Bruneau Elementary Newsletter
Issue 3 September 18, 2017
Upcoming Events
Thursday, October 12th BES Fire Prevention Assembly
Thursday, October 12th End of 1st Quarter
Friday, October 13th Teacher Inservice
Oct. 17th & 18th Parent Teacher Conferences 4-8pm
Classroom News
K/1 Miss Wampler
2/3 Mrs. Graham
One very exciting thing we are working on currently is growing seeds! The kids have seeds growing with water, juice, and a bag with just the seed. The kids are loving being able to watch the seeds grow and make observations about what is happening with these different combinations. 3rd grade is having fun writing their names in cursive. They are now asking me when I can include their last name! We are still working hard on math and reading and love when we get to do brain breaks with Go Noodle and get to play a quiz game with Kahoot. These are two programs I use in my classroom to get them moving or give them a different way to learn. I’m sure you’ve gotten an earful about these! Homework just started and we are working out the kinks; figuring out how to do it and knowing what is expected. We are just moving right along!
4/5 . Mrs. Hanes
Rounding Numbers: Our Real World Math Practice
In the 4th and 5th grades we are learning how to round, the 4th Grade is learning how to round to any whole number place value while the 5th Grade is learning how to round decimal fractions.
Estimating is one of most frequently used math skills that we encounter in our day to day work lives. In order for us to learn how to estimate, we must be able to round. Whenever I teach rounding I think of my Mom and Dad.
When we were growing up my Mom was the money manager in the home, Dad had a large Engineering firm and handled the fiscal duties there. Every Friday we left for our cabin in the mountains, and would stop by our local discount grocery store to buy groceries on the way out of town.
Dad was the detail guy, Mom the pragmatist. While we gathered groceries, Dad would deliberately make note of the cost of each item, carefully adding to the penny. Mom was multi-tasking, keeping my brother and me in check, making adjustments to the grocery list for unexpected guests and the always tight budget all the while disciplining us continually.
When we got up to the check stand she would very calmly announce “about” how much this trip to the grocer was going to be. Dad was always impressed because her methods were not formal in any fashion. And when the total was announced by the checker, by golly, my Mom would be almost on to the penny including tax!
I think my Dad admired her number sense, because he was a professional number cruncher and her estimates were very precise! I think he also held her in high esteem, and was secretly a bit jealous of her skills. My Mom, to this day, says she is not a mathematician. I wish her teachers had told her that she is a math person because I cannot convince her of it; rounding and estimating are used in very important information, and my Mom is the best person I know with this skill.
The moral of the story, PLEASE HELP ME BUILD NUMBER SENSE IN YOUR CHILD! Have important conversations which demonstrate how you estimate numbers in your daily life, consumption of milk, eggs, bread are a great start. About how much money does it take to fill the car/truck at the present prices? Give your child tasks that make him/her practice the skill of estimating.
If you child is aching for a certain toy or electronic gadget, help her/him estimate how many weeks of allowance or completions of chores it would take to earn that toy. Estimate and confirm elapsed time, how long does it take to complete a task, take a trip to Walmart, drive or walk to school or the bus stop. Estimate the cost to visit a relative, how much a Birthday party costs. Our children are in desperate need of having this vital survival skill in their life!
My parents never realized that in those tense moments in the store, when we were all tired from a long week of work and school, and we were ancy with ancy thinking about the fun and hard work we had yet to come at the cabin, that their ritual of estimating the purchase of our groceries would always be a fond memory for me (usually bringing a chuckle), and a great example of how parents are the first and primary teacher of their children.
Ask your student to teach you this rule and show you how it works today: and have her/him show you a “vertical number line”. Your child’s abilities will blow your mind!
Contact me if you have any questions, and thanks for the privilege of reminiscing about my special memory.
P.E. Mrs. Pearson
Community Groups
This past week in community groups we have been reviewing the differences between big and small problems and what to do to solve each kind of problem. Our K-2 community group listened to a story about Lily and Kelso in Willow Pond and how they were able to solve a small problem. Students were able to chose their own Kelso's choice and decide if that would have been an effective way to solve Lily's problem. After watching a video of a playground situation that involved a big problem, getting hurt by someone on the playground. Students were able to think of adults that they would go to when they need help with a big problem.
This week we are introducing students to the idea of a Growth Mindset. The simple idea that your brain is like a muscle that grows and changes as you learn new things is proven to have a profound impact on learning. Students are able to see how Mojo's struggle with learning harder math problems leads him to learn that anyone can be smart if they work at it.