​By Kate Lynett and Kathleen McIntyre
 
Some very famous visitors have continued to pop into third grade. We’re quite lucky to travel back in history to meet such exciting ladies and gentlemen. Take a peek at our celebrity photos!

by Alyssa Charles

In our geometry unit, Third grades have been learning about transformations.  Today we used the reflectors to reflect some art work.  Students saw the "flipping" nature of reflections and observed how the reflectors can also help to find lines of symmetry in shapes or pictures.

by Alyssa Charles

Fourth graders have had fun learning, practicing, and diving deeper into long division.  In small groups, students rotate three centers to engage in division related practice: solving word problems, dancing the steps to a long division problem, and working on one of the most challenging enrichment pieces where they must decode letters used in a long division problem to the correct digits.

by Judy Jurnack and Kate Lynett

This Focus Wall is for the week of 3/13/17. Please note that bar and far are not included on the upcoming spelling test.

by Judy Jurnack and Katie Holmberg

This week first graders learned a new math game called Make My Design.  Here are the directions to play at home.
Make My Design
Materials:  pattern blocks and a folder
Object of the Game:  To create a design identical to the other player's design
Directions: 

1. The first player chooses 6 blocks.  The second player gathers the same 6 blocks.
2. Players sit face-to-face with a folder between them.
3. The first player creates a design with the blocks.
4. Using only words, the first player tells the second player how to "Make My Design."  The second player can ask questions about the instructions.
5. Players remove the folder and look at the two designs. Players discuss how closely the designs match.
6. Players change roles and play again

The students had so much fun playing this new game!  It's quickly becoming a favorite.  An idea if you don't have pattern blocks at home is to draw the shapes in a design, and have the second player try to draw the same design.  Have fun!

by Kate Lynett and Kathleen McIntyre

Third graders have worked very hard since December learning and memorizing their multiplication facts.  Today, students were treated to a sundae party celebrating the fact families!  Each piece of the sundae was earned based on the facts each student stated within five seconds.  Keep studying multiplication facts for automaticity. The multiplication facts are a building block for each student's future math success!

by Kate Lynett and Kathleen McIntyre

Third graders are thrilled to have some famous visitors over the next week. Cleopatra, Wayne Gretzky, Walt Disney, Michael Jackson, Barack Obama, and Martin Luther King Jr. all visited today!  Students have worked diligently reading their biography books, taking notes, creating a visual presentation along with writing their oral presentation.  Well done 3rd grade! It is always a thrill for everyone to learn about so many interesting people from the  past and present!

​Fourth Grade is currently learning about angles and how to use a protractor. They put their skills to the test on Friday during Angle Bingo. Each student received a board and had to measure each of their given angles. After everyone was all set the competition was on! Students had to answer a multiplication problem correctly before being able to pick a bingo card to call out. They had a lot of fun playing the review game.

We're wrapping up our poetry unit. Completed Poetry Anthologies are due TUESDAY, MARCH 14th. This means, each student needs to bring in a binder for their project by MONDAY, MARCH 13th.

​by Christine Marth and Leigh Mikulka

​Each week, during Leadership, the fourth graders pair with Prep II to work on a variety of projects and skills.  This week, the students helped their buddies practice sight words and letter sounds. By using white boards and dry erase markers, the fourth graders encouraged the Prep II students to write their words and sound them out.  It was fun for everyone!

by Shannon Victor and Mark Saldanha

In reading, second graders performed an old improv comedy game, where they had to respond to a partner with a specific type of sentence. We put all of the sentence types (command, question, statement, exclamation) in a random generator, and when a certain type of sentence popped up, the students had to quickly think on their feet and act out the silly sentence. They had a blast! Some of the examples were pretty funny - one person was a pizza place owner who didn't serve meat, and the other person was a customer who only wanted a pepperoni pizza. Ask your child to tell you about our fun game!