Combinations

My 5th grade students created there own combination word problems.  Take a look at them on the library bulletin board!  See if you can come up with your own and leave it as a comment on my blog for 5 bonus points on your test.

On Friday, my fourth graders began a new problem solving strategy, making organized lists.  Students also created tree diagrams to figure out the number of combinations possible in a certain scenario.  For example, if I have a red shirt and a blue shirt, blue shorts, green shorts, and yellow shorts, how many outfits can be made?  We used snap cubes to solve this problem to make the actual outfits.  We then drew out a tree diagram to show the data.  Can you remember how to get the number of outfits without drawing a tree diagram, using snap cubes, or making a list?  If you were paying attention in class, you should know the answer to the previous question.  I am not going to tell you here.  Ask me tomorrow if you need a reminder.

   Be sure if you are asked on LEAP for the number of combinations that you SHOW how you got your answer by either making a tree diagram or an organized list.  Remember that you can lose points if you do not show all of your work!  

Multiplication Is Easy--Yes, If You Know Your Facts!

Today, my fourth graders worked on multiplying 2 digits by 1.  All students get the method of what to do; however, many still do not have their facts memorized.  Students in fourth grade must know the facts.  We practice them weekly and are quizzed weekly, but it must also be practiced at home.  There are way too many skills to cover in class to just focus on the facts.

Parents, please enforce studying at home.  There are numerous sites on my eBoard that your child can do.  Or just have them make flash-cards and drill fifteen minutes a night until all are conquered and mastered. 

The students who have the facts mastered found today's lesson very easy.  Cestacia repeatedly said, "This is so easy!" while others struggled to get the fact by drawing pictures.  I have nothing against drawing pictures; in fact, that is what I teach them if they do not know the facts.  Students who did not know the facts were struggling.  

First, we used base 10 blocks to demonstrate the distributive property of multiplication to get a background of what is actually happening when we multiply.  We then transferred that into the short-cut algorithm, which is most likely the only way you parents learned it as a child.  Students solved problems on the Promethean board, which kept them wanting to do their problems because the only way they could use it was if I saw it on their paper first.  I do not know what I did B.P.(before Promethean).

Problem of the Day:

Today my classes worked a total of 17 problems.  If each problem had 3 digits for its factors, how many digits were used as factors?

Family Math and Science Night Was a Success!

Tonight was our annual Family Night--A Journey Through Math and Science.  Parents and children both seemed to be having a blast.  The cafeteria was packed.  Students especially enjoyed making Foam Gnomes, which looked more like snowballs.  It was a chemical reaction of Poly A and B, which creates foam insulation you can purchase from hardware stores in the can.  Other activities were also enjoyed:  Candied Coordinates, Coke Floats, Surface Tension, Starburst Math, and many many more.  It is a fun night and hopefully you'll come out next year to see what it is all about.

I'm Moving On

I would like to stay on elapsed time; however, the parish tells us everything we must cover before the Interval Test.  I have much more to teach before the next one with little time.  So, the show must go on.  I will put up a couple of problems each day for the students to practice elapsed time--they will also have a project to do over the Thanksgiving break.  And I feel like most are starting to catch on.

Today, we looked at patterns when multiplying multiples of 10, 100, and 1000.  This skill is so much easier than elapsed time(for kids and teacher).  As long as the students know all multiplication facts it will not be a problem.  This skill is to prepare students for longer multiplication of 2 and 3-digits by 1, which will be started after the holidays.  Students seemed eager to look at the patterns using the calculator.  If you put something in their little hands, most are happy.  I know I was happy as to how much smoother the day went because I could tell that students were understanding, not just giving me the blank stare.  

In time (no pun intended) the students will get elapsed time.  That is a lifelong skill and must be practiced daily at school and at home.  Parents, please, I beg you,  get your child a watch--not a digital watch, an analog watch with hour and minute hands.  Have them wear it and ask them questions about the time and how long it takes them to complete different tasks.  Thank you for helping!

I leave you with this:

I purchased 10 packs of pencils for my estimation station, which will be used Wednesday at Math and Science Night.  If each pack contains 60 pencils, how many pencils did I buy?

Bonus:  If each pack cost $5.49, how much did I spend on pencils?

I Thought They Were Getting It

After thinking about yesterday's lesson a bit more I thought most of them were catching on.  So, today we reviewed some more, I read the humorous picture book entitled "Pigs on a Blanket" (which should be underlined, but I cannot figure out how), and then we worked on more elapsed time.  I intended for students to do it with their shoulder partner, but I heard way too many "I don't get this" so I instead did the problems with them.  Today we walked away from the visible number line and had to draw our own.  

Not sure if that was a good thing--that left both me and the students feeling frustrated again.  Some were just writing any old thing down without thinking it through so that it looked like a number line, but without the numbers.  They were being extremely lazy thinkers.  They did not want to do the math;  I kept repeating "Show me the math!"  So we carried on as I walked them step by step through each problem.  Tomorrow we will take a quiz to see who truly is or is not getting it.

I do want to give some kudos to a few students who really were paying attention and trying their best: Tyrik L., Jessica M., and Kiran G.  Keep up the hard work; it will pay off in the end! Tyrik, I am especially proud of you because I have seen such an improvement in your attitude about learning math.

I leave you with the following:

I left school today to go to my ABIT meeting at 11:30.  I arrived at the UNO center in Metairie at 12:10.  How long did it take me to get there?

How Long Did I...?

Yesterday I stayed at work until 6 trying to make a lesson to help my fourth graders understand elapsed time. When I got home I spent another hour making an 11 foot elapsed time ruler (12 sheets that are 11 inches each=12 sheets x 11 inches=132 inches 132 inches / 12 inches=11 feet). After today's lesson, I still realize elapsed time is such a hard concept to teach and an even harder concept for my 9, 10, and 11 year olds to learn. After a week of teaching the skill, I still have some students who just don't get it! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Overall, my students enjoyed the lesson. Students worked in stations--one group at the Promethean Board, one group on computers, and one group with me and my giant elapsed time ruler. I heard several "this is fun" comments. I am happy that my time and effort makes mathematics fun, but I want my students to get it. It is very frustrating and disheartening that some students just don't get math.

Tomorrow is another day and maybe the light bulb will turn on then.

I leave you with this:

I started working on the lesson at 4:40 after tutoring let out. I left school at fifteen minutes to six to go home. I then worked at home on the lesson for one more hour. How long did I work on the lesson?