Week of October 11th

We had a short but productive week in Room 213. We took our assessment for the first part of our multiplication and division unit. After focusing on factors and multiples, we are now concentrating on multiplication. We are exposing the kids to multiple methods of computing a product with the hope that there is at least one method that they can embrace and apply as they learn multiplication. We will move from 1 x 4 multiplication to multi-digit multiplication in the upcoming week.

In science, we conducted an experiment that focused on erosion and deposition, flow and velocity. The kids put pinches of marine salt into their flowing streams to watch to see where each of the above took place. Then, they tried to analyze and provide evidence directly from their experiment to substantiate their beliefs. Our final experiment of the week had the kids creating tributaries within their stream tables and watching the effect of multiple streams on erosion and deposition. We are now over half way through our first science unit.

Reading and writing continued with the focus on character development. I finished Because of Mr. Terupt, our first class read-aloud and we are working on a project that will allow the kids to show me their ability to summarize a scene and to identify character traits and how characters change throughout a book. I look very forward to sharing these with you at conferences which are now less than a month away (really?).

Please plan on joining the fourth grade team and all the fourth grade students at an orientation for Outdoor Education on Thursday the 17th, right after school at 3:30 in our auditorium. This is for both parents and their fourth grade students; due to size constraints we ask that no siblings attend. It will be an opportunity for you to hear an overview of the trip and for you and your child to ask questions. The presentation does a nice job of alleviating some of the anxiety within the kids. I look very forward to sharing information with both you and your child.