WL Marching Band - "To Catch a Thief!"

We were so fortunate to go out on Friday morning (19th) and watch the high school marching band perform their show, "To Catch a Thief!"  They did an AMAZING job!  I hope some of these 4th graders will consider going out for band next year so someday I can watch them perform as well!

Author's Purpose - Easy as PIE!

In reading class a couple of weeks ago, we focused on the "Text Element" AUTHOR'S PURPOSE.  We learned that an author generally has 3 reasons for writing: To Persuade (talk us into something or convince), To Inform (to teach or tell us something), and To Entertain (to allow us to have fun while we're reading).  We figured out that the story in our reading books (My Brother Martin) was written to INFORM of us of Martin Luther King, Jr's early life (and what maybe motivated him to become such an advocate for African-Americans' rights).  We did a couple of activities to learn more about this skill (Author's Purpose), including making "pie plates" where we cut out examples of books (from book orders) that we thought "demonstrated" each of the three reasons.

A New Year of Wildcats!

Well, we have finished the 4th week (3 1/2 actually) of school, and things are going great!  I am really enjoying getting to know my new students, and I think they are starting to get the hang of their new routine (and teacher:))!  4th grade is definitely a big change - switching classes, more teachers, more homework, less recess, no snacks, etc. etc. etc..... but they are working hard and taking it all in stride!  I can't wait to see what this new year has in store for us!!!!