Today flew by!  We started our morning practicing the Act of Contrition and examining our conscience before confession.  We participated in confession with Fr. John and Fr. David at 9 this morning.  What a great way to start the day!

The kids read a fable about an ant today and compared the non-fiction reading about an ant from yesterday and the fable from today.  They came up with some great similarities and differences.

We practiced multiplication and division in math, as well as common denominators and simplifying fractions.  Phew this was tough for some of us!!!  Please continue to help your child with multiplication and division if they are struggling.  Multiplication facts are a main focus in the third grade, and while we reviewed them again at the beginning of 4th grade, at this point, and really for some time, we use them.  I expect that the kids can list factors, multiples, and find common factors and multiples.  When we go over our computation problems (i.e. 45,678 x 56), I work through it, but we work at a quicker pace now that we're in the second trimester.  If your child needs to practice, please review facts!  Sometimes it takes a little longer for those facts to become second nature, so the more practice the better!  Flashcards work wonderfully, as do written practice or oral practice.  Thank you for your help in insuring the success of all our students!

We ended our day by beginning a new STREAM activity- building an avalanche protection system.  This will take us until break, but we started the process today.  The kids were put in new groups, received their journal, and worked together to build a 10 inch tower using just notecards, that could hold a "ranger".  I took some cute pictures, but for some reason they aren't uploading!  Hopefully I'll be able to get them up this week!