Family Letter re: Math Unit 2

Attached is a letter from the Bridges Math Curriculum regarding our next math unit. Please let me know if you have any questions. I will update this site periodically with games and activities that support our work in this unit.

Unit 2 Family Letter

NaNoWriMo Coming Up!

A few shots from our preview performance on Thursday!

Now that our amazing performance is behind us, it's time to focus on two exciting October events -- The Haunted House and NaNoWriMo. We will discuss both of these events in class, but I will summarize the highlights here for you. 

The Haunted House project is an opportunity for the 5th grade to really work together as a team to complete a project. Though they receive adult support to carry out their ideas, it is our goal that students really take ownership of this project. Therefore, if your child shares with you ideas that seem somewhat unrealistic, try asking questions that encourage them to figure out more reasonable goals. Try to avoid telling them what won't work.

NaNoWriMo is approaching! Unlike last year, we will not spend time working page-by-page through the workbook (though self-paced workbook time will be provided in class). 5th graders are expected to prepare in the way that best works for them, which may include the workbook, or may include storyboarding or other techniques. It is most important that excitement builds for the big event, so I will try to keep the planning process from feeling like a chore. Please let me know if your child is feeling stressed, and we can work together to lessen any anxiety. 

Write-Ins are a successful way for many students to meet their word count goals (or catch up on a few days' worth of words). We unfortunately do not have staff to run write-ins on parent-conference days (Monday and Tuesday, November 3rd and 4th), so I encourage parents to set up their own write-ins. I have included instructions from Kira Del Mar about running your own write-ins. Let me know if you need any additional support!

Tips for running a NaNo write-in:

• Provide space and time for writing, but also allow for breaks, chatting, and wanderings-of-attention. Storytelling is hard work, and it's rare that students will write uninterrupted for more than 30-40 minutes at a time.
• Remind writers to stop and count their words about every page or two (we use the counting and labeling by 10s method: count 10 words and write a small '10' above that word, count another 10 and write '20,' etc. until the bottom of a page, where you write the whole-page total).
• Run occasional word sprints. These should be 5-10 minutes each (I usually go for 6, 7, or 8). Here's the procedure we usually follow:
• Who'd like to word sprint? If you're participating (which you don't have to), put a star after the last word you just wrote, so you know where to count from when you finish the sprint.
• This will be a ____ minute word sprint.
• Shake out your hands, make sure your pencil is sharpened, and ready, set, write!
• Give a warning at the half-way point and the one minute mark, then count down 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, pencils down, hands up!
• Pause to give writers time to count their words, then collect word counts.
• Encourage students to beat their own best time, comparing their previous work to their current work. 
• We usually do word sprints about every 15-20 minutes, or when there are at least 4 or 5 people ready to participate.
• Remember that NaNo is about creativity and storytelling, not about proper grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc., so resist the urge to correct any errors you may observe over writers' shoulders.
• Entirely optional: we sometimes provide small reward treats that students can collect when they reach milestones like 50% or 100% of their daily goal. These can be snacks like marshmallows or strawberries, or things like stickers or erasers. I'd be happy to provide some for you if you end up hosting. 

Article about Math Education

I thought some of you might enjoy this article I found in an ed tech newsletter. The second page really describes the type of research-based learning we are doing now in mathematics -- moving away from a "teacher as giver of knowledge" model to a "student as discoverer of patterns and building knowledge him/herself" model. To learn more, click here.

Assembly is this Friday at 9am!

We have our first performance assembly on Friday, October 3rd at 9am. A full dress rehearsal will occur Thursday, October 2nd, for all lower school students to view, and on the Friday performance, family and friends are invited to attend. We look forward to seeing you there.

In other news, I hope to use this blog to keep you up-to-date about the techniques we are using in math. Today, I have a few games and activities you may wish to try with your kids:

The Factor Game: We played a pencil and paper version of this game in class. Try this version with your kids!

http://illuminations.nctm.org/Activity.aspx?id=4134

Grid Method: This activity practices the partial products method of multiplication that we have been practicing in class. If this sounds like a foreign language to you, I encourage you to check out this site! http://www.iboard.co.uk/iwb/Grid-Method-547

Volume: This activity reviews the work we've been doing with rectangular prisms. http://www.interactivestuff.org/sums4fun/3dboxes.html

First Buddy Meeting!

On Friday we celebrated our first buddy meeting of the school year! We talked, laughed, and drew portraits of each other. The second graders displayed their buddy portraits in their class, so you may wish to go see the display in that room. 

Not all of the pictures managed to upload to the site, so feel free to ask me if you'd like to see one of your kid!

Many families have asked me about the types of math we are doing in class these days. I'll take this opportunity to update you about what we did in math yesterday: defining math strategies. 

We focused on a few, namely:

The Five is Half of 10 Strategy

If given the problem 5 x 78, it is easier for many to solve 10 x 78 first, and then divide it in half to find your product. 

The Fifty is Half of 100 Strategy

To solve 50 x 78, it is easier for many to solve 100 x 78 first, then divide it in half to find your product. 

The Over Strategy

If you are trying to solve a problem like 49 x 78, it may be helpful to start with 50 x 78 and then subtract one group of 78. 

The Partial Products Strategy

When working on a problem like 99 x 3, it may be easier to solve it in parts: (90 x 3) + (9 x 3)

We will continue to practice these and other strategies this year, and for the next couple of weeks in particular. Ask your child to locate these strategies in use on their homework pages!