Vacation is finally upon us!  It's been hard to contain our enthusiasm today, but we have managed! We started our day with the annual JES chess tournament -- results to be shared when it ends.  We took a break from chess for our tropical themed writing celebration, sipping juice with umbrellas in the cups while wearing flower leis.  This helps those of us who aren't going to warmer climates next week!

Our week was full. We finished our persuasive writing pieces and completed our on demand assessments. I was happy to see a lot of the strategies we learned reflected in the writing the students did on their own!  We also finished up our civics unit and the accompanying assessment. The students found creative ways to show me what they know about all our legislators need to consider when passing a bill into law.  We had our mock legislature with Miss Fecura's class, and I was so impressed at how thoughtful all the "senators" were. They are ready to be active participants in our democracy now!  Too bad they are too young to vote...

Our math work continued in earnest this week. 3rd graders started learning about how multiplication and division are related, and they worked hard to understand how to use what they know to figure out what they don't know, always remembering that "10 is their best friend."  4th graders began working on division with remainders and trying to wrap their heads around what exactly that means. They learned the difference between a straight mathematical answer (6r2, for example) and the answer to a specific question in a story problem.  Ask them to tell you about this -- they get it now!


I have heard from all of you regarding conferences, and I have made a tentative schedule which looks like it will give everyone their first or second choice. I will take one more look at it over vacation and then send home a confirmation on Thursday March 5. I'm looking forward to seeing you and discussing your children.

I hope you all have a wonderful, warm, fun-filled week (+) with your children. I will miss them!