#4thchat Archive
#4thchat is a hashtag for teachers or anyone to talk about educational issues relating to 4th grade. Using #4thchat will create a network of 4th grade teachers or teachers working with 9-10 year olds across the world. We welcome anyone who 1. teaches 4th grade 2 .Works with 4th grade students and or 4th grade teachers 3. Likes 4th grade teachers (Groupies are encouraged).
Monday October 3, 2016
Welcome folks! Nancy from Mass. checking in tonight as we talk about Writing Across the Curric. How are you tonight?
My absolute favorite PD time of the week! Hello, ! How is everyone tonight? I’m Jenn from IN.
Hello tweeps. Sorry I’m late but just getting home. Paula here from New Orleans.
Had a great Monday, but broke my glasses and cn barely see. LOL
Hello, friends, ! How are you guys!
Elizabeth from Ohio. Doing well!
Mine Too because I get to see you ladies!
Howdy Jenn! Hope all is well in your neck of the woods!
Ohno! That’s the worst- no backup pair?!
Howdy Paula, Hope you were able to have a good week.
All is well- that is, if a bit crazy counts!
Yes, just located my backup pair. Now I can see.
Awww - you sure know what to say!!! :)
Hi, Billy! How’s that baby of yours?
Good has a little cold but otherwise great!
Hi Elizabeth - How are you tonight? Glad you’re here!
Hi Nancy. My week went okay. The funeral was Friday. Sad to have to attend a double one.
Hate when the babies are sick! :(
Joining from Northern California. Cooking pumpkins for my class to try tomorrow. Today we added costumes… https://t.co/0PqGgLxWDk
Happy you are here, Elizabeth!
Finally remembered Im glad I looked at my twitter
Hooray! Glad you checked it out!
And we sure love getting to “see” you here. Seems like everyone has a cold right now.
Q1: Do all of the Ts in your school truly believe they are writing Ts no matter what subject they teach?
First since my son Aiden arrived. Back to work in a few weeks!
Wow-you get to make food & bring it in?? Amazing. We can not do that. I wanted to share some venison stew but couldn't.
Love your minions. My Ss love roasted pumpkin seeds.
A1: writing has been a big focus in our district for a few years so yes
Hi Laigha - glad you remembered. I hope you get extra credit from your prof for showing up!
Congratulations, Erica! Nothing like a newborn! :) Glad you are taking a timeout with us!
A1: Don't know too much at Lawson. But at St Mary I'd say definitely yes. Will ask my Ts about their schools when I Observe
Congratsssss! So excited for you! Glad you have some time before getting back in the swing of things.
A1: We are doing some school-wide training to make sure all Ts address writing in their subject areas.
we just offer it but can't make a child take it. and probably just my school in my district is that flexible
A1: I can't speak too much about my new school yet, but overall, I can say I've seen more writing across the curr than I used to
A1: I don’t know if they TRULY believe, but I feel like they understand that they are…does this make sense?
A1: Not all, but most. Most are seeing that need.
A1: The CC has helped the math Ts realize the importance of having their Ss write in math classes.
- hello from PA. Off today for Jewish NY - L'Shana Tovah
Q2: What can ELA Ts do to help foster writing across the curriculum on your campus?
The presentation for 10/4 has TONS of great shares! Amazing people !
Makes me sad because it helps build a lot of background knowledge - plus it brings everyone together.
I teach all subjects in 4th grade -
A1: Right or wrong, standardized testing has required all teachers to care about writing; its part of all subjects' testing.
Hi, Meg, and welcome to .
I think that was always a shortfall of NCLB was that we didn't interrelation of subjects
A1: I feel like we all know and try…just have a very full list of “to dos” and don’t know how to prioritize them!
Erica!!!! So glad you are here! How are your ‘Shining Stars’ doing this year?
it does. Even though farming community many students stay within a few blocks of the "city" last week we did eggplant
- Years ago I worked w a S w autism - he did well with integration of subjects as 4th grade milkshake
It was fabulous! Science in reading this week and we are all LOVING it! How about yours?
I think it relates to so many areas of the curriculum & just think of the writing prompts that can be given.
A2: Share the language that they use when writing with the Ss to keep consistency across the curriculum.
We are having training in Empowering Writers this year. Excited about it.
A2: ELA teachers need to lead the movement to use writing more. ELAs should help other teachers find ways to use writing
. Sharing anchors charts with all subject Ts in a great idea.
Q2: share, model, show, engage other Ts
I think that with the Common Core, writing is expected & used in all areas.
Q3: Do you collaborate with Ts in other disciplines? If so share your experiences. If not, how could you start?
One way of using math and writing is to have Ss write their own word problems. This demonstrates the highest level of learning
Is Empowering Writers a program or a book?
A1: Hi All, Heidi from TN dropping by... :) Sadly, I’m one of those teachers that is a reluctant writer :( I’m trying to learn.
tell us what makes you reluctant
Happy New Year to all those celebrating! https://t.co/iRJlO844jf
- hello from PA. Off today for Jewish NY - L'Shana Tovah
consider taking courses through your local Writing & Literature Project BEST writing PD ever!!
I recognize a lot of those projects. LOL Love connecting with you and your Ss.
Writing in 1/2 is SO different from . Trying to learn all the text structures & formats… better at math :)
Start small :) no need to over complicate it
Yes, L’Shana Tovah to both of you.
A3 Yes! The longer I teach a grade on a team, I have found the more familiar I become with all standards.
A3: we are all self contained but we collaborate across school and district
Love when the kids see things are connected! Anchor charts sure do help.
A3: We are doing our mini research projects in Social Studies class and then will also do a research pro. in Science.
A2: I would LOVE to have more PD on campus of Ts sharing how they teach, encourage, & support the Ss with writing :)
One thing about writing that gets overlooks is how it creates a special relationship between reader and writer Ts need that with Ss
- consider weekly writing FUN - poems are a great way to play with words
A3: I often mention what our class is working on for projects, but haven’t with writing….yet!
Q4: Does your school have a writing curriculum? If so please share.
I do as well. I think our students do not see writing as a separate entity but rather a part of everything. https://t.co/71zY7QyE84
I teach all subjects in 4th grade -
Me too…sometimes it feels like there’s not enough time to do everything in one day & do it well. Still learning 4th :)
we use Lucy Caulkins, Being a Writer and teacher ideas - LOVE National Writing Project!!
A4: Currently we do not have a set writing curriculum. We’ve been a 6+ Traits school for yrs. Think we are due for something new.
A4: we just adopted and started using Wonders...it's an attempt but not user friendly
just saw Heart Maps by Georgia Hear - might be a great resource
I have no idea but growing up writing was a part of our SFA ELA program
This is not to be under-rated. Learning from colleagues makes sense. Fabulousness right under our noses https://t.co/GSwNCB2yVJ
Q2: share, model, show, engage other Ts
Would love to see examples of rubrics for writing too. Not complicated, just simple…make sense?
Paula, I could say the same…our quad does 6 traits blended with Writers’ Workshop.
We feel that pressure too. Each teaches ELA and 3 blocks of another subj. Because we switch, no time to "catch up" later
A3: Since we all teach all the subjects, my team collaborates together. Time is sometimes an issue for gathering.
Heidi- do you have common planning time each week? Or just meet when you can?
And Please consider sharing them on Twitter with :) We’d love to help share our solutions!
A4: I highly recommend checking out the new from and
A4 part b; We used a great writing program during a summer school session I'll have to check in my classroom what it is called
about 15-20 min. a day that overlap by time we get Ss to MAPS & take a restroom break. Try to share as much as can
Excellent - You are sure engaging those kids. Love your Techie club idea!
It’s asking for permission request any thoughts?
I love empowering writers!! We use Lucy Calkins now. Wish we still had EW!!
A3: We are self-contained - but we do collaborate on projects in our team. We meet 1x/week in a PLC meeting.
You can learn a lot from the word problems Ss write.Also like Ss to explain their thinking in a journal-then share.
Oops just changed the share permissions refresh your screen and it should work.
Q5: What writing “common language” is spoken across all grade levels in your school? (Ex. “hook” “closure” rubric)
A4: Just getting stared with Text Structures. Looking at mentor text to see how authors use description, then writing with it.
I can’t EVEN imagine! We take a lot for granted by the time they get to 4th!
Hey Dave! So glad you’re here! Just practicing our Mystery Location call today. You have any availability on Friday?
A5: There is not common language structure in place in our building.
A5: Interested to see everyone's responses at writing language is so rarely talked about in my school...
A5: yes common core language is used in every classroom and freely with our students and parents has taken a lot of outreach/collab
I would say there used to be, but now it’s different & depends on “style of writing” expository, narrative, etc…
Do you ever feel like you don’t know which thing to do first?!
A5: The school I work at has a District wide Trait wheel and a school wide Acronym about behavior C.H.A.M.P.S
Making connections with our students is of UTMOST importance - you are so right!
This could work with Poet-tree project! https://t.co/SphNQDBd1w
- consider weekly writing FUN - poems are a great way to play with words
We share plans. I plan for math. I follow the plans that my team mate creates for ELA. She’s FABULOUS
Do you use a specific writing program?
How many people work in Self-contained vs not self contained. I've only ever been in self contained so how does that work in 4th
Not really- my quad has blended our own curriculum…
Q6: What kind of grading is used for constructed response answers on tests given in other disciplines in your school?
How wonderful! Glad you have a teammate as great as you! https://t.co/aFrF6cMNpQ
We share plans. I plan for math. I follow the plans that my team mate creates for ELA. She’s FABULOUS
I've always been a fan of rubrics that lay out every category and average the scores in each category then adds the Categories
Does everyone have a state writing assessment? Our Ss read & write to a prompt about that reading. Different ?
A6: We use the rubric provided to us by the IN Dept of Ed for each type of writing.
A6: We use rubrics…fuzzy as to what kind at this time. Changes are coming :)
Q7: What are some fun ideas to encourage writing across the curriculum you’ve tried or heard about?
letters in SS as immigrants, , how to be poems in science, riddles in math
A7: Have all Ss write paper blog and other Ss respond (comment) by adding sticky notes around edge. Line the halls.
That's what PAARC was like last year. Previous to that it was all Narrative Assessment.
A7: I post themes on a bulletin board in the cafeteria hoping to inspire thought/writing.
A7: Using to practice commenting in paragraphs. Post journal prompt, kids respond with comments. Very engaging
A7: Using the RAFT Writing Strategy-Can be creative, unusual point of view; different audience. Ss seem to enjoy.
Love the paper blogging Lesson Paula - gets the Ss motivated for the “real” deal!
A7: Allow Ss to letter letters to others at school (in different grades) have Ss deliver the “mail”.
Q8: Would Ts join forces in your school to do collaborative writing that could be used as a grade in more than one subject?
Sorry to leave early...Thanks . Great topic and shares tonight! Have a WONDERFUL evening!
. Yes, love doing paper blogs before getting going on our real blogs.
Have a great week, Heidi!
A7: Using GDocs, have Ss in different grades write a spooky Halloween story together to share over PA system.
I LOVE this idea - touches more than just 4th graders. You go girl! :) https://t.co/FDrS1D80Pm
A7: I post themes on a bulletin board in the cafeteria hoping to inspire thought/writing.
Good seeing you Heidi - thx for getting the info to me! :)
I think GDocs has made writing so much more fun! Ss love to collaborate & receive comments. I know I give better feedback
I might suggest this - we have school wide reading incentive - why not a writing incentive!! Excellent! https://t.co/ingOOkplWS
Thanks for my comoderators- and for being amazing and keeping alive, strong and well! Invite more folks!
. Love the Voice Typing (in GDoc tools). Kids love seeing their voice turned into words on the doc so easily.
