Welcome back from spring break, from the sounds of it many of you had some exciting adventures. As we return to school, we have spent some time reviewing and re-establishing classroom routines and expectations. We have also launched a few new units of study. In Technology, we have begun our unit on Lego Robotics. During the Robotics Unit, students will work collaboratively to build and program robots using Legos. They will be practicing sequencing, direction following and a variety of engineering skills. They will also be asked to reflect on their successes and challenges during each session. 
In Discovery, we are studying Light and Sound. We have begun to explore the concept of sound as a vibration. We will also learn how differences in sound waves create differences in the pitch and volume of the sound. The class seemed to really enjoy the sound scavenger hunt on the playground that asked them to find sounds such as a calming sound, a musical sound and by far the favorite: the loudest possible sound.
During math time, we are continuing to study place value and to work towards quickly and efficiently knowing our basic addition facts. We have also begun to explore the notation of greater than, less than and equal. At this point in the year, we are working on strategies for all addition facts up to 10 + 10. Practicing these facts outside of school time, such as when you are in the car or waiting for an appointment would be helpful. My focus is that the facts are practiced accurately and that the students can explain how they solved the problem. For example, if they know 6 + 6 = 12, they might use that fact to solve 6 + 7. We will be playing a variety of math games and engaging in problem solving activities that incorporate both place value and fact knowledge over the next several weeks.
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| Building understanding of greater than, less than and equal |
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| Counting the King's Commissioners in a variety of ways |
