Hello Parents!!! Where did October go??? WOW! I cannot believe the time has gone by so quickly!

Halloween- We will do our regular Halloween activities tomorrow on Halloween.The students should bring their costume to school that day.  The parade of costumes will be at 2:30 in the gym. You are more than welcome to join us! If you are going to take your child home afterwards, please let me know before you leave. Thanks! 

Reading-- This week we read a story called Storm Warriors. It takes place in the 1800s. It is about a boy named Nathan who wants to become a surfman. That is someone who would rescue people from accidents on the water. I think nowadays we call that the Coast Guard! In their center time this week, I had 3 groups reading different stories. Each story dealt with the weather somehow. One group had tsunamis, another had a blizzard, and the final group dealt with rain and flooding. After they read their stories that had to pick out details and draw a conclusion from that. They were given a question to focus their answers on. The spelling list was fun to give on Monday! I gave them the hint that is was compound words, but also had to add that some are written as one word, some are two words, and others are separated with hyphens! They didn't that was so easy after they heard that I wasn't going to tell them which was which. :) 


Math-- We have moved on to estimating quotients this week using compatible numbers. This is something I have done every year. It is a good way to get them to begin the process of the standard algorithm that you know from your childhood. I know partial quotients made you uncomfortable because it wasn't what you were taught. We were taught a shortcut, but remember this is just one more strategy for your children to have in their pockets. In reality, when they are adults they will grab a calculator to do their division, but I still want them to know all the different ways to solve a problem. Partial quotients may have seemed like a longer process because we started by taking groups of 10 out of the dividend. But once they realized they didn't just have to do 10s, some were taking out 20s or 15s and a bigger chunk of that dividend was taken away each time. I want our kids to grow up with more choices. I think it's important to keep an open mind and realize that even the standard algorithm will cause kids pain. I have been teaching it for 19 years now, I know this to be true. It also forces us to step out of our comfort zone and try something new. If your child is struggling at home, please have them come in to see me in the morning. We can work on it together. 

Religion- We are wrapping up our Rosary section. Next week is Vocation Awareness Week. I will be doing a lesson or two on that in class. 

Don't forget to set your clocks back this weekend!

I am heading home this weekend. Have a great Halloween and weekend! God Bless, Miss Surma