See the directions posted from week 2 below. Here is a link to quizlet for the new Spocab words this week. The quiz this week will be on Thursday since Friday is a holiday. Happy studying! :)
Spocab - Week 2
Parents and students, it is time to start Spocab again. You can find it on the quizlet website here. Username: mosteller5 Password: harriscreek Study hard! Your quiz is Friday!
Volunteers Needed!
Next week is Read Across America week and he have some really exciting things planned for our school and class. On Friday, our track out day, I need about 3-4 volunteers to come in and help with our math, disguised as a Dr. Seuss/Read Across America celebration! We will be making recipes where students have to multiply whole numbers by fractions. I will have 3 different groups and I need a parent with each group just to help guide them, make sure they are doing the recipe correctly, and help them not make a huge mess! You are also welcome to take your student home with you when you leave because we will be doing this towards the end of the day! I also need one parent who is willing to bring with them or send in with their student a crock pot. It would be better if it was a parent who is there to help so they can easily take it home with them. Please e-mail me or message me on remind if you are interested in helping. I will also be sending out a sign-up genius soon for parents who cannot come but would still like to help. This way you can send in items we need for the recipes. Thanks!
When: 1:30-2:20 on Friday the 3rd. Where: My classroom (312) What: Helping students with these recipes as well as math
Adding Tenths and Hundredths
This morning during math students seemed to be really struggling with what we did yesterday and what they had for homework. I decided to post this on the blog so you can help them at home if necessary since we have a test tomorrow. Please go through the gallery and read the captions for help on this topic. You can also have your student look at it tonight to review.
Quizlet
I've recently introduced the students to Quizlet. This is a website where students can easily study our Spocab words and quiz themselves. I enter the words and definitions and then students can do online flashcards, they can match words to definitions, they can hear the word said out loud, or they can take a multiple choice quiz. Any of these things would help them prepare for their quizzes each Friday. However, I had more students get a "1" today than any other score! :( If students don't like Quizlet for some reason they can log into it on Mondays, just to see the definitions, and copy them down onto their own paper. I do Spocab because we come across words in our novels that students have never heard before. However, it is always my way of giving students an easy 3 in ELA. There really is no reason for students to be scoring so low on this each week when they have this resource to practice with every night and they only have 6 or 7 words to study. They are only graded on the spelling of the word and giving the correct definition. The words in the definition don't have to be spelled correctly! Please check your students seesaw account to see how they have been doing on Spocab quizzes.
If you are not familiar with Quizlet here is how you login. 1. Go to www.quizlet.com 2. Username: mosteller5 3. Password: harriscreek 4. Find the set of words you want to study. Next week's (2/6/17) will be Spocab - Week 6 because it is the 6th week of Quarter 3.
Happy studying!
Six Methods for Comparing Fractions!
Hello all! This is going to be a really helpful resource for your students, and probably you too! The kids did great focusing today as I taught ALL these methods! Take a look at the gallery below to see the notes we took. Your student has these notes but will most likely forget to bring them home at some point when they need them.. :)
Improper Fractions --> Mixed Numbers!
I couldn't believe how well math went today when I introduced improper fractions and mixed numbers. Typically 95% of my class gets very frustrated and some end up in tears. Instead, today we had such good conversation and understanding of what we were doing. I am so proud of my students! I have not yet introduced them to the mathematical way of changing a mixed number into an improper fraction or vice versa. Today we just used fraction strip pictures. I took step by step pictures to show you what we were doing. Please use this to help you or your student better understand their homework! We have a math test on what we have done so far in fractions on Wednesday!
I teach... You teach!
Like I mentioned in the newsletter, we are trying something new and exciting in math! Every Tuesday and Thursday I am taking half of the class and teaching them the math lesson in a "small" group setting. (About 10 kids). While I am doing this, the other 10 or 11 kids are working together on a "Writing About Math" assignment that is due every Friday. After I have taught my small group, I send them to their partners that I have previously matched them up with. Then the student who was in my small group is responsible for teaching the lesson to their partner. It has been shown that you know material best when you are able to teach the material effectively. I have loved watching the students do this over the last few weeks. It excites and motivates them which is really fun to see. Below are some pictures I took from the first day we did this.
Measuring Angles with a Protractor
Before we left for Sound to Sea we started measuring angles with protractors. Here is a video I did with the kids to show them how to use a protractor. If you or your student needs a refresher, just watch this quick video! Also, if you don't have a protractor at home, it might be time to buy one. Your student will need it for future grades as well.
We reviewed division today because tests were...sad. :( I think the remainders part of the test really confused them so we went over it today and their homework tonight is to make corrections. This video explains the 4 things you can do with a remainder!! Please watch it with your student to help!
Now that we have started to feel more comfortable with division we are entering into the world of word problems. This is yet another big step your 4th graders are taking. It is not always easy for their minds to understand what is happening in word problems. I really like to try and get them to imagine themselves in the word problem. Instead of just looking at it like a bunch of words, we need them to picture it as a real life situation. What would they do? Sometimes remainders can change the answer to a problem. It is all about paying close attention to the scenario and interpreting what needs to be done. Here is a quick video of us discussing remainders after we solved a division problem.
Here is a link for the video that teaches the standard algorithm. This is how I taught it last week. I did forget to say that sometimes the divisor (the number outside the box) will not go into the digit in the largest place value of the dividend (the number in the box) so we put a zero on top and move to the next place value. We have done A LOT of those in class so your student should be familiar with that process.
Today we learned a new method for division. It involves lots of estimation and guessing BUT give it some time and it is actually a really good method! I'm sorry the explanation is so wordy...but your students will keep practicing this and it will be okay!
Hello Everyone! Today was our first day of quarter 2. The students had an excellent day! I was very happy that we were able to pick right back up with very few reminders of classroom expectations. There are a few changes to our homework schedule. First, we will not have vocabulary THIS WEEK. Miss Woodell and I are going to figure out a new vocabulary routine and hopefully we will have that going by next week. Our reading homework is also different. Instead of the choice board, which I hated, we are going to just do 2 paired passages a week. This is 2 passages that have something in common where students will practice their reading skills. Students will need to use UNWRAP for each passage. They will also need to complete one Achieve3000 article at 75% or better each week for homework. Below is a video for our math lesson today. We are starting division. This can be tricky! Parents, I KNOW common core can feel like a nightmare but trust me, we will get to the standard algorithm which we all learned in school. This is just to get kids warmed up to division and give them visuals as we go. Please excuse my voice in the video...I have bad allergies today! Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks! https://youtu.be/psWgYOm9YLs
Social Studies - NC Regions
As you know, based on the project your student did at home, we are learning all about NC regions this quarter. The Museum of History has this awesome program where you can get a tub of artifacts and cool things that represent each region for free! The kids get to have a hands-on experience and guess/learn what these things represent. For example, in the coastal region tub there were small wooden canoes, there were small ships, there were seashells, and much more! The students loved learning about what is special from each region. I took pictures on the last day when we did the Mountain Region. Have a look below!
2 Digit x 2 Digit Multiplication with an Area Model
It has been a while since I posted a "how to" video. But I am super excited because I finally got a software that lets me record, while using the same technology to display what I am doing to the students. Yay! That means I can start doing a lot more videos. This is similar to the second method taught in the first video. However it involves two 2-digit numbers. I know that this method is so different from what we were taught in school. Your student WILL learn the standard algorithm for multiplication but this is a great way to introduce multiplying larger numbers. Please let me know if you have any questions! The link for the video is below.
The Mini Computer is something I learned about at a math workshop I attended a few weeks ago at SAS. It is a way for students to work on their mental math and number sense skills. It has been really cool to see them work on these. Ask your student to bring home their math notebook one day and show you how to do it. It is a great "game" for their minds and helps work on 4th grade skills as well!
Multiplication Methods - August 18th
Here is a link to the video of me teaching 3 different multiplication methods in class. If you need this to help you remember how to do your homework just re-watch the lesson! It can be useful for parents too! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQS_EKisqn0&feature=youtu.be
Math Scavenger Hunt - August 9th
Today during math we had a math scavenger hunt! Students had 8 problems to solve. They had to find each problem and solve the addition or subtraction word problem! Check out the pics!
August 5th - Therapy Dogs!
4th grade, track 1 has a great opportunity this year. Ms. Woodell has a friend from high school that trains service dogs. Several of the dogs she trains are dogs that go to schools or nursing homes. In order to be certified the dogs need a certain amount of "training hours". We are one of the classes that they get to come visit! It is really a cool opportunity for the students. They will do read to self or read to someone while the dogs are in the room. The dogs are EXTREMELY calm and well trained. They are amazing. They will walk around and find a group of students to "read" with. On August 5th Miss Sarah came with her dog, Emerson. This was just to meet the kids, give the kids a quick"training" on how to act with the dogs, and for the kids to ask any questions. There will be more to come when she comes back with more puppies!