Measuring in our Classroom

This week we learned about inches and centimeters. We explored using a ruler and measuring inches and centimeters. Using a ruler is a standard form of measuring. Earlier last week we measured things in our classroom using string which is a non-standard form of measuring. The students were quick to see the difference. They all noticed that the ruler had numbers and the string did not.
We also continued our work on measuring cups, pints, and quarts. We are very close to 2 gallons. We are adding a cup of water each day to our gallon containers. We ended the week with 27 cups of blue/green water. Ask your child to tell what we are doing with the blue/green water.

In Calendar Math our focus this week has been on going shopping. The students were given a problem to solve. Example: If I had $1.36 and spent 79 cents, how much would I have left? We also continued our work with expanded notation and rounding to the nearest ten. Everyday the students are given questions about "what time is it?" Please work with your child on telling time.

In Science we did a lab on "Why fish have scales?" It was a fun lesson. The students rolled a small amount of playdoh(this was the fish with out scales), next they were asked to poke the playdoh with a toothpick(the toothpick represents a predator, disease, and environment). They had to give and explanation about what happen. We put the playdoh in a plastic egg (this represented fish with scales) and poke the toothpick through the egg. Most toothpicks broke. The egg which is the scale of a fish protected the fish. We had a good discussion about why fish need scales. Another good week!
Enjoy your Spring Break!

The End of the 3rd Nine Weeks

Another great week of fun activities.
We finished the unit on Shapes, Halves, and Symmetry.
Please continue to encourage your child to look for different shapes in our environment, look for arrays, discuss fractions and symmetry.

We are having a great time figuring out and exploring with cups, pints, quarts, and gallons. Have your child point out the different sizes for you when grocery shopping. It's a great way to connect the real -world experience with what we are learning in class.

Our class begin a new unit on Friday.
How Long? How Far? is a unit about measurements. In our everyday world, we need to know how long things are. During this unit, your child will find several things in the classroom that are about the same length. The students will use a variety of materials, such as paper strips, interlocking cubes, string, rulers, and measuring tape as measuring tools to measure and compare lengths.
Our introduction lesson into measurement was great! Ask your child about it.
Thank you for all your support!

The End of Shapes, Halves, and Symmetry

WOW! What a week. We did some fun activities with fractions this week. We used colored tiles to find rectangles that can be divided in fourths (four colors) and thirds (three colors). The students did very well describing their rectangles. We also reviewed columns, rows and the area of our rectangles. Great Job!
Symmetry was another concept we covered in class last week. The students made pictures using symmetrical shapes cut from folded paper. Fun, Fun, Fun!

In Science we learned more about Polar Bears. Our class participated in two labs about Polar Bears.

1. Does the Polar Bear have an adaptation to help prevent its feet from sliding on the ice? If so, What?
2. Why do animals that live in Polar Regions have an extra layer of fat called blubber?

Ask your child to tell you all about our Labs in Science. They really enjoy them.

In Everyday Counts Calendar Math we started the week measuring 1 cup a day. Our goal is to figure out how many cups are in a pint, how many pints are in a quart, and how many quarts are in a gallon. To make it more fun we are adding blue food coloring to the water. Friday was the 129th day of school! 51 MORE DAYS TO GO!

The students are learning to write the day of school (Today's Number) in expanded form, rounding to the nearest 10 and discuss how many groups of 10's and 1's.

Thank you for all your support! Have a great week!

A Week of Rectangles

This week was all about building and describing rectangles. The students learned about the columns and rows in a rectangle and the area and perimeter of a rectangle. We also discussed a congruent rectangle. This rectangle has the same size and same shape.

We ended the week with halves and not halves rectangles. With half and not halves rectangles the students used two colors of tiles to make a rectangle that was half one color and half another color. The special rule about this rectangle is that we must use two colors. After the students created their rectangle they had to write how many columns, how many rows and tell me what the area of their rectangle was. It was a great way to introduce area, perimeter and fractions.

Did you know that Friday was the 124th day of school. WOW! time flies when you are learning and having fun!

For the month of March in Everyday Calendar Math we will

• explore and describe attributes of a sphere, cone and cylinder.
• read the clock to the quarter hour
• see fractional parts
• explore capacity with cups, pints, and quarts.

Please encourage your child to tell you something about what they have learned during Math, Science, or Social Studies. Thank you for all your support! Have a great week!