Dr. Smith was our first mystery reader!
Friday, January 16, 2015
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Math
This is a very intricate unit in math where the children need to think critically in order to solve the word problems given to them. One thing I noticed is that many are struggling with the difference between situation equations and solution equations. Here are the terms defined by Math Expressions:
Situation Equation- shows the structure of the information in a problem
Solution Equation- shows the operation that can be used to solve a problem
With both equations, there will be a variable represented by a letter.
Here is an example:
Susanna took $3,050 out of her bank account. Now she has $11,605 left in the account. How much money was in Susanna's account to start?
I usually tell students in order to find the SITUATION equation, they should write the equation in the order that it is read in the problem, leaving a variable for unknown information.
Situation equation for this problem is: s - 3,050=11,605 because we do not know how much she had to begin with, but we do know how much she took away and how much she had left.
Solution equation for this problem would be 11,506 + 3,050 = s. In the solution equation you must get the variable alone on one side so that it can be defined. This is often an inverse operation of the solution equation. The answer in this case would be $14,655.
It is possible for the situation and solution equations to be the same in some word problems.
I hope this helps!
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Welcome Back!
Welcome back! I hope everyone had a great holiday. The kids had some great stories to share about their winter break! It seems like most of the class is back to being healthy. Let's hope we can keep the illness at bay.
January is a great time to start fresh. We are beginning many new units this month.
Math- We are beginning our equations and word problems unit. The students will learn about algebra topics and the order of operations. They will also learn to solve very in depth, multi-step, multi-operational word problems. At the end of the unit they will study factors and prime numbers as well.
Science- January is a science month! The kids are very excited to being our Ocean unit. We will tie this unit into writing as well. The students will each pick and ocean animal to research. They will create a five paragraph report on that animal. They will get to choose a creative way to present their findings to the class along with their essay.
Spelling Bee- We will be doing an all class spelling bee on Friday. The students will be getting a list today to study at home if they would like. Everyone will take part in the classroom spelling bee. We will have two winners from our class move on to the 4th grade finals. The two winning students from the entire 4th grade will represent us in the all school spelling bee on January 23.
Reading- We are continuing to work on CAFE strategies for reading comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and vocabulary. Our listening to reading groups are just finishing up their books. They read either "Hatchet", "Flush", or "Henry Huggins".
Next, we are going to be starting a literature circle project where students will choose a book that has been made into a movie to read with a group. After the books have been read and studied, the students will watch the movie that is based on their book. They will write a small paper comparing the book and the movie.
In the next few weeks, the students will be tested on the Scholastic Math Inventory (SMI), the Scholastic Reading Inventory (SMI), and AIMS Web (fluency).
Stay Warm!
Ms. Cavanaugh
January is a great time to start fresh. We are beginning many new units this month.
Math- We are beginning our equations and word problems unit. The students will learn about algebra topics and the order of operations. They will also learn to solve very in depth, multi-step, multi-operational word problems. At the end of the unit they will study factors and prime numbers as well.
Science- January is a science month! The kids are very excited to being our Ocean unit. We will tie this unit into writing as well. The students will each pick and ocean animal to research. They will create a five paragraph report on that animal. They will get to choose a creative way to present their findings to the class along with their essay.
Spelling Bee- We will be doing an all class spelling bee on Friday. The students will be getting a list today to study at home if they would like. Everyone will take part in the classroom spelling bee. We will have two winners from our class move on to the 4th grade finals. The two winning students from the entire 4th grade will represent us in the all school spelling bee on January 23.
Reading- We are continuing to work on CAFE strategies for reading comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and vocabulary. Our listening to reading groups are just finishing up their books. They read either "Hatchet", "Flush", or "Henry Huggins".
Next, we are going to be starting a literature circle project where students will choose a book that has been made into a movie to read with a group. After the books have been read and studied, the students will watch the movie that is based on their book. They will write a small paper comparing the book and the movie.
In the next few weeks, the students will be tested on the Scholastic Math Inventory (SMI), the Scholastic Reading Inventory (SMI), and AIMS Web (fluency).
Stay Warm!
Ms. Cavanaugh
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