More on Family History Reports

Introduction

I am writing this report about my family history. It is a project for Mr. Burnett’s fourth grade class, but I plan to keep it for a long time. Maybe some of my relatives will be interested and want to read it. I have learned many interesting things about some of them during the interviews. I am glad they were willing to share anecdotes from their lives with me. I am very proud of my family, and I hope you enjoy reading my report.

Family History Report

This week the fourth graders in Room 17 will be give the Family History Report project assignment. Yesterday's lesson on interviewing will likely result in requests for interviews of parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and possibly other extended family members. Although the report is not due until the end of January, this is the time of year when many relatives gather for the holidays providing an opportune time to conduct the interviews. The other parts of the report can be completed after the holidays, so students need not spend two weeks doing major homework! Here, however, is the complete assignment:

Family History Report

 

1. Interview family members. Take notes on notecards.                     

 

2. Take notes about your family members:                                      

          a. traditions

          b. background/childhood

          c. jobs

          d. hobbies

          e. anecdotes/stories

 

3. Write paragraphs from your notes. Add an introduction and

     conclusion to your report.  (rough draft)                                              

 

4. Proofread your report. Revise and make corrections. Write final

    draft.                                                                                            

 

5. Indicate on the maps (U.S. and World) where your family and

    relatives have come from.                                                            

 

6. Include Family Tree.                                                                    

 

7. Include a self-portraits and/or family photos.                              

 

8. Make an attractive cover for your report.                                     

 

9. Copy a favorite family recipe for your report.                             

 

10.Present your report orally in class.                                               

 

11.Make a bibliography for your report.                                         

 

 

 

 

 

 

This week the fourth-graders are working on an opinion essay about "Dear Mr. Winston," a story from our Reading book. Mr. Winston is a librarian who is scared stiff of snakes, even those featured in library books favored by a young girl who brings a real snake into the library one day. Mr. Winston is traumatized and winds up in the hospital. The girl's parents make her write an apology letter to Mr. Winston, but her remorse is questionable. Our fourth-graders are now asked to decide if they sympathize with Mr. Winston and feel sorry for him, or if they find him a rather silly character. In this essay they must give reasons for either opinion. Stay tuned for upcoming Writing examples.

For the record, the answer to the Science test question, "In which state of matter is ice?" is not 'Alaska!'
The correct answer is 'solid.'

Happy Thanksgiving! The fourth graders in Room 17 just completed their first pen pal letter to fourth graders in Somalia, Sierra Leone to be exact. We're hoping to get return letters next month from this troubled spot in the world. Writing isn't easy for anyone, but the fourth graders are motivated knowing that there is an audience for these letters and that subsequent correspondence will likely follow. Later this school year, we'll learn to write business letters, a more complicated format to be sure. For more thirty years, the American Quarterhorse Association in Amarillo, Texas has responded to this class project with packets of information and more for each student sending a letter. Yes, learning to write well has many rewards!

Homework. Let's review what constitutes homework for Room 17. All students should read at home for at least fifteen minutes. Even though we read a lot at school, a large volume of reading is required in order to become an independent reader, which more than anything else, will make future success in school. Any assignments not finished at school can be taken home for finishing or checking over. Assignments are always due the next day before 8:10 AM. Current events or news items, which are short summaries written on cards obtained from the classroom, are encouraged but not required. We discuss them in class each day and the students bringing them in receive a "prize."
Next month the 'Family History Report Project' assignment will be given. It will require some additional homework, mostly in the form of interviews of family members, possibly over the holidays. The students do not need to finish the whole report over the holidays, but often it is a good time to visit (interview) with relatives. Students will receive instruction on conducting the interviews and a sheet with assignment details on December 19th.

 

Parent/Teacher conferences start next week on Thursday and Friday.

Below is the revised draft of our personal narrative with revision and proofreading help from the fourth-graders. We hope you like it!

Jake

His name was Jake. I'm pretty sure that was his name although I didn't know his owners. He was the neighborhood dog from across the street. We had lots of fun together, but there was one adventure I'll never forget.

I used to run a three mile route around the neighborhood about three or four times a week. One day Jake started following me as I left the driveway.  Thinking he would soon turn around and go home, I kept running. Every time I turned, expecting him to be gone, there he was running right behind me.

After a few blocks I noticed we were approaching a dangerous situation. Two boys in Halloween masks glared at us from the street corner. I could tell they were the neighborhood troublemakers, Roscoe and Jed. Jed had a BB gun and demanded I give him two dollars. Meanwhile, Jake let out a deep growl.

As Jake's growl grew louder and more threatening, Roscoe and Jed were so scared they began to shake. Then Jake snarled and bared his large teeth. That caused both Roscoe and Jed to pee their pants and run off screaming in high-pitched voices. In fact, Jed was so terrified that he dropped the BB gun before running off like a scared rabbit. I picked it up and smashed it in two against a telephone pole.

After that, Jake and I went on many more runs together through the neighborhood. I suppose he was my bodyguard as well as my running companion, but I still don’t know who he belonged to. A few years ago he passed away. I will never forget Jake.

 

                                                          Mr. Burnett and Room 17

The following shows the rest of the story we worked on in class this week with some revisions as we learn more about the Writing process:

                         Jake

  His name was Jake. I'm pretty sure that was his name although I didn't know his owners. He was teh neighborhood dog from across the street.  We had lots of fun together, but there was one adventure I'll never forget.

  I used to run a three mile route around the neighborhood about three or four times a week. One day jake started following me as I started out.(left the driveway)  Thinking he would soon turn around and go home, I kept running. Every time I turned, expecting him to be gone, there he was running right behind me.

  After a few blocks I noticed we were approaching a problem.(a dangerous situation)  Two boys in Halloween masks glared at us from the street corner. I could tell they were the neighborhood troublemakers, Roscoe and Jed. Jed had a BB gun and demanded I give him two dollars. Meahwhile, Jake let out a deep growl.

  As Jake's growl grew louder and more threatening, Roscoe and Jed were so scared they began to shake. Then Jake snarled and bared his large teeth. That caused both Roscoe and Jed to pee their pants and run off screaming in high-pitched voices. Jed was so terrified that he dropped the BB gun before running off like a scared rabbit. I picked it up and smashed it in two against a telephone pole.
 
  After that, Jake and I went on many more funs together through the neighborhood. I suppose he was my bodyguard as well as my running companion. I won't forget him.


It's not the best it can be yet. So, read it through a few times and look for ways to improve it.

Maybe it's not quite Halloween yet, but the spiders are out there in all their scariness.

This week the fourth graders started working on their first personal narrative. They are writing about a pet dog that helps them or someone in some way. Here's one way the story could begin:

  His name was Jake. I'm pretty sure that was his real name although I never met his owners. He was the neighborhood dog that lived across the street. We had lots of fun together, but there was one adventure I'll never forget.

After finishing their rough drafts, the students will learn how to revise and edit their work until they have a final draft of their best writing so far this year. Stay tuned for more examples!

We are finished with Topic 2 in Math and about to start a unit on place value which should be mostly review. We'll see about that!

 Not as big as the fake spider in Room 17, but still spider season has arrived. Did you know you're never more than three feet from spider? Most are harmless!

We have been working on writing sentences of different types. For example, in the paragraph above you will notice a statement, question, and and exclamation. There is a fourth kind of sentence. Do you know it?

 In Math we are learning about factors and using tables to find patterns in groups of numbers. For example: See if you can answer the following correctly:

 

Ivan counted all the beans in a jar. If he counted the

beans in groups of 7, which list shows the numbers

Ivan could have named?

A

7, 14, 21, 24

B

7, 14, 28, 54

C

7, 14, 21, 28

D
14, 24, 34, 44

Tea on Friday, a long tradition for Room 17, warms and refreshes the young scholars of the fourth grade. Division dominates the Math lessons this week and next as we move forward, while continuing to review multiplication facts and learn to subtract with renaming or borrowing.

Join us for "Back to School" Night next Tuesday, September 24th, from 6 to 7 PM here in Room 17. We'll talk about a few projects and curriculum pieces, but mostly it is a chance for us to meet and check out the classroom.

In the meantime, have a good weekend!

Off to a great start, Room 17 fourth graders began the second of week of school yesterday. Right at the moment they are working hard on Math facts and subtraction with borrowing. While a lot of the first days is filled with review work in Reading and Math, it won't be long until the more challenging work begins. In fact, the kids are already learning to write and essay on their favorite dessert, and there will be more information and an example of such an essay soon. In the meantime keep doing the daily homework Reading assignment, and try to bring in a few current events from the newspaper, radio/television, or internet.

No Math Club today or for the rest of this year. Many thanks to Jack for helping us with our Math facts, long division, double digit multiplication, and fractions this year. We'll see you at the Volunteer Appreciation lunch!

MSP (Measurement of Student Progress) tests this week and next.The fourth graders made me proud today writing stories about "glowing shoes" for most of the day. Tomorrow it's Reading and next week it's Math and more Writing.

Think on this: Since 1956, no newspaper, network, or news agency has been able to correctly predict the outcome of all thirteen presidential elections--except for one group. Every four years for a half century, the quarter million children who vote in the Weekly Reader presidential poll have been right every time.

Chirping frogs indicate the onset of Spring in the Northwest. A particularly difficult bonus question-"double jeopardy"-was answered correctly this week by one of the fourth-graders after many good tries, including blossoming flowers, longer days, more sunlight, and new leaves on trees, to name a few. But for some of us, the sound of frogs in the spring is something special.

 Fourth Grade Art hits the mark again this year with the Winter Cardinal project just completed here in Room 17 at Franklin School. Students learned about composition, color, and perspective, and did a fine job of it.

The Family History Reports are in and look very good. A few oral presentations have been given with more to follow. Stay tuned! Stay warm in this Winter weather.

The Family History Report assignment is due this Thursday, January 31st. Maps were handed out today for those who have not made their own yet, and we discussed the need to include all parts of the assignment, including the rough draft, final draft (written by the student!), pictures, note cards, etc. Scroll down for the entire list. Report covers are available tomorrow for those who have yet to make their own.
It will take some time to correct and return the reports, but they will be something precious to keep and perhaps show later generations.

Family History Report: Write the Rough Draft from Notes

The rough draft is worth 20 points. Turn the notes on the cards into sentences and paragraphs for the rough draft. Feel free to embelish the notes with additional thoughts and explanations as shown below.Remember the anecdote will be the most interesting part of the report so take time to write it well. Try to capture the excitement of the story that your relative expressed during the interview.

Forler, Mary                August 10, 1989

           

            7 years old. sailed from Seattle to Nome, Alaska. Ship was

            stuck in ice. She climbed out on ice berg. Thought it was pretty.

            Sailors could not find her. One noticed her on ice berg. Remembered

            she liked bananas - “Here Mary. I have a banana for you.” She

            climbed the ladder to ship. Got in lots of trouble.  

            

         

         

         

ANECDOTE

        

            When my grandmother was only seven years old she sailed from Seattle to Nome, Alaska. During the trip the ship became stuck in ice. My grandmother thought it would be fun to climb out on the ice because it looked so pretty. So, that’s what she did. It must have been very cold on the ice, but she didn’t notice. She was having too much fun on the ice. She thought this was an exciting adventure and didn’t realize how dangerous this “adventure” really was. She could have slipped off the ice and fell to her death in the icy Alaskan water. Still, she was only seven years old and not thinking about safety.

        

             But the sailors on the ship knew about the dangers of ice and cold water. When they could not find her they became very worried and looked all over she ship for her. Finally, one of the sailors noticed a little girl standing on the ice berg next to the ship. It was Mary, my grandmother. He remembered she liked bananas, and he tried to coax her back to the ship by promising her one. “Here, Mary, I have a banana for you.” She thought that sounded delicious so she walked over to the ship’s ladder, climbed it, and got back aboard the ship. Once she was safely away from the ice and the cold water, she discovered how much trouble she was in. She was sent to bed early that night - without the banana.

        

 

Happy 2013! Here is the assignment page for the Family History Report. Over the break is often a good time to conduct interviews with family members. The whole report is not due until the end of January, however. Students need to do a minumum of three interviews, and the recommendation is a full page for each family member in the finished report. The anecdote is always the most interesting part of the report. More on the report project will posted soon.

Family History Report

 

1. Interview family members. Take notes on notecards.                     5

 

2. Take notes about your family members:                                       20

          a. traditions

          b. background/childhood

          c. jobs

          d. hobbies

          e. anecdotes/stories

 

3. Write paragraphs from your notes. Add an introduction and

     conclusion to your report.  (rough draft)                                    20

 

4. Proofread your report. Revise and make corrections. Write final

    draft.                                                                                             40

 

5. Indicate on the maps (U.S. and World) where your family and

    relatives have come from.                                                             20

 

6. Include Family Tree.                                                                     15

 

7. Include a self-portraits and/or family photos.                               20

 

8. Make an attractive cover for your report.                                      10

 

9. Copy a favorite family recipe for your report.                              20

 

10.Present your report orally in class.                                               20

 

11.Make a bibliography for your report.                                          10

 

 

 

Out of 200 possible points, I received _____________total points.