What a beautiful day for fine dining!

 

Our kids have done so well in the cafeteria that today they won a ‘fine dining’ experience with our principal, Mr. Zoller.  He was very impressed with how well behaved they were.

 

In math we started talking a good deal about equivalent fractions.  The students created their own set of fraction bars, and then we did a few exercises in finding equivalent fractions by lining our fraction bars up.

Fraction bars:

fractionBars

Tonight students should use these to find a few equivalent fractions.  They should also write down their definition of equivalent. (hint: it’s not ‘the same’).

SimpleEquivalentFractions

 

In Language Arts we continued our discussions of dialogue and conversations in text, and read a silly story that consisted strictly of dialogue.

DialogueOnlyStory

Tonight students should write their own dialogue only story, remembering the conventions for indention (for each new paragraph), new paragraphs (for each new speaker), and quotation marks (around the dialogue!)  we have established.  The story should be a minimum of eight lines.  If they want to add in their own little silliness or ‘twist’, they are welcome to do so.

 

In Science we took some notes on weather, and talked about the rotation of the Earth, and how the heating and cooling at the equator and poles create the wind.

We didn’t have time to get into our discussion of clouds (there’s NEVER enough time for anything really), so they don’t have any science homework tonight.

 

so, tl;dr

simple equivalent fractions worksheet.  Make sure you use your fraction bars to check!

SimpleEquivalentFractions

fractionBars

Write a dialogue only story of minimum eight lines

And as always, read for 35 minutes and get your reading log signed!

 

Have a good one,

 

-Mr. Potter

 

Zebulon Middle School came and talked to our students today.  It was a bit late, but they gave them some information about Zebulon Magnet as an option.  I talked about Magnet schools a good bit before track out, but if you needed that information again, it is here:

Magnet application information

Today we had to revisit some of our expectations for dealing with our fellow classmates.  I expect children to treat each other with respect and kindness at all times, and I take deviations from this very seriously.  We had some unfortunate incidents with students saying unkind things to each other, and we can not have students thinking that this is acceptable in any way.

 

In math we built ourselves fraction bars, and a fraction bar game.  We had a lot of fun with this, and tonight the students’ homework is to PLAY THIS GAME WITH THEIR PARENTS (or at least a sibling or friend).  It is their responsibility to explain the game and to do at minimum two rounds.  It’s actually good fun, so I hope you get a chance to share it with your child.

 

In Language Arts we continued our discussion on dialogue, and we experimented with some comics.  Students took a Calvin and Hobbes strip, and filled it with their own dialogue.  Tonight students should take this short strip, and write it as text only.  This means they need to add explanations of the action, and other details such as the characters’ expressions and tone.

CHComicToText

Finally we talked a bit about tornadoes in Science.  Students read a short selection on tornado alley, and tonight they should answer some comprehension questions on the passage.

Tornados

 

 

so, tl;dr

play the fraction bar game at least two times!

Write out a comic strip as text only

CHComicToText

Tornado alley!

Tornados

(as always, each question should have reasoning of some kind!)

 

Have a good one!

 

-Mr. Potter

 

First Monday back!

 

We are having some issues with calling out and working quietly.  Our track out was quite long, and it’s taking us longer than I would like to fall back into our routines and expectations.  However this class is extremely capable, and I won’t be satisfied until we are back to our perfect selves.

 

Today in math we talked a great deal about factors, and how they relate to fractions.  For instance 10 and 5 are factors of 50.  That means that 10 is one fifth of 50, and 5 is one tenth of 50.  We will be doing a LOT of work with fractions this quarter, and a very strong understanding of factors and groupings will be essential.

 

Tonight students have a worksheet asking them to explain fractions of numbers.  Each questions asks them to fill in the blanks of statements relating one number to another.

FactorFractionsFeb2

 

In Language Arts we spent some time talking about dialogue, and some conventions when using dialogue in our writing.  Tonight students should write a short interaction between two characters, that consists of at minimum 5 lines of dialogue.

These are the notes and the example we came up with in class:

DialogueNotesFeb2

 

In Science we talked more about the revolution of the Earth, and how that affects the temperature at different places on the Earth, which in turn affects the movement of air on the Earth.  This, along with the rotation of the Earth creates the wind, which moves weather on our planet.

 

We also watched a short Bill Nye video on the wind, and students have a short worksheet to fill out.

video

Bill Nye Wind

 

 

Students also got their report cards today!

Unfortunately, the program that creates the report cards seems to have eaten my comments.  Thankfully I keep these in a word document, and I will fix the report cards and get the comments on them and back out to you by Wednesday.

 

First quarter was a lot of stuff that students were already exposed to in fourth grade, however second quarter we had many new concepts introduced.  This means it was less likely that students got 4s this last quarter.  Do not be discouraged or surprised if a student got a 4 in a subject first quarter but a 3 this quarter.  Also please don’t be discouraged if a student got 2s.  This does not mean they are incapable, it simply means they have not reached a level of proficiency yet.

 

so, tl;dr

one math worksheet on fractions of numbers

FactorFractionsFeb2

one dialogue between two characters, minimum of five lines of actual dialogue.

dialogue notes and example: DialogueNotesFeb2

Wind worksheet:

Bill Nye Wind

 

 

Have a good one!

 

-Mr. Potter

Our second day went wonderfully.  How was yours?

 

First we talked a good bit about factoring and how it is used in real life.  We have been doing a real life factoring problem each morning, dealing with splitting up different amounts of objects into equal groups.

For homework tonight, students have a short factoring and greatest common factor worksheet to do.  It’s fairly straightforward, and we will have a short quiz on finding factors tomorrow.

FactoringJanuary29

GCFJanuary29

 

We then spent a good amount of time going over our Math Case 21.  We really need to focus on reading closely and ensuring that we answer what the question is asking.  One question specifically that MANY students missed asked for the price of five apples, and half of our class answered how much a single apple costs.

 

Missing something like that is unfortunate because it’s not really an ability problem (they were perfectly capable of solving the problem), but an attention to detail problem.  It is sad that sometimes questions on standardized tests are ‘gotcha!’ questions like that, but it is a reality that we need to be prepared for.

 

We then started talking about the fantasy genre, which we will be focusing on this quarter.  We talked about how one of the main characteristics of the fantasy genre are (surprise!) fantastical elements.

We watched two short clips, one that was VERY fantastical, and one less so, in order to demonstrate that a story not necessarily be truly out of this world to be included in the fantasy genre.  The students asked that I link them here so they might watch them later if they liked:

Francis

The Tale of Mr Revus

 

This led us to realize that our Mysterious Benedict Society books that we have been reading are included in the Fantasy genre.

For homework tonight, students should have taken home their Language Arts journals with their summaries of the Mysterious Benedict Society books.  They should make a list of at minimum 3 realistic and 3 fantastical elements from the book.

 

In Science we got a chance to talk about why our aquarium turned green (Algae bloom!), and then talk a bit about weather.

In order to understand that weather is the state of the atmosphere in a specific place, we had to talk about our atmosphere, and then we had to discuss how our planet orbits the sun at a tilt while rotating, creating day, night, and seasons.  This led to more discussions about why we don’t feel the Earth moving, and eventually a detour to the ISS camera, so we could see the Earth truly spinning:

ISS live feed

It was a long, winding road we went down, but I think we might ACTUALLY be ready to discuss weather in detail starting tomorrow!

 

All in all, it was a great day!

 

so, tl;dr

two math worksheets on factoring and greatest common factors:

FactoringJanuary29

GCFJanuary29

 

And a list of 3 fantastical and 3 realistic elements from The Mysterious Benedict Society

 

As always, read for 35 minutes and get your reading log signed!

 

Have a good one,

 

-Mr. Potter

 

 

We are back!  I missed the students dearly, and it was so great to see everyone.

 

3rd quarter is one of our shortest, at only 8 and a half weeks.  That means we really have to start out in earnest, and so we jumped right into it today, and we’ll be busy busy busy until the end.

 

In Math, we did some quick review of factoring as we will be working with adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing fractions this quarter.  Being able to find and recognize equivalent fractions will be essential, and knowing how factoring works is the first step in that.

 

Tonight students have a worksheet that asks them to find common factors of two numbers.  They were given tiles and pop cubes to use to help them.

Common Factor Rectangles

They will use the tiles and pop cubes to make different rectangles in order to find factors.  For instance if they were told to use 8 tiles, the rectangles that they can make with 8 tiles are:

1 x 8

2 x 4

 

This means the factors of 8 are 1, 2, and 4

 

They will use this method to figure out the factors of the two numbers given, and then try to find the factors that the two numbers have in common.  They should draw these factors in their rectangles, one above the other.  We did some together as a class as examples, which can be found here:

Rectangle factors example

 

In Language Arts we spent a good amount of time catching up with The Mysterious Benedict Society, and then going over our Case 21 assessments.

 

In Science this quarter we will be talking about weather, and doing a fairly large research paper on a weather phenomenon of our choosing.  Tonight in their motivation reading books, students have a short selection that includes a  research paper to read and some questions to answer.  The selection is on pages 101-102, and the questions are on page 103-104.  As always, the answers should be accompanied by reasoning!

 

When we got back to school, our aquarium appeared to be completely green!  Tonight students should write down why they think the aquarium turned green.  I gave them these hints:

 

The water isn’t green, but something IN the water is green.

What kind of organisms do we find in nature that are normally very green?

Mr. Potter accidentally left the aquarium light on for basically the entirety of the break (instead of the normal timer)

If you know the answer, don’t spoil it for anyone else!

 

so, tl;dr

one page of common factors using rectangle models:

Common Factor Rectangles

P 101-104 in motivation reading with reasoning!

Why is our aquarium green?  response

 

 

It’s great to be back!

 

-Mr. Potter

Note: There is some magnet school information down near the bottom of the post

 

Uh oh!  We had a cats vs. dogs discussion during dismissal that ended with:

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN KITTENS ARE VICIOUS?!  YOU’RE VICIOUS!!!”

 

So cats vs. dogs will be the first on our list of things we will no longer talk about.

 

Case 21 has been a real struggle this week.  Many of our students aren’t really checking their answers or putting in the amount of time that they are capable of.  We had a talk about this today, and how many of their mistakes on the math assessment were easily avoidable if we were checking our answers or using our test taking strategies.

I’m not sure if this is because students are just worn out, or something else.

Hopefully tomorrow will be better!

 

please remember tomorrow is Science Case 21!  And Friday is our end of quarter celebration and early release!

 

Today students got some hand-outs, including the school/parent compact.  I am sending these home again, even though many parents saw them on curriculum night.  If parents could please simply sign the sheet of paper that says you saw this and send it with your student tomorrow,  I would really appreciate it.

 

Students also got a sheet with information about magnet school applications.  I highly suggest taking a look at your middle school options, and seeing if there might be a school that is a better fit for your student and your family.  There are many options, including many that have neighborhood busing.

Here is the process in a nutshell:

You apply, giving your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choices

A bit of a lottery occurs, and students are given their choices, or put on a waiting list.

 

The application period is from January  26th to February 5th

The application/magnet website is here, but it is not the most simple of sites to navigate, so I am including some important links below.

 

To find your base school, go here

You can also click on maps there to look at school divisions and get transportation information

The different magnet middle schools are here

On that page, click on each one for information

 

If you are interested in a magnet school, the application is here (You won’t be able to access this until the application window opens on January 26th)

Again, the application dates are January 26th to February 5th.  I strongly encourage you to take a look and apply if a school looks like it would be a good fit.

 

Tonight students should make sure they get those papers to you, and get the compact sheet signed.  That, and reading for 35 minutes is their only homework.

 

Easy peezy.

 

If you have any questions about anything, including our celebration, or about general magnet application stuff, please feel free to contact me by phone, or at my school e-mail.

 

Have a good one!

 

-Mr. Potter

 

 

 

 

 

The homework is…

 

there is no homework!

 

seriously, not even reading log.

Today the kids worked their tails off taking their Language Arts Case 21.  I was not exactly thrilled with the results, but the majority of students worked until past 2pm.  That’s about four hours on a test.  We then had some silent reading time, which I will count as their reading for today.

Really I would just like students to go home and relax before tomorrow’s test.  Get a good night’s rest, and make sure they eat breakfast!

 

so nada, zip, zilch for tomorrow.  No homework, no reading log, just sleep well and eat.

 

The rest of the week:

Wed: Math Case 21

Thurs: Science Case 21 (and also a special program by the Knightdale High School band)

Fri: End Of Quarter celebration and early release

 

 

Have a good one!

 

-Mr. Potter

Tomorrow is Case 21!!!

 

This week:

Tuesday: Language Arts case 21

Wednesday: Math Case 21

Thursday: Science Case 21

Friday: End of Quarter Celebration and early release

 

Today was our last real day to review.  We spent the entire morning talking about much of the math we had done this quarter, and the afternoon talking about Language Arts.

 

In math, students have some order of operations review to do on page 9 of their motivation math books.

 

Students also have some questions to answer on page 241-242 of their motivation reading books.  This selection had some poetry in it, and we spent a good deal of time deciphering the flowery language in the poetry, so answering the questions shouldn’t be too difficult.

 

Students received quite a few handouts today, including a permission/food form for Friday’s celebration.  Please be sure you see this and sign it, so your child can join us.  If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to call/e-mail me.

 

SO, a short and sweet day:

one review page in motivation math: 9

two pages in motivation reading: 241-242

 

as always, read!

 

Get a good night’s rest and eat breakfast.  Tomorrow is Case 21!!!

 

-Mr. Potter

So today I went with absolutely awesome Animaniacs videos during dismissal, and the kids were much more receptive.

 

So our fabulous review week continues, today talking about some algebraic operations, exponents, and order of operations.

Tonight students should do an order of operations/algebra review sheet for math:

AlgebraOOPSReview

 

We have been combining language arts and science quite a bit this week, and today was no exception.  We talked about our passages on the lungs and the heart, and I was very happy with how well the students are doing on these.

 

Tonight students have another science passage on inherited and learned traits/behaviors.

Traits

We also got a chance to talk a good bit about the nervous system, and how the brain and the parts of your body communicate with each other.  We also talked about the cell cycle, and how cells are constantly dividing and dying.

Tomorrow will be a big day of review, and just a few assessments.

 

Just in case you forgot it, here is next week’s schedule:

 

Monday: Review

Tuesday Case 21 Language Arts

Wednesday Case 21 Math

Thursday Case 21 Science

Friday end of quarter celebration and early release

 

a very short and sweet day!

 

tl;dr

One math review sheet

AlgebraOOPSReview

One science passage on inherited vs. learned traits

Traits

 

as always, read!

 

Have a good one,

 

-Mr. Potter