MClass assessments are almost done! Hooray!
This morning we talked a good bit about how we will solve word problems in this class. Essentially math is about how to solve real world problems. As such, almost all of the math the students will see from now through college will oftentimes come at them in the form of word problems. We need some strategies to tackle these.
When we are presented with word problems we will focus on these steps:
- What is the question asking?
- What do I know?
- Draw a picture or model to illustrate what is happening
- Explain how to solve and then solve
- Check the answer. Is it reasonable?
We took some notes and did an example as well:
Tonight students have a few word problems to do. They should be done EXACTLY like we did in our example and following our steps. They only need to do problems 1-5 on this sheet.
In Language arts I have been VERY impressed with how well students are doing with settings. I see real thought and effort going into their work. I also see students putting good effort into explaining their reasoning, which is key.
Tonight students should read some more passages and infer the setting of each passage:
Today we also started watching a neat little video about the Easter Island Moai, and the things scientists are doing to figure out how a group of people without stone tools or even the wheel managed to carve and move these gigantic statues. It’s amazing what people are capable of.
We looked at our comma work from yesterday, and students corrected their mistakes. They will be turning that sheet in tomorrow, and it will be checked for correctness. This should be a gimme grade if students were paying attention and checked their work in class. We also got a new comma worksheet that happens to talk about Easter Island!
We also did some more writing today and students should have at minimum a start to a story. If they haven’t finished their story yet, they should do that tonight. Tomorrow I expect to see a good rough draft in their writing journal.
In science students did some reading about biomes and plants. Does your student know what a producer is? They should!
Tonight students should finish these readings and answer the questions.
At the end of the day the 5th grade teachers had a meeting to go over APTT data and talk about the skills we will be focusing on in conjunction with parents this quarter. First APTT is September 1st by the way, and I hope to see everyone there.
so, tl;dr
First 5 problems on this sheet. Follow the steps we came up with for solving word problems, and the example in your math journal.
Finish your rough draft of your story
Put commas where they belong
infer some settings
Answer some questions about plants and the tundra biome
And as always, read read read
Have a good one,
-Mr. Potter