Math Enrichment: Knights of Pi

PBS has a cool math video game entitled "Knights of Pi."  Click HERE to complete the quest!

Brainpop Extra Credit

BRAINPOP EXTRA CREDIT:  Any and all quizzes are due by Thursday, 3/10.  (I told the students in class today that they could work on these Thursday afternoon.  If I haven't received your scores by 8 AM Friday, they won't count.)  

Students may come to the room or stay in at recess to do these if they don't have easy access after school.

A screenshot of your results (with the test title visible too) is the most effective way to send me your score.  You can try Brainpop email but I have had trouble with them in the past.

·      Science: Diversity of Life: Classification; Six Kingdoms; Vertebrates; Invertebrates; Seed Plants

·      Social Studies: World History: World War II; Franklin D. Roosevelt; Adolf Hitler; Anne Frank; United Nations; Cold War; Communism

·      Math: Numbers & Operations: Adding & Subtracting Fractions; Multiplying & Dividing Fractions

·      English: Grammar: Antonyms, Synonyms, and Homonyms; Subject-Verb Agreement

New Online Math Game Site!

Today I am super excited to announce a fantastic way to practice math skills and have lots of fun!  Go to Prodigygame.com/play, select NEW STUDENT, and then enter the class code 7S8QJK to sign up for your free account.  You'll get to choose your own avatar and begin working on fraction skills.  (More math skills will be added soon!)  Any device with Internet access should work, although older ones may experience lags, etc.

Also, from now through Monday, anyone who tries Prodigy gets a bonus daily work math 100!  Not only do you have to try it, but then please email me what you think of the site.  Thanks!

You will find this site linked in the Math tab, above.

Students can work on adding and subtracting fractions through 2/29 (unless I change the plan sooner).

Equivalent Fractions Review

Check out the BBC Bitesize "Maths" equivalent fractions review!

2/1

The school calendar will NOT change for February, which means that students do NOT have school on 2/12 or 2/15. (Friday 2/12 is a teacher workday and Monday 2/15 is a holiday for all.)

Math WB p. 117 (2 each row) & p. 118 are due Wednesday.
Finish vocabulary match and write spelling in ABC order in agenda.
Complete IRA Summary #1 (one each night Mon.-Thurs.).

The science cell project was assigned today and is due no later than Tuesday, 2/9.  Students can certainly bring them in early!

Simplifying Fractions Tutorial

Fractions in lowest terms: Fractions in lowest terms

This Week's Homework

*Today students are bringing home a note about their early dismissal procedure.  Please complete and return tomorrow JUST IN CASE!  I want to be sure that all of us (you, students, and me) have the same info.  If your child was absent today and didn't get a form, please write a note for tomorrow in case we have an early dismissal.  I'm sure we've all seen the weather forecast.  Thanks!

*Students also have a note stapled to their signed papers stating their balance due for the Atlanta field trip.  Payment is due by 2/17, so this is a friendly reminder so that you can plan accordingly.

*I explained to the students that should be miss a day of school, the due dates for this week's homework remain the same.  I will be reminding them of everything that they need to take home today, again just in case.

*I am asking all of them to take home their AM.  Many of them need a little extra time so carving out a little time would be a big help.

Tuesday:
Finish filling out your spelling and vocabulary sheet (front and back).
Write spelling words in ABC order in agenda.
{The students who did both of these over the long weekend earned extra Dojo points!}
Math WB p. 100 & 102
(Work on AM to help get caught up if necessary.)

Wednesday:
Math WB p. 104
Finish spelling choice IF you made below 90 on Friday's spelling test.
(Work on AM to help get caught up if necessary.)

Thursday:
Math WB p. 106
Finish vocabulary choice if you made less than 90 on Friday's test.
(Work on AM to help get caught up if necessary.)

Friday:
Students will take the Mod 10 math quiz.  All of this week's math homework reviews skills from that section or earlier.  (Of course if we miss for weather, we may have to readjust this quiz date.)  We are currently working in Module 11 in class.
(Work on AM to help get caught up if necessary.)

1/15

Today I gave the students their spelling and vocabulary work for next week so that they can get a jump start over the long weekend if they wish.

Also, their math WB p. 100 & 102 is due Wednesday 1/20, and WB p. 104 & 106 will be due Friday.  These are practices to review for their module 10 quiz on Friday 1/22.

Have a great long weekend!

SRA & MM Weekly Grades

Just a quick share as we start the 3rd 9 weeks:

MM = Morning Math
     Each week, students are given a Drops in the Bucket (DITB) math review page to complete in sections (usually 2 sections per day).  They are required to finish the section and have it initialed each day.  Each initialed section = 20 points for a weekly "daily" grade of 100.  If a student has an unexcused absence, they lose that day's points (credit is given for excused absences).  Because the DITB is copied front/back, they will go home every two weeks.

SRA Update:
     We are continuing to practice reading skills with the SRA reading problem.  Students are still expected to complete one SRA card each week for two daily grades (comprehension and word study), one for each of the two sections.  For the first 9 weeks, students should have completed 12 SRA cards.  To start fresh in the new year, students who had less than 12 SRAs are starting over at one.  (They are not going to continue to be behind.)  If a student had more than 12 SRAs, they were able to count one of them as this week's SRA.  (They get credit for working ahead.)  Once students have completed their weekly SRA, they have the option of working on Versatiles, continuing with SRA, or independent reading.

Math Extra Credit

     If you’d like to earn a little math extra credit, I have a fun online + art activity!  Go to http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/math/geometry/classify-quadrilaterals.htm (also linked on our class blog) and work through the Study Jam.  To receive extra credit, draw out your CD cover design (following the website criteria), label your quadrilaterals, and turn it in.  You can also do the triangles Study Jam at http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/math/geometry/classify-triangles.htm.  Turn in your drawing of Zoe’s guitar.  (You do not have to choose the one she did.)  You must describe/name the triangle by its sides and angle(s).  These two opportunities are due no later than 3/11.  Thanks!

     You might be interested in exploring more of the Study Jams.  If you do, let me know what you think!

Geometry Website: Shapes Sorter & Classifying Quadrilaterals

Now at first glance this might seem like a toddler activity, but it is definitely not!  Test your knowledge about 2-D plane figures and their attributes HERE.

Here's a fun lesson on classifying quadrilaterals.

2/23-27

Welcome back!  I hope you enjoyed our unexpected winter "break!"  When I know the system's make up plan, I will be sure to share.

Since we are "off" of our usual schedule, here is important info for the coming week.
Mon:
AM
Study for spelling, vocabulary, and story tests WED.
Informational non-fiction genre reports are due by Friday if they haven't already been turned in.
FYI: We are beginning our Civil Rights Movement students in social studies and finishing ch. 6 (multi-cellular organisms) in science.

Tues:
IF WE DO NOT HAVE SCHOOL, PLEASE READ SCI CH 6, LESSON 3 (p. 296-299) AND WORK ON AM!
Finish WOWs.
Study for spelling, vocabulary, and story tests WED.
Study for Unit 5 math test Thurs.

Wed.
*Spelling, vocabulary, and story tests
Study for Unit 5 math test Thurs.
Study for Ch. 6 science test Fri.

Thurs.
*Unit 5 math test
(We may get new spelling/vocabulary today- and we may not!  We will work to get back on our "regular" schedule Mon.-Fri. with these assignments.)
Finish non-fiction genre report!
Study for Ch. 6 science test Fri.

Fri.
*Ch. 6 science test

Next Monday 3/2 is an early release day for students (with dismissal around 11:30) for parent-teacher conferences.  Breakfast & lunch will be served at school.  If I have not yet contacted you about a conference and you would like to request one, please let me know.  Time is very limited, but I will do my best to accommodate you.

This Week's ELA & More

Week 3.5

Greek and Latin word parts #5: graph and scrib/script 

graph = __________________________________________   

 scrib/script = __________________________________________

Monday: Copy your spelling words into your agenda in ABC order.  Match the spelling word to its correct vocabulary meaning.

**If you made less than an 85 on last week’s vocabulary test, you are required to write sentences with this week’s words (due Thursday).

**If you made less than an 85 on last week’s spelling test, you must complete a spelling choice with this week’s words.

Remember that you will need to be able to use these words in context for your test, not just match the word to the definition!

1.       biography                   _____ writing about a person’s life written by that person

2.       autobiography          _____ the writing of one’s own name/signature

3.       bibliography              _____ the written list of all the books used in a report or book

4.       paragraph                  _____ a book written about a person’s life

5.       homograph                _____ mapmaking; the writing involved in making maps or charts

6.       photography              _____ a section of writing that has a topic and concluding sentence

7.       autograph                   _____ record player; a device that turns the writing on records into sound

8.       phonograph               _____ the use of light to record an image using a camera

9.       seismograph              _____ a device that writes down (records) the movements of the earth

10.   cartography               _____ a word written the same way as another word but having a different

 meaning

                                       

                                                    a short dedication written in a book           

11.    script                           _____ or engraved on something, such as a coin or monument

12.    describe                     _____ a piece of writing; a book

13.    subscription             _____ P.S.; a short bit of writing after a letter is finished

14.    scribble                      _____ a piece of paper a doctor writes to get medicine at a pharmacy

15.    inscription                 _____ sloppy writing that is hard to read

16.    transcribe                  _____ a person who writes things down

17.    manuscript               _____ a set of papers with writing that will be read and acted out

18.    scribe                          _____ to write down or record; to translate

19.   prescription               _____ a written agreement to buy a magazine/newspaper for a set period of time

20.    postscript                  _____ to say or write down how something or someone looks; to use

 adjectives in writing

*WOWs are due Wednesday!

*February’s genre is informational non-fiction (NOT biographies/autobiographies).  Please fill out the top portion of your genre project BEFORE you read the book you select.

                                                                                                                                    OVER

We will be reading the story “The Unbreakable Code” in our Treasures book this week.  You will have a vocabulary test over the following words from the story.  (Be sure to read the story on Tuesday if you are unable to read with us in class.)  It is a good idea for everyone to read the story at least twice.

1.    enlisted: (v) joined the military voluntarily

2.    invasion: (n) entering of an army into a region to conquer it

3.    location: (n) an exact position or place

4.    corridor: (n) a long, narrow hallway or passageway

5.    shield: (n) a person or thing that protects against danger, injury, or distress

6.    sagged: (v) drooped down in the middle from weight

7.    reservation: (n) land set aside by a government for a special purpose, such as for Native American tribes to live on

8.    creased: (adj) characterized by lines or marked by wrinkling

Tested Skills: Generating questions & author’s perspective

Grammar Focus: Comparative Adjectives

MATH:  Fraction operations (Module 13 assessment Wed.; Module 14 and Unit 4 Assessment)

SCIENCE: Multicellular organisms (Ch. 6: grouping living things/kingdoms; vertebrates/invertebrates; plants)

SOCIAL STUDIES: The Cold War and the 1950s

Billy Bug Coordinate Plane Graphing Game

Check out this fun game HERE!

Hooda Math

Hooda Math is a really fun math website with lots of free games.  I hear that it runs well on an iPad too.  You can find games by math domain (such as fractions) and by grade level (K-8).  Check it out!

You can easily find this math website and many more up in the Math Website tab, above.

Scholastic's Study Jams

Here's another new-to-me site that might be helpful and fun!  It's Scholastic's Study Jams, which has math and science videos.  Cool!

Math Website Update

Our math series, Go Math, has launched a Go Math Academy with video tutorials and more!  I haven't had a chance to explore the site yet, but it might be a valuable resource for all of us.  You can always find it linked up on the Math Websites tab (above).

Computer Lab 8/23

Please go to Brainpop.com and log in.  Our username is unioco and our password is panthers.

Please click on English, then Grammar, and scroll down until you find the Types of Sentences link.  Watch the movie as many times as you like, then take the GRADED quiz.  You may print your results.

You will then need to go to Social Studies, click on U.S. History, and find Civil War.  Again, watch the movie as many times as you like, then take the quiz.  This quiz is NOT easy.  Feel free to take the review quiz first.

After you've turned in your scores, you may go to Reflexmath.com.

Thursday Groups

1.   Complete orange WB p. 87, and then get an iPad.  Be sure to sign your name to the list to "check out" your iPad.  (Find its number on the back.)  Go to Giggle Poetry. (Click on the title to go to the web page and then complete the activities.  You may share a computer with a partner.)
2.  "Little Readers"
3.   Frog game for CRCT-M review
4.  Computers: Click HERE to choose your activities.  Try to work through all five spelling & vocabulary rounds.  Once you complete all five, go to the Poetry link.  (This is the same as the iPad activity.)
5.  Math Task Challenge:  Work with a partner to complete as many of math tasks (successfully) as possible.   For each successful task, you will be earning a point for your team.  You may not repeat the SAME task for an additional point!

Computer Lab 4/8

Today in computer lab, log in to OAS.  Scroll down the list of teacher-assigned tests to find the first 3 math tests.  Please complete them and record your score as you finish.  If you score 70% or better on EACH TEST, then you've earned free play time when you finish all three tests.  If you scored less than 70% on any of the tests, you need to go practice at Reflex.