Festive music playing, bells ringing, friends laughing, oven doors creaking: we must be getting close to the holidays! We're all eager to enjoy our two weeks off from school, but I am thankful for parents who continue to support our academic work, even during the hectic season that is upon us. Thank you for making sure your children get enough rest and good food and (of course) their homework.
Indeed, we are still hard at work. As you know, we completed our unit on division. We will continue to practice division, but our instruction is now focused on new topics. Fourth grade is studying geometry: lines, angles, rotations, etc. Fifth grade is studying fractions. Both grade levels have lots of new terms which are glued into their math composition books. I am encouraging students to take their composition books home to study the vocabulary words, so if you don’t see it coming home, you should ask, “Where is it?”
Here is a web site that will help fourth grade with math vocabulary:
http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/rubber_geometry_vocab_match/
I am sure you have heard of IXL, the math practice web site based on our Georgia math standards. Your students can practice the math topic we are covering in class, basic number operations like addition or division, or a topic you know needs improvement. When a students misses a problem, there is an explanation to help him/her get it right the next time. My students have logged on 500 minutes of practice so far. Can we make it 1,000 minutes before the holidays?
https://www.ixl.com/signin/nicholson
Our informational drafts are nearly finished, and we finish Unit Three in our Language! series tomorrow. Our new unit, unit four, focuses on the theme of twins. If you have any family history of twins, please share it with your student. We want to know! So far the post test work students have completed has been very good. Hooray for them!
The next two weeks will be a busy time of final checks on goals and objectives, finishing units, and completing projects. Thank you so much for making sure your student is here every day.