Fourth Grade with Mrs. Connell

Download the genre bookworm here to fill out a bookworm circle on a book!

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We kick the year off with an author study of Andrew Clements.  In groups we read Jake Drake Bully Buster, Frindle, and Landry News.  Individually, students also read some of his other books, such as Lunch Money, A Week in the Woods, Double Trouble in Walla Walla, and many more.  We like his style because he writes about characters we can identify with – students in school!  Check out his website to learn more about Clements and his books:  http://www.andrewclements.com/

While reading trade books, students participate in literature circles.  There are a number of different roles that rotate around to one reader at a time to help focus on a particular skill, such as discussion director, summarizer, artful artist, connector, word finder, passage picker, and artful artist.  Each student comes prepared to share their unique experience with the reading, which led to some rich discussion.

We are currently trying to expand our reading repertoire by really getting to know the many different reading genres.  It is not just fiction or non-fiction.  There are just so many different types of books out there to read.  A current class favorite is mythology.  I found a great website outlining various genres as well as ample recommended books in each category.  Check it out!  http://www.booknutsreadingclub.com/genrelist.html

Below are some more websites to help understand the many genres to choose from:

http://www.planetozkids.com/oban/legends.htm

http://pbskids.org/africa/tale/index.html – has a Swahili folk tale you can read or have read to you.  It also has a virtual kalimba you can play with when you are done!