We began a new domain on Cycles in Nature. This domain will introduce your child to the many natural cycles that make life on Earth possible. This week students learned about the cycle of daytime and nighttime, as well as why intense sunlight is so important to life on Earth. Students learned that a cycle is a sequence of events that happens over and over again, and that the rotation of the Earth causes daytime and nighttime. Ask your child to explain in his or her own words how the rotation of the Earth causes daytime and nighttime.
In math we are learning addition strategies within 100. Students discovered how to solve a story problem using a hundreds chart, a number line, base ten rods, and an equation. With these strategies in place, students are preparing themselves for working out more difficult math problems in the future. Also, they are gaining a strong understanding of place value and reinforcing their math facts.
Our math program is based on student investigations. Students work out the problems using their own tools and methods. In this way, they discover how numbers work, the patterns, and principals behind the math. At the end of the lesson we discuss what strategies students used and how they used them. This helps the students to learn from each other and discover new ways to solve mathematical problems.