Students cheered when I told them we were going to do place value today.  Some thought it was going to be easy, but they soon learned otherwise. Fourth graders reviewed the differences between a number, a numeral, and a digit. Students created a place value chart and had to show me, using popsicle sticks, the number 126. What I thought would be an easy part of the assignment turned out to be more challenging. We didn’t get a chance to discuss what they were thinking, but we will tomorrow. Don’t be alarmed – everyone could show 126, but how they did it raised some questions about how deeply they understand the concept.

Third grade reading read a myth about Hades. It was a little trickier as we couldn’t write a summary using our usual method. This turned out to be good for some and not so good for others. While our usual summary method makes it a little easier to sort out the details from the main idea, this was a free-form summary, which meant that there were more details than needed in most summaries. They’ve made a lot of progress on this skill.

Fractions continue to bedevil the second grade in the most delightful way. I don’t know that I’ve ever had a student say they hoped we didn’t get snow because it meant they’d miss a day in my class, but there it was. Today we briefly explored the idea behind equivalent fractions. We put fractions on a number line and played with cuisenaire rods to show that 12/4=9/3=6/2=3. These are pretty complicated concepts and not everyone is there yet – nor do I expect them to be. I love watching how amazed they are when they do figure something out or see something that excites them.

The fourth grade reading group heard the Declaration of Independence. We talked about how complicated history is, how complicated a man Thomas Jefferson was, and how important it was to be able to see that nothing is easy when it comes to understanding big ideas. As always, they asked amazing questions, which had us talking about slavery and its impact in the North as well as the South, we discussed the cotton gin and its impact on slavery, and what happened once the international slave trade was abolished in the US. Next week we’ll dig a little deeper in the Declaration and talk about how the United States continues to strive to live up to its ideals. This will allow them to create a baseline for their independent projects.