Thursday, January 9

Happy Thursday! Kiddos were a little less chatty today so if the pattern continues, we'll be back to usual tomorrow. We had Guidance with Mrs. Vidic today~ask your kiddo what life lesson they discussed today. In Math, we discussed that we've been doing a lot of problem-solving, inquiry and self-discovery but some are still struggling with making it all make sense so I took today to instruct them directly on what we've learned and help them to make the connections, especially with common denominators. Then, they had time to practice and apply. I feel that they did much better showing their understanding and actually seemed to persevere and problem solve more than with the activities that are supposed to promote problem-solving...hmmm...My game plan for the future is to mix the two types of instruction more and hopefully, we'll have a better balance. Your child should be able to find equivalent fractions, make common denominators, add and subtract fractions with like denominators and compare fractions. Next week, we're moving on to multiplying fractions. Please help your child to review their basic facts as this will make this skill much easier for them. After indoor recess, Lina showed Doon the "Instructions" that she found and he was definitely excited and thought that they were important too! In Reader's Workshop, students created their "Year in Pictures" for their 2013 and in Writer's Workshop, we wrote our SMART goals for this trimester. They will be bringing them home to share them with you tomorrow.