Mrs. Zierhut also gave the class a wonderful compliment on their behavior yesterday. She said kids were "AMAZING" in that they kept their voices on a level one (whisper) throughout our 45-minute class, and gave their full attention and best effort to their glazing. We all felt really good about that compliment, knowing that she sees every class at Keppel!
Math - We had a conversation about prime and composite numbers as part of our study of multiplication and division, and part of your child's homework this weekend is to explain the difference between prime and composite numbers to parents. Many students took home their green math notebooks so they could refer to their notes. If your child is a bit confused, please help them look back at their notes and see if they can figure it out. Even if they don't, the intellectual struggle grows their math brain.
In case you, as an adult, need a hint, factors figure in to whether a number is prime or composite, so think about what number combinations you can use to get the number. Some students are decomposing numbers using addition (12=10+2) instead of finding that number's factors (12=1x12; 12=6X2; 12=3X4). Some students have encountered these terms in i-Ready.
i-Ready Diagnostic Tests - We have begun taking the midyear i-Ready diagnostic reading and math tests here at school. As you will recall, students take the tests three times a year: in August, in January, and in May. Once your child has completed either section, their i-Ready lessons will be recalibrated based on their performance on the test. Once all students have completed both sections, I will send home the parent report in the Thursday folder, likely early February.
Rain, Rain, and More Rain Next Week! With rain forecast almost every day next week, please make sure your child has either a waterproof raincoat with hood or an umbrella (or both!). We will likely spend a LOT of time together --- indoor morning and lunch recesses and, if it's really coming down, lunch in the classroom, too.
Keep up the good work of getting to school on time in the morning. Room 1321 has ZERO tardies in January!