Common Assessments

Students are ready and excited to show the learning gains they have made since our cycle 1 Common Assessments. We are testing Math tomorrow, December 13th and Science on Wednesday, December 14th.

Get plenty of rest!

Fun with Magnets

Our learning point for our new Science workshop is Magnetic Attraction and Repulsion.  Students have enjoyed exploring and testing ideas related to our learning point.  Today students discovered magnetic poles through their exploration.  They decided that like poles will attract and unlike poles will repel.  For example, a magnet's north pole will attract a magnet's south pole and a north and north pole will repel.  It was difficult to end today's investigations.....the students were so engaged!

My Thoughts on Math

This week I asked students to compare and contrast the terms equation and expression.  We worked all week with these two words and I wanted to check for understanding of this vocabulary. Here is what Nathaniel D. said:

The difference between equation and expression is that an equation has an equal sign.  An expression does not have an equal sign.  The things that are the same about the two are that they both can be number sentences and they both can have some type of operation.  Those are the similarities and differences between an equation and expression.  Examples: 5+5 (expression) 5+5=10 (equation)

Q-Bitz

I introduced a new game to students this past week. Q-Bitz!!! It fast became the most popular activity.  Students played this quick thinking game to challenge their visual dexterity.  In each round, a card is turned over revealing a pattern.  Students had to duplicate the pattern using cubes.  The first to match the pattern keeps that card.  The player with the most cards after 6 rounds wins.  There were some students that quickly emerged as experts.  One of our experts, Kaliyah shows off 1 of her 6 completed puzzles. She won every round of her game!

My Thoughts on Math

This will be a new weekly post that students will repond to in class. I will give them a prompt to reply to regarding something in math they should reflect on.  I told students that I would pick only ONE out of both my math classes.....but it was too hard. I had so many great thinkers! So, I picked one from each class.

The prompt: You know several ways to multiply multi-digit multiplication problems.  Which method is your favorite? Why?

Erin C.
I like to break apart because you only have to do half of the problem at a time and then add it together.  So you for example could be doing 24x37.  You could break apart 24 into 20 and 4.  And you can break apart 37 into 30 and 7.  Now you do 20x30 (600) and 20x7 (140).  Then 4x30 (120) and 4x7 (28).  Add the partial products together and you get the total product.  24x37=888

Michael N.
My favorite method is the standard algorithm.  The reason why I like it is because it makes me work faster.  Like 94x4, you just multiply 4x2=8 and 4x9=36 and it will be 368.  But expanded algorithm takes longer like 13x2.  First you multiply 3x2=6 and 10x2=20.  Then you add 20+6=26.  It makes you have less time to do your work.

I look forward to sharing the students' thoughts on math with you each week!

Two of a Kind

Students have been working on multiplying 2-digit by 2-digit numbers.  They have used many of the strategies we have practiced to help them find the products.  One key strategy we practiced is breaking the number apart into smaller numbers. 

The Problem: A theater has 14 rows of seats with 23 seats in each row.  How many total seats are in the theater?

We used an array first to show our problem and then we broke the array into smaller arrays to find partial products.  The students did really well! Below are two examples of this practice.

All Wrapped Up!

I had a few requests to post a picture of our class pumpkin for the Fall Festival......here he is!

Halloween Science

This week students investigated this fall themed question:  Does the size of a pumpkin affect the amount of seeds inside? This was a great opportunity to go through a full Science Investigation with the students.

We read a story about a family looking for the perfect pumpkin for Halloween.  This family loved to roast pumpkin seeds after carving their Jack-O-Lantern.  They wondered how they could select a pumpkin that would give them lots of seeds to roast! Each family member had a different idea as to what might affect the amount of seeds inside.  We chose our research question based on one of these ideas.

We discovered that the size of the pumpkin had no affect on the amount of seeds inside.  There was no significant difference in the amount of seeds in the small, medium and large pumpkins.  Here are a few pictures from the investigation.

Candy Corn Math

Oh how the tiny white, orange, and yellow sugary treat makes us think of fall! Students helped me figure out how many pieces of candy corn I bought last weekend when I scooped up 5 bags of it on sale. They first had to figure out how many pieces were in each bag. We looked at the Serving size and servings per bag to help us. There were 24 pieces in a serving and 5 servings per bag.  Students decided to multiply 24x5, giving us a total of 120 pieces per bag. Then they knew to multiply 120 pieces in each bag by 5 (the number of bags I bought).  Students showed their work on what else.......a piece of candy corn!

Breaking Apart to Multiply

Students have been using the Break Apart strategy they learned with basic facts to help them multiply greater numbers.  We used place value blocks to show an array for 4x23. 

Then we broke the 23 apart into 20 and 3. We thought of 4x23 as (4x20) + (4x3). 

Then we must add each partial product 80+12, giving us 92 as our product of 4x23. Students have been using this strategy to help solve multi-digit multiplication products into the thousands!

Bye Bye Books!

Bye Bye Books is the title of the problem students needed to solve cooperatively in class Thursday.  Teams worked to apply reasoning and problem solving strategies to help Charlie give away 36 books to his friends. Teams were also given a Problem Solving Rubric which is the same rubric you see each month for a homework assignment.

This specific question gives students practice in finding all the factors of a given number.  A factor is an exact divisor or a number that divides.  Each divisor produces a quotient (the answer to a division problem) that is also a factor of the dividend (the number that is divided). For example, 4 and 9 are a factor pair of 36.  The students also had practice using square numbers.  A square number is a product of a number multiplied by itself.

Many students enter my class resistant to these types of questions.  I stressed the importance of being able to answer problems like this.  It is a skill they will need in the real world.  Students also must become comfortable with higher level questioning because the Math FCAT 2.0 focuses on more complex questions.  Problem solving and reasoning are a major focus in our classroom.

Below is the problem students were given along with a few examples of how students solved it.

Division Vocabulary

I was so pleased with the focus and effort that was put into our math learning today.  Students used the Frayer Model to record three division vocabulary words.

The Frayer Model is a graphic organizer with four sections.  The vocab word goes in the center and then in each of the four sections students list a definition, characteristics, examples and non-examples for the vocab word. We were able to identify division vocabulary and created a visual reference for those words.

Using this specific model creates higher order thinking opportunities for the students.  They must first analyze the word and give a definition.  Then they must describe characteristics of the math concept.  This was a struggle at first for them.....they caught on quick! The last two sections allow students to synthesize and apply what they have learned in order to give examples and non-examples.

Here are a few examples of student work from our lesson.

Manatee Information

Calling all manatee lovers.....this Florida coastal mammal is an excellent choice for your Florida Math Project. Here is a link you may find useful!

Manatee Food Intake

Bottlenose Dolphin Fact Sheet

This is a great link to use if you are researching the Bottlenose Dolphin for your Florida Math Project this month! Check it out!

Bottlenose Dolphin Fact Sheet

How can you tell which way is North?

Students have been investigating ways to tell which way North is. We have discussed a GPS, compass rose, a magnetic compass and today we made our very own sun compass! Students were excited to see that it actually worked.  Here are a few photos of the Sun Compass Lab.

Will getting ready to assemble his sun compass.

The sun casting a shadow on the time of day.

Will and Kevin bisecting the angle formed by the shadow and 12.

Day and Night

Science has been out of this world! Students have been learning about Earth's rotation and how it is related to the occurence of day and night. We had the opportunity today to do a lab activity to demonstrate that idea. Students used a globe to represent the Earth and a light to represent the sun.  I noticed great scientific thinking and lots of interesting questions came up! Here are a few photos of the lab.

Florida's Land and Water....in CLAY!

The students have had a great time planning and sculpting their clay model showing Florida's land and water. We are learning many interesting things about our state as a part of our Social Studies curriculum this year.

Kaylee begins labeling her model.

Madison's finished product.

Cycle 1 Common Assessments

I just wanted to remind everyone that we will be completing our Cycle 1 Math Common Assessment tomorrow, September 13th.  Next Tuesday, September 20th we will complete the Science Common Assessment.  We will be discussing results, goals and action plans in class.

Florida Math Project

Here is a link that may be helpful when working on your Florida Math Project!

Florida Quick Facts from the US Census Bureau

Helicopter Investigation

Science was soaring this week! Students made paper helicopters and designed an experiment to test changes made to the helicopters.  Some lab groups chose changing the weight, the size, the length of the propellers and the length of the base. They gained a deeper understanding of the Scientific Method through this exciting exploration.

This group decided to change the size to see if it would affect the amount of time it took to reach the ground.  They measured in seconds using a stopwatch.

Millions

The students had fun working with numbers in the millions this week. We did a lot of problem solving in a short amount of time, including a problem estimating how many basketballs it would take to cover our classroom floor. The kids were up out of their seats using strategies to help them solve the problem!

LEGOS!!

William turned Legos into math!

Welcome to Our Blog

Welcome to the amazing minds that I get to spend each school day with! I am so excited to get to know each and everyone of you. You all have already impressed me so much with your critical thinking, cooperative learning and your eagerness to make each day full of learning gains.

The first week focused on procedures, classroom expectations and an introduction to fourth grade Math, Science and Social Studies. We greeted old friends and met some new ones too!

The second week of school we began our study in Math on Numeration.  We dove into the exciting topic of place value and discussed ways to write and say numbers in the thousands and millions. In Science, we discussed the Scientific Method and explored Science Tools we will be using this year during lab.

Our third week of school is short but will still be chock full of hands-on learning. Check back soon to see pictures of what we are doing in class!