Every Day Counts: January

Need a review for preparing for this month's EDC quiz?

First, you need to be able to identify solid figures: cube, prism, pyramid, cone and cylinder
Check this out: CLICK HERE

You also need to know how to multiply by multiples of 100. Can you solve 23 x 100 mentally?

What is fourteen hundred more than $9,540?

Did you know that one ounce is 1/16 of one pound?
How many pounds are in 32 ounces?

You also need to recognize models of fractions and find decimal and percent equivalents. Revisit www.explorelearning.com and review the "Fraction, Decimal, Percent" Gizmo that has been assigned to your class. It provides powerful models for visualizing and understanding equivalent amounts. When you log in and select the Gizmo, you can print the "Student Exploration" sheet to use as a guide as you navigate the Gizmo. If you do this, please bring in your completed work for extra Behavior Bucks from your math teacher!!

Happy Reviewing!! :-)

FCAT Writes... Here We Come!

February 26th will be here before we know it! Those students who have been writing at home will soon see the payoff! Yesterday, we were paid a visit from last year's SIX. She was one of 15 students in our district who scored a SIX! After she gave us her advice for how to score a SIX, we waved goodbye as she rode away in her limo with Mrs. Phillips and her friends and family to celebrate. When we returned to class, everyone thought, "WOW! I want to make a SIX!". Next year, Mrs. Nash and I think there will be SO many SIXES from our classes that Mrs. Phillips won't be able to find enough limos! But, we all know as writiers that scoring a SIX isn't easy. It takes practice, just like any hobby or sport.











First, here are some things we learned from Malena:

·      She wrote nightly so that she could get better at writing.

·      She READS lots of books- That’s where she learns writer’s craft. Reading also helped her know how to spell, because she has seen those words over and over again!

·      Malena PLANNED on her planning sheet. It only took her about five minutes, but she had a plan. We know that, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!”

·      She focused on the HEART of her story. She didn’t start when she woke up and end when she went to bed. She went straight to the HEART of what happened.

·      Malena worked hard all year to be a better writer by LISTENING to the minilessons during Writer’s Workshop and APPLYING what she was learning in those lessons to her own writing.

Now that she has inspired us, here are some ways to practice!

1.     You could free write nightly. For Mrs. Koster’s friends, you can use the gold sheet I provided with TONS of ideas to write about. Make sure you pay attention to forming paragraphs, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation.

2.     You can use your sheet of practice prompts. If you do not have one, find it on this blog under “Kitchen Documents”. Be sure to read the instructions.

3.     Any piece of writing you complete, even in class, you should refer to your “My FCAT Writing Rubric” so that you can “pretend score” your paper. Be honest! Then, show your teacher which score point you think your writing would get. Be ready to explain why!

4.     READ!!!!!!! The best writers are READERS and the best readers are WRITERS! The more you read, the more your writing will improve. You have Mrs. Nash and Mrs. Koster’s guarantee! Reading improves your use of creative author’s craft and spelling.

Finally, get ready to show that test who’s boss on February 26^th! SIXES… here we come!!!


Limo Day on PhotoPeach

Becoming Essayists

In Writing Workshop, we have been living the life of an essayist. So far, we have learned about how the genre of non-narratives differs from our narratives. We know that when a writer writes a narrative, they are telling us a story. When we write in the non-narrative genre, our purpose is to explain something to the reader. In a non-narrative, our writing is held together by our ideas instead of a plot.

Essay writers observe the world with care, then think about their observations, recording them in their writing. We have become thoughtful about what we see around us, being sure to collect our ideas in our notebooks as seed ideas. This week, we used conversational prompts to spur elaboration on our essay ideas. We used the prompts on the chart below to grow our ideas. Some writers in our class took a simple idea, like: I learn new things at lunch time. Then, using these prompts, their ideas grew to be wonderful thesis statements for an essay. Read the entry below for a student example!

 I learn new things at lunch time. For example, the girls never sit with the boys at the class table. Another example of this is at recess when the girls play separate from the boys. This makes me realize that we act like a class in our classroom, but when we leave our classroom we always go our separate ways. This is important because the more we work together as a class, the more we get to know each other and build our team.

Next, we moved on to writing a thesis statement. We learned that a thesis is a seed idea. It is what you will be talking about in your essay. Even though the thesis is only one or two sentences, it is fundamental to the whole essay! Everything else must relate back to your thesis. One way we make sure our essay is on topic is by planning. The best method of planning an essay is using boxes and bullets. We have been practicing this in our reading of nonfiction as well.

After writing a thesis statement, we do what all writers do: revise! Not one thesis is ever perfect the first time. We learn to outgrow our thesis and ask questions in an effort to change our first thesis.

Writers, what have you learned about the non-narrative genre in this unit? How do you feel about becoming an essayist? What is the hardest part about writing a non-narrative? Which genre do you prefer, and why?

Decisive Decimals

Our new focus in Math Workshop is on making sense of decimals. As we are extending understanding of our Base 10 number system, we are learning that decimals are very decisive indeed. Through our visual representations and explorations, we have quickly made connections between decimals and their fraction and percent equivalents. This has enabled us to easily compare decimals. Here are some of the strategies we have been discussing in class on how to do just that:

Convert decimals to fractions with like denominators.

Convert decimals to percents.

Visualize the values. 

Decimal Self-Assessment

Our new topic of study in math is on making sense of decimals.
Visit this site to see how well you are understanding how to represent models of decimals.
Decimal Self-Assessment

Magnetism Explorations

Our first few days exploring with magnets have proven to be quite interesting. Did you know that if a magnet is broken, each piece will still have a north and south pole? It is impossible for a magnet to exist without two opposite poles. We proved that with our collection of broken magnets- we tested magnets that had been broken into two, three and four different pieces and each and every broken piece had both a north and south pole!

Magnetism Facts:

*All magnets have invisible magnetic fields.

*Some magnets are stronger than others.

*Magnets come in different shapes and sizes.

*The Earth is like a giant magnet.

*Magnetism is a force (push/pull).

*All magnets have a North and a South Pole.

*Like poles repel (or push away from each other).

*Opposite poles attract (or pull toward each other).

This information can also be referenced in Chapter 4, Lesson 4 of our science textbooks.

Upcoming labs will have us exploring the shapes and strengths of various magnetic fields using iron filings. We will also make a temporary magnet and test its varying strength when it is magnetized to different levels. After participating in a Gizmo virtual lab on magnetism, students will design and create their own magnet experiments by formulating and exploring their own "testable questions". 

Check out this Study Jams Slideshow on Magnetism for a helpful review: Click Here

Students, what has been your favorite experience in exploring magnetism~ and why?

Fraction Comparisons: 1/4 and 7/10

In Math Workshop, our classes are still eagerly working on making sense of fractions. Our current focus is on developing our repertoire of strategies for comparing fractions. Here are four of our most commonly used strategies:

1) When the denominators are the same, compare the numerators. In this example, equivalent fractions with common denominators were made so that the two fractions can easily be compared. 14/20 is greater than 5/20.

2) When the numerators are the same, compare the denominators. In this example, an equivalent fraction for 1/4 was made, so that both fractions would have the common numerator "7". The smaller the denominator the bigger each piece, so "7" tenths are greater than "7" twenty-eighths.

3) Compare fractions to landmarks, such as 1/2 or 1 whole. 1/4 is less than one-half and 7/10 is more than one-half, so it is clear that 7/10 is the greater fraction. A simple number line model shows these distinctions clearly.

4) Convert the fractions to percents. We love percents! This is one of our favorite methods because, when we know our percent equivalents, we can tell which fraction is greater in an instant!

Stay tuned for more fraction comparison strategies!
Students, which comparison strategy do you enjoy using most~ and why???

What's Cooking in ELA?

Now that we are back to school, it's time to stay focused! In ELA, we are diving into a brand new unit in both reading workshop and writing workshop!

In reading, we are beginning to navigate nonfiction. So far, we are learning that every great nonfiction reader reads with power and energy. One way that we do this is by boosting our minds. Even before we start reading a sentence, paragraph, or text, we look at the title, subtitles, and elements of the book. We start to think to ourselves, "This book must be about...". Next week, we will start noticing more elements of nonfiction texts. Reading nonfiction is like becoming an expert on something! We can even teach others what we know!

In writing, we are also beginning to explore nonfiction writings. Next week, we will begin our unit on Essays. Writers observe the world around them with care, then think about their observations, recording them in writing. They are thoughtful about their ideas. We will kick off this unit by looking at some wonderful examples of essays and nonfiction.

The most exciting part is that we will get to do Social Studies in ELA! We will be learning about the Civil Rights Movement in our history books. Not only will we READ about it, we will also get to WRITE an essay about it to show all we've learned!

Crepes, Eggrolls, & Baklava, Oh My!

In case you missed our Multicultural Day, here's a sneak peek at the foods we got to taste and all the fun we had! Students, what was your favorite dish at Multicultural Day? Did you try something new?