Language Arts Loop

We have entered into our study of Expository, Non-Fiction, Informational text. We will use each of these words when describing this genre, where readers read to learn new information, understand a new topic, or dig deeper into researching a specific subject. Most of the reading we do as adults falls into this category. We will remain in this genre for several weeks, as we look specifically at the structure of this text or how the writer organizes the information. This past week we discussed non-fiction text features and completed a scavenger hunt, in which students searched informational books to locate the various text features. Features we identified were: bold print, captions, close-ups, cutaways, headings, graphs, diagrams, charts, labels, maps, photographs, titles, etc. After our review of text features, we explored the first expository text structure, descriptive text. Descriptive text is organized around a central topic. The writing includes many examples and descriptions of the topic or subject. Key words a reader will notice in descriptive text are, for example, for instance, in addition to, along with a few others. Our mentor text for descriptive text structure is a book called It's a Butterfly's Life. We will also look at a passage called The Art of Spoiling Your Cat which will be stapled into our notebooks as an example of this text structure. Looking ahead we will continue our study of expository text structures. Students will learn each structure, the skeleton for the text, key words for the text and what is expected when we read a specific structure.

Small groups worked together to complete a non-fiction text features scavenger hunt.

Small groups are meeting together to work through and discuss their books/text. They also share in the reading of the text and support each other in the independent work that is done through reader's notes. Then groups meet with me to discuss deeper, share thoughts and for me to monitor progress and growth in reading skills, levels and comprehension.

We have officially entered into the genre of Expository Writing. In this style of writing, writers write to explain a subject, topic, or event to their reader. We have discussed the structure for expository writing which includes the expository writing pillar. This pillar consists of an introduction, main idea paragraphs and a conclusion. We discussed the introduction and the fact that it includes both a lead and a topic sentence, which includes the focus of the piece. It is our job as writers to keep that focus throughout the piece. We have looked at several example pieces and have spent time dissecting the pieces into the various parts. As a class, we are working on drafting our first expository essay using the pillar as our guide. Looking ahead to next week, after our class piece is complete, students will begin working on their first expository essay independently. Students will draft a section of the pillar per day.

We have altered our spelling lists a bit for the next six weeks. Students will be working on the same lists as their classmates for this six weeks, as there are specific 4th grade spelling rules required by the state. We will focus on these as a whole group, rules will be explicitly taught then students will complete different tasks/sorts, per day that reinforce the rule. We are starting with the doubling rule and will move to irregular plurals next week.

Tuesday, November 10 - 4th Grade Veteran's Program - 9:00 and 6:30

Wednesday, November 11 - Early Release Day - Students are dismissed at 12:45- Report Cards go home

Friday, November 13 - Poet Visit, 4th Grade 9:45

Email: cpatranella@csisd.org
Location: Creek View Elementary School, Eagle Avenue, College Station, TX, United States
Phone: 979-694-5890