Fourth grade math learned the definition of place value today. We assume it’s something they know, but I like to make sure they really, truly understand that the value of a numeral depends on its place within the numeral. We also talked about the pattern involved in naming each place. So much of math is about patterns but we don’t always do a good job making that connection explicit. Next week we’ll learn about other numeral systems, which will confuse them initially but then really cement their understanding of base 10.

Second graders continued to write their stories while I conferenced with students about that writing.

Mrs. Rickabaugh’s class did the Geography Bee today. They did not give up even when the questions were really hard. I was very impressed with how seriously they took it. The Geo Bee is really one of my favorite activities of the year. I get to do it with the entire grade and some kids are always shocked by their performance, though their teachers and I never are.

Some third grade math students are still working on adding in base 4 while some groups have moved on to subtracting in base 4. Both groups are grappling pretty hard with the concepts in regrouping in another base. They’ve had some very productive conversations, so I’m letting them continue to grapple.