We are learning about what life was like in the North and the South shortly before the U.S. Civil War. We learned about the controversy over slavery and the differences between the economies in the North and the South. We located the Mason-Dixon line and learned that Slavery was allowed south of the line, but was illegal North of the line.
Also, we studied the life of Abraham Lincoln before he became President. We learned that he was against allowing slavery to expand beyond the southern states into the new territories that were becoming part of the United States. We read about the journey Abraham Lincoln took by train after being elected President. Ask your child some facts he or she learned about Abraham Lincoln.
Also, we read about the ways people celebrate Chinese New Year, which is on February 19. We discovered the role that the moon plays in this holiday. We learned that the shapes of the moon that we see are called phases. It takes about a month for the moon to complete one cycle. Ask your child what world describes a series of events that are regularly repeated in the same order (cycle). You can learn more about the phases of the moon by clicking the button at the bottom of this post.
Our math lessons this week focused on extending the understanding of composing 10 ones as 1 ten. Now, we are composing 10 tens to make 1 hundred. For example, students might solve 50 + 80 by thinking 5 ones + 8 ones = 13 ones, so 5 tens + 8 tens = 13 tens = 130. We use place value language to explain why addition and subtraction strategies work.
In addition, we worked on Read, Draw, Write (RDW) strategies to practice solving mathematical word problems. Students learned to read the problem, draw their solution, and then answer the question by writing a complete sentence.