The Last Day of 4th Grade

Dear Families,

Thank you for the amazing outpouring of love (and flora!) at the end of the day!  I was literally bowled over by all of the hugs, flowers, porcelain, blueberries and Lego Nils that came my way.  I adore all of you, and am looking forward to a very happy return in September!  Happy summers all around!

Love,

Lauren

The Invention of Hugo Cabret: Why Prometheus?

We're reading The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick for our final read aloud (http://www.theinventionofhugocabret.com/index.htm).  There are a few references to Prometheus in the book, and today we had a conversation about why, given all of the various mythological characters there are, Selznick might have invited Prometheus into his novel.  One of the Common Core Standards (which are, for the most part, exquisite) is that students will, "Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone."  In fourth grade, that means students will, "Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including those that allude to significant characters found in mythology (e.g. Herculean).  These are the notes I took during the conversation about Selznick's choice:

The California Frog Jumping Contest:Three Frogs

Check these problems out--this is what we're up to today.  Can you see the algebra connection?  And can you solve these problems without relying on it (Don't be a math robot!)?