We have had an awesome week! Here we are after our last day of March PARCC Testing...celebrating our hard work :)
![Picture](/uploads/2/2/9/5/22952136/532482_orig.png)
In math this week, we reviewed how to add and subtract mixed numbers. We did another Top Chef challenge to practice this, where students needed to figure out sums and differences using chef's recipes! They even created their own menu and figured our total costs of menu items. They had very creative restaurant ideas :)
After this review, we moved into decimals. We related decimals to fractions in the way that they are representing part/whole relationships. We compared this to speaking two different languages: you are saying the same thing, a different way. We used models, as we did with fractions, to help us represent decimal values. Ask your child how to say this value: 4.05.
After discussing decimals in terms of tenths and hundredths, we used shading of decimal grids to help us compare fractions. We played "Fraction Compare," a game similar to war. This was brought home if you would like to continue practicing this with your child! Shading in the grids really helps students visually compare the values, which is an important part of this game. After this game, we played another game called "Fill Two" that had students adding decimal values.
In writing this week, we began generating ideas for realistic fiction writing. We used three different strategies. See them below! Ask your child which idea they want to publish: they should have selected one today!
After this review, we moved into decimals. We related decimals to fractions in the way that they are representing part/whole relationships. We compared this to speaking two different languages: you are saying the same thing, a different way. We used models, as we did with fractions, to help us represent decimal values. Ask your child how to say this value: 4.05.
After discussing decimals in terms of tenths and hundredths, we used shading of decimal grids to help us compare fractions. We played "Fraction Compare," a game similar to war. This was brought home if you would like to continue practicing this with your child! Shading in the grids really helps students visually compare the values, which is an important part of this game. After this game, we played another game called "Fill Two" that had students adding decimal values.
In writing this week, we began generating ideas for realistic fiction writing. We used three different strategies. See them below! Ask your child which idea they want to publish: they should have selected one today!
As readers this week, we started an amazing book: The Tiger Rising by Kate Dicamillo. As we are reading this book, we are thinking deeply about characters. We have discussed how to clarify vocabulary as we read this book, and how the author creates visualizations in the reader's mind to help them picture elements of the book. Students sketched a character in the book after being given text clues and using their background knowledge. We compared sketches to show the similarities and differences.