We had another GREAT week. We have been working very hard! In math this week, we moved into more challenging multiplication. Students solved multiplication word problems using a variety of strategies. We learned how to use starter problems, and visualize multiplication using arrays! Today, we reviewed how to estimate before multiplying. This helps students make sure their answers are reasonable. Next, we will be learning the various algorithms for multiplication (two digit by one digit). In writing this week, we learned from Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech to learn some craft. We all tried his strategy of repeating lines to make a powerful message. Then, we moved on to editing our writing for proper capitalization. We made a list by looking at books in our desks and thinking, "When do real author's capitalize?" We are really looking forward to celebrating our writing next week! As readers, we have been navigating non-fiction text, and specifically identifying non-fiction features and how they help us. We went on a scavenger hunt through some ecosystem books to summarize different features we found and how they help us as readers. Then, we all read some TFK articles, and cut and pasted one feature that we felt really helped us understand the text better. Then, we described how it helped in words. Last, as scientists we have been discussing ecosystems and what defines an ecosystem. Students have been sorting some cards and identifying, "Is that really an ecosystem?" We kept going back to the definition: An ecosystem is an environment where biotic and abiotic things interact with one another." We had some "friendly debates" about certain items (a moldy sandwich/an abandoned lot). Ask your child what they think about these: are they ecosystems or not? Why? Have a great weekend! |
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![]() It felt GREAT to have a FULL week of school together. It has been a really fun week. In math, we have been digging deeper into multiplication. We thought about different multiplication scenarios, and discussed key words in word problems that tell us to multiply. After this discussion, we wrote our own multiplication stories that went along with a fact within the 12 times tables. Ask your child what theirs was! After this, we discussed the difference between a factor and a multiple, and what strategies we could use to determine if a number is a factor of another number. For example, is 4 a factor of 51? First, we could multiply 4 x 12 = 48. Then, if we add another 4 it is 52. Therefore, it is NOT a factor. To practice this skill, we played a game "Multiple Turnover." This can be found on Pearson's website. As writers this week, we finished planning our personal essays with a variety of supporting details: mini-stories, lists, examples, opinions, thoughts, and opinions of others. After finishing our "Big T" Plan, we "storytold" our essays across fingers with a partner to prepare for writing. This cycle, we are deciding to draft directly on Google Drive rather than drafting on paper. This is in an effort to prepare students for PARCC, where they will be required to do this. The class is really excited about this! We started drafting yesterday and we will revise next week! In reading, students have been working in their science/research groups to create a presentation on a biome. They are collaborating to combine their notes as a group to create a clear presentation to teach the rest of their classmates about their biome's climate, geographical location, organisms that live there, how they adapt, etc. They have been working really well on these together and I cannot wait for presentations next week! This week, we focused on the battles of the Revolutionary War. Students researched a particular battle in class, and summarized the important information in their words. We jigsawed this activity by having students walk around and teach one another about their battle. We talked about the end of the Revolutionary War: The Battle of Yorktown and the Treaty of Paris. We will have our test on Tuesday after two days of review! Have a fantastic weekend! |
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June 2015
Author4th Grade Teacher, Jessica Nastasi Categories |