Our block of Native American Creation stories has been a block balanced by work and art. The students have been painting using the wet-on-wet method for each story as we did at the beginning of the third grade school year for our Hebrew Creation stories. It is wonderful to see, through these paintings, how much the students have matured in their control over their paintbrush and the amount of paint on the brush, as well as in their skills applying paint to their papers. Overall, paintings have more definition and details than ever. As the class gains greater maturity, the students are more focused, pay greater attention to detail, and meet “mistakes” with fortitude and a growing ability to work with them in their painting. The creation stories themselves have captured their imaginations and wonder through their descriptions of nature and reasoning for why things are the way they are in the world.
We are continuing with daily dictation and added in a new method this past week.As dictations have lengthened, the students received support from a pre-printed summary with words and phrases missing. It allowed students to focus on listening and remembering longer passages independently, and those who will benefit from a greater focus on phonics and spelling, the opportunity to work more on those skills. This week, we will continue working with these creation stories through painting, dictation, and spelling.
Morning math has continued to focus on working with all four mathematical processes. It is always delightful to hear students comment on how much they like multiplication and to see them suddenly understand how multiplication and division are related. We will continue to practice regrouping for addition and subtraction as well. To truly learn how to work with each process fluidly, concepts must be practiced, allowed to rest, and then worked with again and again to become easily understood and engrained. Continued practice at home through games for mastery of simple addition and subtraction will support these skills and make it much easier for students to focus on higher-level mathematics skills. Students who have mastered these basic facts find math more enjoyable and have more success. Keep practicing!
Creekcess can pop up unexpectedly, along with being a planned activity on Friday afternoons! It is the same with rain, cooler temperatures, and hotter days. Please help support your child to come prepared for all weather and adventures. Please remember to have them pack two water bottles and two masks every day.
Friday, May 7th is our school auction, Hope Blooms. Please buy your event ticket at www.fundraiser.support/hope to bid on the many wonderful class projects and donated goods we will have to offer. You may join us in person that evening. Bidding will take place online, so if you are unable to attend in person, there is still an opportunity to participate. We hope you can join us to support our wonderful school!
With gratitude,
Melissa
