October 30th

Happy Halloween weekend!

I hope everyone enjoyed a fun filled spooky weekend! I reminded students that unfortunately we are not allowed to have candy in school (for many obvious good reasons) so if they decide to bring theirs to school.. I'll have to confiscate and eat it :)

This coming week in math....

I will be at a NCTM conference on Tuesday and Wednesday. During class students will review concepts they have learned this year and play some math games!
Friday we have 3 way conferences which means one day this week in each class students will be reviewing how to fill out their Personal Learning Plan to prepare for their conference. We will be reviewing these on Monday in math class!

The following week 5th grade will be reviewing for their Unit 2 test and taking their test.
6th grade will learn about ratios!

Play Division Top-It with your student at home! It's a fun game and a great way to practice partial quotients division. All you need is a deck of cards!
*** Please don't teach your student any other ways to divide!

Enjoy a few random pictures from the week.

Unplugged fun!

Enjoy this video from one of the groups during Unplugged last Thursday!
This game is called Camouflage. I hope their laughs start your week off right!




 

October 27th

This week in math.....

5th Grade:

We have continued to practice multiplying large digit numbers using the U.S. traditional method. While using this method we have also talked about efficiency when choosing different algorithms.
We have also reviewed how to divide using partial quotients and what we do with our remainders in real-world situations.

6th Grade:

At the end of last week students learned how to find the Greatest Common Factor and the Least Common Multiple. The learned a couple of different methods one including the grid method. Students have also reviewed how to multiply fractions using a number line to model their answer. We have started to divide fractions using models or diagrams.
**Please do not show your student the algorithm for dividing fractions. They have to understand how dividing fraction works before they can learn the tricks.

Here are some pictures to enjoy!!

Monday in Math!

Here are a few pictures from math class today! 5R really enjoying getting up in front of the class to explain their thinking and teach the class!

Some of the 5th graders solving a problem that was shown on the smart board. Then they will turn to someone next to them and explain how they got their answer.

Here you can see and hear students in 5R explaining their thinking to a partner. They were reviewing the steps for multiplying a four digit number by a one digit number using the U.S. Traditional Method.

October 17th, 2016

6th grade:

Last week students review how to play Hidden Treasure. This was a game they learned last year when they learned about coordinate grids. However, this year they played it with four quadrants which made it more challenging! 

On Monday we will review for their unit 1 assessment. Which means, Tuesday they will have their unit 1 assessment. 

Wednesday we will start unit 2. Unit 2 is all about Fraction Operations and Ratios. 

5th Grade:

This past week students learned how to multiply using the U.S. Traditional Method. I know many parents will be happy to know that their student is learning to multiply the way they learned to multiply! 

This method can be challenging for many students. If your student is coming home and struggling with their homework, please just write a little note telling me they tried it. I would rather know that students are struggling so I know to review the homework in class. 

We will continue to practice using this method for the next couple of days before we dive into division concepts and strategies. 

Here is an example for how to discuss the U.S. Traditional Method with your student 

As always... if you have any concerns, questions, or just want to chat about your student, contact me and we can set up a time to talk! Positive comments welcome too :) 

A few 5th graders doing typing practice during morning meeting time

6th Grade students set up playing Hidden Treasure

5th Grade students playing Multiplication Top it! I have the directions for this game if you want to practice multiplying using the U.S. Traditional method at home. All you need is a deck of cards! 

 

Have a wonderful week!

October 7th

5th Grade:

Unit 1 is finished and we have moved onto unit 2 already!
Students took their unit 1 test last week and will be getting their graded test back on Tuesday. Unit 2 is titled Whole Number Place Value and Operations.
We will explore:
Place Value
Exponential Notation (which many students said at the beginning of the year that they were very excited about)
Traditional Multiplication
Mental Division Strategies
Partial-Quotients
Interpreting Remainders when Dividing

6th Grade:

The sixth graders have done a fabulous job with analyzing, creating, and discussing data over the past couple of weeks. We have changed gears a little and are now discussing fractions. On Thursday students reviewed how to find fractions between fractions, and we had a lot of fun doing it (or at least I did!)

Next week we will continue to talk about rational numbers and how to plot rational numbers on a quadrant grid. That will conclude this unit. Students will then have a unit 1 assessment and we will move on to unit 2!

Happy Monday! 9/19/2016

We have started the year on a roll in math! The first couple of weeks we discussed the importance of many math mindset concepts. Here are a few!

-Fast math isn't the best math. What is important is to think about math deeply.

-Mistakes make our brains grow!

-It's important to believe in yourself!

-No one is born a "math person" or not born a "math person"... Anyone can be a math person! 

In 5th grade: 

We have started to dig deep into the concept of Volume! Students have explored measuring different volumes and making predictions about which shapes have larger volumes and why. Here are a few pictures of your students measuring volume with centimeter cubes. 

In 6th grade:

We have started the year analyzing data! This is one of my favorite units! Students have learned to create dot plots, find data landmarks such as mean, median, mode, and range. There are so many jobs in the world that require people to read graphs, charts, and data. Students have also read persuasive graphs and identified why they are persuasive. 

Here are a few pictures of students creating dot plots and analyzing the mystery dot plots that they created. 

Hi Everyone! Welcome to the 5th and 6th Grade Math Blog Page!

Thank you for subscribing to our blog! Here you will find information about the 5th and 6th grade math classes.

Students will receive homework most nights. Their homework assignments will be written down in their assignment journals daily. If you have any questions about that please feel free to contact me!

I am available for tutoring and homework help Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursdays from 7:30am-8:00am. I am also available during recess. Mrs. McGowan is available Wednesday morning for tutoring as well. 

6th graders will be receiving letter grades this year! Their tests scores will be averaged along with their homeworks which will make up the bulk on their overall letter grade for each trimester. ***Important*** If a 6th grader does not pass their math test (they must receive a 70% or higher to pass) they have to schedule two tutoring sessions to then retake their test. They may retake a test as many times as they want.