Math

Fractions fractions everywhere! We are full on in fraction mode with fraction waffles; congratulations Zariah, Emerie, and Bryer; creating fraction kits; playing fraction games; and discussing fractions as used in daily life. We will be creating equivalent fractions and reading books about fractions. When we celebrated the 100th dqy of school we divided a large pan of brownies into equal fractions and that was a delicious way to practice. Try it at home: determine how many people are sharing something and then figure out a way to divide the item into equal fractions. Or, if you are planning a party or feeding more people than usual, determine how many times to multiply the recipe and then have your child help you to create a shopping list.

Meanwhile, we have been working hard to gain fact fluency and are working towards a class average time in completing the facts quiz. When we achieve that goal, we will celebrate by having a party. Third graders have been working on multiplication by playing games such as Circles and Stars, the Game of Rectangles, completing an investigation on arrays, beginning to memorize multiplication facts, multiplication coloring, and creating multiplication tables from a list we created together of Things That Come in Groups. Fourth graders have been practicing multiplying larger numbers using the Lattice method as well as the traditional method of multiplication. The entire group has been practicing mental math and algebra through activities such as Beanstix Algebra, and creating and solving logic patterns, task cards, as well as our weekly challenges.