A Note about Math Facts

There are many things we want students to know about multiplication facts: we want them to be able to use a variety of strategies such as repeated addition, chunking numbers or visualizing arrays to understand a particular multiplication problem represents. We want them to understand regular, incremental increases in quantities. We want them to have this type of conceptual knowledge.
The task of memorizing math facts we are currently urging you to do every night does not address that thoughtful work. In fact practice, we are working on rote memorization. We just want multiplication facts to get stuck in students' heads so that when a s/he sees part of a fact family, say, 3 x 4, s/he automatically knows that 12 is the missing number. Also, when a student sees 12 and 3 in the context of multiplication/division they would know that 4 is the missing number. That is why these are called 'Multiplication/Division Fact Families.'
To this end I ask that when you practice flash cards with your child each day, you work on a subset of the whole pile for about five minutes each day. You are working to mastery, but that may take more than a day. Repeat the same facts the next day. If your child has mastered them, add some new ones. Technique: Cover the product. Sticking with the same one I used above (3 x 4 = 12) allow your child to say “3 x 4 = 12.” If s/he doesn’t, you say, “Three times four equals twelve” while showing all three numbers in the fact family. Then the child repeats this. Move on to the next card. Come back to this one in the regular order as you circle through your pile. In this way your child is getting repeated visual, auditorial and kinesthetic (verbalization) practice with each fact.
I hope these tips help. Memorization of these facts give a sense of competence to our young mathematicians that really helps them move forward with more complicated work.

I have adjusted the settings so that now it will be easier for you to leave comments if you should wish to. (I think.)

Thanks to those of you who came in for conferences on Friday. As always, your feedback and insights were very welcome. Your input helps meet the needs of your children better. Also, thanks for the congratulations, and support of my new position.

Last week was a good one. Connor was the assistant and so he led most Morning Meetings. We enjoyed celebrating Jordan's birthday on Thursday, as he was sick on the actual day.

In math we are looking at multiples, count bys and repeated addition as a way of better understanding multiplication facts and being able to manipulate them.

Please do see the School Bell for information about upcoming school events such as Jump Rope for Heart, the Big Basket Raffle and much more.

Four Winds Learning

I learned that animals in the cat family have retractable claws. Nate
I learned that when moose walk their back leg go where there front leg was. Jake
I learned that different animals walk different. Michael
I learnd that diffrent animals walk differnetly too. Silas
I learned that if hair is in skat than the animal ate something with fur. Jacob
I learned that moose tracks are bigger than deer tracks. Logan
I learned that animals walk in four ways: walk, gallop, waddle, and bound. Connor
I learned that a moose's hoove is counted as two toes. Colin
I learned that animals can walk, bound, waddle or prance. Chris
I learned that a squrrel gallops. Erica
I learned that an otter is very long and can jump very high. Jordan.
I learned that some animals drag their tail and it becomes part of their foot print. Morgan
I learned that some animals put their hind legs where their frunt legs were. Jared
I learned that mice have different pawprints for their front and back. Stephanie
I learned that a bird can create wing marks if the bird doesn't land correctly. Matthew
I learned that one of the ways animals walk is called bounding. Hannah
I learned that if a animals tracks end the animal might have gone underground or flown away. Lydia
I learned that some animals gallop, walk, walble, or bounder. Lauren
I learned that some animals stick their nails in. Margaret
I learned, while editting, that we'd better do a little work on their, there and they're!-Ms. Stewart

Thursday, March 4

Frindle was great. It was short (50 minutes), it was fun and funny, very engaging and interesting. There is a strong message about how language develops. Thank you for supporting this trip to the Flynn Theater.



Student behavior was also very good. It was fun having lunch together in the classroom. On the bus both ways I overheard plenty of positive conversations-even some guessing games about Africa. In the theater, our fine skills as an audience were evident.



On Wednesday we changed desks. All desks are still age mixed and gender mixed. Students chose seats at which they think they will be able to maximize their learning-both through independent work and collaborative work.

Thursday we began work on a radio play which I hope we'll be able to podcast next week. It is going to be our version of this poem:

Way down south where the bananas grow ,
A grasshopper stepped on an elephant's toe.
The elephant said, with tears in his eyes,
"Pick on someone your own size!"

Ask your child about this work. It is fun and challenging.

Please see the School Bell for information about Math Night, the Variety Show, Jumprope for Heart, the Big Basket Raffle and a lot of other wonderful things happening in our school community!

March 2; it's a great day to be back between voting and all! We did a lot of ENACTING today as a result of the workshop I attended with Joan Robinson of the Flynn Theater yesterday. We played 'Pass the Gesture,' 'Echo,' multiplication people and act out science vocabulary. Fun and educational!

We also watched a video-it's very popular and here it is: Gotta Keep Reading. Check it out!

Africa Open House a Great Success thanks to YOU!

Thanks to everyone who was able to attend our Open House this morning. I think students enjoyed their work and their learning about Africa as we went along. Their joy and pride in their work was so obviously amplified by sharing it with each of you today. Thank you for being inquisitive with your children, for your enthusiasm, and for your understanding that for the most part, these were individualized projects. The ideas came from the people who made them. They were given the opportunity to pursue their own interests within the general topic of Africa.

Another highlignt of our week occurred on Tuesday during our 3-4 science class. As you know, we have been studying pendulums. This week students were able to design, test, redesign, test and play with their own pendulums. They worked in groups of two, three and four collaborating to create a pendulum that would knock down objects below. After about an hour of design and building, we toured around visiting each group's pendulum set up. It was amazing to see the variety, the problem solviing thhe joy, and so on. We ended with a discussion of density in the context of two bobs with surprising attributes: one was clay, and the other brass. Please ask your child about this, and about their whole design experience.

In writing we are working on the Response to Literature form. Most students have completed a rough draft.

I hope you all will have a restful and fun week. Maybe we'll even get some snow!

Thank you for all your wonderful contributions to the Valentine's Day Snack Buffet last week. Students clearly did a lot of work on their Valentines, and the food was delicious. We had a nice party; thanks for your help with that.

School is going along nicely. We are working hard on projects and research about Africa. Our workshops ended last week. This Wednesday we will be setting up for our AFRICA OPEN HOUSE which will be Thursday morning from 8:00-8:45. We hope you will be able to come. We will end the event by singing two African songs.

Self discipline and responsible behavior have been topics we continue to revisit. Students are typcially very well behaved in this core classroom, when I am here. Things go less smoothly when I am away. We have been discussing this as a class, reflecting on and analyzing successful behaviors, unsuccessful behaviors and why self control matters. The greatest news is that I was in a meeting this afternoon, Ms. Simpson was here, and apparently all went well. They can do it!

In science we have continued our study of pendulums. Tomorrow students will design pendulum/bowling pin set ups.

For school wide information, please see the School Bell.