Almost Spring Break!

I would like to thank all of the families who came to family night and donated materials to our disaster kits. Our disaster kit is almost complete for auction! Today we made models of volcanoes to show when we present our projects.

Yesterday we assembled our raised planter boxes. In addition to having raised beds, we are digging up the soil in the back so we can amend it with gypsum. We are finding the work to be very difficult due to the very rocky, clay-soil we are dealing with. If any families have a pickax, we could surely use one!

In writing, we are drafting our persuasive essay about making a change at our school. Right now we are looking for evidence to support our reasons. Don't be surprised if your child starts coming up with some convincing arguments for what they want! We have been practicing doing just that. Ask your child what issue they are writing about. They have so many great ideas on ways to make our school better.

In math this week we made fraction kits. Fraction kits are a great way to see the relationships that exist between equivalent fractions. We played a game called "cover up" where we rolled fraction dice and added the number we rolled to our one whole. The object of the game was to see that one whole can be made up of many different sized fractions.

Happy Spring!

Dear IA families,

This Wednesday, we are having a our family night 4:30-7:30. Please stop by our classroom to see classwork, sign in, and take a look at our Scholastic Book Fair. One of our Charter School goals is to have 100% parent participation every semester. Family night is a great way to help us meet our goal of parent participation.

In class, we are continuing with our disaster preparedness kits. I will be sending home a handout with a list of items that you need for your home disaster kit. Each student will be responsible for contributing an item to our class kit that we will sell for a class raffle/fundraiser. In addition to the kit, each family will be completing a disaster plan.

In our Writers' workshop, we have begun drafting our persuasive essays. Each student is picking a topic that has to do with making a change at our school. We are looking at the pros and cons of each issue and deciding how to best make our argument. Some of the topics that the students have come up with are; more P.E. at school, healthier snack foods in the office, appropriate dress code, school uniforms, being a "green school" model, and having choice for our exploration classes.

In math this week, we are comparing different methods multiplication that we have learned. So far we have studied the lattice method, traditional algorithmic, chunking, and foil methods. Ask your child to explain the various ways of doing multiplication. You might learn an easier method than the one you learned in school! This week we are learning how to do the partial quotients method for division. I really like this method because it allows students to use their number sense to help them with division problems.