are the characters and what is the setting in their story. 

Take a look at some of the leads that Grade 4 had the chance to write...

Anika's Lead

Matteo's Lead

Parent Tip: 
Encourage your child to create a story beginning that shows what is happening and where, getting their readers into the world of their story.

Reading: Using the Story Arc to Understand a Story

Just as writing strong leads is important in story telling, being able to plan your story is also important in helping readers understand what your story is about.

Using the Story Arc as a reading tool, Grade 4 has been demonstrating their understanding of what a story is about.

The story arcs below describe the following story elements to the book Fireflies by Julie Brinckloe:

• Somebody and Where (characters and setting)
• Wants/Motivations (problem)
• But/Struggles (events related to the problem)
• So (action that took place to make a decision)
• Then (solution to the problem - the theme of the story, what was the lesson learned for the character and for the reader?)

Victor's Story Arc 

Thais's Story Arc

Ana Lucia's Story Arc

Parent Tip: 
Encourage your child to use the story arc as a tool as he/she reads with you at home!

Homework

All Grade 4 classes have decided to do the following for home learning:

• Complete the Reading Response form for Friday
• Practice computational fluency (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) and/or complete the study links for Math - bookmark this link as it is a valuable resource for additional math support, as well as information regarding our math program, Everyday Math