Posted by kavery508 | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on February 22, 2016
I hope you all had a fun and busy vacation! I got to catch up on Netflix, friends, and work. Just one more month till Term 2 closes! Onward…
Our reading comprehension spotlight this week is Understanding Cause and Effect. This is an essential skill for students to own. It helps them analyze storylines and character choices, and so develop a deeper understanding of what is read. As an example, we are reading together Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Dahl). Mr. Wonka shut down his factory then opened it to a lucky few. What events led to his actions, and how did they affect the town in which Charlie lives? How do the choices made by Charlie and the other children affect the outcome of the narrative? For more on Cause and Effect and using it at home, check out Reading Rockets: http://www.readingrockets.org/article/cause-and-effect
Students are being taught to create Informative Writing pieces with explanations that develop a main idea of their choosing. This week, students are continuing this work by understanding and using headings to organize their thoughts. Here are some great examples from 1) Carley, on Soccer and 2) Alex, on Weather: 1) Penalties You could get hurt if you don’t follow the rules. That’s why there are penalties in sports like soccer or football. A penalty is when you fall down and you keep kicking the ball. You could get a red card or a yellow card. 2) Weather Maps Let’s start off with this main question: What’s on a weather map? First of all there is a “L” sign and an “H” sign. The L sign stands for low pressure, and where that sign is, that place will have rain or snow. Awesome work!
Our math work this week sees a return to mental math strategies. Here are 3 addition strategies we will focus on this week:
1. Add multiples of 1s, 10s, or 100s when you can: 354 + 3= 357 (just add the ones; nothing else needs to change); 354 + 30 is just counting by 10s three times…364, 374, 384; 354 + 300 is just counting by 100s three times…454, 554, 654.
2. Add Ten, Subtract the Ones: When an addend ends in a 7, 8, or 9, you can add 10 instead because that’s easier. Then you subtract the extra ones. Think of 216 + 7 as 216 + 10 = 226. +7 is the same as +10-3. So minus 3 from 226 and you get 223 as your answer. The big idea here is that kids do this in their heads by recognizing familiar patterns (counting by 10s and counting back by 1s).
3. Add 100, Subtract the Tens: This works just like the above strategy, just with hundreds and tens. Think of 521 + 90 as 521 + 100 = 621. +90 is the same as +100-10. So minus 10 from 621 and you get 611 as your answer. In the case of this and the other mental strategies, we don’t want kids to be adding the ones first, then the tens (and carrying, etc.) if and when they’re ready for this kind of math fluency.
Remember, you can access the student ebook anytime using the Think Central link in the Parent Resources section above. It can really help to explain these new processes. The corresponding path for these strategies is: Book B—>Chapter 10—>Lesson 2—>pp. 7-14. The strategies can be used with or without number bonds.
We have become experts at observing and identifying weather, clouds, and temperature these past two months to help us answer the question, How does weather change day to day and over time? As part of data collection and analysis, students will be evaluating graphs (pie chart, bar graph, area graph) to select the best format for presenting their data collected on daily temperature. They will then enter data and create their graphs using online software at http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/. Finally, they will analyze the data using graphs to look for trends and anomalies, and to draw conclusions. Try the graphing software yourself using any data from home (homework minutes each night; minutes spent getting ready for bed; etc.). The results are really cool!
Here are some pics from Valentine’s Day and 100 Day. More to come next week–I’ve got a lot!
