Math and Science Week of April 30th-May 3rd

Parents,

Well we made it past STAAR week and I must say it wasn't easy!  The kids worked really hard and were exhausted.  The STAAR party on Friday was just what we needed to give our brains a break.  The three day weekend was also welcomed!

Believe it or not, this week in Math we will be gearing up for 4th grade!  The kids will learn multiple strategies on multiplying 2 digit numbers by a 1 digit number.  On Tuesday, we will be drawing out the multiplication problems on a tens and ones T-chart.  Your child will have this for HW on Tuesday night.  On Wednesday, I will teach them how to multiply a two digit number with another number that has many zeros.  They will find this trick simple and fun!  On Thursday, we will use our past knowledge of expanded notation to solve the problems using something called The Expanded Notation Method.  By Friday, the students will learn the last method called the box method.  We are teaching them many different ways for two main reasons.  The first is that they understand the true meaning of 57 x 3 and the second is that we want to give them several strategies so that they find one they are most comfortable with.  By Monday, the kids will be quizzed on all four methods and then we will move on to learning the correct algorithm that they will use in fourth grade.   It should be a fun and challenging week in Math.

For fast facts, we will be making this week interesting!  The kids will go back to their colored timed multiplication tests.  This week will NOT be for a grade.  I will give each child a verbal reminder on Monday what they specifically need to study.

In Science, we are trekking along and having a good time learning about Ecosystems and Food Chains/Webs.  This week we will review our learning about Food Chains, producers, consumers, decomposers, predators, prey, and all the things an Ecosystem entails with some fun games.  Flash cards to study went home on Friday the 26th, and the assessment will be on Friday.  The students will be required to draw and label a Food Chain on their Test.  It should be a fun week. I am glad to be back to learning and having a good time with these kiddos.

Love,
Mrs. S