Unfortunately with all the testing going on in our building, we haven't had much time for new material in Knowledge Peak classes lately. Let me briefly catch you up on where we are in curriculum currently and where we are headed... Fifth grade math students have been taking extra tests lately. This week we completed a paper-pencil test of 6th grade math standards to inform middle schools to make decisions about class placement next year. We'll take the math MAPS test next week which will be combined with last year's PARCC results in order for middle schools to collect data for that final determination. Fifth grade parents should see an email from middle schools in about mid-May informing you of the suggested class for your child for 6th grade. When we haven't been testing lately, we have been working on a rates and ratios unit. We have explored some "Three Acts" which are fun videos that engage students in mathematical questioning. We have watched jump roping, paint mixing, and snack making. While none of those may sound riveting to you, we have had fun using videos to practice our ratio building and rate determining skills. We'll finish up this unit early next week with a look at the Golden ratio and a final test on this topic. Furthermore, this last week was our last week trading on the Stock Market in our game. Students took time to meet with their teams one last time to buy, sell and trade and also fill out a final reflection for their assessment of learning. Here are a few things they had to say about their experience: The stocks will go up and down like a roller coaster. Good luck! - Nina I think XCel was a great investment because it got us tons of money and made us top of the class. - Milo Pepsico was a good stock because they have so many brands which makes it a popular company. - Jensen This experience will help in the future because I can make better decision and I'll know more about finance. - Sophie Fourth grade math students have been learning about converting between fractions, decimals and percents. We had some fun collecting survey data last week and determining how to express that data in percentages. We learned not very many adults like Mondays or liver (silly questions!) but over 50% of adults have read a book and gone to the movies in the last month. We'll continue with this unit looking at decimal operations before taking a test and moving on to our final units of the year - 3D geometry and measurement units. Lastly, third graders are still finishing up trying out our new math curriculum. We are in the middle of a unit on measurement, including time, mass, and capacity. The kids and I have all voted and we have decided the U.S. should switch to the metric system. It is so much easier to convert grams to kilograms and milliliters to liters! We'll take our test on this unit early next week and continue with our geometric math learning for a couple of weeks. We'll also be exploring strategies for problem solving such drawing pictures, organized lists, working backwards, using logic, and more focused practice. The goal of this work will be to prepare the students for next year's Math Olympiad challenges in which they will be participating.
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Tracey BeanWerner Elementary Archives
May 2018
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