By May Vasquez. 4th Grade Math. Published at Friday, November 20th, 2020 - 21:35:21 PM.
Today I dont pretend as much as I used to. I try really hard to be honest with myself and other people. When I find myself slipping back into that weaker part of me (and I do), the "pleaser" part of me, I have to remind myself Im not here to please others, to look good, or to impress people. When Im overly worried about being judged or losing someones love or admiration, it makes it difficult to be real. I also have to keep reminding myself that the purpose of life is not to insulate myself. Im not here to build a cushiony life so I can escape from reality. The point of being given a life is so I can live in it! And that means getting really messy in relationships if need be, in order to work through problems. So we can keep growing, well have to get used to heaping doses of reality.
Dorit: Youre a veteran teacher-what do you teach and how long have you been teaching? Damien: Thank you for the moniker! I currently teach 4th grade public school in Southern California. Im credentialed to teach K-6 and Ive been teaching now for 9 years. Grades I have taught in the past include: 3,4,5,9, and I have taught college courses. So I like to think Ive seen a variety of ages so I can offer help and share about more than just 4th grade. Dorit: I hear also youre a writer - what do you also like to write and how long have you been writing? Damien: I got my Masters in English hoping to be a writer and college professor. The college professor thing wasnt for me, too much academia quicksand, but the writing has panned out well in one book publishing and a variety of popular posts out in the web. I book publishing came about when I answered a simple call for stories in my school newsletter. It ended up being published in a book. You can access my published and non published web writing at my online resume I call Riley Central.
Tip #2 - Study the night before the test. Be sure to review all of the spelling words the night before so that all of the information is fresh in your childs mind. Sometimes it can be the added boost needed to commit words to memory. Tip #3 - Play memory games. Make up fun tricks to remember words or make note of patterns for your child to remember better. For example, if your child has a lot of words with q in them, remind them that q is always followed by u. If all of the words on the list are "ie" words, make note of that to help your child remember that this is the "ie" list. Tip #4 - Break up large words. If you have a word like skyscraper, break it down into two words so they can see how easy the word is to remember (sky + scraper). Find smaller words nested within larger words and point them out. Tip #5 - Use silly sentences to remember 4th grade spelling words. Theres probably always one or two words on a list that a child just cant seem to recall. In these cases, try a silly sentence. For example, the word strength might be remembered by the sentence, "Sam takes red eggs near gold tiki heads." It should be something very ridiculous, as thats what your child will easily remember.
The writing standards also provide four sections of emphasis: text types and purposes, production and distribution of writing, research, as well as the variety of writing. Students are asked to write to persuade, to inform or explain and also to detail a narrative of real or imagined events. They go through the writing process to produce clear and competent writing, while using the technology throughout. They should be able to conduct research to collect relevant information. Its important that they evaluate the credibility of sources, and also support their resulting ideas with specific citations.
4th grade science experiments dont need to be overly involved and they can usually be done alone, with minimal help from teachers or parents. Children this age are very curious and full of energy so they should have no trouble coming up with a topic to experiment. One simple science experiment they may want to try is to see if draining water always spirals in the same direction. This is interesting and quite easy to test. It also involves a little foot work, which the kids will likely enjoy. All you really need to do is flush a toilet and see which way it drains, then fill a sink and see which way it drains, and then compare your results. Another fun one might be to see which material would protect an egg from a six- or eight-foot drop. Some materials you could use would be pillows, bubble wrap, blankets. Styrofoam chips, towels and more. Its pretty easy, just be sure to drop the egg from the same height each time and record your findings. One more idea for 4th grade science projects could be to see if the shape of an ice cube affects how long it takes to melt. You can test this by getting some ice cube trays in different sizes. These types of trays are usually sold at the dollar store. Then freeze water in the trays. Once theyre frozen you can take once ice cube of each shape and set it on a dry surface at the same time and see which ones melts the fastest.
Many teachers plan their year based on the textbooks order and agenda for the school year. This isnt bad, but often it fails to take into consideration the actual skills needed for the next year, and only addresses the lessons to be covered. The lessons to be covered are critical, but from the perspective of the skills necessary to move forward. Instead of planning the year forward, if teachers would plan for backwards education, skills would be steadily increased and students would be more prepared for the upcoming year along the way. The concept is simple. As a teacher, determine what skills, or what knowledge needs to be mastered by your students before they complete your grade levels learning. In other words, if you teach 4th grade, what skills would the 5th grade teachers in your school hope and pray that your students have learned when they walk in the door for 5th grade. Talk to the teachers in the grades above you. Find out what they think are the greatest challenges at their grade level, and how skill or knowledge deficits have affected their instructional year.
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