Working Together

The 2-3 Assembly

 A hallmark of a Parker education is the multiple ways children get to work together. I couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity for this collaboration than our 2-3 Assembly on Friday. All I can say is what about those 2nd and 3rd graders?! 

Besides offering your child a chance to get on that stage and share skills and talents, I find this special Assembly brings many gifts to me. It reinforces that if you give a child an opportunity to own what he or she is going to share with others, every child will be motivated to do the best. The event encourages children to take risks and put themselves out there. I always feel refreshed after —I get a fuller picture of your child as a learner and member of a social network. This group showed such appreciation and constant encouragement for each other as we devoted more and more time in class to preparation and practice. It was a great two weeks of working together. Let me end by noting as well that this special Assembly is just plain fun!!  

Third Grade Mathematics

The 3rd grade mathematicians have spent several math classes sharing their knowledge of place value. Place value is a core foundational concept in mathematics. As the 3^rdgraders hone their understanding, they're exploring the structure and sequence of numbers, developing greater facility with comparing and ordering numbers, finding connections among numbers, and composing and decomposing numbers into parts (like seeing 627 as 600 + 200 + 7) to ease calculations with other numbers.

We then moved into practice/review of adding and subtracting 10. The group noted that the zero in the ones place makes for quick calculations and mental math work. I refer to 10 as being friendly and asked the students to think about how the structure of 10 makes it so easy to work with. We’re now extending our work to 100 and the 3^rd graders will be thinking about the relationship between 10 and 100.  

Working With the K-1s

Our partnership with the K-1s is going beautifully. Our Muddy Boots club brought us to the creek two Fridays ago. The children roamed on the shores, dug in the mud and looked under rocks. One group was hot on the trail of salamanders and soon attracted a crowd when they got their hands on them. Up the creek, another group was lifting rocks and finding slugs. Cool!!

 This past Friday, we took a hike on the power line trail. We went hunting for evidence of CHANGE in the season. The children noted changing leaves, cooler air, and wildflowers. We saw monarchs, listened to crickets, got hot in the sun and then made our way into the woods for shade and a cool off. What a way to end our week.