Friday, December 13, 2019

Hello All,
I was so pleased when I came into school this morning and saw a note from yesterday's guest teacher. She had nothing but praise for Team 3/4! The kids really rose to the occasion and showed how their best sides. Well done!

Between the delayed opening on Wednesday and the fact that I was out yesterday, the week seems like it was super short. Next week will fly by, and then it will be January! Sometimes I would like to slow down time just a little bit...

We are finishing up our addition and subtraction units and getting ready to start our geometry units in both 3rd and 4th grades.  Third graders are still working on different ways that subtraction shows up in story problems (comparison, give away, or how many left.)  Sometimes they still think they need to add when the problem context isn't clear. We will continue to practice this skill during Math Menu.  Fourth graders finished their 10,000 chart!  They all know how to add large numbers using the US algorithm. Subtraction across a few zeroes is still a bit tricky, but we will keep practicing even as we move into geometry.

We continue to read and write non-fiction. We are learning tools to make reading non-fiction more exciting by activating prior knowledge, listening when our brains say, "Wow!" or "Really?" and being willing to be curious. As we write, we are organizing by making a tiny table of contents across our fingers for each chapter that we write. We are also learning how to write introductory sentences for each new section.

The students are just about finished with their science research about how humans use natural resources to make electricity. It was hard for them to grasp at first, but they have watched many videos and done quite a lot of research, and I think they understand how each resource is collected and used to make electricity, and how it harms the planet. We are growing smart consumers!

Next week will be fun. We will try to keep things as normal as possible at the beginning of the week. On Thursday we will get together with Mrs. Flint's class to make winter crafts. Then on Friday, we will walk down to visit our trees, make individual challah breads, and bake them in the outdoor oven.  Many thanks to the volunteers who have offered to make the dough and help with the braiding.  If you are interested in helping, you still can!  We could use some more bodies to walk to the park with us, and we'd love having you around for the baking as well. If you'd like to help, just let me know. We will leave school at 9:15 to walk to the park, and we hope to be back and making bread by 10:15 or 10:30. We will bake the bread right after recess at 11:30. Join us!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Think snow!

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