Introduction to Division

I've posted the links to websites helping support our next unit.  "Billy Bug" and "Banana Hunt" are fun games to introduce concepts of angles and coordinates.

Unit 6 Games

Also, please notice the video instructional for "Partial Quotients".  The kids can use this as a visual reminder for how to solve larger division problems.  Using this strategy will also lead to solving these tougher problems  mentally.  Learning this will take a little time, but the effort will pay off!

Updates for 12/17/2012

Happy Monday!

I wanted to give you a quick update about the last week before Winter Break:

Reading à  While the kids have daily lessons on fluency and vocabulary, this week they will practice fluency in a new way:  Idiom Plays!  If idioms don’t “ring a bell”, you may have “missed the mark”, and you’ll have to see what your child says about them (oh, wonderful wordplay).  We are also focusing on summarizing and sequencing…ask your child about the gesture we use for “sequencing”!

Math à  After tacking some multiplication, the kids will be exploring division over the next few weeks.  I’m going to be showing them a mental math strategy called “Partial Quotients” which is a precursor for “Looooooooooooooooooooong Division”.  This will take practice, but the kids have worked hard at learning their facts, so division will be a lot easier.  *Note:  if your child is struggling with the homework tonight, simply have him/her finish the 10 [6s], 20 [6s], 30 [6s], etc. section.  We will cover this again tomorrow – the kids only experienced the beginning stages of division today.*

Social Studies à  This week we are going to focus on the Appalachian Mountains region in the Southeast.  They will be learning about ways of life, watermills, the Cumberland Gap, Daniel Boone, and lots of other concepts.  Also, see if your child can draw a map of the Southeast without any other map.  They might also start singing, “I know the southeastern states:  Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida…”

Science à  Our Magnetism and Electricity kits are on the way!  We will begin this unit starting the Monday after break.  Don’t worry…we won’t be working electric power stronger than a D-cell battery.

Behavior à  I will continue working with students on staying organized at school.  The kids are expected to have their homework, red folder, and agenda each day.  I also expect their desks to stay tidy during the day.  Looking for ideas at home?  Take a picture of an often messy area after it has been cleaned.  Post the picture, and when a mess arises, simply say “Match the picture.”

Happy holidays from my family to yours.  Hopefully the kids will have some snow to play in during break!

Scale of the Universe

Today the kids were presented with the concept of exponents and powers of 10.  To introduce this, I asked them about the biggest and smallest objects in the world.  To help them realize that the world is much bigger (and much smaller) than we imagine, I showed the following website.  There are lots of different ideas, concepts, and interest points to explore from this.  However, we soon realized that instead of writing a number with 20 zeros, it's just easier to use powers of 10.

http://htwins.net/scale/

Crude Oil from the Southeast

This week the kids had a chance to learn about some of the products made in the southeast (including crude oil).  I showed this video today in class, and several kids wanted to watch it at home over the weekend.

Next week we will move away from the Coastal Plains and into the Appalachian Mountains.  The kids will learn about coal mining, isolated Appalachian towns, and how the culture relates to their environment.

The Traditional Method for Multiplication

Many kids have been begging me to show them how to do the traditional method, so I revealed this to them in class today.  I've included two different tutorials below.

Two Digit x One Digit and Three Digit x One Digit

Two Digit x Two Digit

Ultimately, I want your child to have a strategy that allows him/her to be successful.  I've now explained the area model, partial products, and the traditional method.  We will continue practicing these methods, but I now have no preference as to which strategy your child chooses (so long as s/he can solve accurately and efficiently).

Partial Products - Multi-digit Multiplication

Today we were working on multiplying a multidigit number by a single digit number.  This method can lead to a very effective mental math strategy (whereas the "traditional method" does not).  This method also explains exactly what each step in the process means.  Using the traditional method isn't as clear for fourth graders.

Here's a quick instructional on Partial Products:

How to Play "Closest to 1000"

Here's a new math game that is easy to play at home.  All you need is a sheet of paper, a pencil, two dice, and a calculator.  Enjoy!

Update on Spelling City and Multiplication Wrestling

The video pretty much says it all!  The link to SpellingCity is below (your child's list will be one of the top five lists), and the prior post is the instructional for Multiplication Wrestling.  As always, please let me know if you have any questions.  Thanks!

http://www.spellingcity.com/mrbauer/

P.S.  When I recorded the video, the page's mirror image was showing.  Thus, simply ignore the "reverse" comments.

Multiplication Wrestling

Now that the kids have had a lot of exposure and practice with multiplying single-digit numbers and using area models for larger numbers, it's time to learn how to multiply multi-digit numbers efficiently (because let's face it...adding 312 + 312 + 312 + 312 + 312 + 312  simply takes too long!).

MULTIPLICATION WRESTLING!

Here's the instructional video:

To play at home, here's the link for the directions and recording sheet.  Good luck!

http://pierce.cr.k12.ia.us/classrooms/Grade4/Mr.%20Bauer/Everyday%20Mathematics/Unit%205/Multiplication%20Wrestling.pdf

New England Breakfast

Thanks to everyone who made the breakfast a huge success! We were able to enjoy pancakes and syrup, dried cranberries, blueberry muffins, and apple cider. The kids were stuffed by the end. What a perfect way to finish our first region of the United States!

This Week Before Thanksgiving

Math - Our next unit is focused on large numbers (more specifically, learning how to multiply multidigit numbers).  Through many formative (informal) assessments, I am aware of the students who need some extra practice with basic multiplication.  I will keep you posted and also send materials/websites home to practice throughout the year.  Additionally, I will be teaching a couple different ways to multiply multidigit numbers.  One is called the "Area Model".  From this, kids will have a great visual representation of what actually happens when multiplying large numbers.  

Area Models for Multiplication

After this understanding has been developed, we will explore the traditional method: 

Traditional Method of Multi-digit Multiplication

Reading - This is the last week for the novels Turtle in Paradise and The Young Man and the Sea.  Students will be using the highest level of Bloom's Taxonomy (Creation) to create their final projects.  On Thursday, we will also take our Unit 2 test, which checks comprehension, vocabulary, and text features.

Social Studies - We will move from the Northeast Region to the Southeastern Region for the next 4-5 weeks.  We will be exploring many concepts including traditions, populations, geography, and economy.  Again, if you have any artifacts/pictures from the Southeastern Region, feel free to send them to class!

Science - We have recently finished our Human Body unit.  Our next unit is Magnetism and Electricity.  For those looking for early shopping items, I HIGHLY recommend Snap Circuits.  I have this one (http://www.amazon.com/Elenco-SC-300-Snap-Circuits/dp/B0000683A4) in class for indoor recess, and kids have loved playing with it, seeing what they can build.  There are more advanced as well as simpler versions of this as well...and it certainly provides highly motivational engagement during the winter months!

Game Day and Khan Academy

So the news is spreading like wildfire!  About 18 kids have signed up for Khan Academy, and students are racking up knowledge (and points) during and outside of school hours!  To prep for our test tomorrow, students spent time playing decimal computer games (here!) and passing decimal exercises on Khan Academy (here!).

Khan Academy rocks!

Just as a notice, your child took home the Unit 4 pretest I use to differentiate lessons.  This has two purposes: 1.) to show the kids how much they have learned over the course of the past 2.5 weeks; 2.) to be used as a study guide.  Anything that can be done on that pretest will be easier on the post test.  Also, there is no need to return the Unit 4 pretest - it's for your child's use at home.

My Mule Named Sal...

As we conclude our study of the Northeastern Region, the kids have been exploring the purpose and usage of canals, locks, and dams.  After all, it sure beats going all the way up to the St. Lawrence River only to backtrack hundreds of miles on a rugged river.

To help emulate this, the following website is a place for the kids to build their own lock and control the water so a boat can safely travel along the river.  Simply click on the image below to be taken to this site.

A canal lock for smaller boats

I also found this video series of a girl making her own model of a canal lock.  Part 7 is posted below, but if you'd like to watch the others, simply check out her other 6 videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XETcPsq10c&feature=share&list=UL0XETcPsq10c



Last, of course, the infamous song with commentary:

Tap Your Head and Rub Your Belly...Now Reverse!

After learning about our skeleton, muscles, and joints, it's time to put these systems into action! Over the next few lessons, the kids will learn about coordination. Starting our first activity today, the kids tested the speed of their left and right hands as well as their left and right feet. After much testing, we met as a class. It turns out that our experiment can't work correctly unless everyone performs the experiment in the exact same manner. Tomorrow, we will set some guidelines to make this experiment fair.

*Note: two words, 'stimulus' and 'response' will be used a lot over the next few days. Using them at home will be a helpful reinforcement (i.e., a buzzing fly - the stimulus - causes us to swat it - the response).

Ready...here it comes!

Focus...focus...focus!

Whew!  Just in time!

Is my foot faster than my hand?

Multiplication Game of the Week!

The class has been working incredibly hard at mastering their basic facts. They have been practicing specific multiples at their instructional level, completing Wrap-Ups, and enjoying several multiplication games at www.multiplication.com.  For the next several weeks, I will be posting a "Game of the Week" for the kids to enjoy.  This week's game is "Harvest Hootenanny".  In this game, answer ten questions correct.  Next, move the farmer around the holes and crows to get to the scarecrow (think "Super Mario Brothers").  Reach the scarecrow, move to the next level, answer ten more questions, and continue on.

Click on the picture to go to "Harvest Hootenannny"!

As mentioned earlier this year, your child will know all their facts fluently by the end of the year.  Laying this factual groundwork will make mathimatical concepts easier (i.e., perimeter, area, adding/subtracting fractions) in the coming months.  I will continue to work closely with each child so everyone can meet their goals!

Developing Character and Moral Concepts

These are quotes from class this week:
(1)  But I don't want to get my video games taken away for a week!
(2)  You're going to get in trouble!
(3)  Is this good enough?

I once read that we need to have heroes, regardless of our age.  Two of my heroes are teachers Rafe Esquith and Ron Clark.  Rafe is a fifth grade teacher in Los Angeles, and he is the author of three books on his experiences with education.

I wanted to bring this up so you can understand my philosophy and underlying mindset throughout the school year in the context of working with your child.  The video I'm posting is a short clip of Rafe talking about the theory of moral development.  While it isn't completely reasonable to expect every fourth grader to get to "Stage 6" by the end of the year, I  continue my aspirations of getting students to realize this within their lifetimes.  Here's the video:

To summarize:
Level 1: [I don't want to get in trouble]
Level 2: [I want to get a reward]
Level 3: [I want to please other people]
Level 4: [I follow the rules]

Level 5: [I am considerate of others]
Level 6: [It's my moral code...That's just how I am]

This has spun around in my head for several years, and I am convinced that if we all strive towards level six, we can be more focused on working together and reaching our goals.

Data Folders + Multiplication = Success!

By kids learning their basic math facts, more difficult concepts will be easier to learn.  Adding/subtracting factions, finding lowest common denominators, or balancing algebraic equations all rely on basic fact knowledge.

While facts are so important, that's not all we do in math (actually we take a mere 10 minutes or so working on math facts and computation each day!).  Here's a look into these 10 minutes:

1.  Mental Math:  During this time, we review previously learned concepts, using it as a warm up time.  This unit, mental math has revolved around factors, multiples, fact families, and even prime numbers.

2.  ATTACK OF THE 6020s!:  Students have 60 seconds to answer 20 facts; each fact has a common multiple.  These are completely optional, as students who aren't ready to take them will not benefit from an impossible struggle.  However, if they opt out, those students will spend time practicing those particular multiples.  Once a student defeats a 6020, s/he gets to fill in that number on a data folder sheet.  It's a sweet one minute that is differentiated to meet each child's level!

3.  50-Facts Test:  This is the grandaddy of them all!  We only do these ever 3 weeks, and it is more of a progress tracker than anything else.  Students are given 50 facts to answer and three minutes to do so.  During the first minute, they cannot skip any problems.  In the last two minutes, they can work on problems they choose.  We then score and graph these in our data folders as well.  However many facts students answer correctly in the first minute is how much they will shade in blue.  Their total score for the entire three minutes is scored in green.  The picture below is a "typical growth" example.  Again, we will do this every 3 weeks, but it is a great way for students to see their growth over an extended period of time.

 

Include these three aspects with lots of fun math games, and I'm expecting all students to exceed their goals with math facts (and concepts!).  All of this, in turn, adds to their love of learning!

Community Building and Teamwork!

To help the students regain focus during our afternoon lessons, we have some interesting energizers that require teamwork, active listening, and lots and lots of fun!  I love having the kids work together to play these, and they have included anything from the Human Ladder to Musical Chairs (with a twist, of course).  If you're interested in the details, simply talk to your child!

There is only one chair left!

We've Lost Our Opposable Thumbs!

The students had a unique opportunity to appreciate how valuable the joints within our bodies really are. To aid this lesson, the kids taped their thumbs to the sides of their hands. Next, they were asked to complete a variety of tasks, including coloring pictures, tying shoelaces, and finishing a maze. Although the kids weren't thrilled about taking off the tape, they were relieved to have their opposable thumbs back!

Posing without opposable thumbs

More posing without opposable thumbs

Ones, Tens, Hundreds, Comma

One of my favorite lessons to teach in fourth grade involves place value.  The reason I enjoy teaching it is because of a sweet song I found a couple of years ago.  Just like "Call Me Maybe", you can tell when a song will stick in the kids' heads.  Once you've done that, they will never forget (I still have 5th graders coming up to me to tell them how they used these songs in their new grade!).  In "The Place Value Rap" by Rockin' the Standards, the chorus explains place value, and the refrain lists the place values...in one of the most addicting melodies ever.  I've posted two videos below to explain:

 

The first section of the song (it repeats two more times)

An explanation by the composer himself

Khan Academy Information

Khan Academy is a not-for-profit website that offers instructional videos covering anything from basic addition to matrices in Calculus.  While these instructional videos do not replace the value of quality classroom teaching, the site does provide an excellent opportunity for practice, motivation, and exploration.

http://www.khanacademy.org

Last year, 18 students within my class signed up for Khan Academy.  Of those 18, about 12 spend at least an hour of their personal outside-of-class time working on the website each week.  By the end of fourth grade, I even had one student who successfully worked his way up to developing skills in the area of Calculus (remember limits and functions?)  Signing up was easy as most parents had either a Google or Facebook account.  This year, Khan Academy can allow you to set up an account through their own website in addition to Google or Facebook!

If this is of interest to you (and I HIGHLY recommend it...math becomes incredibly motivating with this interface), sign up for an account and add me as a coach.  To do this, click on:

• Visit Profile --> Community --> Coaches --> Add a Coach --> Enter 'brandonjamesbauer@gmail.com' .  

This will allow me to track your child's progress and offer one-on-one instruction throughout the school year as it is needed.

I'm sure I will bug you about this again this school year.  I can't express enough how this provides free, organized, and motivating practice for all student.  It seems too good to be true, but my class accumulated over 2 million points last year (the equivalent of approximately 18 kids solving around 600 math problems each...woah!).

As always, if you have questions, please let me know - I'm posting two helpful links to the site below.  Happy calculating!

Official Website http://www.khanacademy.org/

60 Minutes - Khan Academy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxJgPHM5NYI

Word Study in Room 127

I'll mention this several times this year, but it is my mission to differentiate instruction as much as possible for all children every lesson of the day.  One area that is quite time-consuming in preparation, yet very worthwhile, is word study (more commonly referred to as "Spelling").

I'd like to extensively discuss how I plan on differentiating for your child in this area.  With successful implementation, not only will spelling in conjunction with writing improve, but decoding words, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension will also improve.

After administering a test called a Qualitative Spelling Inventory (QSI), I establish each child's developmental level on the spectrum on phonetic development.  From that point, I pair him/her up with other kids that have similar areas for growth.  Then we get to work!  Here's what we do in class and some suggestions as to how you can help your child at home.

Day 1 - Monday
At School:  The children discover patterns within their sets of words.  They write the words, sorting them according to these discovered patterns, then write a reflection statement based on what they've learned (see below).  Students also write their words in their agendas so they will always have a copy!
At Home:  Write or orally use these words in sentences.  Give them life!

Day 2 - Tuesday
At School:  Students will sort the words as quickly as possible.  They will do this three times.  After finishing, students will look through their books to find other words that match the same pattern.
At Home:  Sort these words as well, trying to beat the best time.  Also, continue looking for words within texts at home.


Day 3 - Wednesday

At School:  Students develop high-quality sentences and find synonyms for ten unknown or troubling words from their list (the left side of the picture).
At Home:  Look for words pertaining to the patterns in the paper, online, or in your conversation.

Day 4 - Thursday
At School:  Pairs will work with each other on a "No Peeking Sort".  One student will say the word, and the other student will write the word correctly, placing it in the correct column.  Both students will complete this, making changes in any errors (see the above picture, right side).
At Home:  Complete a No Peeking Sort in the same fashion.


Day 5 - Friday
At School:  Before being quizzed over ten of their words, they will glue their words into their notebook under the appropriate columns (see the picture below).  Students are expected to spell at least 8/10 of the words correct.  If one scores below 8/10, s/he will continue working with these works during the next week.
At Home:  Continue to promote words and patterns by reading and writing together!

Gross, Digusting, and Incredibly Educational

Over the past few days, the students have been learning about the skeleton.  Here are two key points they will be able to tell you:

1.  A typical, full-grown adult human skeleton has about ______ bones.
2.  The skeleton offers three main functions:  ________, _________, and ________.

With that being said, on Wednesday, the students were shown pictures of a variety of skeletons:  a horse, cow, chameleon, bird, and frog were a few of them.  Most were able to guess with a high accuracy what the animal was (due to the skeletal shape).  After establishing the importance of a skeleton and the implications for an animal's shape, the students were given owl pellets!

Writing detailed descriptions before dissection

After close inspection on Wednesday, the students FINALLY were able to dissect them today.  Tomorrow, the kids will reconstruct the skeletal remains, and we will hang them on display in the room during next week!  Stop in to see some skulls, vertebrae, jaws, and femur bones!

Woah!  Is this gross, cool, or both!?!

Geometric Concepts Through Song

Over the past few days, the kids have been exploring lines, line segments, rays, parallel and perpendicular lines, and a variety of polygonal shapes (i.e., rectangles, kites, squares).  To help reinforce some of these concepts, I have introduced the kids to some great songs about these concepts.  I've posted them below for their reference and your listening pleasure!

Lines, Rays, and Line Segments Video

Parallel and Perpendicular Lines Song

The 1st Day of School!

Welcome to the first posting for the 2012-13 school year!

Today, our main focus was on establishing table groups, building community within the groups as well as the class, and discussing class jobs and our mission statement.

The kids were randomly selected into their table groups.  This will allow them to build a core group of friends within the classroom.  They will set group goals together and be able to work comfortably with each other.  While several other opportunities exist for everyone to work with others in the class, these groups provide a solid foundation for each child.

After getting into groups, our next step was to start building community.  We started this by playing one of my favorite energizers:  Hot Lava.  Each group had to stand on two sheets of paper (easy) and then move onto one sheet of paper (much more difficult).  Afterwards, we discussed how teamwork, trust, and cooperation were vital to being successful, much like successfully completing everyday group activities.

Purple Popcorn on two sheets of paper

The groups also had time to create a group name and design a group flag.  I must say that their flags were very impressive!

The Green Leopards at work

The Yellow Highlights finalizing their flags

The kids also had a chance to write our mission statement, which was a whole class activity.  Students took their ideas around to other groups, making a master list of "keeper" ideas.  I will compile them and finalize the mission statement using this information.

Last, we finished by deciding what class jobs should be available to maintain a clean, organized, and smooth-running classroom.  Those will be determined tomorrow!

I hope your child returned home with lots of smiles and excitement.  This year will truly be a fantastic year!


*I should note that I plan on updating this blog about twice per week.  Pictures will be posted often but not always.  Also, I won't always update you with new postings.  I will, however, promptly inform you of major, necessary, pertinent information.*

Preparing for the Final Day!

Hopefully your child is coming home in tears due to this being the last full day of school J.  I wanted to send one last annoying informative email covering a few basics as we wrap up.

First, books that belong to me are all labeled on the back.  If you happen to find books like this, simply return them as soon as possible so other kids can read them (even if that is next year).

Second, I am putting together a 4-in-1 reading program for the kids (Hiawatha Public Library, ½ Priced Books, Barnes and Noble, and Cedar Rapids Kernels).  That way their minutes read can be used four different ways at the same time.  Information will come home tomorrow with report cards.

Next, for those of you signed up for Khan Academy, congratulations on earning 2.7 MILLION points!  Results within the classroom has been obvious as well.  If you haven’t signed up yet, simply let me know and I can help you do so (even if you need help three months or three years from now).

Finally, tomorrow the kids will be sharing their national parks brochures.  We will do this from 11:30-12:00.  Several students took them home tonight – if so, please make sure they are returned tomorrow.  After lunch and recess, we will have an awards ceremony from 12:50 – 1:25.  You are welcome to come for both/either the brochure presentation or the awards ceremony…just make sure to check in at the office.

Thanks again for your support throughout the year.  This have been my most successful year as a classroom teacher, but that couldn’t be done without your support inside and outside of school.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Tomorrow’s Agenda

8:50 – 9:40 – National Parks Research

9:40 – 10:10 – Specials: Music

10:10 – 11:30 – National Parks Research

11:30 – 12:00 – National Parks Presentations

12:00 – 12:45 – Lunch/Recess

12:45 – 1:30 – Awards Ceremony

Day One: National Parks

Today the kids (finally!) were allowed to open up their letters from actual national park rangers.  Several weeks ago, kids wrote to different national park rangers, and since then, several envelopes have poured in!

The kids were able to explore their materials today, and they even began taking notes on special features (i.e. animals, size, features, accomodations, location).  Some chose to take it home to get a better understanding before tomorrow, and some are looking forward to visiting some of the sites listed on their materials.  Either way, tomorrow will be day two, and some may even begin publishing their very own national parks brochure.

Look what came in the mail!

Mississippi River Museum Field Trip

Holy cow!  We experienced an amazing field trip today.  The class saw lots of animal exhibits (including the special exhibit featuring animals from the Amazon River in South America), flooding and erosion models, dredge boats, fur traders, and steamboat history.  Check out the pictures below for a closer look at the action.

Ready for some action!

Into the caves Mark Twain detailed...

The Wet Lab!

Turtles, Ducks, and Fish (oh my!)

Boarding the William M. Black Dredge

Walking toward the ship's kitchen

Land Ahead!

Our wonderful fur trader displays proper attire!

A full day of knowledge acquired...

...with some silliness thrown into the mix!

Native American History in Iowa

Today, our focus on Iowa History was on Native American tribes that were present in Iowa over the past few centuries.  The kids had an opportunity to learn about a specific tribe and record some of the most important details.  After learning about particular tribes, each group shared their information with the class.  Tomorrow, we will explore some of the migratory paths Native American tribes were forced to take.

Our Iowa History Unit Began Today!

Starting today, we began our exploration of the history of Iowa. We began by focusing on the land and its formation thanks to the glaciers that moved across the land thousands of years ago. During the coming week, we will explore the major rivers, Native American tribes, and the evolution of farming throughout Iowa. Check back for pictures of these activities during the next few school days.

Official Math SLE #4 Results!

Big deal alert!!! Big deal alert!!! At the beginning of this school year, I mentioned that our main math goal as a school was to have every student score at least 70% on the final SLE test. I also mentioned that MY goal was to have at least every student score at least 80%. After finishing grading those who finished today, I am proud to say that not only has everyone scored above 80%, but the class average is 94%! Those results are unreal! The bar graphs below explain it all...what an impressive feat!!!!

Busy, Busy Prepositions

During this week's grammar lessons, we have been learning about prepositions, their purposes, and correctly using them.  Throughout the week, we will be having "Preposition-Offs", listening for correct prepostions, and finding prepositional phrases.  Without prepositions, the sentences we read, write, and speak would be very...very...very...very boring.

The video posted below (click on the picture) is an oldie (but a goodie).  Schoolhouse Rock's songs always helps engage the kids!

Picture from http://www.trakt.tv/

Turn Up the "Volume"!

With the end of the school year in sight (although when kids ask how many days are left, I respond "Not enough"), we are starting to focus on our last student learning expectation (SLE): volume! To kick off this SLE study, I created a video on the usefulness of volume when laying mulch. You can find that on our class web page. Today we also set up our "Guess How Many..." to see if we could use a formula for volume to put forth a great guess. By the end of the year, your child should be able to look at a 3-D shape (with cubes drawn) and tell how many cubes are shown. I have some more fun activities left to help us with the SLE. Tomorrow's homework will show some problems expected to be mastered on the SLE test. Thanks for your support at home as well!

How many cubes do you think are in each jar?

February Updates

A couple notes about within the classroom:

1.    23/26 kids are at the end-of-the-year school goal of 70% or better on our Math SLE quiz.  This goal must be reached by the end of the year (the three that didn’t meet it were less that 5% away!), and I am expecting us to meet a goal of 80% or higher!

2.    Our last 50-facts quiz produced wonderful results.  The class averaged 91% correct, which is up from 85% last time.  So far there has been no plateau, and I hope that continues until we reach 100%!  Continue playing those great math games!

3.    I’ve been conducting fluency checks this week and last.  Our class average is around 139 correct words per minute.  The goal is to have all students above 123 by the end of the year (equivalent to a ‘3’ on the report card).

4.    Khan Academy is a huge success!  I have 16 students who have added me as a coach, and we have earned close to 2 million points (that means students have answered an average of 426 math problems on their free time!).  If you need more information, are curious on how to set it up, or just need more help, let me know as soon as possible!

Thanks again for all the support at home – this has been a truly enjoyable class to teach.