Monday, December 2

 Hi parents,

We had a pretty good day today. In the morning, we did more work around using commas in writing. I think my mistake in previous years has been not spending enough time explicitly teaching commas, so this year, I'm really trying to provide students with a broad range of situations in which commas can be used effectively.

In math, we learned a new game: "Around the World". It's a new take on a classic math game by the same name, in which students competed against each other to answer math fact problems quickly. In this new version, they compete against themselves and the clock instead, and try to circulate the classroom, answering 22 multiplication problems correctly in under a minute. At this point in the year, it's virtually impossible. It's a more fun way to build fact fluency with less pressure than competing against classmates.

We went over this week's spelling pattern (-ur). We also did Daily LA, and started watching the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra's "Napi and the Rock". This short play showcases indigenous storytelling, and teaches students how indigenous peoples used storytelling as a means of explaining different parts of the natural world. It connects really well to all the work we've been doing around erosion, landforms, and earth's layers. 

Have a nice night!

Zac