Keenoy Koala News September
30, 2016
Dear Families,
Thank you for all
of the families that are volunteering their time during the Comet Carnival
tonight. This fun event would not be
possible without all of the help from families. Have a wonderful weekend and
week. Thanks for all of your support at
home and everything that you do to support your child's learning. Remember, if you ever have any questions,
please do not hesitate to email or call.
Vocabulary Day Hat
Parade-October 14th
This will be a fun activity to help us celebrate the power
of words and Dictionary DayJ Students will
be selecting a word and creating a hat.
The hat will match the meaning of the word and students are asked to
design this at home. Students are welcome
to ALL of my art supplies and parents should not have to buy ANYTHINGJ More detailed information will be sent home
today.
MAP Testing Results
Please look for your child’s 4th grade MAP Test
scores in this week’s Friday folder.
Students should have received a score in Language Arts and Math from 4th
grade. During the end of their 5th
grade year, they will be tested in Language Arts, Math, and Science. Specific testing window dates will be shared
later in the year.
Math
As you know, I introduced a strategy of solving large digit
multiplication problems using partial products.
I showed students how 344 X 7 is the same as (300 X 7) + (40 X 7) + (4 X
7). The partial product strategy helps
students understand the importance of using multiples of 10, and it also shows
flexibility with breaking apart numbers. I like showing this strategy prior to
teaching the algorithm (stacking method).
Although I like starting off showing students the partial
product method, the algorithm (stacking method) can be more efficient at
times. Therefore, I plan on taking a few
days to teach the algorithm after the assessment on Monday. Students who already show success and
understanding of the algorithm will be given enrichment work so that they are
not bored out of their mindsJ Thank you!
*Students will take an assessment over Topic 3 (larger digit
multiplication) on Monday.
*Next Topics 4 & 5 focus on division. In this unit
students will divide multiplies of 10 and 100, estimate quotients, divide by 1-digit &
2-digit divisors, and understand factors and prime/composite numbers.
*Students that are fluent with their basic math facts will
be able to solve division problems more efficiently.
Writing
Students are entering the drafting phase of their personal
narrative stories. The focus of my
instruction during this revision process will be: beginnings, middle, endings,
figurative language, dialogue, and organization. I will continue going over the scoring rubric
with them during this process. I also
plan on showing students exemplar papers that match what the rubric is asking
them to do. Hopefully this helps
students make sense of a somewhat wordy rubricJ
Reading
Students have now learned and practiced each of the
following story elements: problem/solution, character traits
(personality/physical), and settings. We
have also started thinking about how characters trait’s change as the story
goes on. I will be working with small
groups who need more assistance with these comprehension strategies prior to
our reading assessment next week.
Science
Students enjoyed our first Earth and Space Systems lesson on
Thursday. Students experimented with
gravity with the big idea being that the gravitational force exerted by Earth
on objects is directed down.
Social Studies
Students took an assessment over chapter 1 yesterday. The BIG idea of this chapter is explaining
how the physical geography, resources, climate, and industry of the United
States affects the way/where citizens live.
We will start learning about the First Americans in chapter 2 next week.
Have a terrific week and GO CARDS and TIGERS!
Sincerely,
Dan Keenoy
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