News and Notes 3/7

News and Notes

From Fourth Grade

Computation Champions

The fourth grade mathematicians are working hard and digging deeply into their study of long multiplication. This week we made connections between the different strategies we've been working on. We ended the week by finally exploring the standard algorithm (short-cut) for long multiplication. We have been building up to this strategy in a very intentional way so that the fourth graders understand the concepts behind the computation. It is exciting to see how much mental math and estimation students are using in their practice work. The awareness of place value is an essential piece to success in long multiplication. We've also been highly motivated to memorize our multiplication snap facts, which makes the computation process much easier. We will continue to push forward with more computation skills and strategies, and it is certain that these fourth grade computation champions will continue to succeed!

Visualizing

As we continue our study of comprehension strategies, this week we spent some reading time focused on visualizing. To visualize means to get a movie or picture in your head while you are reading. A strong reader will be able to visualize the story they are reading,which helps with comprehension. The fourth graders marked places in their books when they visualized, and even spent some time drawing pictures of the things that they visualized while reading. In the coming weeks we will continue to apply the strategy of visualizing to a new type of text: poetry. It'll be fun to see what we picture in our minds as we enter the world of imagery and poetic language!

Colonial

In our ongoing study of history, we've reached the time of the colonization of the “New World.” The fourth graders did a great job this week of connecting their prior knowledge of the European exploration of North and South America. In the coming weeks we will explore what life was like for people in Colonial America, as well as discover the forces at work that will eventually lead to the American Revolution.