A very proud teacher!

This past week your child took the Module 4 end of the module assessment in Engage NY Math.  In my opinion, it was a really tough assessment.  They had to not only solve the problems but also explain their thinking in drawing form or written form.  They solved problems that had missing addends, missing solutions, they did place value, greater than, less than, equals too and if that is not all... double digit addition/subtraction with no regrouping and with regrouping.  All I can say is my socks were blown off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I could not wait to show off the papers to Ms. Black.  She was amazed too!!!

I am so proud of each and every child from their tenacity to stick with such a difficult assessment and thrilled that they are really getting this new program.  Talk about increasing the rigor.  WOW.

Now when I give problems to them they come back to me and tell me they are too easy.  I smile to myself.  It is my hope that the foundation for their mathematics is becoming more solidified each day of instruction.  Thank you for your support and cooperation with your children on this journey.

I hope you are finding the emailing of the newsletters helpful for the next module.

Happy 1st Day of Spring?????

Well if you looked outside the window today you would not believe that it was the first day of Spring but as usual Mother Nature had her own agenda.  It is officially Spring and whether the weather shows sign of Spring our classroom definitely does.  Your children are reading more fluently.  The math equations are becoming easier, and the writing of poetry is just flowing from our pencils.

Here is a picture of our courtyard outside our classroom.  Check out what was on the branch of the tree.  It was so cool to see.  A red tailed hawk.  The students and I sat spell bound watching how it moved in the snow.








This past week some children in the class along with other 1st grade students participated in the first ever Math and Art Night.  Below are a few pictures of the fun we had.

Working together making a 3-D sculpture.

 Designing a monster.

Making a math equation mosaics.

Working on his "selfie".

 i-Pad tessellations

At the end of the night we are all smiles.

Pi Day

A once in a lifetime event is happening on Saturday.  It is Pi Day, not pie like pumpkin or apple but rather the 16th letter of the Greek alphabet Pi.  Also commonly known as Pi=3.14.  You remember that,  right?

What makes it so special is that Saturday will be 3.14.15  but also at 9:26:53 am or pm you pick it will be the sequential time will occur on 3/14/15 at 9:26:53.58979... following the sequence of pi to all digits......  pretty cool.

Here is what we learned in class today about Pi.

The day started by the question what is Pi Day?

Here are some responses from the class:

We look at pies?

A feast in China. Because the Pi sign looks like it is Chinese writing

People make pies and it is like a carnival where you taste pies... like a celebration

You eat pies that have math equations inside.  So that way you are not knowing that you are learning or eating pie.

Well, they were all good responses but soon after we hear and saw a You tube video that sings the first 200 digits or so we got to work really understanding the meaning of Pi.

We worked in partners to discover what Pi is.

Then we read a book all about Pi.  The author is clever.. In order to remember the different vocabulary of Pi he names his family members Sir Cumference (dad, aka dragon), Lady Di of Amiter (mom), and Radius (son).

We also made Pi necklaces.  Each bead stands for a number of the first 17 digits of the number.

After lunch we met with Mrs. DeSantis class to start our seed (living/nonliving ) science unit.

Be are being budding scientists.

Read Across America Week

Mr. Earlen, Lumberton's Deputy Mayor, was our guest reader.  Pretty cool that it is Brady E.'s dad .

The hallways and library were decorated for this special celebration.

 We are getting ready for our assembly.

 Ms. Black even wore her pajamas for the finale.

 Here come Grumpy Toad in our play.

 Pete the Cat tries on her her cool new magic sunglasses.

 The magic hat begins to smoke due to the "MAGIC"

 Here comes Pete the Cat!

 All of our "Magical" characters hang out by the magic hat.

 Back in the classroom we do our own version of One Fish, Two Fish.