Next Stop... 2015!

A Notebook Page in No Time!

As promised, here is a quick video explaining how to add a complete notebook page to your spiral in one fell swoop (okay, maybe two). I learned this trick from my son, who learned it from his teacher. Thanks for the idea, Mrs. Podpora!

Behold, The Grip and Rip!

The cool thing is that  you can add double-sided pages too!

Since this week's math notebook only has one printable page, you can quickly add it to your spiral this handy way!

See you in class!

Happy 12-13-14!

We don't have school today, so you may not be writing the date. In case you didn't know, today is December 13, 2014. Which means it's 12-13-14.

Aziz Inan is an engineering professor at the University of Portland who specializes in the calendar's mathematical marvels. According to Mr. Inan, "For most of us, such sequential calendar dates won't occur again in our lifetime. After December  13, 2014, the next one is 01-02-03, to occur on January 2, 2103."

How will you spend the last sequential calendar date of your lifetime? Maybe you can do something special at 10:11 AM. That will be 10:11 on 12/13/14... or 10, 11, 12, 13, 14.

Enjoy!

Text-Based Responses

Today's ELA class was riveting! We continued working on ways to answer text-based questions completely. We have a fool-proof way to remember all of the parts of a convincing and thorough response. Just R.A.C.E. through it!

When we talk about R.A.C.E. Mrs. Sol's class is referring the "recipe" we use to remember the parts of a complete text-based response...

(For the R.A.C.E. printable and rubric, click here.)

Read the question carefully. Does the question have many parts? Once you understand what is being asked, read through the text one more time and highlight the text evidence you find. If it's a magazine or book that you can't write in, you can use a sticky note to mark the spot.

When defending your answer, always cite information directly from the text! In our class, we take a quote from the text and copy it word for word. Since we are using someone else's writing, we always use quotation marks and cite where the quote came from.

The sentence starters above and in the R.A.C.E. printable will help you think of good ways to begin each sentence. For example, when quoting text, a good way to start might be:

In paragraph 2, the text states...

On page 32, Avi wrote...

In the article "Eskimo Life"...

Line 6 of the poem states... 

After citing the text and adding a direct quote, explain how the text excerpt proves your answer is correct. This is a good time to elaborate and add your own thoughts. Really convince the reader with the information and commentary you provide in your answer!

To explain further, here is an example of a complete text-based response. Click on the image to enlarge. 

What makes this a thorough and convincing answer?

We restated the question in our answer.

We answered all parts of the question.

We cited text, adding a quote from paragraph 3.

We explained our answer and added our thoughts.

So, in other words, we are awesome.

But what else is new?

Here is the TBR assignment for this week. Read the story called "The Wink" (above) and then answer the questions completely in your notebook. Use the information on this page and in your notebook to guide you. Edit your response as needed. Make sure words are spelled correctly, sentences are capitalized, and you remember all parts of the R.A.C.E. writing strategy. Then type it up and send it to me by Friday. 

Thanks,

You've Got the Power!

This week we're SUPER excited to learn about the SUPER Power of Ten! Using exponents is an efficient way to write numbers that have a few too many zeeeeeros.

Here are the vocabulary words for this lesson: 

powers of ten

base number 

exponent

The exponent (or power) tells us how many zeros are in the number when the base number is 10. 

The image below has a place for everything with everything in its place. The base can be any whole number, but today we are only focusing on the POWERS of TEN!

The number above really means 10 x 10 x 10 = 1,000.

(exponent of 3 = 3 zeros)

Multiplying with powers of ten is SUPER fun! When multiplying a whole number by a power of ten, just count how many zeros you have and attached that to the whole number! If you use exponents, they'll tell you how many zeros you need. Just ask 'em.

Now for DIVISION...

The video below will explain how to use the power of ten to quickly divide numbers. The SUPER cool thing is that you can do all of this in your head. 

Dividing a number makes it smaller. When dealing with powers of ten, you just move the decimal to calculate your answer. In class today we remembered that a whole number has an invisible decimal on its right.

8.

As it says in your math book, when you multiply or divide by powers of 10, you just change the location of the decimal point. you can multiply by powers of 10 simply by moving the decimal point to the right the number of places shown by the exponent on the 10 (or the number of zeros in the power of 10, if written out). when dividing, move the decimal point to the left the number of places shown by the power of 10. remember that the decimal point is always located after the ones place, so in the whole number 23, the decimal point is located after the 3 ones.

Here is our notebook page from this week. You can click on any image on this page to enlarge it. Please make sure your notebook is up to date before next Tuesday!

If you were unable to complete the 5.NBT.2 Quick Check today, here it is! You can k-mail your answers to me. 

Have a SUPER evening!

Why is Math Different Now?

Confused by the way your child's math lessons are explained? Is it different from the way you learned math as a child?  I bet you use more efficient algorithms to solve problems.  Trust me, I'm right there with you. As a teacher, I've had to learn to look at math in a different way. Many times I find myself saying "Aha!" And this is after 18 years of teaching! What was once abstract, now has new meaning. These days, students are learning to visualize and explain these concepts by drawing pictures, breaking numbers down and writing about their findings. 

Here is a wonderful video explaining why students are learning math in a different way now.

Work together to understand this new way of thinking about math. I bet you will have Aha! moments right along with your child.

December is Here

Here is our December class calendar!

Check your k-mail for a printable version.

[click on the calendar to enlarge]

What do you like most about December?