Fifth+Math+Archive

Week of October 4, 2010 Greetings from Room 203 at Berthoud Elementary School! This week in math class we continued our study of multiplication and division with larger numbers. The children have truly amazed me with their knowledge of a great variety of strategies to multiply...and I thought there was only one way all these years! (For the record, none of the kids like the "Ms. Mac Method" using the traditional algorithm.) The opportunity to learn with the kids is one of the best parts of teaching. We are truly a community of learners and I love working with the kids each day. We incorporate writing into our math study on most days, and refer often to the words of Albert Einstein: We will also continue to take weekly multiplication fact tests to keep us on track with having those at our fingertips throughout our math journey this year. On Thursday and Friday we worked with Napier's Bones, a pretty amazing early "calculator" invented by the same man who invented the decimal point. Your child has his/her bones to share and explain with simplicity to someone at your home, along with some additional activities.


 * Week of 11-1-10 **

Greetings from Room 208 at BES!

We have been busy in our math skills group! We have finished our first Investigation and will be beginning a new one this week. We'll be studying volume relationships among solid figures. This will be an interesting exploration with many opportunities for hands-on experiences.

The kids have really grown in their math fact speeds. We take a weekly test and try to exceed our personal best each time. They've come a long way, and enjoy that quick skill drill.

You may have noticed that frequently our homework involves writing about the math we do. This is an important piece of comprehension and really gives the children the opportunity to demonstrate understanding of the concept, while developing their writing skills across the curriculum. Thank you for your help when the kids are asked "to explain with simplicity" a new concept. :)

Our time flies...and we are excited to the pilots!

Thank you for your help and support and for sharing your special child with me! Regards,Ms. Mac