Week 18-
January has been such a busy month. Hopefully with February's arrival we have finally settled back into our routines, and continue making progress towards our year end goals.
5th Grade Math -
We have been working on different strategies for solving multiplication problems. Sometimes a problem is best solved by using basic math facts (doubling, rounding, addition, subtraction), while larger 2- & 3- digit numbers need other strategies. We have been practicing arrays, partial products and the traditional algorithm that most of us learned in school, for example 23 x 13 can be approached as (20 x 10) + (20 x 3) + (10 x 3) + (3 x 3) .
Next week we begin division, again examining how the area arrays can be used to tackle division.
5th Grade Writing -
We have been brainstorming topics for writing informational texts. The goal is to pick a topic we are interested in, and have prior knowledge to draw from, and create a text that others can read to learn about our topic. This week we will be using research to add to our knowledge and to verify our prior information.
5th/6th Grade Theme -
We've begun our study of ancient Egypt. The class has been divided into 5 nomes (geographical regions with own capital city, regional deities, rules, & economies). The nomes are divided into various rank and social class, but work together on research and mapping projects and try to earn points for their nomes by working together and completing tasks.
5th/6th Grade Reading -
We're finishing our novel study of The Egypt Game (a great book for building excitement, and prior knowledge for our Egypt unit) and working on final group projects.
Playspace -
The two Alders classes are working together in various committees exploring ideas for the Bee Sanctuary behind the portable.