Gallery of Student Work
I have taught fourth grade since 2015 and teach English language arts to all three sections of fourth grade in my building. Below you will find some of the assignments and projects completed by my fourth graders over the past few years.
Visualizing with Chalk
Every year in our 4th grade reading curriculum we complete a genre study unit using the book Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume. In part of this genre study we practice different reading strategies. We work a lot on visualizing, in our minds, what is happening in the story. We create “mind movies” that help us comprehend. For this activity we read a chapter together while practicing our visualizing skills. At the end, we partner up and go outside and draw one scene of what we visualized with chalk. This is a way for me to check and see if kids are able to visualize what they read and see if they are able to comprehend the chapter. In the picture on the left you will see a couple of students who drew a scene from chapter two where Fudge places green stamps all over the Yarbys’ suitcase. In the picture on the right you will see a couple of students who also drew a scene from chapter two where Fudge ate a rose from the flowers his mom set on the table. I’ve chosen these particular pieces because these girls did a nice job visualizing a part from the book and brought it to life with the details in their drawings.
Letters to Judy Blume
As I mentioned above, every year in 4th grade we read the book by Judy Blume. The students absolutely adore this book and I always have a bunch of kids ask me if this book has been made into a movie. While it hasn’t yet been made into a movie, we discuss how we can tell someone our opinion and it might persuade him or her to think like us. The fourth grade writing standards ask students to write an opinion piece supporting their point of view with reasons and information. Every year my students write letters to Judy Blume telling her how much they enjoyed reading her book and why they think it would make a great movie. I actually send the letters to her and she always writes back to us. So not only are students learning how to write their opinions and support it with reasons they are also learning how to write and send letters. Click on the link to see some of my students’ work. I’ve chosen these particular pieces because they were organized well, had great reasons, and had good transitions.
States Research Project
In the 4th grade social studies curriculum, students learn about the different states and which regions they belong in. I tie the social studies standards into the writing standards and have the students complete a short research project. Students work to gather information from different books and web sources. For this project I allow students to use an app called Book Creator to write their paper. Click on the links below to see some of my students’ work. I’ve chosen these particular pieces because they were organized well, had great information, and were visually pleasing.
Poppy Comprehension Project
As I mentioned above, every year in 4th grade we complete three genre study units. The last book we read is Poppy by AVI and is usually finished a couple weeks before school is let out for the summer. I try to have a lot of fun with this book and allow students to show off their comprehension skills that have been developed throughout the year. After we finish the book I allow the kids to create a fun project that shows their understanding of the book. They can choose to do anything they want as long as it shows me they were able to comprehend what they read. The students can work in small groups, in pairs, or on their own. I love this project because the students are able to show their creativity and I’m always amazed at what they come up with. I’ve had kids create a newscast, game shows, posters, flipbooks, letters, summaries, drawings, and so much more. In 2018 a group of students wanted to create a play. It got so much attention across the fourth grade that nearly 20 students were involved in the production. They created a script, costumes, and used their recess time to practice and get better. It became such a big deal across the fourth grade that everyone wanted to see it. We rented out time in the gym and all three fourth grade classes got to see the play. It was even filmed by the school broadcast crew and was played on the daily announcements. I was very proud of their work because they did an amazing job working together and really showed their understanding and love for the book.
Throw Kindness like Confetti
One thing I have been working on over the years is a way to build a positive classroom environment where students feel respected and cared for. One bulletin board I created in 2017 was meant for just that. This is my Throw Kindness Like Confetti board. It is an interactive board where kids can share something kind they saw someone do, or share how someone was kind to them. They choose a confetti piece from the pocket, write about the kind act they witnessed, and stick it on the board. The students enjoy reading the kind things that others are doing and get excited when someone shares something about them. So not only does it boost their confidence it also encourages others to act kindly towards their classmates.
Searching for Homophones
In 4th grade part of our grammar curriculum requires the students to know the difference between to, too, and two as well as the difference between their, there, and they’re. We learned about all of their meanings and when to use them. We also talked about how these words are called homophones and we discovered that these are not the only homophones in the English language and in fact there are hundreds of them! I’ve encouraged my students to be on the hunt for common homophones and when they find a pair they can write them on our anchor chart. They have gone wild with this! This picture was taken after the first day of explaining homophones. I’m now at the point where I’m going to have to start another piece of anchor chart paper to fit them all!
Vocabulary Creations
For this activity, students are given ten vocabulary words at the beginning of the week. They practice and get familiar with these words using the app Spelling Vocabulary City. We then discuss these words as they appear in our genre unit book over the course of the week. On Fridays they break out their creativity and craft descriptions or a way to teach/show the meaning of one of the words they learned about. In the past I’ve had students create flipbooks, posters, videos, mini plays, and so much more. In one picture I have a student who created a poster about the word fang. She included drawings of different animals and creatures that have fangs. In my other example, the boy pictured here created an ABC’s book of the word embarrassing. For each letter of the alphabet he wrote a sentence of something that someone might find embarrassing. I’ve chosen these particular pieces because these students chose a creative way to show their understanding of these vocabulary words.
Photo Attributions
Visualizing with Chalk image is owned by myself and follows my school's photo policies.
Letters to Judy Blume image is owned by myself and follows my school's photo policies.
USA Flag courtesy of Wix.
Poppy Comprehension Project image is owned by myself.
Throw Kindness like Confetti image is owned by myself and follows my school's photo policies.
Homophones image is owned by myself.
Grammar Creations image is owned by myself and follows my school's photo policies.