Happy Friday!
Are your children coming home and using the words "I plead the 5th?" If so, I applaud them because they spent some time this week learning about the Bill of Rights and getting to know the amendments really well!  They know to ask for a search warrant if an officer tries to search their home, they know they don't have to incriminate themselves, and they know about their rights to free speech! If they plead the 5th at home, you can remind them that you have veto power, and they'll know what that means as well. As we wrap up our civics unit and get ready for our trip to the State House, we will be looking at one particular bill that our legislature is discussing this session, and then having our own Mock Legislature. I love this unit!

This week the students learned to use the US algorithm to solve addition problems with large numbers. They know how to "carry" the way we were taught (or should I say I was taught) years ago. They understand conceptually that they are actually not carrying anything, but rather regrouping their ones into the tens and the ones, etc.  Today they had an assessment, and 100 % of them solved the problem correctly!  Next week we will move on to subtraction with "borrowing" (which we also call regrouping.)

We continue our opinion pieces and will finish them up next week with the addition of introductions and conclusions. We will also dedicate one full hour-long period to sentence structure so that I can be sure the students understand what a sentence is and what a partial sentence is! This is tricky for many adults, but I never stop trying to teach it!

Many groups have finished their social issues books. We have talked about internment camps, refugee camps, poverty, paying a mortgage, animal abuse, gangs and drugs, and unemployment. It is a rather depressing list, but these children have a lot of compassion and care so deeply about fairness and justice. They give me hope for the future!

On Wednesday we spent a few hours outside shoveling snow into huge mounds so that we could make quinzees.  The kids were truly troopers out there despite their exhaustion and the cold. Of course, Mother Nature had other plans and yesterday's rain and subsequent freeze turned our mounds to ice, making it impossible to hollow out the quinzees. We will try again at another time. Think snow!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.