January 9, 2012 home note

January 9, 2012

Dear Parents,

Despite the lack of snow, the children manage to find creative ways to enjoy outdoor play during recesses. On Friday we had a fun PSD with the fourth graders – a vigorous “Go For 20” game followed by a silly “Amoeba-variation.” Until ample snow cover allows for skiing, we will continue active games and exercise stations focused on core strength and overall endurance.
All the children have completed final drafts of paragraphs describing a Winslow Homer painting of their choice. They have nearly completed watercolor paintings that , like much of Homer’s pieces, include dramatic narrative elements. Our next writing project will introduce activities in preparation of original tall tales.
While reading Farmer Boy the children have also been reading selected biographies from the same period of history. Soon they each will start a biography project, a “Three-Dimensional Art Box” portraying key aspects of a person about whom they have read.( WANTED: SHOE BOXES, BIG, MEDIUM, OR SMALL!! Thank you. ) This week a timeline project will be introduced. This will be a long-term research endeavor, culminating in an illustrated representation of found facts about inventions, artists, leaders, and national events of the 19th century.
BIG NUMBERS has been the topic of recent math activities. Writing, comparing, and reading numbers up to seven digits long have been practiced while working with data presented (e.g. Census maps and tables.) The third graders next will apply this place value work together with multiplication to determine their respective ages in minutes. Then, this is scary, they will calculate MY AGE in minutes. Those calculators will be steaming on Monday morning! During the second half of the week we will transition to small numbers, working with decimals to the hundredths place. Please help your child keep practicing the multiplication facts, especially 2s, 5s, 10s, and 4s.
We are off to the Thompson House on Friday. The children will share original written pieces and we will play a game with our friends. Thank you Kathleen, Laura, and Ray for providing the transportation.
I hope you all have a wonderful week! As always feel free to contact me with questions or concerns.

Sincerely,
Linda