Today the buses dropped off the students at BNML and they "walked" to school. Although we do have some students walk to school, the majority of them ride the bus or get driven to school by family. I cannot believe next week in November. We have worked hard as a class to get here and we are able to work independently and responsibly while adults are working with small groups. The students are used to their chromebooks and the apps on the ipads and use them as a supplement to their learning. Have a great weekend!
Homework:
TTM or Sheet 19
If the math assessment was not signed it should be signed tonight.
Read for at least 20 minutes.
*Tomorrow, most students will take a graded assessment on a whole number divided by a fraction and a fraction divided by a whole number. We will then move on to fractions divided by fractions.
There is a very good video from Khan Academy that shows the model of dividing fractions. Video on dividing fractions
There are also many good images on google that show models. Dividing Fractions Models
Today, during small group review, kids played Math 24 using decimals and fractions. In Math 24 you use 4 numbers that equal the number 24. Example: 8, 8, 1/4, and 1/2. Those 4 numbers in a certain combination of multiplying, dividing, adding, or subtracting will equal 24. 24 Game See if your child remembers how we solved the above problem.
How am I able to work with students who need different instruction or reteaching? Well here is a video showing just that. It took about 6 weeks to get here, but this video shows students doing many different things, all on task. It allowed me to work with small groups. Notice how quiet it is!
I am out tomorrow so there will not be a blog post.
Homework:
TTM or sheet 18
All have a quiz on dividing fractions to show you and have signed.
Today, many students worked on reviewing these concepts and will have an opportunity to retake this quiz.
Science reading and questions.
The class is working on two projects that require independent research and note taking. 3 science projects were chosen from a menu of activities and for social studies we are researching in preparation for Public Service Announcements on composting and recycling.
We continue to work on writing powerful personal narratives.
TTM or sheet # 17.
For TTM it is important the students use the journal to document their work. I will collect a journal page each morning.
We had a class/town meeting today to discuss what it looks like to be kind and/or mean. The students spent a lot of time discussing whispering and how it looks to other people. Most of the class agreed that it is not necessary to whisper and usually sends a negative message. I spent a lot of time talking about body language and how 80% of communication is through body language. We will continue to talk about this throughout the year. In the next few weeks I plan on showing "The Blind Side" which is a wonderful movie about kindness and acceptance. It is PG so I will send home permission slips or ask permission in an email.
Homework:
TTM - using a journal to record lesson, new vocabulary, and a sample of work (or all of your work).
Sheet #16
Newsela article on Mount Rainier and "quiz" that goes with it. Due tomorrow.
Mr. Stebbins came in and talked to the students about this Friday's dance. The biggest ideas to take from this talk are: the dance starts at 7:00 and ends at 9:00. (Not 6:50 or 9:10), school rules apply, dress code, and if a student receives a referral on the day of the dance, he or she will not be allowed to go. The cost is $4.00, but $3.00 if you are dressed to the theme. This theme is "harvest".
Homework:
TTM, using the journal. Sheet 15.
Read for 20 minutes
While taking practice notes on black holes, many kids found videos that they want to share with the class. We will use these videos to learn how to take notes from watching videos. I will also
Homework:
TTM or sheets 13 and 14.
I will go through TTM accounts with students tomorrow to be sure they are making progress.
Today we spent a lot of time working with our Chromebooks. We practiced using the research tool and taking notes by using "jot dots". We also learned how to find pictures that are "copyright free" to use in our projects. Pixabay is a great site to use. Once we had a picture we saved it to our google drive and then inserted it in a slide show. The students will be doing this a lot this year.
The homework is different that what was on the board. TTM and reading is all for tonight. I will copy the science reading and paper math homework for tomorrow night.
We have a new student named Devyn. He comes to us from Cambridge.
Today we worked on taking organized notes. We will be using a template form called, "boxes, bullets, and bubbles." Here is the link-Note Taking Template
The students are encouraged to take notes on the computer instead of hand writing them out because it is a skill they will need in the future. However, if a student needs to hand write notes then he or she will still use this template. It will be on the blog's home page.
There is no official homework this weekend, but I would everyone to do some reading. Think Through Math can also be done.
We did a collaboration activity today where students had to read clues to build something with blocks. Here is a video.
We learned about short focused research projects today. Here is a link that shows the template they will use to create their projects. Short Focused Research Project
The students received solar system menus today. This is an assortment of projects/topics they can choose from to study something that interests them.
Next week students will start getting a science or social studies reading assignment in addition to independent reading. There is no school on Friday.
Homework:
Math-TTM or sheet #9
Read! I will take a status of the class tomorrow. If you are not making progress then you will have to start doing a reading log every night!
The students got passwords to go on to my diigo account. diigo is an internet bookmarking site. I have a group, that the students are a member of, called Relish. This has websites they are allowed to go to during free time/relish time. Must do work is Mustard work, catch up work is call Ketchup work, and when you are done you have Relish. Neok12 is a great site for enrichment and reteaching topics. neok12 You may need your child's password, but this is what the site looks like. At some point I also want to get them on Young Writer's Project. I hopefully will do this by December break. Each Wednesday in the Messenger you can see students' writing.
TTM or Sheet 8. Moon Phase calendars are due in final form tomorrow morning. We started getting some apps on the Chromebooks today. In math the students worked in math clinic with me and on the ipads using fraction apps. Here is a video of students helping other students get apps for the Chromebooks.
Homework:
Math
TTM for 20 minutes
Sheet 5
Social Studies
Finish constructed response on article. "Why is recycling important?" Score the rubric.
Language Arts
Finish your journal assignment and score the rubric.
Moon Phase calendar will be collected on Monday.
In math today we spent a lot of time solving the problem 5/9 divided by 2/3. The students worked together in groups and drew models. Almost everyone had the answer of 10/18. When I modeled how the answer is 15/18 they realized they had been dividing the thirds into 9ths instead of 18ths. It was a lot of fun. In the afternoon we worked with Keva Planks (if students had all work finished) and here are 2 videos.
Homework:
Think Through Math OR Sheet #3
(sheets are an alternative to online math)
Read for 20 minutes
Social Studies-Finish evidence reading assignment
Conference Schedule Please sign up for a conference if you have not yet done so.
Students are working a modeling dividing fractions by fractions. Ask your child so show you how to draw 1/2 divided by 1/8.........or, how many 1/8s are in 1/2?
Here is a video that explains it if your child has trouble. Dividing Fractions by Fractions
Today the buses dropped off the students at BNML and they "walked" to school. Although we do have some students walk to school, the majority of them ride the bus or get driven to school by family. I cannot believe next week in November. We have worked hard as a class to get here and we are able to work independently and responsibly while adults are working with small groups. The students are used to their chromebooks and the apps on the ipads and use them as a supplement to their learning. Have a great weekend!
