Tuesday, September 13

 Hi parents,

Today was another good day in room 4. We discussed rhyming words, practiced spelling, and caught up on work from yesterday. In math, we're still reviewing place value, and working on 2-digit addition using the 'number columns' strategy, which you are probably all familiar with. It involves first adding the ones, then tens, hundreds, and so on. 

An interesting way to see if your child has really grasped this concept is to intentionally write out a problem so that the place value spots are misaligned. For example,

    452

+ 3

__________

A lot or students will solve this problem as if it were "452 + 300", because they're too quick to add numbers that are on top of one another, rather than noticing what place value each number should occupy and rewriting the problem accordingly.

We also did some standard 'beginning of year' math assessments that will help me figure out math groups moving forward and know how to best meet each student where they're at.

We watched a video about Terry Fox, and had a quick class discussion. Our school's Terry Fox run is coming up on the 21st. We talked about the word 'inspire', and the students wrote about inspirational people in their lives. Or, they were able to write about Terry Fox.

In the afternoon we reviewed the "Listen to Reading" station of Daily LA. Still in the process of putting together groups, but we should be good to go by next week.

We read more of Wish Tree. It's taken a bit of a sad turn, and we had some great conversations about bullying, exclusion, and how important it is to accept one another regardless of differences.

I sent home forms about Picture Day, School Council, and some courses available to children. I also sent yearbooks home with people who ordered them last year. I believe there are still yearbooks available, so if you are interested in buying one, please let the office know!

Have a nice night!

Zac