Week of October 20th

The fifth grade groups will be finishing our work with multiplication and division models Monday and Tuesday, though homework with these concepts will be coming home over the next few weeks. Be sure to ask your child about the movie problem a the close of our multiplication and division unit. We will continue to use multiplicative ideas as we move forward into volume and surface area.  One of our first volume experiments will be on Wednesday using container trucks and crates, as students start to develop ideas and formulas about volume.

The sixth grade groups will be working on comparing fractions to each other and benchmarks throughout the week, as well as begin some work values below 0 on the number line.  Through most of our mathematical investigations students will be asked to use unit fractions (fractions with a numerator of 1) to compare to benchmark numbers.  For example, 5/6 and 7/8 are both one piece from 1 whole, but 1/6 is a larger piece away from 1 whole than 7/8.  Toward the end of the week we will move begin to connect some fraction and decimal concepts.

Both fifth and sixth grade groups have been excited about Kahoot.it quizzes in class.  Ask your child about these.

As always if you have any questions feel free to email.

Week of Oct. 14

Last week the fifth grade classes finished our work with connecting models and strategies for multiplication and started to look at division concepts.  Over the course of the next week we will work on moving toward efficiency and flexibility in solving division situations, as well as work with remainders in division while problem solving.  Some fifth grade groups will also begin to use the distributive property and solve division tasks using addition of fractions.

The sixth grade classes have been comparing mathematical situations using fractions and ratios, with a focus on comparing a part to a whole and a part to a part.  Next week we will extend our understanding to include rates.  A great conversation to have with your child in the grocery store will be to compare prices using the unit rate ($ per pound, $ per gallon, etc.) listed on the sticker on the shelf as an application of rates in the real world.  I have also included a game on the sidebar using ratios that some might be interested in playing as practice/ review.  

A great resource to use for multiplication fact practice is the sum sense  multiplication game on the right hand side.  This game digs a little deeper than simple fact recall.  Challenge your child to work with more problems in less time.  

Be sure to have your child check out his/ her Powerschool account at home for any missing work.    I am following up with students at school on missing work, though having students access this resource on their own can allow them to take more ownership of their learning.  I won't be accepting work once it becomes over a week late.  Powerschool can be accessed through the CBMS website on the student drop-down screen.  If you don't know your child's password check with the CBMS office.

As always, if you have any questions feel to email.

Week of October 6th

Last week the 5th grade worked on connecting models and strategies for multiplication, with some extensions moving toward using these models with some algebraic concepts.  This week the fifth  grade will finalize some ideas around multiplication and apply those as we work on division.  We will be approaching division with a variety of strategies which will include rewriting as a multiplication problem and using an area model as we connect the two concepts.  I have included a short youtube clip in the resources section that outlines how the area model for multiplication can be used as students learn algebraic concepts in future grades.  

The 6th grade classes started a unit last week, Comparing Bits and Pieces.  This week we will focus on writing equivalencies to compare situations using both fractions and ratios.  For both 5th and 6th grade self assessment will be coming home as homework as well as some review problems.  Students do have the opportunity to work with me during the last block of the day on their self assessment if they don't have band or chorus.  For most students, this means they have at least 1 or 2 days a week to work on this at school.  If your child is struggling at home with this task, remind them to take advantage of this opportunity.   I do take notes on individual students throughout the course of a day to compare to self assessments.  Self assessment grading, which measures a student's progress toward the content math goals, will account for 80% of the overall grade, and homework completion will make up the remaining 20%.  The homework portion will be calculated at the end of the trimester based on homework completion.  Homework completion also has to do with reading and following the directions of the tasks.  This week I will not mark as completed assignments that do not follow the directions (usually this means only part of a question was answered or part of the directions were skipped).  

As I stated in the last blog, math fact fluency is crucial to noticing patterns in mathematics.  One strategy to try with your child is to give him/ her a product and then recall a fact.  For example, give the product 24 and your child should be able to recall 2x12, 3x8, and 4x6.  An example of the value of this concept occurs when two fractions have denominators of 6 and 8.  Knowing that 24 can be a product of both of these numbers makes creating equivalent fractions with a common denominator about the concept rather than struggling with math facts.   The asteroid game on the right side of the blog is a great game to practice this skill.  

As always, if you have any questions feel free to email.