ELA Update

We have been doing a great job during our READ Rotation time each day. Our focus over the last few weeks has been to develop our comprehension skills where Narrative Elements are concerned. Students have learned how to make inferences based on textual evidence and their prior knowledge.

We have studied Story Elements such as: characters, setting, problem, rising action, climax, falling action and solutions. Ask them about our Story Maps and why I am no ordinary teacher when it comes to filling out a story map. Ask them what we do differently where the climax is concerned.

Theme can be a difficult comprehension concept for most fourth graders. We have spent some time learning that the theme of a narrative is the Big Idea or central message the author is trying to convey to us, the readers. Our students added these interactive notes to our ELA Notebooks as a reference to come back to throughout the year.

We've use texts such as: The Thunder and Lightning Men and the drama Pushing Up the Sky, to help us practice using GUM questions to determine a story's theme. These are questions whose answers will STICK with us and assist in arriving at a story's theme.

Ask your students to show you the hand gesture reminders we've created to remember inferences, story elements and theme.

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