11/1/11

Today we learned about changing fractions into decimals.  We know that a fraction bar means to divide, so if we divide the numerator by the denominator, we can convert them into decimals.   For example 4/5 is equal to 4 divided by 5.  When we divide, we see that 5 cannot go into 4, so we add a decimal and a zero.  We know that 5 can go into 40 - 8 times, so we know that 4/5 is equal to 0.8.

In social studies we are continuing our study on the Roman Civilizations.  We will be look at some of the philosophers that were important in Ancient Greece and Rome tomorrow.  I am going to take pictures of the Greek gods and goddesses so you can all see the fabulous work that the kids are doing!

Thank you so much to all of you that came to meet with me last night!  It was a great night and I look forward to meeting with all of you next semester.

Ms. D :)

10/31/11

Today in class we learned how to convert decimals into fractions.  We learned that if you read the decimal properly, it tells you how to make it a fraction, then you just reduce.  For example, 0.35 is read zero and thirty-five hundredths, so you would write it with 35 on top and 100 on the bottom, then you would reduce by dividing by 5 which would give you 7/20.

In social studies we are beginning our unit on Ancient Rome.  We read part of chapter 13 in class that talked about the Roman Republic and answered some comprehension questions with a partner.

I gave them time in class to work on their homework so that they wouldn't have much if any left to do.  If you celebrate Halloween, have fun trick-or-treating.

:)

10/27/11

We took our math test today on ratios and rates.  The grade level average was a 90%!!!  Way to go kids!

Tomorrow we will be presented our Greek gods and goddesses and taking a quiz on the information!  Keep up the great work!

10/25/11

Sorry I haven't posted yet this week.  I have been getting sick and have been going to bed early to try to kick it out of my body.  In social studies, the Greek gods and goddesses posters are coming out fabulous.  I can't wait to take some pictures to post on here for all to see.  We have been watching some videos on Ancient Greece to help fill any gaps of knowledge that we may have.

In math, we have continued working with ratios and rates.  I feel as though the kids have been doing much better with these concepts as the week has gone on.  We have a test on them on Thursday and will be reviewing for the test on Wednesday in class. I do not have a study guide for this test, but suggest that the kids look at the practice test from chapter 4 in the book.  If they can do well on that, then they shouldn't have any problem on the test on Thursday!

10/20/11

Another great day at WMSS.  Again, a day filled with excellent projects.  Your kids are amazing!  They have all worked so hard on the social studies projects and it has paid off big time!  Again, thank you to all of the parents that have helped their children to have a successful project.

The kids are diligently working on their Greek gods and goddesses project now.  They really seem to be enjoying this one.  Everyone has been given a job according to their strengths, and I believe that may be why they are so excited.

We are almost finished with our timeline.  We started putting it together today, but did not finish.  We will be finishing it tomorrow.

In math, I reviewed ratios with them and gave them some visual examples so that they could get a better understanding of the homework from Monday.  I also went over how to find the unit rate when given some information.  Again, this is a topic from the book and we are taking notes in class.  Please have your children refer to chapter 4 in the book or to look at their notes in their composition books if they are having a hard time.  Again, thank you for all of your support so far this year!  You are all amazing!

10/19/11

Today we went through 5 more social studies projects.  I am learning a lot about students' backgrounds and traditions as well as interesting facts about countries from all around the world.  Again, I would like to thank all of the parents out there who have been preparing food, collecting items, and telling stories from their past to help their children prepare for their presentations.  Awesome work!!!

Report cards are going to be on Edline this nine weeks.  I am new to this as well, and am not sure exactly how it will work, but I am sure that it won't be too bad.  They will be posted on October 25 for your viewing if I understand the process correctly.

In math, I went over the homework from Monday and it looks as if some of the kids are confused about ratios.  I am going to be going over some more examples today and will move on to the next section as well.  We will understand them together.  The test on rates and ratios is tentatively scheduled for next Thursday.  I am going to be posting some games that you can play at home with your kids to help them practice these concepts.

Have fun!!!

10/18/11

Projects went well again today.
We started working on ratios today.  I have told the kids to use their text books as a resource so that if they don't understand how to solve a problem, they can look at examples.  Their homework tonight is workbook pages 55 and 56 and they can use the examples from pages 200-201 in the text book to help them.
Tomorrow we will continue with our last few social studies presentations and will continue working with ratios.

Have a great day!