Tuesday, September 12

Hi parents,

I've really got to thank the students for the incredibly hard work they put in today.

In the morning, we practiced sentence writing, using this week's spelling words. We talked about complete vs. incomplete sentences, and how even a small sentence can be complete (for example, "I like cats."), and a long sentence can still be incomplete ("I like cats because they are fluffy and.")

The Grade 3 students were asked to write 5 complete sentences, and the Grade 4s did 10. I honestly didn't think they'd be able to do it, but somehow, they did. We'll probably be writing 12 page essays by the end of the year.

The writing was actually the easy part of our morning though, as we also had a fire drill, and then learned about rounding. I am really bad at teaching rounding. There's just so much math vocabulary involved, it is a deceptively complicated concept, especially when you start having to round the same number to the nearest ten, hundred, thousand, etc... By the end of grade 3, we'll be rounding to the nearest hundred-thousand.

I think the best way to learn rounding is just to do it. So that's what we spent a lot of our morning doing. Today, we just worked on rounding 3-digit numbers to the nearest ten, and then to the nearest hundred.

It was a struggle, but eventually we got there, and I truly commend the students for their perseverance! 

In the afternoon, we learned about Maria Montessori, and the origins of the Montessori method, by reading a Little People, Big Dreams book about her.

We also talked about the Daily LA Station "Listen to Reading". For this station,  students are able to listen to books be read aloud, and build an appreciation for the expression, volume, and pacing used by 'professional' readers. 

If you have an extra pair of headphones that your child could use for Daily LA, please send it to school with them! 

If not, that's okay, we have a few sets at school too.

Have a nice day!

Zac