Number Corner, Second Step, and Idioms

We packed in a lot of learning into 4 days this past week.  The students are doing well settling into 5th grade.  Here are some highlights from our week.  Everyday we have core math for an hour, plus an additional math session for another 30 minutes called Number Corner.  This additional math session complements our current math unit and reinforces general math skills.  One of the things students are doing in Number Corner this month is looking for patterns in fractions, using money and clock faces.  Each day they look at a marker on the Number Corner calendar and write as many equations as they can for that marker. Then they work to put any of the fractions they have written in the equations into simplest form.  The idea is to then find any patterns on the chart.  Students also started our Second Step program this week in which the whole school is participating.  This program is to help students build social and academic skills.  Our first lesson taught them about empathy.  In writing, the students learned about idioms.  They will be learning a new idiom each week and then writing about it and drawing to help them understand it. Be sure to ask your child about these things as you discuss what they did at school this past week.