This time period has been about change: Gabe and Jack have joined this class and Chloë and Maxine have moved on to other schooling situations. The students are adjusting to the new dynamic. Sometimes, a 3 girl situation can be problematic; however Lyla Lou, Sadie, and Katha are very harmonious right now, enjoying play and work all together or with other students in their grade or in other grades. Jack and Gabe are adjusting and both seem very happy with their new school. They are connecting with other children and seem to particularly enjoy our natural campus and play during recess. We have scheduled an aide in Language Arts and Science when possible to help with the transition. I have also been having weekly sharing circles with the students in which we all share feelings, give compliments, and problem solve situations.

We have worked a lot on an investigation called the 4 Toothpick Problem. In this exploration, partners were provided with toothpicks and asked to find all the ways the toothpicks could be arranged, given the following rules:

- must use 4 toothpicks

- must be connected end to end

- can only form a straight line or a right angle when connecting two toothpicks

Once they had found all 16 ways, we created a class chart.

Then students transferred the designs onto grid paper and each student created their own deck of cards.

Finally, students were asked to place the cards in order, given that they could only move one toothpick in order to create the next design. Such a fascinating investigation!

During this time, we have also discussed all the ways in which we can work with addition and subtraction fact families.

We did a St. Patrick’s Day graphing activity. It can be challenging for some to locate the points given the coordinates. Try playing battleship at home, it is a great way to practice reading coordinates .

Students have also been working in Everyday Math Journals and playing games such as Beat the Calculator (practicing fact fluency and using a calculator), and Digits in Place (a place value and logic game).

And, how could I forget, the amazing 100s projects. We had legos several different ways, some beautiful gems, stickers, and many more…