Newsletter: September 19th

Dear Families,

Thanks so much to everyone who was able to make it out for Opening Picnic last Thursday. I know the kids always enjoy showing you around the classroom. If you missed it, no worries. we have two other opportunities to see what the kids have been up to. The first is Curriculum Night. This will be next Thursday evening at 7:15 (6:30 for K-2 classes). We're poised to show you what we've been doing as mathematicians, particularly our inquiry into multiplication. The following week our class will host Gathering. The date for that is Friday, October 4th. The kids have already generated a lot of great ideas for things we might share out.

And now, here is a look at some of the work we've been engaged in over the past week...

As I mentioned above, we've launched an inquiry into multiplication. To start, we
began finding arrays for each number between 1-24. The challenge was to find out
how many different rectangles they could create for each number.

The kids worked with partners on this. They first used blocks to find the arrays and then
traced them onto graph paper to be cut out, labeled, and glued down.

My goal during this exploration is to create as many
physical representations as possible to help the kids acquire visual models
for multiplication. More than just memorizing multiplication facts, we're
working to build a strong conceptual understanding of all this. That said, we'll
also be memorizing those facts later down the line.

After many opportunities to see these problems as an array, we'll move to multiplication
 equations as a representation of groups. For instance, three packs of pencils would be
3x24, or 72 pencils. You can certainly extend this work at home by identifying things
in the house that come in groups (four panes in each window, three pieces of silverware
at each setting, etc) and relate this back to multiplication.

Last week we had our first visit to the RCPL. As always, the kids had a great time
browsing and checking out books.

Soon we'll learn how to request books on-line using our Chromebooks. That will help
us to make even more intentional choices for our reading.

We also had our second meeting with our first grade reading buddies. This week the kids
took notes on all the things they noticed their reading buddies already know how
to do as a reader. Their lists were quite impressive.

Our third graders shared these lists with their buddies. While these sorts of engagements
support the younger readers to continue strong reading practices, they also help me assess what
each of our kids know about reading. To name the strong behaviors other readers possess, one must know
what these behaviors are. So, in naming what we want our first grade buddies to do we also
remind ourselves of what we need to be doing ourselves. 

This really is such a cool part of our week. Lots of coaching going one, reader-to-reader.

Our explorations are always one of the kids' favorite parts of the day. We recently added
"cardboard creations" to the list of options available during this time. While their initial
creations have run the gamut of possibilities, we'll eventually focus these more on
architectural/engineering projects.