The Insider goes to third grade

By Ben Conant - Apr 16, 2013 | 0 comments

Apparently, everything you knew about math is wrong. Kids today are learning lattice multiplication, as shown above. The problem here is 14 times 7. You draw out the bisected rectangle, add in the diagonal lines (extended beyond the box) and then put the 14 up top and the 7 to the right. Then, multiply 7 times 4, put that answer in the right hand box, multiply 7 times 1 and fill that into the right hand box. Then, you add the numbers within the diagonal spaces to come up with 98. It’s so simple!

Don’t get the wrong idea – Insider Editor Ben Conant isn’t running away from school! He’s just trying to avoid the inevitable freezing tag at the hands of a third-grader (obscured in this photo by Conant’s not-quite-third-grader-sized body) during recess at Christa McAuliffe Elementary.

Mr. Pelletier shows Hugh Kingsley the finer points of lattice multiplication.

Niamiah Perry, Bernice Chhetri and Ranila Thapa pal around in the lunchroom.

A tasty lunch.

When it’s time to listen, place your iPad on the floor – apple up!

Colette Brochu puts on a show during “Going To Kentucky.”

One of the many flight-inspired mosaics adorning the walls at Christa McAuliffe Elementary.

Finally, we returned to Mrs. LaRochelle’s class to ask students what third-graders think is cool. We got quite a list (check it out on the next page). It was a fun day at school, and here’s the best part – NO HOMEWORK!

Back to Mr. Pelletier’s class for some more math. Here, Bella Pontacoloni shows us how to play a fast, furious and fun multiplication game. We returned the favor by setting several high scores while signed in as Bella.

Then, it was time to relax, as Mr. Pelletier took us up to the story room to read some chapters from The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo. The round room was an awesome, calming location to really dig in to the story.

All that freezing worked up quite an appetite for this growing boy. We hit up the cafetorium for a delicious lunch of turkey tacos and corn, washed down with a cool, refreshing boxful of milk.

Next up: recess. We stayed out of the most popular recess game, “Girls Scare the Boys Away With a Bead,” but we couldn’t say no to freeze tag. Here, we avoid the tag of Dillon Lorden as Lexi Bennet flees the scene.

After art, we headed to Mr. Pelletier’s class to study a little math. Can you believe the standard multiplication method we all learned growing up is now called “parent’s method?!” Check out the new style on page 18.

We followed up that excitement by grabbing our iPads and heading down to Mrs. MacBride’s art class. Mrs. MacBride demonstrated our day’s project on the big screen. Then, we used the iPads to make a stop-motion film with little clay characters. Check out our movie at youtube.com/user/concordinsider!

After a good period of in-class reading and the like, we were ready for a break. The class went wild with excitement when Mrs. LaRochelle announced it was time for a round of “Going To Kentucky!” We all circled up and took turns going into the center to do the silly song and dance routine. What fun!

Next up: the morning announcements, complete with the Pledge of Allegiance. Nobody even made fun of us for being the tallest kid in class! The loudspeaker gave us the inside scoop on what was for lunch (turkey tacos!) and all the other school happenings. Then, we got back down to work for a while.

We started out the day in Mrs. LaRochelle’s class. Here, Dillon Lorden gives us some word problem tips as we get going on our “bell work” (a quick assignment students pick up when they arrive in class, to be completed before the day really begins).

As readers have surely deduced, we’re pretty much children at heart over here at the Insider. With that in mind, we decided to go back to school – Billy Madison-style – and spend a day as a third-grader at Christa McAuliffe Elementary.

What’s cool for third-graders? As part of our day at Christa McAuliffe Elementary, we asked third-graders what they thought was cool. Read this list and you’ll fit right in on the playground!

∎ Getting half an hour to let your body get exercise
∎ Soccer
∎ School
∎ Softball
∎ Pretty shoes
∎ Learning
∎ Finn the Human from Adventure Time
∎ Friends
∎ Video games and hockey
∎ Minecraft
∎ Football
∎ Baseball, lacrosse and soccer
∎ Hamsters named Cracklesnap and Butters
∎ Pandas
∎ Dance and horses
∎ Card games like Chaotic and Magic
∎ Cars – mainly Volvos
∎ Learning about and drawing Navy battleships
∎ Monsters and dragons
∎ Ocean animals
∎ Snowboarding
∎ Girls
∎ Wolves and steak