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?