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

What an amazing presentation was given by animal rehabilitator Jim Parks, who brought us his Wingmasters program this week. Students were highly engaged while learning more about adaptations that help local birds of prey survive. Using live specimens, Jim focused his interactive experience on nocturnal owls, as well as our school mascot: the peregrine falcon! Thanks to our PTO for helping to sponsor this informative and exciting event. Having learned about adaptations of owls and other animals, we will apply that knowledge this week as we create scientific observations outlining the life cycles of frogs and toads.

Math facts practice begins this week! Coming home today is 1) a cover letter with explanations and suggestions for nightly homework practice, along with your child’s level,  2) your child’s placement test(s), 3) math fact cards at your child’s level, and 4) two practice quizzes. I recommend at least 5 minutes per night for practice, since practicing for 20 minutes one night per week just won’t help kids retain the information. Quizzes are given on Fridays and returned on Mondays. The timed aspect of these quizzes tends to be the hardest thing to master. You can make additional quizzes by using the websites Math Fact Café (addition and subtraction) and Math Aids (multiplication and division). You can also make fancier flash cards at A+ Math Fact Flashcard Maker. All three websites can be found under the “Parent Resources” section above.

In math this week, we will take the test on Chapter 3. Then we begin a very important unit. Chapter 4 focuses on bar models and using them to solve number problems and work algebraically. This way of doing math is extremely useful, and will benefit students greatly in the future when they apply it to multiplication, division,  fractions, measurement, and more!  As an example, consider the picture below as a way to model this problem: Jim is planning Thanksgiving dinner for 21 people. 15 people will be having turkey, and the rest are vegetarians. How many people will Jim plan a vegetarian meal for?

For students, setting this problem up can be tricky. We’ve learned to use parts and total boxes to model algebraic thinking: bar models are an even more explicit way to show our thinking about problems, one that helps us make sense of the numbers involved. Notice how the bars are drawn to scale in comparison to each other. This skill really requires students to understand the relative size of the numbers involved. As such, it is a smart but hard skill to master, especially with two- and three-digit numbers.

To learn more about bar models from the publisher: http://www.hmhco.com/~/media/sites/home/education/global/pdf/white-papers/mathematics/elementary/math-in-focus/mif_model_drawing_lr.pdf

And remember, you can access the student ebook to learn exactly how math is being taught and to try examples yourself or with your child at home. Just go to http://www-k6.thinkcentral.com/ePC/logout.do , select the relevant info from the dropdown menus, and enter your child’s username and password (which you can get from PowerSchool Parent Portal). Then in the “My Library” section, select the G2 Student Edition, Volume A, and use the “contents” button on the left to link to Chapter 4.

          

Also in the Library section, you’ll be able to access videos that explain the how and why of bar modeling.

Courage was the theme of our School Meeting celebrated on Friday. Using Bernard Weber’s book Courage, classrooms across Floral engaged in discussions, role-playing, singing, and analysis of the text (including making connections to our understanding of a growth mindset and making inferences–smart!). Here’s a song on the topic shared by the McGrail’s first grade class!

Source: Have Fun Teaching via Youtube.com     For lyrics, click here.

Next week our blog will be taking a break for Thanksgiving. In addition, there will be math and reading homework as usual Monday; however, there is no reading log, spelling homework/quiz, or math fact homework/quiz next week. I hope you and your family have much to be thankful for this year, and I wish you the happiest of holidays!