Just a quick note about my schedule next week. I will be attending the Colorado Gifted Educators' Conference on Monday and Tuesday so I will be out of the building. I'll be back on Wednesday and also working on Thursday and Friday to hopefully complete ALP's while you enjoy time with your children at home. Please watch in the coming weeks for this important paperwork to be in your child's Friday Folder.
This week I would like to give a brief update on each of my classes so you know what your child is currently studying in their time with me. 5th Grade Math - Fifth graders have been seriously hard at work growing their brain power in the form of tricky algebra learning. They have been learning to use the Distributive Property to create equivalent expressions and then also learning to simplify algebra equations before solving. We have had a lot of conversations about, "When am I ever going to use this?!" and so have also been doing lessons showing the kids how formulas in life use algebra to solve for the unknown quantity (using formulas for perimeter, area, volume, acceleration, interest rate, US to metric measurements, and more.) We'll take our test over this unit next week and then explore how algebra relates to solving inequalities (greater than, less than and the like.) 5th Grade Language Arts- After the completion of our first round of literature circles reading realistic, kids-save-the-environment fiction, the kids got their new mystery books last week to begin reading. I always think spooky mysteries are a great way to experience the Halloween spirit at school. While we read mysteries, we'll also continue our study of Greek/Latin roots of English. 4th Grade Math - Now that we completed a review unit of addition and subtraction, we are moving onto longer multiplication problems. We'll explore the traditional algorithm but also look at why it works (not just memorize steps that have no meaning.) It is very important that students be practicing their basic multiplication facts because that will make these multiplication units MUCH easier. We have discussed how students might use flash cards or online games (check out the Web Resources for Third Grade under Basic Multiplication Practice.) 4th Grade Language Arts - This group is on hiatus until November when we will pick back up again with books about fictional courageous characters. I think the kids really enjoyed our last session of short-stories and talk of irony and satire through O'Henry stories. This group will also begin exploring Greek & Latin roots in our next month-long session. 3rd Grade Math - The first few months with our new curriculum has a major focus on basic multiplication and divisions facts. This group is also exploring how the Distributive Property works and how it can be a useful tool to learning "hard" multiplication facts (think about 6X7 as (3X7)+(3X7) as an easier way to solve.) We are just beginning a unit exploring strategies for 4's, 6's, 7's, and 8's - some of the sets that kids find the trickiest. Our new curriculum focuses not just rote memorization, but instead on building understanding of multiplication, its uses, and yet still learning your facts for quick recall. We are also trying out fun ways to learn them through videos and games too. 3rd Grade Language Arts - We are looking at the them of change through literature. Part of my goal in their time with me over the years is to introduce them to genres they may not pick up themselves. This first book that we just began reading last week is a science fiction book called The Green Book. Life for the characters in the book change in a drastic way when they are forced to board a spaceship and abandon Earth for a new planet called Shine. We are focusing on learning to ask good questions too while we read - a great way students learn to monitor their own comprehension. Below are a few pictures of our first day together exploring how change is a theme in our own lives (a few more are on the Photos page.)
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Tracey BeanWerner Elementary Archives
May 2018
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