All of the things!
Today we began as always with our math centers, and we focused more on multiplying with decimals. For homework tonight students have three decimal multiplication problems to do. They are:
37.25 x 34
295.15 x 27
125.01 x 100.05
These should be done with area models. I know that some parents are unsure about area models, and have taught their students the standard algorithm. I have nothing against the standard algorithm as long as it is backed up by understanding. This is the reason that we do things with area models to begin. Explaining how the standard algorithm works and using that comes next. Too often students simply learn a procedure, instead of a concept. Learning procedures instead of developing conceptual understandings will only lead to problems later on, and has already produced some problems with some of our students.
We spent most of our day working on our sneaker stories and our biome brochures. I am thinking that the due date for the sneaker story will be next Tuesday at this point, and the biome brochure will be soon after that. We *should* have plenty of time to get these done in class, as long as students use their time wisely.
Tonight, students have a short reading passage about sharks, and some comprehension questions to answer. Each question should be accompanied by reasoning!
Students also have a rough draft of their biome brochure that they have started. I expect to see the first 3 pages roughly planned out by tomorrow.
We also measured our plants today, and decided which ones look like they are getting too big, and need some extra support. We will be adding some garden supports to them tomorrow first thing.
Starting next week, we will be making some little aquariums/terrariums in the classroom. For this, we need some empty (preferably cleaned out) 2-liter bottles. If you have any at home that you can spare, we would love to have them!
so, tl;dr
3 decimal multiplication problems (done with area models)
37.25 x 34
295.15 x 27
125.01 x 100.05
1 reading comprehension passage (with reasoning!)
page 1,2,3 of the biome brochure rough draft done
Here is the note-taking sheet in case you forgot what each page should have:
Have a good one!
-Mr. Potter