Where are we in Mrs. Bean's GT class (and where have the blogs gone??) Well, we are frantically filling our brains with everything we need to know for the state testing - currently known as TCAP. Let me be a little boring this week and simply share with you what each of my classes is currently up to:
5th grade math - We are in the middle of a unit dealing with number sense and operation practice. This chapter is a conglomerate of adding/subtracting/multiplying/dividing negative numbers, dividing fractions (and the idea of reciprocal numbers,) refreshing order of operations, building equations and inequalities, and working on algebra concepts again. 4th grade math - The conepts of perimeter and area have traditionally been a huge piece of the math TCAP. We have been reviewing the formulas to calculate both of these for regular polygons (especially rectangles, triangles and parallelograms.) I find that fourth graders understand these ideas but can easily get perimeter and area switched. Yesterday we calculated the perimeter of our classroom. Tomorrow we'll use our measurements to determine the area. 3rd grade math - Third graders are working on further developing their ideas on multiplication and division. We spent the last week multiplying and dividing large numbers that included 0's. We'll take that to the next step in the next week to learn to multiply 2 digits times 1 digit and 2 digit times 2 digit numbers. This is where it becomes evident who knows their basic multiplication facts because longer problems are harder when you don't have those secure. 5th grade language arts - We have been focusing on nonfiction reading and discussing how that type of reading differs from fiction reading. We have been looking at the text features (headings, captions, etc.) that can be very useful when nonfiction reading. The students are now applying that knowledge to doing a research project on a topic of their choice with a product of their choice. We are having a share fair for their new learning before we leave for Spring Break. 4th grade language arts - My two groups of fourth graders have been reading books about boys with courage and survival skills. We will finish the reading and question portion of our study this week. Next week we will spend time comparing the books and characters, as well as doing some interest-based projects to sythesize their learning.
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Fifth grade language arts kids have been working recently to expand their knowledge of art. In my attempt to broaden their genre reading, we have turned to nonfiction reading for a while. To begin our focus on nonfiction, each 5th grader picked an artist and created a Prezi presentation sharing the artist's inspiration, artwork, and a summary of their lives. This project was focused (everyone same general topic, everyone searching for the same information, and everyone with the same project.) This week we opened up the world. We will spend some more time reading nonfiction, but this project will be a topic of their choice and a presentation project that befits the topic. We have kids interested in gorillas, how to split an atom, Revolutionary War battles, Olympic gymnasts, and many more topics I am anxious to learn about through them. Why do this? Nonfiction reading is VERY different from fiction reading. Many times as much learning comes from pictures, captions, diagrams, and graphs as from the content of the words on the page. Skimming and scanning become important. Knowing how to use the tabel of contents and index to narrow the search for the right information is necesary too. We'll also work on citing sources and creating a bibliography. Research skills will help students throughout their school careers and beyond. Check out this week's work below and stay tuned for more sharing of great projects in the coming weeks! Molly's Prezi: Picasso
http://prezi.com/jdrggcjz_lrm/picasso/?auth_key=82a69bd66d8e151fd740fca6a85e261c3e6ba9aa Ryan's Prezi: Vermeer http://prezi.com/7i3kyfcmfirp/untitled-prezi/?auth_key=581b4e1597db397d18ed994c19281affa8560f38 Madison's Prezi: Pollock http://prezi.com/-o1meomctise/jackson-pollock/?auth_key=2dda84b2b6103bccff539cce3098b14574c0220b A skill that can be a challenge for all students (GT kids no exception) is determining elapsed time. Our third grade class has been working on this all year in a fun and scientific way. On Mondays, the kids log on to DateAndTime.com and find the sunrise and sunset for that particular day. We then record it in a chart and post it to their graph. We compute the length of sunlight for that day. I must admit that even though I have lived on Earth for 30++ years now, and I knew that we lose sunlight until Christmas and then gain it back, it has been fascinating to me to gather the actual data on this change. Even more fun, it has been wonderful to hear my scientists/mathematicians discuss trends and make predictions and then watch to see if their predictions come true (they had no concept of the equinox before it happened!) Let me just say, elapsed time is no trouble for them now at all. At some point this year for each of them, the calculation of hours and minutes of sunlight became second nature. Here are some of the things they had to say about our observations: During winter, the day is shorter. Also during summer the days are longer. Last, we gain or lose twenty minutes or less of sunlight each week. - Mitchell |
Tracey BeanWerner Elementary Archives
May 2018
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