Friday was AWESOME.

We had popcorn, a movie, and then spent the afternoon playing games outside!

We had a tug of war where I got tripped, and the girls in our class dragged me for like 3 meters before they stopped.  I was totally destroyed!  It was a great time.  I hope your student enjoyed it and had some stories for you.

 

Today we were back to our routine.  We are down to approximately one month before EOGs, so we will be doing a good bit of review from this point forwards.  We took some review notes this morning on standard algorithms, and also took a look again at adding, subtracting, dividing, and multiplying with fractions, and what is really going on when we perform these operations.

Tonight students have a set of 6 ANSWERS.  Their job is to give me an equation that will have the given answer.  For instance if I gave them 3/7 and asked them to find an addition equation, something like 1/7 + 2/7 would be acceptable.  There are many different answers.  We did two examples as well.

WriteAnEquationMay11

After some Math Centers, we continued our examination of figurative language.  Last week’s figurative language assessment was MUCH better than our last figurative language quiz.  I was very impressed.  We played some review trashketball, where we got a bit out of hand and had to take some time to calm down.

Next we took a quick look at tonight’s language arts/science homework.  Students received a passage about challenges astronauts face living and working in space.  We had talked some last week about this, and the students really enjoyed watching videos of Chris Hadfield explaining how they do things up in space.  This is all to really emphasize to students how many forces are at work in our daily lives that we don’t even notice.  It’s a pretty entertaining passage, and if you get a chance, please read it with your student.

AstralBodiesMay11

Tonight they should read the passage and write for me a minimum half page summary of the content.

And before you knew it, it was time to go!

so, tl;dr

here are some answers.  Give me an equation that would give me this answer:

WriteAnEquationMay11

Read this passage and write a minimum half page summary:

AstralBodiesMay11

As always, read!

 

Have a good one,

 

-Mr. Potter

There is no homework!

Except read!  Reading is very important.

Today was kind of like our normal Friday.  We had our math centers in the morning, did some review, and then we took our battery of quizzes in the afternoon.

We had a really great discussion about Invictus.  We learned how Nelson Mandela kept this poem with him in his cell, and we also learned how Timothy McVeigh talked about how this poem was important to him as well.  We reached the conclusion that poetry is what you make it, and different people get different things out of poetry, and honestly just literature in general.

So why was today so short?  This is because tomorrow is really just a fun day for the students at school.  We are going to spend our morning watching a movie and sharing some snacks, and then we are going to have our Field Day in the afternoon.

Students are allowed to bring a pillow or stuffed animal to make themselves comfortable during the movie if they like.  They may also bring a snack to share or one for themselves.

Please make sure that students come dressed appropriately for field day.  We will be outside and doing physical activities for a good 2 hours, so I recommend a good t-shirt and shorts/pants.  Also sneakers please!  A hat and sunscreen wouldn’t hurt either.  I will have water but if students would like to bring their own, that’s fine.

 

short and sweet today

tl;dr

tomorrow: movie and field day

snack = ok        pillow = ok

t-shirt and comfortable shoes to play in: ok

hat/sunscreen: ok

water: ok

READING LOG TONIGHT: DEFINITELY OK

 

Have a good one,

 

-Mr. Potter

T minus 2 days until field day!

I realized I haven’t spoken about this fun-filled day at all here.  This Friday, the 8th, we will be having our yearly field day.  We will spend the afternoon outside doing a wide range of physical activities and games.  It will be great!

As a class we decided to celebrate our last jewel by watching a movie and having snacks the morning before we have field day.  I sent home a permission slip today asking permission to watch a movie that morning and to share some snacks.  If you could sign it and get it back, I would really appreciate it.

 

We started our day talking more about decimal multiplication using the standard algorithm.  Tonight students have yet more practice with this.  I beg of you, please do not teach them the tips and tricks you were taught when you were younger.  The purpose of this exercise is not for them to learn a ‘trick’ to find the answer.

The purpose of this practice is for them to realize that in order to multiply something like 3.4 and 2.25, they are going to multiply (3 + .4) x (2 + .2 + .05), and how we distribute the multiplication across.  It is also for them to realize that when we multiply .4 and .05, as our first step in the standard algorithm, we are multiplying 4 tenths and 5 hundredths, the answer to which will be 20 thousandths. This is not 4 times 5.  The answer is not 20.

Decimal Multiplication Practice

For this reason they should do each problem just as we have done the first two.  Not only does this ensure they think about what they are actually multiplying within the problem, it shows them exactly where they are in regards to place value, and where decimal points should go.

 

We next spent some time on brainpop looking at forces, gravity, and more of Newton’s laws.  I think we are finally overcoming some of our students’ misconceptions about how force, mass, and acceleration are related.

When I first asked students the other day what would happen if I made our lego car heavier and sent it down the ramp, many thought that it would go farther than when it was lighter.  It took many demonstrations to convince them that as we add mass, it takes more and more force to move something (it’s inertia increases).

Today when I asked the same question of a group of students, we only had 2 that were still mistakenly thinking that ‘heavier = moves faster’.  This is probably due to the idea that something that is heavier falls faster (which is also incorrect).  We’ll keep hitting on this one throughout the week.

 

Next we started typing up some of our poetry.  We talked about how we can do all sorts of things with poetry on our pages.  We can decide how we want them to look:

Straight

Rigid

No Frills

 

Flowery

Fluid

Free

 

Or maybe something else!

 

Finally, we talked a bit about Invictus.  Some students had no connections to make between their own lives and the poem.  For this reason I chose to share some connections I had (And that perhaps you have had, if you’ve ever seen the movie by the same name).

We watched a short video on Apartheid in South Africa. And then looked at a time-line of events that occurred in South Africa during this period.

This was completely new information for many students.  We have had discussions about racism and civil rights in the U.S., but not about these problems in other countries.  It was a very interesting conversation, and I asked students to reflect upon why they think Mr. Potter connects the poem to this portion of South Africa’s history, and if they see any connections themselves.

This is some pretty heavy stuff, and if you would like to have a conversation with your student about this, and ask them what they think, I believe it would be a great discussion.

Tonight students should answer this:

5.  Why do you think Mr. Potter draws a connection between the poem Invictus, and apartheid in South Africa?  Do you see any connections?

They should also finish their sentences for ject words!

 

so, tl;dr

Set of decimal multiplication problems, done as we have done in class!

Decimal Multiplication Practice

Answer this question about the Invictus poem:

Why do you think Mr. Potter draws a connection between the poem Invictus, and apartheid in South Africa?  Do you see any connections?

Finish a sentence for each of our -ject words

 

As always, read for 35 minutes please!

 

Have a good one,

-Mr. Potter

Decimals, figurative language, and Chris Hadfield.  That was our day!

 

First we looked over our multiplication using the standard algorithm.  When we are multiplying using the algorithm, it is important that we understand what place value/power of ten we are dealing with.  Tonight students have a set of simple decimal multiplication problems to work on.  They should show me the first step of the standard algorithm, which will prove their place value as they start.  We did the first few problems together, so they have a good set of examples:

DecimalMultiplicationMay5

 

In Language Arts we shared our kenning poems and had our partners guess our subject.  We did a really great job with these overall, and the students seemed to really enjoy them.

We then talked more about using figurative language to improve our poems.  Things like similes and metaphors, hyperbole and personification make our writing more interesting.

Next we looked at some poems chock-full of metaphors and symbolism.  Tonight students have two poems to examine.  They should identify the figurative language they see at work in the first poem by writing the figurative language used to the right of each line.  They should also try to identify the subject of the poem.   In the second poem, “Invictus”, they should define these 3 words:

invictus, menace, wrath

And then answer these questions:

1. How does this poem make you feel?
2. Listen to the sounds and the meaning of the words, what words stand out to you? why?
3. Does the poem remind you of anything in your own life?
4. What pictures do you see in your mind?

This should all be done in their writing journal.

Invictus

 

Finally, we talked about Newton’s first and second laws of motion and took some notes.  We played around with some lego people and had them moving down ramps carrying different amounts of mass.  We found that as the mass of an object increases, it requires a greater force to move it, or to stop it.  This is essentially Newton’s second law.

To wrap up our day we watched some videos about life on the international space station.  We are so used to gravity and other unseen forces affecting us daily, that it is really neat to see an environment with no (minimal) gravity.

 

so, tl;dr

Set of decimal multiplication problems.  Ensure you do them as the examples, proving your first place value:

DecimalMultiplicationMay5

Read these poems : identify the figurative language in the first, next to each line.  Then answer these questions about the second poem, “Invictus”: (all done in their writing journal)

Invictus

1. How does this poem make you feel?
2. Listen to the sounds and the meaning of the words, what words stand out to you? why?
3. Does the poem remind you of anything in your own life?
4. What pictures do you see in your mind?

Finally, write two more sentences using our next two ‘ject’ words from the vocab list.

As always, read for 35 minutes!

 

Have a good one,

-Mr. Potter

May the 4th be with you!

I can’t believe some of our students haven’t seen Star Wars before.  I mean really…….how am I supposed to make awful terrible worn-out jokes if half the class has never seen this staple of cinema before?

 

So we spent our morning doing some math centers, and then talking about multiplication with decimals using the standard algorithm.  Essentially we have to be hyper-aware of what we are multiplying, so that we can tell where our decimal point should go.  Are we multiplying tenths by tenths?  Then we’ll get hundredths.  Are we multiplying tenths by ones?  We will get tenths.  Are we multiplying tenths by tens?  we’ll get ones.

Tonight students have a series of problems to do.  They should do each of these problems with an area model, and also using the standard algorithm.  There is a pattern to these problems that they should pick up on, and it should help them with their work.

When using the standard algorithm, they must tell me what their first place value is on their top line.  Here is a page of examples we did together, and you can see where you must indicate the place value as you do the first step in the standard algorithm:

DecimalMultiplication

 

The problems they should do in this manner are:

1. 46 x 28
2. 36 x 75
3. 28 x 41
4. 52 x 33

5. 4.6 x 28
6. 3.6 x 75
7. 2.8 x 41
8. 5.2 x 33

9. 4.6 x 2.8
10. 3.6 x 7.5
11. 2.8 x 4.1
12. 5.2 x 3.3

Each should be done with an area model, and then using the standard algorithm, pointing out the place value of the first step of the standard algorithm.

 

In Language Arts we talked briefly about our family metaphor poems, and then metaphors in general.  We discussed another type of ‘compacted’ metaphor: a kenning.  A kenning is a much-compressed form of metaphor, originally used in Anglo-Saxon and Norse poetry. In a kenning, an object is described in a two-word phrase, such as ‘whale-road’ for ‘sea’. Some kennings can be more obscure than others, and then grow close to being a riddle.  We made a little kenning poem about teachers by listing things that teachers do/how they act/what they look like/what they sound like.  This was VERY telling by the way – yikes!

Kennings

Tonight students should make their own 16 line (minimum) kenning poem.  It should be riddle-like, and they may not repeat a word.  They’ll have to really stretch their thinking and their vocabulary.

For example:

Egg layer
Insect betrayer
People scarer
Trap preparer
Silent creeper
Death reaper
Meal storer
Fly adorer
Duster hater
Web creator
Corner hider

 

Finally, we talked a bit about our new vocabulary list, especially stressing the parts of speech of each word.  Tonight students should write a sentence for each of the first four words, and they MUST…BE…USED….CORRECTLY….IN….EACH…..SENTENCE.

no forgiveness for this!

 

so, tl;dr

12 decimal multiplication problems.  Each should be done using an area model, then the standard algorithm.

DecimalMultiplication

1. 46 x 28
2. 36 x 75
3. 28 x 41
4. 52 x 33

5. 4.6 x 28
6. 3.6 x 75
7. 2.8 x 41
8. 5.2 x 33

9. 4.6 x 2.8
10. 3.6 x 7.5
11. 2.8 x 4.1
12. 5.2 x 3.3

Write a kenning poem riddle (minimum 16 lines).  No word can be re-used

Kennings

Write a sentence for the first 4 words on our new vocab list.  Make sure you use them correctly!

As always, read for 35 minutes!

 

Have a good one,

 

-Mr. Potter