Learning To Go Mr. Avery's Class on the Web 

We’re halfway to the end of the year! This is a good time to reflect on our journey, and to thank you for your efforts as partners in your child’s education. It’s remarkable how much growth the kids have shown, from learning skills and critical thinking to their growth as caring members of our learning community. To foster self-reflection, try asking your child to compare how s/he is different now from the start of the year. What things can s/he do now that s/he couldn’t before? What things does s/he still want to learn (goals) and how can we get there? It’s also a good time to begin learning about division, fractions and the concept of 1/2 from the Leader in Learning’s Blog: http://leaderinlearning.wordpress.com/2011/10/19/how-to-teach-halving/ Scroll down for good ideas with larger numbers too (like 180!).

Of course, this means the 100th day of school is nearing (at this time, Feb. 10)!  I will set up a “100 Day Museum” to show off student projects and learning. I encourage children to create a poster/collection/display/etc. that somehow represents 100. Instead of simply collecting 100 things in a bag, I’m challenging students to think more deeply about number. They could bring/show something that displays an understanding of number, patterns, and/or the math we’ve done so far, such as: grouping objects (stickers/pennies/etc.)  on a poster that shows counting by 5s, 10s, 2s, etc., possibly  with accompanying multiplication/repeated addition/division explanations; bar models using 100; create real-world problems with 100. There is also a plethora of projects and ideas on Pinterest and across the web!

Students have been doing a great job developing opinion writing pieces with evidence that supports their reasons. Last week’s assignment was to tell their opinions on the best way to spend free time. Check out this one from Teo on playing video games: One reason is…you can play video games on your table, iPad, and phone. You can play “Minecraft Jetpack Joyride” and “Fruit Ninja” for entertainment when you’re traveling. Here’s one from Sid on watching TV: Another reason is you learn. In certain episodes like National Geographic you learn about animals, endangered species, and more. And one more from Mariyah, on having a sleepover: One reason I think so is you get to stay up all night. You can watch movies and sneak snacks from the kitchen all night. Awesome!

In a culminating assignment that combines writing objectives with critical thinking, asking questions while reading, technology, history, and research, students will be asked to choose a famous American to study. Media Specialist Christy Minton will be teaching students about resources available in our Media Center, the Shrewsbury Public Library, and online. She will show children, using sets of iPads, how to conduct a safe online search using Encyclopedia Britannica Kids and The  Library of Congress (I recommend both for ‘anytime’ learning!). Kids will choose biographical figures and select information to print. They will also be given books and articles to supplement their choices. Over the next two weeks, they will be taught to read with questions in mind; flag important information; and use their research to write opinion writing pieces on what made famous Americans great. Smart!

This week we begin chapter 7 of Math in Focus, the goal of which is to make students proficient with linear measurement (especially meters and centimeters). To begin, students will learn the importance of standard units of measurement and be introduced to content-specific vocabulary (width; height; length; meter; etc.). They will next develop a sense of how big meters and centimeters are. Then they will learn correct methods for estimating and accurately measuring and talking about measurement (more than, less than, about, exactly). And as always, they will be asked to solve real-world problems that require analysis and application of skills learned. Consider the following problem from this week’s lessons. Notice how it requires students to think about space, length, multiplication/repeated addition, and subtraction to solve it:

Having learned about weather types, the water cycle, cloud types, temperature, and the sun, the last piece of the weather puzzle is air. We began by investigating what air can do, and what we can do with air. The kids concluded: You can trap air; You can use air to move things; You can make wind with air; Air can warm things up; You can use air, including suction, to control the directions of objects; and You can control the direction of air. Notice how many of these understandings form the basis for both earth science and physical science? This is the foundation of energy creation, manipulation, and distribution!

I hope you had a great holiday! In class we learned about the defining moments in the life of MLK using nonfiction text, and analyzed them in terms of the character traits he displayed. Here’s a great one from Sid: MLK was determined. When someone threw a bomb in his house he still told people to live peacefully. We’ll next analyze the achievements of Helen Keller and other famous Americans. Besides learning about history and government, the ultimate goal of our work is to instill in children a sense of civic responsibility so that when they take their place as citizen leaders they can make their communities, their country, and their world a better place. Joining us in this effort is SPS Elementary Media Specialist Christy Minton, who will teach us using a variety of print and electronic resources. More on that next week!

We continue to learn and practice elements of good opinion writing. What’s important now is that students learn to construct arguments that include reasons, followed up by detailed explanations. Consider these two excellent examples from (1) Caleb and (2) Nishta on why we should have Gym class every day: 1. One reason I think so is gym makes your body healthier. When you exercise your body loses weight, allowing you to fun faster,  jump higher, and not get tired from running. 2. Another reason is you get better at teamwork. In gym you learn to get along with kids. We learn to include every member in the class. Fantastic!

Having learned strategies for multiplying 2s and 5s (skip counting; finger counting; dot paper), we now apply them to multiplying 10s. In addition, we will review the commutative property (e.g. 10 x 2 = 2 x 10) while stressing the need to model these correctly when solving problems. We will then learn to use multiplication of 2s (repeated addition of groups of 2) to learn odd and even numbers. Students will be taught to group objects by 2s and if there is none left  over then it is even; otherwise it is odd. Likewise, if you can split a group cleanly in half with no leftovers, that also means it is an even number. Learning it like this helps students to understand the nature of odd and even as opposed to only applying tricks (e.g. it’s even if it ends with 0, 2, 4, etc.). Here’s an old chestnut we’ve been using to help us multiply by skip counting:

A word about math facts: I’ve noticed many students are stuck (e.g. not passing quizzes for a few weeks or more). Please keep up the good work you are doing with practice each night. It can be hard not to get discouraged, but I can honestly say every single student I’ve taught has broken through with enough practice. I give them 1-2 times each day to practice here at school, but I know it’s not enough, so including it in homework routines is key. If spending extra time on this each night is presenting a hardship in terms of overall homework time, then contact me and I’ll help figure out a workable solution.

One strategy I’ve seen work, is to focus nightly on just the facts that are hard/that students get wrong. In addition, taking timed quizzes is a necessary part of practice. I’ve posted my original letter to parents in a link under the Parent Resources section above. It contains tips and a suggested schedule, along with web links. And remember, the Xtramath site, on which your child has an account, is great to use anytime they have a few minutes!

This week’s math focus is on learning strategies for identifying math facts in the x5 and x10 families. Using pictures, fingers, arrays, and tables, students will be counting by 5s and 10s and applying their knowledge to solve real world problems.

In addition, students continue to work towards understanding and solving 2-step problems (perhaps the most challenging aspect of problem solving this year). What’s important at this time is that kids think carefully about the problem and the numbers involved in order to make sense of problems. Consider this problem: Marcus made 15 dollars shoveling snow last Saturday. Tina made 10 dollars more than Marcus. How much money did they make together? Kids need to first understand that they have to find Tina’s amount, and then add that amount (not “10 dollars more”) to Marcus’. To help organize the problem, students are being taught to re-read from the start until they see the first thing they can draw and figure out; do that math; then repeat the process, reading on in the problem.

Our writing focus switches back to opinion writing. The eventual goal on the road to college and career readiness is for students to synthesize knowledge and present arguments that are supported with evidence. At this time, our kids are learning to write an introductory sentence on a topic; state an opinion; list 3 reasons that support it; write 1 or more explanations for each reason; and write a concluding sentence. Students will begin by writing opinions on any topic, then research and write opinion pieces on famous Americans. Speaking of which…

Our Term 2 Social Studies focus is on learning character traits and applying that knowledge to understand famous U.S. and world figures and their contributions. What makes these historical leaders worth remembering? How did Lincoln’s honesty, Cesar Chavez’ determination, Harriet Tubman’s bravery, and Susan B. Anthony’s patriotism affect the lives of others and forever change our understanding of America? These are the kinds of questions we will attempt to answer by analyzing biographical texts and media.

This week, we will analyze the life and achievements of Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) and learn to assign character traits to him based on evidence from biographical texts and video. Check out this great video from Brainpop (an awesome and highly engaging resource that I use a lot!) and keep the learning going at home: https://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/ushistory/martinlutherkingjr/. Then consider these traits: determined; hardworking; patriotic; creative; honest; responsible; brave. Which words best apply to MLK? What is your evidence?

In science we have learned that when a heat source is applied to water, it evaporates; then condenses into droplets when it cools; then precipitates if it is in a closed system like a jar or even our planet. This week we will answer these questions: Do all liquids evaporate like water? If not, can water evaporate out? What then is left behind? We will use water as a baseline and compare it to solutions of salt water and water with food coloring. Using the skills of inquiry, students will ask questions; make predictions; use scientific tools (petri dishes; droppers; magnifiers); make observations; and draw conclusions. Here’s a link showing how to do one such investigation at home: http://www.shirleys-preschool-activities.com/salt-solution-experiment.html. I encourage you to try other solutions (e.g. water and ???) and send us your results!

And here’s a look at the water cycle from one of my favorite sites, Have Fun Teaching:

                                                                                             Source:pixabay.com

Happy New Year! I hope your holidays and vacations were filled with joy. Thank you for all of the wonderful gifts, kind words, and large class gift card to Staples. I feel appreciated indeed!

We had a blast at our class celebration before vacation. It was a perfect way to honor our achievements supported by our caring classroom community. Thanks for your help with pajamas! It went so smoothly, we’ll have more of them in the future.

 Our reading comprehension focus this week is on Asking Questions and reading to look for answers. Now that the students are readers, their #1 job is to think while they are reading. Often though, we have to remind them to take meaning from reading, and asking questions is essential to that task–and sometimes it needs to be taught. After your child reads a page/part/chapter of a homework book, ask: What questions did you have while you read that? Did the author answer them? Did you have to infer the answer or did the author just state it? What questions do you have now about what you read? The Measured Mom blog has a nice think-through of these ideas, from pre-reading to “lingering questions” post-reading: http://www.themeasuredmom.com/questioning-a-reading-strategy-for-kids/

In writing, our focus is on stretching out the main event of a narrative such that it provides detail and description. Take a look at the “Gym main events” that will be coming home this week. These were done with individual teacher support, and represent the kind of stories we want kids to eventually own independently. Check out this example from Marlena, and notice how she puts the reader in the picture: I scrambled to the other team and plopped onto their mat. As I was looking across the gym, Anna slid a bean bag to me as fast as she could. I scooped up the blue bean bag and yelled, “Hurrah! I’m free!” This week students will write main events based on a memory from their holidays or vacation weeks, owning more of the process than before.

 Chapter 6 of MIF focuses on learning multiplication facts of 2s, 5s, and 10s by teaching the connection between skip-counting and multiplication, and using that understanding to solve problems. To solve 8 x 2, for example, we want students to count by 2 eight times. It is a way of learning the meaning behind the numbers involved in multiplication instead of just memorizing facts (which has value, too, just not on its own). One way we teach this is to have students count pairs of objects. Another is to hop by 2s up the number grid. Next is counting on fingers while counting aloud by 2 (1 finger up gives you 2, or 1 x 2; 3 fingers up gives you 6, or 3 x 2; etc.). Students will then be introduced to dot paper, which for this chapter shows arrays of 2s, 5s, or 10s. The example below shows 4 x 2.

A note about arrays: Arrays are rectangular arrangements of objects like the dots in the picture above. For our purposes, we always count the number of rows first and multiply that by the number of things in each row (columns). In this example, we are looking at a 4 x 2 array (read ‘4 by 2’), the total of which is 8. We can also turn the array on its side like this:

This is a 2 x 4 array, with the same total as 4 x 2. We use these rotating arrays to teach students the commutative property of multiplication. If we know 4 x 2 = 8, then we immediately know that 2 x 4 = 8. There is no need to do the math a second time, and now we’ve learned 2 math facts at once.

When drawing arrays to solve problems (e.g. on classwork or homework), it is especially important that students draw them correctly. A problem about 3 bags of 8 tennis balls (3 x 8) must have an array of 3 rows with 8 in each row, not the other way around. Even though the product of 8 x 3 is also 24, students must show they understand the numbers and arrangement of those numbers in the problem, to be correct. For some fun ways to notice and use arrays at home and while shopping, etc., check out this page from Brainpop: https://educators.brainpop.com/lesson-plan/arrays-activities-for-kids/

As we continue our exploration of weather, students will conduct daily observations of temperature, clouds, and weather type over the next month. We will then analyze the data, look for trends, evaluate methods for presenting data (e.g. bar graphs vs. pie charts for example), and draw conclusions of winter weather in Shrewsbury. In addition, this week we will conduct a further investigation into evaporation designed to test the idea that all liquids evaporate the same way that water does. We will also learn to identify cloud types and use that to predict the weather. Weather Wiz Kids  is a fantastic site for learning more about and all things weather. And here’s a perennial favorite, Bill Nye the Science Guy, teaching about how clouds are formed.