In Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), and across the
country, mathematics instruction is changing to make sure we provide our
students with the skills and knowledge they need for success in college and the
workplace. On Tuesday, February 12, 2014 from 6:30 to
8:00 p.m., we will be holding a Family Math
Night. This event is an opportunity for you to learn more about
how Curriculum 2.0 is helping to develop students who value mathematics and see
it as useful to solving problems and making sense of the world. We invite you
to join us on February 12 to enjoy some quality “one-on-one”
educational time with your child through participation in engaging math lessons
and games. Mrs. Duda, our part-time math teacher in fourth grade, will present three stations for students and parents to explore. We will debrief as to how/where the math has changed for fourth graders and share curriculum connections across the grade level.
Please return the permission form by February 4, so that we can be prepared with the necessary supplies for the evening. You can also register via SignUp Genius at www.signupgenius.com. Once you have accessed the website, you can search for the Family Math Night sign up page by entering Ms. Mohr’s email address into the search function (Diane_Mohr@mcpsmd.org). You can also enter the following link in your web browser: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040D49AAAF22A13-family
Math
Conversion tables are meant to engage students in understanding the multiplicative relationship between two different measurement units as shown in any row of the table (e.g. The number of feet is equal to three times the number of yards.). When consecutive numbers are used going down the columns (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4 yards; 3, 6, 9, 12 feet), students often do not see the multiplicative relationship, and instead, focus on the additive patterns within a column. Additive reasoning may limit students and prevent them from generalizing rules about the relationship between units.
In Curriculum 2.0, Grade 4 students convert from a larger unit to a smaller unit (e.g., yards to inches). To a limited extent, students convert from a smaller unit to a larger unit, resulting in a whole number (e.g., converting 48 inches to feet: ___ x 12 = 48; but not converting 47 inches to feet). Multiplicative reasoning is key to understanding unit conversions, and limiting students to thinking only of converting from larger unit to smaller unit does not build a deep understanding. Based on what students understand about the inverse relationship between multiplication and division, the conversions included in instruction are what you would expect students to be able to compute at this point in Grade 4. Converting units also builds on an understanding developed in the primary grades of the inverse relationship between the size of a unit and the number of units needed to measure a length: the larger the unit of measure, the fewer units needed to measure a length, and conversely, the smaller the unit of measure, the more units needed to measure the same length. Therefore, it takes more inches than yards to measure a length because inches are a smaller unit of measure than yards. Grade 4 students integrate these understandings to reason about converting between units.
A helpful website that we will be using in class is:
Our goal is to have weekly quizzes that will assess student progress with each section of material taught. The day we have the quiz will depend on how far we get in teaching the concept. Quizzes will be announced and written in agenda books each week. Math homework will be assigned Monday through Thursday to reinforce concepts students are learning in their small groups that week. Some homework will be in written and at other times it will be on the computer. If your child is frustrated by the homework and unable to determine a strategy for completion, please write a note on the paper and we will review with him/her the following day.
In addition, students should be practicing their basic facts (addition, subtraction, multiplication) each night. Students must be fluent in all four operations by the end of this year. Each math class has a student practice page on www.xtramath.org that students should be going to each night. This sight is a way to practice the four operations to increase fluency with the four operations. We are finding that students are able to set up area models and distribute numbers correctly; however, they are making many calculation errors that impede their progress.
A few other great websites we use in class are:
www.multiplication.com
www.Khanacademy.org
www.thinkingblocks.com
Reading/Science: Informational Newspaper
In whole group reading, we will continue our science investigation on weather patterns and seasonal trends. This week we will work together to perform two experiments to define evaporation and condensation. In reading, we will continue to examine informational text at our reading levels to record main ideas as we read. By the end of the week, we will use our main idea information to write summaries of each text ready. We will then create classroom newspapers to inform others about the topics we've studied in guided reading.
The science expo is fast approaching! Be sure to continue working on your projects. A great website to support your projects is: www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects
Mayor Writing-Informative Essay
Anytime you take part in something-an activity, conversation or even a game, you’re engaging with the people around you. It’s the way you learn and grow. Elected officials must engage with citizens, regularly, to find out what they believe the city/town needs to do to make the community a better place to live and work. Often they will work with the citizens on a project or event that will improve the town. Our mayor, Mayor Prats, visited fourth grade last Thursday afternoon to discuss his role in our community as well as how students can take an active role in the Laytonsville Community. This week, each student will begin to write an informative piece to explain a project to engage our community. The majority of this project is AT-HOME. Please sign and return the parent information sheet to your child's teacher by Friday, February 7, 2014.
Theme: Engaging My Community
If you were mayor, what project or event would you use to involve your community? Ask yourself:1. Why is this project or event important to you?
2. How would you encourage your fellow town officials, businesses and residents to participate in the project/event?
3. How would you spread the word about it? Describe one or two examples
Guidelines:
1. Your essay must have the following heading in the right corner
· First & Last Name
· Laytonsville Elementary
· Teacher’s Name
2. Your essay must begin with the words “If I were Mayor, I would ______.”
3. Essays may not exceed 275 words.
4. Essays must be typed. Please let your teacher know if you do not have access to Word Processing at home. We have several Alpha Smart keyboarding machines that can be checked out from our media center.
Criteria:
1. Relation to the contest topic
2. Knowledge of municipal government and the role of a mayor
3. Creativity of proposed project/event
4. Proper use of Grammar
Assignment Timeline
Date
|
Task
|
Check when complete
|
January 30
|
Meet Mayor Prats and hear ideas about municipal government; learn about the history behind our town of Laytonsville
| |
January 30-February 3
|
View the town website &; Maryland Municipal League websites:
| |
February 3-7
|
Prewrite using graphic organizer
| |
February 7
|
Bring Graphic Organizer to class for teacher feedback
| |
February 10-28
|
Draft and revise your essay at home (remember, you must TYPE your essay & use correct format above)
| |
February 28
|
Bring rough draft to class to revise and edit with a partner in class
Teachers will keep essays to give feedback
| |
March 3-13
|
Use teacher/partners/your own feedback to publish a final draft.
| |
March 14
|
Bring final copy to class for last student conference
| |
March 17
|
Bring final draft, rough draft, and organizer to class to share with your classmates
|
Social Studies
Students will read first and second-hand accounts of the first English settlement of Jamestown this week. We will use the same graphic organizer we used to take notes about Spanish settlers of St. Augustine to take notes about the culture of the English settlers at the time. By the end of the week, students will evaluate all information collected to create a place mat to share information with other students. This place mat will be visual images and text chosen to represent the history and culture of the Jamestown settlement based on what the text read said explicitly.
Media/Writing
Our focus for the entire marking period will be to answer the focus question: How can the media responsibly advertise products & services to children?
Weeks 1 & 2 of the marking period will focus on advertising techniques marketers use to advertise products to children. We will examine advertising vocabulary through the lens of the techniques. We will watch commercials in class to determine audience/theme/message/technique/effectiveness. This informational writing will lead us to form opinions to answer the marking period question. In weeks 3 and beyond, we will work with Mrs. Bowman to form research questions, gather evidence, form an opinion, and create a multi-media presentation to share our opinion of our focus question.
Due to the nature of the project, there may be times in the quarter where we ask children to pay particular attention to advertising/marketing (commercials/t-shirts, radio/TV/Internet). Please let us know if you have a strict "TV/electronic" rule so that we can adapt instruction for your student's potential homework.
This week:
Students will visit the website www.admongo.gov to gather information about various advertising techniques. This site is set up like a video game with the purpose of presenting vocabulary and techniques in a more interesting way. Each student will create a log-in (without using their name) and a password to complete this task. If you would like to create that log-in with your child and preview the website before Inquiry begins on Tuesday, please feel free. The students will be asked to complete the game at home for homework this week. Please let your child's teacher know if you do not have Internet access in your home so that your child will still benefit from learning the vocabulary in class.
