Field trip week is finally here! We are all super excited to hear everyone present their research as we check out the sites of Washington D.C. As of right now, we have three forms that need to be returned, and just three seats left on the bus. If you have already returned your form and said you would like to ride the bus, we have a seat for you! Please note, each student who returned a form so far has had only one parent listed as coming with us, so if there are two parents planning to join us, we may need to make arrangements to meet you in D.C. If this is the case, please email us ASAP.

Click here to see the presentation order as well as estimated walking times. Since we are a large group, we will need to stay focused and walk at a reasonable pace to ensure that we hit each location.

Field Trip Reminders:

• In order to have enough time, we need everyone in the classroom at 8:15 a.m.
• The bus will leave FA promptly at 8:30 a.m., leave D.C. at 2 p.m., and will return to campus before 3:30 p.m. for carpool.
• Your child is responsible for his or her belongings and should bring a bag to carry their lunch, water, and snacks.
• Students may not have any electronics.
• Check the weather, dress in layers, and wear extremely comfortable shoes.
• Please pack a healthy lunch so you and your child are energized for the second half of the tour. We will picnic in Pershing Park.

Here is what is going on in our classes this week:

Reading: This week, we’re continuing on with Holes. The students had a riveting discussion today, specifically on the side story of Elya Yelnats and Madame Zeroni, which segued into our early work with symbolism. Collectively, we discussed the multiple meanings that Elya’s pig is essentially charged with as practice for when, on their own, students will end up identifying and deciphering other symbols in the larger work.

History: We are working on the finishing touches of our Landmark Research Project. At this point, I feel confident in saying that any and all parents who join us this Friday will be impressed with the work and devotion each of our students have put into this project. We cannot wait to see many of you on Friday!

Math: We are continuing our work with division this week. Do you remember when we learned long division and you (or maybe it was just me?) had that separate piece of paper that you did a bunch of different multiplication problems on to see how many times ____ went into ____? The partial quotient method removes the need for doing all that side work! Students use flexible thinking, compatible numbers, and facts they can easily recall to subtract groups in parts. This is a huge help not only in that it shows an understanding of division (repeated subtraction of groups), but it really helps those who do not yet have all the multiplication facts on automatic recall. If you have not seen partial quotients yet, I encourage you to ask your child to show this method to you. Also this week, we are continuing our discussion of the two types of division problems; fair-share division and measurement (or quotative) division. In general, we tend to think of division as the fair-share type of problems (dividing a set number of items equally up into a set number of groups). Unfortunately, students are typically not as familiar with measurement division (dividing the items into groups with a set number in each, thus finding how many groups can be made). This terminology is not necessarily important, but it IS important to realize not all division problems fit into the same mold. This will become especially important as we move to dividing decimals and fractions. Dealing with numbers beyond whole numbers are an exciting challenge ahead, so this is a great time to reprogram students’ minds about how the larger number is not always divided by the smaller number. Gasp! I cannot wait. 🙂