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: