It was so lovely to see EVERY family here last night for Open House! The students were on fire, and so proud to show you around our classroom. I didn't even need to be here! Thank you all for coming out (and getting stuck in traffic!) to see our space.

Thank you also for sending in your conference sign-up sheets. Your confirmation will come home in Tuesday's homework folder. Keep your eye out!

Fourth grade mathematicians have finished their first multiplication unit. They reviewed what it means to multiply and they practiced using what they know to figure out what they don't know. Their final assessment was all about factors and multiples, and they all showed that they have a solid understanding of how we use these. The last few days, they have been involved in some "3-Act Problems," trying to figure out how many doughnuts were in a huge box, how long it took to fill a number of jars with water, etc. They have enjoyed the challenge!  Finally, we have talked a lot about using multiples of ten, and what it means to "add a zero" when you are multiplying by 10. They now understand that they aren't actually adding a zero, but instead MOVING the number over in place value and placing a ten in the ones place!  Monday we will start a short unit on measurement and data.

Third graders are still working on their multiplication unit and are busy making arrays to learn about dimensions and area. They are still working on understanding that multiplying means EQUAL GROUPS, and that skip counting is another way of getting at multiplication. We still have a few weeks to go in their unit, and then they will also move on to a measurement and data unit. We are taking our time to build this important foundation!

Literacy continues daily. Students are reading books at their levels and paying attention to character traits. We are tying to move away from retelling and into the realm of having thoughts and ideas about who are characters are, what they care about, etc.  In writing, we have done a lot of work to come up with story ideas (true stories for 3rd graders and fiction stories for 4th) and have planned using a variety of strategies. Some have drawn pictures, others have used graphic organizers, and others have made story arcs. Today we started drafting, writing for as long as we could to get as much of our stories down as possible. Next week we will finish drafting and start the hard work of revising!  We've also started our spelling program, which is a phonics based program this year. So far we are looking at beginning and ending consonant clusters and parts of words. Soon we will get into different kinds of syllabication.

We finished our first energy unit and have moved into Vermont Geography. This week we learned what a map is and what features it has. Then we examined a map of Vermont and added its most important features like the Green Mountains and Lake Champlain. We will move into more details about Vermont's regions next week.

Next week is a crazy one! We have our field trip on Tuesday (please let me know if you plan to join us and make sure you have completed all necessary paperwork.) Then we have a delay on Wednesday. Weather permitting, we will walk to the park for our tree study again on Friday from 9:00 until 11:00. I'd love to have volunteers to help with that trip! Please let me know if you can join us.

Finally, on to bread. We have eaten 3 kinds of bread this week, and the students are excited to start making it themselves and selling it to you!  I will make a Sign-Up Genius this weekend and get the link to you soon so that you can pre-order either French, Cinnamon, or Dill bread.  I'd love some help with ingredients!  I need bread flour, sugar, eggs, and butter. If you can help, that would be great. Send the ingredients in any time!

Next week's sharing theme: Something purple!

Enjoy the weekend!