Amazing Math Races

Greetings from the 4th Grade Hall,
I really hope that everyone has been able to take advantage of the beautiful weather we have been having. There are many reasons that I am thankful:
1) RECESS - This excellent weather means that the kids can get all their energy out by running and playing during our morning recess.
2) PLANT EXPERIMENTS - As I may have mentioned last week, the amount of sunlight has been a blessing for the students' plant experiments. They have been quite excited about the observations they have been able to make and the data they have been able to record.
3) HOUSE RENOVATIONS - As some of you know, my wife and I have not only decided to take on a second child, but we have decided to take on a major house renovation. The weather has been VERY helpful and I am pleased to announce that even though our freezer and fridge are in our dining room and our kitchen is out of commission for at least a month, we have a new roof and the upstairs is now framed for two bedrooms and a bath. Exciting stuff! I am telling you this bit of personal info so that if your child comes home saying, "Mr. Champion looked tired today" or "Mr. Champion seems to have a lot more gray hairs" - you will know why.

Highlights of the week:
Math
I can't say enough about how much I love doing math races with your children. I never imagined how much this simple activity would enrich your child's 4th grade year. Here are just a few of the math topics that have been introduced and reinforced during math races this year:
* Addition
* Subtraction (simple and more complex)
* Multiplication (one digit x one digit, lattice multiplication)
* Division (basic and long division with decimals instead of remainders)
* Order of Operations (Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction)
* Exponents
* Equations
* Expressions/Phrases
* Factorials - That's right - Factorials - Houston did a problem that was written using 1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x 5 x 6 x 7 x 8 x 9 x 10 x 11 x 12 as a part of the problem. I explained that this could be written in mathematical shorthand like this - 12! I am curious to see if more of these pop up as the year continues.
In Math, we have also been revisiting phrases and expressions. This time instead of just using addition and subtraction, we have added multiplication and division to the mix.

Science
I was super pleased with how well both classes did on the Acid Rain quiz on Wednesday. I really think they are understanding the study skills necessary to be successful. Besides our discussion of acid rain, the students began to design posters to share their findings from their plant inquiry projects. These will be placed in the hallway outside of my classroom, so if you get a chance in the coming weeks, please check them out.

Have a wonderful weekend!!!!!