Welcome to Fourth Grade!

 Hello Fourth Grade Learners!

My name is Mrs. March (you may know me as Miss Strickler) and I will be your fourth-grade ELA teacher this year! I teach with Mrs. Boyd, who will be your Math, Science, and Social Studies teacher. Mrs. Boyd recently had an adorable baby, though, so she will be home for the start of the year. Mr. Millet will be her substitute and he is fantastic! We are excited to meet you all on August 18!

It's been a busy summer for me! I am taking two graduate courses and got married! I am excited to head into school during the second week of August to get our classroom ready. As soon as I do that, I'll be sure to post pictures!

I am excited to learn with you this year!

Mrs. March

Click here to view the video on YouTube!

It's Been a While ...!

Hello!

I've been using Twitter (@KendraStrickler) more because it is a faster and easier way to reach parents and colleagues at North Hills. I will continue to use this blog, but just not as frequently. I figured I'd share a quick "Shelf"ie update with this post ... look how much we've been reading!!!

New Month, New "Shelf"ie Update!

Keep up the fantastic reading, everyone! Our "Shelf"ie is filling up fast!

Our Class "Shelf"ie!

We did it! We filled the second shelf! This class is on their way to filling up the ENTIRE front wall (and maybe more!). Keep up the fabulous reading, everyone!

NEW Books and a "Shelf"ie Update!

This week was the NHE Book Fair! It was also the week our September Book Order finally came! Thanks to the generous donations of parents, Scholastic points (thanks to all who ordered and helped us get more points!), and FREE book packs, we are adding all of these brand NEW books to our classroom library! The students have been asking non-stop when the books will be added to the library and when they can start reading them. It's so fulfilling to see kids this excited about reading books!

We have a TON of different genres to add to the library!

Speaking of reading a ton of books ... check out our "Shelf"ie! Keep up the fantastic reading, everyone!

Workshop, a "Shelf"ie Update, and Band Day!

Happy Fall! It's been a great few weeks in ELA. We made it through one week of Workshop, and I think the general consensus is that it's a great time! We really enjoy the small-group lessons and choice time. We have been focusing on writing RACE responses to text and I am excited to see how much we continue to learn in Workshop this year!

When tasked to write a RACE response, students created their own mini-groups to work together to write a solid response. Proud teacher moment for sure!

Another small group writing a RACE response!

Our "Shelf"ie wall is filling rapidly! We have now filled the top shelf and are working on filling up the next shelf. (I must say ... I am looking forward to the day when I don't have to stand on a desk to staple these things to the wall ....!) Keep up the fantastic reading everyone!

I had the privilege of watching our band students perform at the Central York HS Football game last night! They did a fantastic job! So proud of you all!

Question of the Week: Use imagery to describe what you love most about Fall.

Kickball Rematch, Story Swaps, and a "Shelf"ie Update!

We officially made it through our first five-day week of sixth grade! To celebrate, Friday had some extra exciting elements.

Throughout the week, we practiced close reading with non-fiction and discussed the author's craft strategies. Next week we will be using these strategies in our own personal narratives.

On Friday, we had Fun-Write Friday where students spent time writing parts of a story that they then passed to the person next to them. Then, that person had to continue writing that story. It was fun to see how the stories turned! We also practiced using author's craft strategies to get ourselves in that mindset.

On Friday afternoon, we finally got that kickball re-match! Our plan was to have one tie-breaker inning, but that inning ended in a tie! So, we went into a second tie-breaker inning! Team Strickler won by one run ... it was a close one!

Finally, our "Shelf"ie continues to grow! We are on our way to filling all the shelves!

Question of the Week: We talked a lot about simile, metaphor, and personification this week. What is an example of one of these? Email me by Monday morning to win!

FUN FRIDAY (and more)!

On Friday, the class enjoyed our very first FUN FRIDAY! We worked hard all week and were able to enjoy a game of class verses class kickball. Team Strickler came out strong, but got a little too excited, leaving room for Team Goins to come up from behind. The game ended in a TIE! We will hopefully earn some extra time for a tie-breaker inning this week.

This week in ELA, students started spelling groups. In two weeks, we will be diving into reading groups, too. We are excited for Workshop to begin so we can start learning in ways that work best for us at a speed that helps us learn the most.

In writing, we are studying Saturday and Teacakes to learn different examples of author's craft so that when we write our personal narratives next week, they can be filled with powerful strategies!

We all are continuing to enjoy a solid block of time for class-wide independent reading and after a week of reading conferences, I think it's safe to say this is a successful addition to our class schedule.

Question of the Week: What reading strategy do you enjoy using the most? Why? Email me by Wednesday morning for a chance to win!

Our Class "Shelf"ie!

As students complete books, they fill out a book spine to add to our class "shelf"ie. The wall started out empty and our goal is to have it filled (maybe even overflowing!) by the end of the year. We are only five days into the school year and we already have books on our shelf! Keep up the fantastic reading everyone!

One Week Down!

It was a fantastic first week in 6th Grade! We spent time discussing how independent reading and free writing should look and sound so that our time spent in these moments are as engaging and successful as possible throughout the year.

Coming up this week ...

• We'll be talking about good strategies that readers use to stay engaged with their books.
• We'll chat about what makes a good letter and will be starting our own Letter Logs to keep in touch throughout the school year! (We'll be reading one of my favorite picture books to introduce this concept!)
• We'll start talking about different genres to help us decide what books we love the most ... and maybe even explore some new ones!
• Finally ... we'll have time for independent reading! So come ready to curl up with a good book!

Question of the Week: What picture book do you think we'll be reading? Email me an answer by Monday morning to win some candy!

HINT: The answer is somewhere else on this blog!