We have been working on addition for a couple of weeks and today we started subtraction. Most of the students seem to understand the concept but I need to provide more hands-on activities to make it stick. I read a book called The ABCs of Jobs. It went along with our theme of community workers. For each letter of the alphabet, there was a job description and list of tools used on the job. Students learned about helicopter pilots, scuba divers and yoga instructions among others.

Thank you for helping your child remember to bring their 100 items today. I think they had a good time practicing counting with their big buddy. Students counted by 1s to fill up their 100s chart. Next, they put their items into piles of 5 and counted by 5s to 100. Finally, they counted by tens. The 4th/5th graders also randomly called out numbers and asked their kindergarten buddy to cover that number with one of their items. There was a whole lot of counting going on!

I will wait until tomorrow to submit the Scholastic book order. I didn't receive all the Monday envelopes this morning and I don't want you to miss your chance to order. Today students learned about the penny. They know that Abraham Lincoln is on the penny and that it is worth one cent. Mr. Besel, the school counselor, taught a lesson about being a "bully buster." He introduced the terms "victim" and "bystander."

I added a couple of events to the sidebar of the blog. One is Fuddrucker's Family Night this Thursday. If your family eats at the Fuddrucker's by Costco that night, part of the proceeds will be donated to our school. Hopefully you will feel like celebrating your child's wonderful report card that evening. I also noted the date of our 100th day of school. On that day, students may bring a collection or 100 items that will fit into a sandwich baggie. Please only send small items such as pennies, M&Ms, paper clips, beads, pebbles, etc.