Happy Monday!

 

Today we were a bit….off.  Had some issues with staying on task and making sure we cut our side conversations off when appropriate.  Tomorrow is a new day, and hopefully it will be MUCH better!

 

This morning we took a look at all of the different things we have worked on this quarter.  We then went over our quizzes from Friday, and our quizzes from this quarter.  Students gave themselves interim grades (that Mr. Potter checked to make sure they were what he would have given them!).  For the *most* part, students were honest with themselves.  They saw their grades and they saw the work they had done, and were capable of saying “I understand this” or “I don’t understand this yet”.  This is a very important skill that students will need throughout their lives as they assess their own understanding and plan their own learning.

Tonight students should get this interim signed.  Also please use it to record their reading log, as we ran out of time to hand out the new ones at the end of the day.  Sorry about that.

Last week students purchased an ice cream and movie party for our class using the tickets they had saved up.  So, today we had ice cream cones and watched “Stick Man”.  Tomorrow we’ll take another little break and watch “Room on the Broom” and have ice cream sandwiches!  I was really impressed last week with how they had pooled all of their tickets to purchase something for the class as a whole.

We then went over what different mathematical operations really mean.   One problem we are running into when we are examining word problems is we aren’t quite sure about multiplication and division yet.  So today we talked about some things that operations can represent:

Addition ( X + Y ):  is about combining things.  Finding a total, a sum. If I put X and Y together, how much are they in total?

Subtraction ( X- Y): is about finding the difference between two numbers.  How much bigger (or smaller) is X than Y?  It can also answer if I took Y away from X, what would I have left?

Multiplication ( X * Y): is about repeated equal groups.  Repeated addition.  X groups of some number Y (or Y groups of some number X)

division (X ÷ Y): is about splitting some value into equal groups. It can also be repeated subtraction.  Or how many Y are in X?

 

Tonight students have 4 equations to look at.  They should then write a word problem that would be solved by the given equation.  Make sure you look at what each equation represents, and that you go through your steps when solving them!

1.  5 + 1/3
2. 5 – 1/3
3. 5 x 1/3
4. 5 ÷ 1/3

 

 

 

so, tl;dr

A very easy night I believe….

Get your interim signed (and use it as a reading log as well!)

Write a word problem that would be solved by each of these, and then solve them using our steps:

1.  5 + 1/3
2. 5 – 1/3
3. 5 x 1/3
4. 5 ÷ 1/3

If you’ve forgotten them, the steps are:

1.  What is the problem asking?
2. What do I know?
3. DRAW A REPRESENTATION to figure out how to solve
4. Solve, using what I know

 

And read!

 

Have a good one,

 

-Mr. Potter

Meeting in 10 minutes, so today will be pretty quick, sorry!

 

Today was chock-full of practice!

We practiced operations with fractions.

We practiced identifying genres.

We practiced word problems.

We practiced dancing in a conga line (seriously, we did)

 

It was a good day!

 

In language Arts, students have some practice identifying genre.  Our two big genres are fiction and non-fiction.  Our sub-genres are almost too many to list.

Genre1

 

In math we are going over how to perform operations with fractions.  We took a LOT of notes today:

MathNotesMay19

 

Tonight they have some word problems to do:

WordProblemsMay19

 

AND some operations drills:

MathHomeworkMay19th

 

 

Tomorrow is quiz day – fraction operations, word problems, physics, genres, and making inferences.  Check your notes, and be ready.

And read!!

 

Have a good one,

 

-Mr. Potter

 

This morning we had some representatives from SunTrust come out and talk to the students about saving.  When we start working on our budgets next week, I’m hoping the students will remember today’s talk!

 

This morning we talked again about making inferences.  I’m happy to say many of the students are becoming quite adept at this.  What we need to work on next is being able to make inferences without being asked specifically.  We need to form a habit of it.

Tonight students have some more passages to read and some inferences to make.

InferencesMay17

They also have some figurative language to figure out.

FigLangMay17

 

In science today we did some more work with friction.  We pulled our social studies books across all kinds of surfaces: our desks, our carpet, the hallway, even outside on the sidewalk.  We used some rubber bands and measured how far the rubber bands stretched before the book started to move.  We then took all of our data and put it up on the Smartboard.  Tonight students should look at their data and respond to this:

Order the surfaces from most to least friction.  How do you know this?

FrictionData

In math we only had time today to talk do an example and talk again about how we should work through word problems.  Continue to ask yourselves these questions:

What is the question asking?

What do I know?

How do I answer the question given what I know?

 

We didn’t have time to copy down our homework word problems, so the kids lucked out!

 

 

so, tl;dr

a lite load tonight:

Make some inferences

InferencesMay17

identify some figurative language

FigLangMay17

Order the surfaces from most to least friction, and explain how you figured that out.

FrictionData

 

and read!

 

Have a good one,

 

-Mr. Potter

Friday was SO MUCH FUN!

 

We watched some movies, and had a really fantastic field day.  I have some great pictures I can’t wait to send home at the end of the year.  If you volunteered and took some pictures, I would love for you to send them to me so I can add them to our class folder.

 

This morning we talked about steps for solving word problems.  It’s important we are thinking about what’s going on in word problems, and reasoning out how to answer the questions asked given the information available.  We also need to be checking our work – did we actually answer the question asked?

We’ll be doing a lot of work on this, as essentially math in life is a word problem. (as will be all the math tests they take from now on!)

Students did an example today in their math journals, and tonight should do another problem (in their math journals) in the same way.

FractionWordProblemStepByStep1

Students should also finish pages 62-63 in their math coach.  This is more division review.

 

In science we talked briefly about friction once more (again emphasizing that friction often works against the direction of movement) and watched a short video.  Tonight students have some questions to answer about the video.

The video

Bill Nye Friction Video

 

In Language Arts we are getting much much better at making inferences.  Tonight students have some more short passages to read, and some questions to answer.  These are essentially little puzzles where they have to piece together information from the passage in order to infer what is going on.

Inferencing_May16

 

 

This week for the My Success Project, students will be finishing up their resumes.  The template is in their google classroom.  There is also a quick video and some examples to watch on the my success page here.

Next week based on the strength of their resume students will be given interviews with staff members.  They are encouraged to prepare for these interviews and to dress to impress on interview day (Next Thursday May 27th).  Then based on these interviews they will be given a job that will be a big part of the final piece of this project.

 

 

so, tl;dr

Pages 62-63 in math coach.  Also word problem:

FractionWordProblemStepByStep1

 

Watch video again if necessary, fill in some questions:

Bill Nye Friction Video

 

Make some inferences:

Inferencing_May16

 

Finish your resume by the end of the week!

 

And read!

 

Have a good one,

-Mr. Potter

The homework is just reading tonight!

 

We had a VERY long day at the Durham Bulls ballpark today.  The students had quite an authentic ballpark experience complete with hot dogs, chips, crowds, and disappointment (the bulls lost!).

 

Tomorrow is field day…..

Recommendations:

Wear comfortable clothes and shoes.

Bring a bottle of water.

Bring a change of clothes (you might get dirty or wet)

 

And make sure ALL of your homework for this week is done!

 

Tonight students should just read, and make sure everything from the week is finished.

 

Have a good one!

-Mr. Potter

(who is going to go crash right now)

 

Field trip tomorrow!!!

 

We will be leaving as soon as the buses arrive tomorrow (between 9-9:30), so PLEASE make sure you are here on time.

Because tomorrow is the field trip and Friday is field day, we have a lite load tonight and tomorrow.  I expect 100% turn-in tomorrow and Friday!

This morning we did a LOT of math review and practice.  We only have 7 weeks of school left, and we need to ensure we have a very solid understanding of decimals, fractions, and the basic mathematical operations.  We still have a small number (4) students who need to get their math facts memorized.  This needs to be a priority for them at home.

Tonight students should do pages 60-61 in their math coach book.

This is division review.  Students should check their answers with multiplication!

 

In Language Arts we talked some more about inferences, and I was happy to see most students enjoyed last night’s homework and put some real thought into the questions.

This week students should be finishing up their career and education research.  The education and career timeline in their google classroom should be finished by Friday.  By that time they should be able to answer basic questions about their chosen career and college.  Links are still here.

 

Please make sure you come dressed tomorrow in comfortable clothing, and on time!

 

Have a good one,

 

-Mr. Potter

 

Today was all about friction!

 

This morning we did a fun experiment where we interlaced the pages of books and then tried to pull them apart in pairs.  We found that as we interlaced more and more pages, we were increasing the force of friction that was resisting us pulling the books apart.  Eventually we tried to interlace all of the pages together, and we just could NOT get those books apart!

The kids got a *tad* rambunctious when it came to pulling the books apart, but thankfully this only resulted in lots of giggling instead of lots of injuries.

We ran out of time (surprise surprise….) and didn’t get a chance to continue our discussion of friction, so there will be no science homework today.  Lucky kids.

 

In math we talked about perimeter and area of rectangles and how we can find missing measurements when we have limited information.  For example one side and a perimeter, or one side and an area, or area and perimeter but no sides.  We also went over our perimeter and area quiz from last Friday.  We realized we have learned quite a bit just since last Friday, as we were perfectly capable of doing these problems today, even if we missed some of them last week.

Tonight students have pages 54 – 59 to do in their Math Coach.  This is more standard algorithm practice.  It is quite important that students check every single problem with an inverse operation (check division with multiplication, or check multiplication with division).  We also talked about how if we check and get a DIFFERENT answer, we then need to re-work the problem.

 

In language Arts we did some work with making inferences.  Up until this point many students held the idea that making inferences was just saying whatever you thought.  An inference is a statement or conclusion that is made based on logical evidence.  We did some practicing in class.  Can you make an inference and identify the speaker in this passage?

I hope my boy comes home today!  He went away on a trip and I haven’t seen him in two whole days.  If he gets back I hope we get to go for a walk.  I love it when he throws the stick and I go and get it.  

The students did very well with this, and many are getting the hang of giving evidence to support their answer from the text.

Tonight students have some more practice to do making inferences and defending their inference with evidence from the passage.

Inferencing_May10

 

so, tl;dr

Pages 54-59 in math coach – check your answers!

Practice making inferences – use evidence from the text to explain your answer!

Inferencing_May10

And read!

 

Have a good one,

-Mr. Potter

It’s Thursday!

That means tomorrow is QUIZ DAY!!

Tomorrow’s menu:

figurative language, text structures, and idioms quiz

forces and motion quiz

area and adding/subtracting/multiplying fractions quiz

HOORAY!  It’s gonna be great!

Some quotes as I type this:

Rafiekha “THE HORROR, THE HORROR”

Cat: “Let’s watch Zootopia instead”

Nevaeh: “STAR WARS”

Mr. Potter: “You guys are weird”

 

We will also be doing some things with fractions, and making spruce.  It will be fun 🙂

 

Today we got a good round of centers in, and talked about genres and sub-genres.  Students already had a good idea about fiction and non-fiction, and we talked about how most works usually fall into multiple genres.  We can have tragic comedies, realistic fiction, even horror comedies.

In science we looked again at forces and the forces affecting us constantly.  We drew some pictures of systems of forces at work, and talked about how things might be different, say, on the moon.  We wouldn’t have air resistance for one thing, and the force of gravity would be much less.  Would airplanes or helicopters work on the moon?

Tonight students have a passage to read about asteroids.  They should write a short summary of the passage, and then pick ONE paragraph and analyze its text structure.

AsteroidAttack

 

We also went over finding the area of rectangles and triangles today.  We only had 3 today that didn’t get the triangles on the first try.  Tons of good, quick improvement!

 

Tonight students have pages 46 – 51 to do in their Math Coach books.  These pages deal with the standard algorithm for multiplying multi-digit numbers.  We did some practice in class but most students still need a lot of work on this.  We are adept at using area models, so students should use area models to check their work here.  Try to compare your area model to the standard algorithm as we did in class and use what you know about area models to make sense of the standard algorithm.

 

 

so, tl;dr

Read about asteroids, summarize, and analyze one paragraph’s text structure:

AsteroidAttack

46 – 51 in Math Coach – use area models to check your work!

and read!

Spruce tomorrow!

 

Have a good one,

 

-Mr. Potter

We have no time!!!

Once again, we ran out of time today before we got everything done. Gah!!

We only have 8 more weeks until 5th grade is over!

GAH!!!

I know *I’M* freaking out.  How about you guys?

 

This morning we got an entire round of rotations finished thankfully.  I am quite happy with the progress we are making regarding text structures and just in general with our reading and reading comprehension.  We’ve come quite a long way.

 

In science we drew some wonderful pictures of zooming race cars, and all of the forces affecting them:

Zoom Zoom

 

Tonight students have some similar exercises to complete.  They should label the forces at work in each picture, and then draw some pictures of their own, also labeling forces.  On the other side they need to make some inferences regarding the speed of trucks sent down incline planes.

ForcesAtWork

 

In math today we did a lot of work with area.  Half the class was able to find the area of rectangles and triangles quickly the first time around.  After some more practice we were up to 16 of 22 students finding the area of rectangles and triangles on the first try.  Tomorrow we’re shooting for the whole class!

Tonight students have pages 42 through 45 to do in their math coach book.  It is decimal and place value review.

 

We ran out of time before I could hand out their LA homework passage for tonight, so congratulations on a pretty lite load.

 

so, tl;dr

label some forces for me:

ForcesAtWork

Pages 42-45 in Math Coach

 

And read!

 

Have a good one,

 

-Mr. Potter

 

Today students received their assignment cards for next year.  This is a yellow card that states what school students are assigned to for middle school.  Please make sure you get a look at this.

 

“Dial it down on the sugar”

-Amy to some other students

We have been a bit hyper the last few days, but we’ve done a pretty good job toning it down, thanks to students like Amy!

 

Today we spent some time looking over idioms and text structures.  I think students are doing fairly well with the idioms, but we have some work still to do with the text structures.  We tried talking about how it’s important to keep going when our first try doesn’t work.  Many of our students are simply picking a random text structure, plugging random things into their graphic organizer, and not checking to see if their choice makes sense.  We will continue to harp on checking our work until Mr. Potter draws his final breath.

Tonight students have a short passage about soccer to read.  They should then summarize the passage on the back, and pick ONE paragraph to analyze.  They should determine the text structure used within that paragraph, and fill out a graphic organizer for it.

PhysicsOfSoccer

Speaking of checking our work…..

We had some good conversations about finding equivalent fractions.  We have come SUCH a long way from the beginning of the year.  We had to remind ourselves just how far we have come.  Not a single person in the class needed help finding good forms of one today, and everyone is clear on just what equivalent means.  We don’t change the number’s value, we just change its form!

Tonight students have some review work in their math coach.  They should do pages 32 – 35.  This is decimal review, and hopefully we are seeing a lot more connections between this decimal review and fractions these days.

 

so, tl;dr

Read this passage, write a summary.  Then pick ONE paragraph and analyze its text structure.

PhysicsOfSoccer

Pages 32-35 in the math coach.

 

And read!

 

Have a good one,

 

-Mr. Potter