Hello all.

We had another great week full of learning. It was great meeting so many of you at the student-led conferences. Thank you for making the time to come and see what your child is doing all day!

In math, we continue with arithmetic. We add in subtraction this coming week. We're taking it slowly as many students are still trying to grasp the idea of place value and how it relates to regrouping when using different algorithms. We use various manipulatives/objects to help us visualize place value, including base-10 blocks, ten frames, drawings, etc.

We're evolving our understanding of math to go beyond the set ways of thinking (x + y = Z) to seeing math as integral to life, and in fact present in our everyday activities. We'll be starting a project this week that centers on creating a budget for a new pet. This will involve lots of addition and subtraction, as well as critical thinking. It should be fun!

If you want to play some math games with your kids and help them build their number sense, try something like this:

Have your child tell you as many ways as they can how each number DOES NOT belong. For example, in the above example how could they explain why the 17 doesn't belong but the other three do? Then cycle through how each other number does not belong and what the remaining numbers have in common. This will help them think about patterns, relationships, prime, odd, even numbers, etc. They'll probably see patterns you didn't even notice!

In social studies, we are still wandering through the mountains and forests of Peru. Mrs. Wilson had the students work in small groups to create semi-topgraphical maps of Peru using clay. The kids loved it and were quite creative.

We also created guidebooks for time travelers who might wish to visit the Inca in Peru. Our students warned of unsolicited brain surgeries, the dangers of theft in Inca times, and the annoyance of working 7-days a week and paying taxes!

We also practiced a bit of our burgeoning art skills by taking another crack at drawing toucans, this time using pastels. The results were pretty good, I think! I especially like the blending on the beak of the one toucan.

In science, we will be having a test in 2 weeks (first week of December). The test will cover some of the animals and insects we have been learning about, focusing on their adaptations, life-cycles, and the vocabulary we have been learning (ecosystem, taxonomy, pupa, thorax, etc.)