Dear Parents,
This past week has been entirely devoted to reviewing the times table of seven, practicing double digit multiplication and long division. The source material for our math has come out of a series of stories 
in which the main character is a “noodlhead” or nincompoop lacking common sense. They are extremely funny stories and have brought humor to our work with numbers. One story served as inspiration for our division of 72. The story begins with a man sitting in a tree sawing at the very branch he happens to be sitting upon. An approaching old lady tells him that the branch and he will fall if he continues to saw. After ignoring her warnings, the man indeed falls. Instead of realizing his mistake, he concludes that the woman must be a fortune teller so he runs and seeks her advice about his future. The woman does not waste her time arguing with the man and makes the prediction that the man will die when his donkey drinks three times from the river. It doesn’t take long for this to happen. When the donkey takes his third drink, the man lies down, closes his eyes and “dies.” He takes note that he feels just like he did when he was alive. Soon two men approach and see what appears to be a dead man lying on the road. They make him a casket and carry him on the trail. The path comes to a fork in the road and the men argue over whether they should go right or left. Meanwhile the “dead” man, sick of hearing them argue, sits up and says, “when I was alive, I used to go left.” 
Frighten by the notion that they just saw a ghost, the two men drop the casket and run for their lives. The noodlehead then concludes he must be a ghost and returns home where he lives his life as a ghost.
I used the image of the forked path to divide treasure (72 coins) between the two men. The money continues to be divided between the two men until they are no longer able to receive equal amounts. When this happens the trail ends. The following day the path splits three ways and we practiced dividing 72 by 3. The resulting image allowed us to see many ways we can get to 72. So far, the tree of 72 contains, 1,2,3,4,8,9,18,24,36, and 72. Our tree isn’t complete just yet.
Spelling Words:
UPCOMING EVENTS
- Jump-a-thon, Thursday, May 26, 3:00-5:00pm. Our most fun fundraiser of the year! Some children already brought home their pledge sheets.
- NO SCHOOL, Friday May 27 and Monday, May 30. Records Day and Memorial Day
- Summer Fest, Saturday June 11th, 11:00-1:00pm
- All-School Annual Music Concert, June 14, 6:00-7:00pm. All UPWS students will premier the new composition “Hymns of the Urban Prairie.”
End of Year Projects:
The children need to bring to school a change of clothes for several messy projects. These clothes may get stained or destroyed as we will be working with both concrete and plaster paris. One project includes making chalk for summer fest. We need as many toilet and paper towel rolls as possible. We have some to start with but can always use more.
End of Year Class Fishing Trip:
On June 13th or June 15th, your child will be fishing at Henry Palmisano Park on 27th and Halsted. Henry’s Bait shop provides the poles, bait and additional expert staff. The class will be split into two groups with the 1st group going on Monday and the second group on Wednesday. The only thing your child will need is a lunch and water bottle.